Page 37 of The Fixer

The woman paled but somehow managed not to cower before I turned my back on her. Wandering back into my house, I reached to rub my scalp and grumbled to myself. Martin’s mistakes aside ? Gigi farthest from my thoughts ? my mind centered on the broad picture.

Vyachaslav… the Santino brothers… the family’s destruction… what did it all mean? Did I want to find out?

25

Ophelia

“Yeah— he visited me in person.” Sasha nodded. “Basically, he told me to convince you to back off because you make Aleksander look like he’s got no control over anything.”

Rubbing my face with both my palms, I groaned gutturally.

“What’d Malda say?” Sasha asked.

“Who cares about her? I’m more concerned about what to do next now that I know why this all happened. Vyachaslav didn’t just decide to invite me to a Santino function, and surely he didn’t decide to do so on the same day he told you that he wants me gone.” I tugged gently at my hair. “I can’t be that interesting or that much of a threat. Can I?”

Sascha grumbled lowly in acknowledgment, “In my honest opinion, Oppie… these guys are accustomed to power. They’re built on the assumption that their power is absolute. Having you, someone too good at your job, is as much a threat as it is an interest, I think. You’re equal parts an asset and a danger. Whether or not that’s a bad thing is up to you. Did Malda say why they wanted you to fix the issues they’re having with the guys in America?”

“I can guess. If Aleksander runs for Prime Minister and succeeds, having Santino as an established business partner will persuade the rest to cooperate. If Russia can get on America’s level under Aleksander, Carlyle Santino will essentially rule the world.” It sounded so stupid rolling off my tongue—ruling the world, a phrase exclusive to books and movies with bad plots and incompetent villains. “They’re in it for the long haul; I have no doubt at all that it was Santino who initiated the fix. He’s a psychopath, or close enough to it. What else did Vyachaslav say?”

“He brought up his wife and daughters…I mean, he basically talked around me, so whatever that’s worth…”

Lifting my head as Sascha trailed off, I frowned under furrowed brows.

Troubled lines deepened when he pursed his lips, his eyes flashing as they caught mine. “Did your mother ever cheat on your father?”

My breath caught against the loose lump forming in my throat and I pushed myself up to sit fully. “Probably. I know that once Martin was born, they stopped everything. Rumor has it my sisters aren’t my dad’s kids. That’s what Vyachaslav wanted to talk to you about? My parents’ whoring around?”Oh, I know where this is going.

My Sascha developed the most uncomfortable look now.

I reached to hold his hand. “Is this about Vyachaslav thinking I’m his daughter?”

Surprised, brown eyes widened at my declaration.

I puffed out my lips to hide my frown. Running my free hand through my hair, goosebumps blanketed my arms and legs.

“Do you know for certain you’re not?” he asked. “When did you find this out?”

The air became so heavy and thick, so it felt hard to breathe. Flopping onto my back once again, I stared up at the ceiling through glazed eyes. “I found out when I was, like, 13. My parents were arguing as usual, and my mom was crying about how their plan to get under the Patriarch’s skin didn’t work—how it was all my fault and blah, blah, blah… It didn’t take an extraordinary leap to figure out theirplan.” Curling my fingers as my lips twitched down, I blew out a heavy sigh.

Sascha stretched out beside me. Palming my abdomen, he tangled his legs with mine.

I went on, “My dad is my dad…Vyachaslav’s just a contributor. I suddenly knew why I felt so out of place, why I always felt like my family wasn’t my family. But Makovich isn’t a family at all. They’re abusing associations with particular leverage. Honestly… I never thought about it after that day. My dad even at his worst was a better dad than Vyachaslav. At least, I have one or two happy memories with him.”

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?” Sasha asked.

My brows rose a little at this, and I tilted my head at him.

Sascha propped his chin on his fist. “I was screwed all afternoon because of that shit, Oppie. I made one of my classes do silent reading, for Christ’s sake.”

“I just said why…I’ve literally never, ever thought about it again. I’m saying that like I was ignoring it, either. I’m not a Makovich. I don’t want to be a Makovich…and no one else wants me to be a Makovich. Vyachaslav coming to see you means he doesn’t want this getting out, and I have no intention of throwing myself into boiling water. Not to mention… this is the one thing where I know that I don’t want any more answers. Those people… I’m not one of them.” Even when my parents were alive, I never understood what they thought would happen. “Desperation breeds regret. I don’t want to regret learning more than I can’t unlearn.”

“How can you just sit on that knowledge, though, Ophelia?”

“Why does that tidbit of information matter so much?” Combatting his question with my own, I covered Sascha’s hand with mine. Tearing my eyes off him to gaze at the ceiling once again, I frowned. “Information only gains importance because of what actions can be taken on it. I never have and never will act on that information. As far as I’m concerned, Vyachaslav is worrying for nothing. Outing him means outing myself, and I’m sure as shitnotgiving Aleksander that power over me— not again.”

Sasha looked thoughtful. “You have a point. So, what do you think it all means?”

Rolling my bottom lip between my teeth, I let the silence stretch. I was missing something here… something I just couldn’t see. If Makovich did manage to get into America and stabilized the homeland, it’d change the balance of power in the world. To achieve that in the seemingly short timeline Aleksander had planned, he needed to centralizeeverything. The shadows and the light—there must be a delicate balance he was trying to find. “I don’t know… All I do know is that Vyachaslav taking a more active approach to this is worrying. For now, I’m going to just enjoy this lull. It’s obvious they want me to stop my investigation, so that’s what I’ll do.” Having answers wasn’t the goal I wanted my entire life to culminate to. I rolled onto my side to face Sascha. “Cherinivsky… Makovich… those aren’t the names I want behind mine.”