Page 108 of Thorns of Love

Hatred flickered in her eyes, green as those of a poisonous snake, and she snickered.

“You killed my son, my real nephew,” she spat out. “Adrian was the son my sister loved.” Okay, that jab hit the spot, but I refused to let it show. “Why would I help you with anything?”

I offered her one of my coldest smiles. “Because you’ll want at least a fraction of your family’s legacy to carry on through my children.”

Her eyes widened. Harsh breathing and silence mixed with the dampness in the air, until her lips thinned.

“I hope she gets them,” she said, her eyes shooting poison at me. “And I hope she ends your children before they take their first breath.”

It took a fraction of a second to pull the trigger. The bullet hit her knee and her shriek echoed through the dungeon, traveling down the dungeon hallways.

I flicked a glance at Boris. “Patch up her knee. Just enough so she doesn’t bleed out on me. We’re far from done.”

Then I left her to think about her options while I went back to my wife.

But first I made a stop. I needed a stiff one.

I climbed the stairs two floors up and headed for the library. I had a fully stocked bar in there for emergencies. This was one of them. It was obvious my newfound aunt knew something about Adrian’s deal with Sofia Volkov. The question was how far I’d have to go to find out what that was.

The library used to be one of my favorite rooms when I was a kid. Ironically, I’d come here because my mother usually spent her time here. She said she loved the quiet here. So did I. The fire in the fireplace threw shadows over the room, and I didn’t bother with turning the lights on.

Heading straight for the mini bar, I pulled out a tumbler, threw in three jumbo-sized ice cubes and then poured myself some cognac.

“You willing to share some of that?” Vasili’s voice came from the corner of the room and my gaze found him. That was how much all this with the woman in my dungeon fucked with me. I could have been shot in the back of the head, and I’d never see it coming.

I fixed another identical tumbler and headed towards the couch, handed him the drink, then sat in the leather chair opposite him.

I took a big gulp, then let the brown liquid burn its way down my throat and my chest.

“That bad, huh?” Vasili questioned.

I took another gulp and swallowed it down. “It could be better.”

He nodded in understanding. “I’m guessing she wasn’t willing to share information.”

“Affirmative.” The ice rattled in my tumbler.

“Want me to take over?” he offered.

I shook my head. “No, you don’t need this family shitshow on you.”

Vasili chuckled. “Trust me, we’ve had plenty of our own family shitshows. Starting with my own mother.”

I nodded in understanding. Everyone knew Vasili’s mother was a slightly psychotic and excessively jealous bitch. She was willing to sacrifice a little boy for her vendetta.

“Did you know that Adrian was gathering up evidence against you too?” I asked him.

Vasili was too smart not to pick up on stuff like that.

His gaze, the same shade as Tatiana’s eyes met mine. “I suspected it. It was the reason I started to look into his company, but he beat me to it. He falsified Tatiana’s signature, had it all transferred to his name, and then the accident happened. I thought it didn’t matter after that. But here we are.”

“Here we are,” I agreed.

“Did you destroy the chip?” he asked.

I let out a sardonic breath. “Such a small thing wreaking so much havoc,” I remarked dryly.

“Did you see what’s on it?” he asked.