My world crashed down two weeks after my uncleโs visit.
I was driving to work when I received a call from Ivan โrequestingโ I visit him ASAP. Heโd been suspiciously quiet since he was dethroned as CEO, but I knew why. I also knew why heโd asked for a visitโIโd been expecting it.
I called my assistant and told her to cancel the rest of my meetings for the day and made it to Philadelphia in two hours flat.
I slowed my steps as I walked up the stairs to my uncleโs office, sure he had cameras monitoring my every move since I pulled up to the estateโs gates.
I found him sitting behind his desk, watching his beloved Russian drama on the TV.
โHello, uncle.โ I leaned against the wall and stuffed my hands in my pockets, the picture of casual indifference.
Ivanโs eye twitched. โSo you finally made it, you little shit.โ
I suppressed a smile. My uncle rarely cursed; he must have been out of his mind with anger. I could see why; he looked horrible. I spotted a bald spot in his hair, as well as scaly red patches and a few nasty-looking pustular eruptions on his skin. His face looked haggard, his complexion wan.
For someone as vain as my uncle, the deterioration of his looks must be a living nightmare.
โIโll always make time to visit my favorite uncle.โ Myย onlyย uncle, though not for much longer. โYou donโt look so well. Stressed over losing your job?โ
A muscle ticked in his jaw. โYouโre handing the CEO position back to me.โ
I almost laughed out loud. โWhy would I do that?โ
โBecause.โ Ivan leaned back and laced his hands over his stomach. โI have something you want, and I have a feeling youโll do anything to get it backโincluding resigning from Archer Group, reinstating me as CEO, and wiring me fifty million dollars. For the emotional distress,โ he explained.
His mental facilities must be deteriorating faster than his physical appearance if he thought I would doย anyย of those things.
โSure you do,โ I said indulgently. โLetโs see what this magical โsomethingโ is first.โ
โDid I say โsomethingโ?โ Ivanโs eyes glowed with malice. โI meant โsomeone.โ Bring them in.โ He barked the last statement in Russian.
There was a scu๏ฌe outside the door, and my blood ran cold when a massive man in camo pants and dog tags entered, dragging two bound and gagged girls behind him.
Ava and Bridget.
They stared at me, fear stamped on every inch of their faces.
It took every ounce of willpower not to display a visible reaction.
โI see,โ I said in a bored voice. โSorry, Uncle, but I donโt see anythingโor anyoneโthat would make me consider giving you dogshit, much less fifty million dollars.โ
A small cut marred Avaโs face. Tears stained her cheeks, and she stared at me with wide eyes, her distress evident. Bruises marked her arms from where Camo grabbed her,
and I glimpsed red, chafed skin from where the rope dug into her wrists.
Ava. Hurt.
Wild, all-consuming anger erupted in my stomach until it filled every inch of my being.
I stared at Camo, and he stared back, smugness oozing from his ugly mug.
Not for much longer.
He was going to die today. Slowly. Painfully.
I was pleased to note he had several cuts and bruises of his own. Ava and Bridget had clearly put up a fight, but that didnโt matter.
Heโd dared touch what was mine, and for that, Iโd make him beg for something as sweet as death.
The guard Iโd hired to look after Ava in case my uncle pulled shit like this? He would die too for failing at his job.
Beside Ava, Bridget shifted, her face pale. The small movement prompted Camo to yank her arm in warning, but to her credit, she didnโt flinch. Instead, she glared at him, her gaze flinty.
The regal princess, even when kidnapped.
Speaking of which, where the fuck wasย herย bodyguard? Rhys was an ex-Navy SEAL. He should be more competent than the apparent moron Iโd hired.
I didnโt have time to dwell on that question. I shifted my attention back to my uncle, who wore a knowing smirk.
โYou canโt fool me, Alex,โ he said, his voice thin and reedy. โI saw the way you looked at her. Sheโs the reason you pulled your punches with the revenge plan. You love her. But will she love you after she finds out what you did?โ
A thick pressure circled my neck, squeezing. My breath quickened.
I knew what my uncle was doing. He was forcing me to confessโthe biggest lie Iโd ever told, the worst thing Iโd ever done. He wanted Ava to hate me.
And the worst part was, I had to do it. I would give her up if it meant saving her.
โThatโs where youโre wrong,โ I drawled, keeping my gaze locked on Ivanโs. โYou underestimate me, uncle. She was never more than a pawn in my game. Why do you think I pulled back after her father went to jail? She was useless to me after that. I admit, the sex was good.โ I shrugged. โThat was the only reason I didnโt cut her off entirely.โ
I saw Avaโs head jerk up out of the corner of my eye.
โSorry, Sunshine.โ I forced myself to inject a mocking lilt into her nickname. โThe catโs out of the bag, so I might as well tell you the whole story. The man I told you about, the one who murdered my parents? That was your fatherโwell, fake father. Michael Chen.โ
Avaโs eyes popped, and Bridget finally stirred, her sharp intake of breath audible even through her gag.
โI always knew.โ I pushed off the wall and walked toward her. Camo tensed and stepped in my direction, but Ivan waved him off with a delighted smile. He was enjoying this, that bastard. โYou think it was a coincidence that Josh and I were assigned to the same room our freshman year? A hefty bribe with the right person goes far, and thereโs no better way to destroy your enemy than from the inside. I played the โdead parentsโ card to gain his sympathy until he invited me over for the holidays, and while everyone was asleep, I snooped. I bugged your house, went through your fatherโs filesโฆfound lots of interesting information. Why do you think his business took so many hits over the years?โ
A tear rolled down Avaโs cheek, but I kept going.ย Iโm sorry, Sunshine.
โI dismantled his empire, piece by piece, and you and Josh had no clue.โ I uttered a soft laugh even as my chest burned. โThis year was going to be the grand finale. The year in which my plan to take down his company publicly and humiliatingly came together. But I needed one more piece of information, one more excuse to search through
his office. Then Joshโmy ticket into your house every Thanksgivingโannounced he was volunteering in Central America. Most inconvenient. I needed another in.โ I cupped her face with one hand, knowing this might be the last time I touched her. โThatโs where you enter the picture. Josh did most of the heavy lifting himself when he asked me to look after you, but I planted the idea of moving into his house. After all.โ I smiled, my heart slowly shredding itself apart. โItโs much easier to make you fall in love with me when you have to see me every day. And you did. It was so easy it was almost embarrassing. Sweet, trusting Ava, so eager to fix broken things. So desperate for love sheโd take it anywhere she could find it.โ
She shook her head, her chest heaving. Sheโd stopped crying, but her eyes burned with anger and betrayal.ย Thatโs my girl. Hate me. Donโt cry over me. Never cry over me. Iโm not worth it.
โThat night after Thanksgiving dinner? I found the information I was looking for,โ I said. โYour father got desperate over the years as his business crumbled, and he made a few bad deals with bad people. I had it all lined upโฆthe FBI bust, the media circus.โ I left out the part where Iโd planned to have Michael killed in prison. The jury was still out on whether Iโd pull that plug. โBut imagine my surprise when you regained your memories. It was like an early Christmas surprise. If I couldnโt nail him on the corporate stuff, I could nail him on attempted murder. And it worked. Exceptโฆโ I turned back to my uncle, whose eyes gleamed with malice. โI was wrong. It was never Michael. Was it, uncle?โ
Ivanโs lips stretched into a thin grin. He bore no resemblance to the man whoโd brought me into his house and treated me like his sonโor so I thought. It took years to build a relationship and a second to destroy one, and ours had been ruined beyond repair.
Donโt trust anyone, Alex.ย Itโs always the people you least expect whoโll stab you in the back.
โThatโs the beauty of it,โ he said, even as he winced. I reveled in the pleasure of that small movementโitโd been two weeks; he must be in serious pain by nowโeven as my heart tore itself apart at the way Ava looked like at me. Like she didnโt know me at all.
In some ways, she didnโt.
โMichaelย wasย one of your fatherโs business rivals when Anton started expanding into Maryland. Theyโd never gotten alongโAnton hated the way Michael conducted business, and Michael hated that anyone dared encroach on โhisโ territory. They eventually reached a truce, but Michael made an easy scapegoat. It didnโt take much to plant โevidenceโ that an impressionable teen like yourself would believe.โ Ivan coughed. โYouโre a smart kid, but your desire for vengeance blinded you. I always hated the man, anyway. He humiliated me once at a party your father invited him to as a โgesture of goodwillโโeven though I told Anton not toโand I wasnโt surprised to learn Michaelโs a psychopath as well.โ
โYouโre one to talk,โ I said coldly. My uncleย wouldย be deranged enough to hold on to a grudge over some slight at a party that happened decades ago.
Iโd gone to painstaking lengths to ensure Michael wouldnโt know of Ivanโs nor my connection with my father, because he wouldnโt exactly welcome the son of the man heโd murdered (or so I thought) into his home. Iโd changed our last names and erased any evidence that would tie us to Anton Dudik. My uncle and I had been born Ivan and Alex Dudik; we were now Ivan and Alex Volkov. I was lucky my uncle was so paranoidโthere were few public photos or traces of him before we started Archer Group, which made my job easier.
Apparently, that had all been for naught, since Michael had already met Ivan and knew of his connection to my
father. He hadnโt liked me, but he also hadnโt cared about having me in his house, because he wasnโt the murderer.
I couldnโt believe my uncle pulled the wool over my eyes for so long. I was supposed to be a genius. A master strategist. But Iโd fallen prey to the same failing as all other humansโbelieving the best of someone simply because they were there for you at your worst. He was my only living relative left, and Iโd let that color my perception of him.
Now, because of my fuckup, Ava was hurt.
My stomach clenched. I kept my gaze averted from her
โif I looked at her, I would lose it, and I couldnโt afford to lose it. Not with Camo pointing a gun at her and my uncleโs sharp eyes watching everything. He may be dying, but I wouldnโt underestimate him until he was six feet in the ground.
โI can say the same for you.โ Ivan winced again, though he tried to hide it. I hoped the bastard suffered until his last breath on earth. โYou, me, Michael. Weโre all cut from the same dark cloth. Weโre willing to do whatever it takes to achieve what we want. I knew it was smart taking you in,โ he said. โYou were so grateful, and I couldnโt let that intellect of yours go to waste. Weโve done well for ourselves, havenโt we?โ He swept an arm around his grand office.
โIย did well. You leeched off me like the parasite you are.โ Ivan clucked in disappointment. โIs that any way to speak to the man who kept you from being put into the
horridย foster system? Really, you should be more grateful.โ
He really was deranged. โNo wonder my mom wanted nothing to do with you,โ I said. โShe mustโve smelled the crazy from a mile away.โ
Ivanโs fake smile melted, and his face twitched with anger. โYour mother was a stupid whore,โ he spat. โI loved her, but she turned me downโme,ย the one whoโd been there for her long before she met your fatherโfor naรฏve,
soft-hearted Anton. I waited and waited for her to come to her senses, but she never did.โ He snorted. โWhen she told Anton about my letters, he stopped speaking to me. Wasnโt man enough to confront me face to face, but he ran his mouth to our mutual friends, all of whom cut me off too.โ His eyes shone with hatred. โNo oneย crosses me like that. He took what I loved from me, so I took what he loved from him.โ
โNot what. Who,โ I said through gritted teeth. โMy mother was not an object.โ
Ivan cackled. โOh, Alex, loveย didย make you soft after all.โ I clenched my jaw. โIโm not in love.โ
โThatโs not what a little birdie told me.โ A cough rattled in his lungs. โI had some interesting conversations with a pretty little blonde by the name of Madeline. She had a lot to say about how you reacted when she pushed poor Ava into a pool.โ
Fury sliced through me.ย Madeline.ย I didnโt know how she and my uncle met, but Ivan mustโve been tracking me longer than I thought.
Once again, I cursed myself for letting my guard slip.
By this time next month, Hauss Industries would be toast. Iโd make sure of it. Iโd already gathered the kindling after the pool incident; I just needed to set it on fire.
โAll you have to do is give me the money and position, sign a contract saying youโll never come after me or hold corporate office again, and Iโll let Ava and her little friend go,โ Ivan said. โItโs a simple trade.โ
I wondered if he knew Bridget was the Princess of Eldorra. If he did, he was an idiot for dragging her into this. If he didnโt, he was an idiot for not doing his research.
And if he thought Iโd believe he would let any of us go after he all but admitted to murder in front of us, he must thinkย Iย was an idiot.
I weighed my options. Ivan wouldnโt do anything to me, Ava, or Bridget until Iโd wired the money and given him
back his position, but that wouldnโt take long. He knew I had the board under my thumb. I could make him CEO again with one call.
โTo be clear, that wasnโt a request,โ Ivan said.
I smiled, the gears in my brain clicking into place. โSure. I can agree to your requestโโ My uncle smirked. โโor I can save your life. You choose.โ
The smirk disappeared. โWhat the hell are you talking about?โ
I stepped toward him. Camo raised his gun in warning, but Ivan waved him off, his rheumy eyes narrowing as I stared pointedly at his skin, his hair, and the way his hand shook with barely concealed pain.
Realization dawned. โHow?โ he growled.
My smile slashed across my face. โYou were quite thirsty after your drive to my house a few weeks ago.โ
โThe tea.โ Ivanโs face pinched. โI checked after the symptoms started showing. The doctors saidโโ
โThat you had Guillain-Barre disease?โ I sighed. โIt is unfortunate that the symptoms are so similar. But no, Iโm afraid itโs not Guillain-Barre.โ
โWhat did you do, you little shit?โ
A flash of movement behind Camoโvisible only from where I stoodโcaught my eye. I showed no reaction even as my mental calculations adjusted to account for the new development.
โYou can buy anything on the black market these days,โ I said, playing idly with the ugly monkey paperweight on the desk. โIncluding deadly poisons. The one currently destroying your system? Quite similar to thallium. Itโs odorless, tasteless, colorless. Hard to identify because itโs so rare, and its symptoms often point to a range of other illnesses. But unlike thallium, it has no widely known antidote. Luckily for you, Uncle, thereย isย a secret antidoteโ and I have a vial stashed away.โ
My uncle trembled with rage. โHow do I know youโre not lying?โ
I shrugged. โGuess youโll have to trust me.โ
Three things happened at once. Ava threw herself at a distracted Camo and knocked the gun out of his hand, Bridgetโs bodyguard tackled Camo from behind and caught him in a chokehold, and I whipped out the gun hidden in the shoulder holster beneath my coat and pointed it at my uncle. I used my other hand to send a quick, one-number message on my phone without taking my eyes off Ivan.
โStop!โ he shouted.
Everyone froze until we resembled a grotesque comedic tableauโRhys with one arm around Camoโs neck and the other pressing a gun to his temple; Ava and Bridget wriggling out of their restraints, me ready to shoot my uncle point-blank in the chest.
โAlex.โ Ivan let out a nervous chuckle. โMy dear nephew, is this necessary? We are, after all, family.โ
โNo, weโre not. You murdered my family.โ I cocked my gun, and he paled. โAva, Bridget, leave the room.โ
They didnโt move.
โNow.โ
Camo hadnโt tied their legs, so they could scramble out of the room even though their hands were still bound.
โThink of all the good times we had together,โ my uncle coaxed, his affable mask falling back into place. โWhen I took you to your first Krav Maga lesson, when we visited Kiev for your sixteenth birthโโ
The shot rang out loud and clear over his pleas.
Ivan froze, his mouth hanging open in shock. A crimson stain bloomed across his chest.
โUnfortunately for you, Iโm not someone who waxes poetic before I pull the trigger,โ I said. I felt no hint of remorse for the man whoโd raised me. He was a murderer and a liar. I was too, but Iโd resigned myself to hell a long
time ago. โYouโll die today, looking as ugly on the outside as you are on the inside.โ
โYou ungratefulโโ
A second shot rang out. His body jerked. โThat was for my mother. The first was for my father. Thisโโ A third shot. โIs for Nina. For Ava. For Bridget. And thisโโ I cocked my gun for the last time. โIs for me.โ I fired the bullet straight between his eyes.
My uncle was long dead by this point, his body riddled with holes and his feet steeped in a glistening pool of blood, but my words, like my bullets, werenโt for him. They were for me, my own fucked-up version of closure.
I turned to Camo, whose complexion now resembled the color of chalk. Rhys still had him pinned to the ground.
I picked Camoโs gun up from the floor and examined it. โYou can let him go,โ I told Rhys. โHeโs mine.โ
To his credit, the bodyguard didnโt even blink. Heโd maintained the same stoic expression from the moment he entered the room. I had a feeling the man wouldnโt blink an eye even if aliens in silver tutus poofed into existence before him and started dancing the Macarena.
โYou sure?โ He dug his gun harder into Camoโs temple. โIโm sure. Your princess is waiting for youโโ My mouth
formed a half-smirk. โSo let me take care of the trash.โ I pointed my gun at Camo while holding the second weapon in my other hand.
Rhys pulled back, keeping his gun aimed at Camo but his gaze on me.
Smart man.
I could tell he wanted to fuck up Camo himself, but Bridget was his priority, and a bodyguardโs mandate was cover and evacuation, not combat.
The second he disappeared, I fired two shots into Camoโs kneecapsโnot to kill, merely to hobble him while I went to work. I ignored his pained screams as I locked the door.
โYou made a mistake today,โ I said conversationally, kneeling next to him. Images of Avaโs bruises and terrified face flashed through my mind, and my expression hardened. โYou touched what was mineโโ I pulled a wicked-looking knife from my boot. Camoโs eyes popped in terror. โYou hurt what was mineโโ The smell of urine filled the air as he pissed himself. For such a tough-looking dude, he scared easily. My lips curled in distaste. โAnd now, itโs time to pay. Donโt worry.โ I pulled his shirt up and dug the tip of the blade into his abdomen. โIโll make it slow and sweet.โ
If Ava and Bridget had already called the policeโwhich I was sure they hadโI only had precious minutes before they arrived. But with a few handy tools and creativity? One could make a minute feel like an eternity.
We didnโt pass the ten-second mark before Camoโs screams started again.
