Page 77 of Skin Deep

Tatty, however, saw right through me. She stepped back with a frown. “I’ll make us some tea and we can talk.”

“The girls okay?” Pax asked.

Tatty nodded. “They’re upstairs asleep.”

Pax nodded and headed for the stairs to check on them while Tatty and I went into the kitchen. My kettle was already on the stovetop from wherever she’d dug it out of. She took it and filled it at the sink while I sank into a chair at the table. “Tell me what’s troubling you,solnyshko? Did you not get the information you were hoping for?”

I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to decide the most delicate way to approach the subject. “Did you know?”

“About what?”

“The coup. Sergei being the ripper, and my half-brother. All of it.”

Tatty froze, her shoulders stiffening. She lifted her head and stared out the kitchen window. It was all the confirmation I needed. Of course she knew.

My fingers curled into fists. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Tatty put the kettle on and came to join me at the table, taking my hand in hers. “I wanted to tell you, Warrick. When you brought the ripper case to the table, I almost did, but I thought if I told you everything, it would only drive you further away, and you’ve already been so distant.”

I pulled my hand away. “You’ve known all this time it was Sergei and said nothing.”

“I suspected, but neither I nor your father knew for certain it was him. You must understand that our positions within the organization mean that our hands were tied. Especially mine. What would happen if a woman came forward with such accusations? I’d be the jealous wife. Nothing more than a vengeful bitch out to make her husband’s illegitimate son look bad. It would be worse for me. As for your father…” She sighed and folded her hands in her lap.

“Why?” I demanded. For some reason, that hurt more than anything else, knowing that Sergei had access to my father all those years while I had been sent away and ignored. “Why does he even exist? Why was I sent away while he kept Sergei close? Help me understand.”

She closed her eyes and lowered her head. “I have never had a problem sharing your father with Yuri, but the others… Someone saw your father and Yuri together. Accusations were made, accusations that we all vehemently denied. But you should know that a denial is not good enough. Nikita had to prove to Simeon that he wasn’t gay.” She looked away, saying nothing.

I saw her struggling and stood, going to the cabinet to retrieve the vodka and two glasses, pouring one for each of us. The burn would help with the bitter news.

Tatty took the glass and downed the drink, making a face before putting it down. “He was made to fuck one of Simeon’s whores while a whole group of them watched. It could have been me, but your father… He didn’t want to subject me to any of that. He kept me out of it, kept it secret until many months later when I found him drunk in his office. It was then he gave me the story and the news that Sergei was to be born.”

“And you believed him?” I said bitterly.

“Yes.” Tatty’s head shot up and she glared at me. “You’ve met your grandfather, Warrick. You know how he is, how hateful he is. Even if that were not true, I saw the pain, the misery, the shame in him. A man who begged for nothing begged for my forgiveness, and I gave it. I thought that would be the end of it, that we would never speak of the boy again and he would be a forgotten child. But that was not how it went. Even when I didn’t want him to, Nikita tried to do right by Sergei and his mother, sent money, made sure Sergei got into good schools, even let him play with you. Are you going to drink that?” She gestured to the second glass of vodka.

I shook my head and slid it to her.

She swallowed the shot and took up the bottle, pouring another. “When talk began of toughening you up, training you to accept your eventual place, we knew something had to be done. You were sent away to live with the Laskins. It was to protect you, to get you as far from Simeon as we could without arousing suspicions. Simeon was furious. They fought for years about it, often violently. Your father bears the scars of those years on his flesh and soul, Warrick. You have no idea the price he paid to keep you from this life.”

“Why only me and not Sergei, too?” I asked angrily. “If Sergei was his son, why not send us both away?”

“Because Sergei’s mother would not part with him. Irini doted on that boy, gave him everything. He could do no wrong in her eyes. She wanted him to become Simeon’s favorite, groomed him to be the monster he became. And she paid the price.” Tatty’s blue eyes watered. “She was Sergei’s first victim. He killed her. Carved her into pieces the first time she dared to tell him no, Warrick. There wasn’t enough left of her face to leave the casket open. That’s when we knew, Warrick. We went to Simeon to tell him something had to be done, but instead of reprimanding him, Simeonrewardedhim. Promoted him. We have been planning to make a move ever since. This coup, it is years in the making. We were waiting for an opening, one you provided when you brought the case to the table.”

I stared at her, trying to process everything she was saying. They’d known all along that it was Sergei who had attacked Pax’s wife, that it was his fault Charlie and Scarlett were without a mother. They’d known from the start that I was putting them in Simeon’s crosshairs, known how dangerous this job truly was.

And no one had told me.

“You used me,” I said, disgusted. “You and Nikita used me! You put those girls in danger!”

“We did no such thing,” she said firmly. “You were the one that brought Paxton and his daughters into this. That was your choice. I asked you at the beginning if you were certain that was the right thing to do, advised you it would affect many lives. You made the choice, Warrick. Not me.”

I looked away, staring at the floor, knowing she was right. If I had known the truth from the beginning, what would I have changed? Nothing I could have said would have talked Pax out of it. He was hellbent on avenging Maya’s death, and I wanted to help him.

Tatty gripped my chin gently and turned my face back to her. “My little sun,” she purred in Russian. “Don’t be so consumed by anger that you can no longer see the good that’s come from this. Once this is done, you will be free to love who you wish. All of us will be.”

I pulled away. “All we need to do is give more power to Nikita.”

“Don’t look at it like that. It isn’t about power for your father. It’s never been about that.”

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