Page 36 of The Bratva's Hostage

“Did you kill Marco just so you could take over someday?” I shouted at him, willing away the tears at the sting of his betrayal. Now was not the time to allow my personal feelings to get in the way of this.

Uncle Lucas had always been a calculative man and any sign of weakness I showed would be used against me.

Lucas sighed, rubbing at the side of his nose with his free hand. “What does it matter anyway?” he asked suddenly.

“Your father should’ve never been the head of our organization. He was weak and so easily manipulated but I let it go, choosing to bide my time until he died so I could take over and lead the Moretti family to be the largest mafia family ever. We would no longer have to share the spotlight with those stupid Russians.

But your father was not done proving just how little he knew about being a leader. Not only had he weakened us, but he also wanted to bring in his bastard son to rule over our great family. That would’ve been the biggest insult to our family. So, I did what needed to be done and saved us from certain ruin,” he screamed, spittle landing on his desk from his passionate outburst.

I took a step back, shuddering. How hadn’t I seen the madness in his eyes until now? He had done an excellent job of hiding it from us.

“So no, my dear niece. Vadim Koslov doesn’t exist. It was a made-up name to stop you and your father from asking questions. I killed Marco because he was unfit to be the leader. I was happy when you were kidnapped by the Russians and forced to get married. In a way, I’d hoped you’d slip up and get killed, at least that would put an end to your nosiness.”

I gasped. All this time I had been thinking about him, wondering how he was coping with the guilt of losing me to the Russians while his brother, my father, lay unconscious in bed, but he didn't care about any of us, thinking only of himself and rejoicing in all the misfortune that befell us.

“How could you do this to us? We’re your family,” I said sadly. It seemed like every day I lost someone important to me. Only this time I didn’t lose anyone through death or sudden heart attack, but through greed.

“How do you think Dad will feel when he wakes up and sees all this? Do you think you can look him in the eye and say that you are responsible for everything?”

Lucas laughed, the sound booming through the room. “Listen, girl. You need not worry about my conscience. I killed your brother and in all that time I've never been too worried to look my brother in the eye, so why do you think I’d be now? Besides, your father won't wake up,” he said with barely concealed glee.

“What?” I blinked, the sinking feeling in my gut spreading.

“Yes, my dear, I see it has finally clicked. It's taken you long enough. I'm the reason your father is in hospital. I messed up his medication, which is why he ended up there. After your annoying obsession with finding out who murdered your brother, I knew I had to be more careful this time,” he waved his gun around, his eyes locked on me as he spoke.

“Then it occurred to me. Why should I kill him and lure you onto my trail like a pesky puppy dog when I can medically present it as a mistake or a health complication?”

I gasped and he cackled. “You see now that you’ve been on a wild goose chase, hunting a ghost, a mere fabrication in my plot to get rid of your family for good. You’re lucky, you know. I planned to get rid of you too but after the Russians took you, I thought, why not let him have her? She will rot with him, forever unable to solve the case of her dead bastard of a brother and mourning the loss of her father.”

He looked me up and down. “You don’t look like you’ve been rotting, dear. But it doesn’t matter, I’ll take care of it now. Don’t worry, your father will follow soon enough, and then all three of you can rot in hell together.”

I screamed, unable to hold back the anger fuelling my rage. “I’ll fucking kill you.”

His eyes widened and he cocked his gun just as I shot at him twice. He dodged the bullets responding with shots of his own.

“I will avenge my brother and father, Lucas. You’ll be the one to die,” I screamed at him, shooting at him once again.

I groaned in frustration as he dodged the bullets with a speed, I didn’t realize he had. I’d underestimated him.

Sounds of footsteps outside the door distracted me from my shoot-off with my uncle and I looked to see the bodyguards walking in, their guns pointed and ready to fire. I raised my gun in surrender, ready to tell them what happened when Lucas spoke up.

“Thank God you got here just in time before she killed me,” he said, and his voice and demeanor were very different from just a few moments ago. “Take her away. She betrayed us and has become part of the Russian mafia since she married that bastard.”

His accusations didn’t hurt as much as his next words. “Your father would die if he heard of the atrocities you’ve committed.

Although I knew he was trying to goad me into action, I charged at him, my gun raised and pointed at his head when the sounds of guns cocking all around stopped me in my tracks.

My eyes spread open in shock. I never thought I would see the day when my father’s men pointed their ammunition at me and defended the man who had betrayed his family.

“Don’t listen to him. He’s a traitor to our organization. He killed Marco and he is trying to kill Don Armando. You should arrest him!” I screamed at them.

Eyes glared at me with disgust and my steps faltered as I realized what power he had over them. They were loyal to him, the man who was always there to make sure things continued to go well for the Moretti family, and to them I was the traitor.

I was the traitor who, instead of holding out, had married their rival mafia leader while my father lay unconscious in bed. They had never forgiven me for that and never would until I had a chance to prove to them that Lucas was indeed the traitor they refused to believe.

In a last-ditch effort, I tried again, appealing to their conscience. “Please, you must believe me. Lucas is not who you think he is. He is deceitful and will betray every single one of you. He doesn’t care about the clan. He just wanted to be the Don to line his pockets and have the power to do anything he wanted. You cannot believe that I would betray my father just like that. I only married into the Russian family to protect us all from the war we would face if I hadn’t.”

Their faces soured like I had insulted them with my truth and Lucas scoffed, pulling the attention back to himself.

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