Page 93 of Wicked Heiress

“I can protect you from Fitzgerald,” my father said calmly. “You can’t trust him. Both of you need to come with me.”

Nerves shook through me as my father clutched my hand. His touch felt familiar but possessive as if he were afraid to let me go.

“Where are you taking us?” I asked him, keeping my voice low.

The few people we passed didn’t recognize my father, but they tipped their heads at me. I had been the center of attention all night. Cole and my father’s friend trailed behind us.

My dad turned a corner, shielding his face from the cameras as we passed them. “We need to hurry, kisa. This is time-sensitive. If given a chance, your grandfather will kill you. Just like his daughters.”

Fitzy was responsible for Bastian’s mother’s death. But why? What could he possibly have gained?

“I loved your mother,” my father said as we exited a door at the back of the house that led to a paved veranda. “You and she were my entire world and my reason for staying in the United States. I hope you don’t believe the Americans’ lies about me. I’m not who they say.”

“My cousin told me.”

“Bastian?” He cut through the backyard and slipped through a row of tall hedges. “Yes, I was accused of his parents’ murders.”

“My grandfather told me you’re a terrorist,” I bit out, even though I knew it wasn’t true. “That you killed people. He sent me away and changed my name because he feared you finding me.”

He shook his dark head of hair, his deep brown eyes meeting mine. “Another lie. I have nothing to do with The Lucaya Group. Never did. I was on the run for years and looking for you. I could never settle down, always watching over my shoulder.”

“Then why did The Knights and The Founders believe the lies?”

“Because it’s what Fitzgerald told them.” Papa’s Russian accent was thicker than I remembered. “He’s the most powerful man in the country. Everyone fears him. But your mother didn’t.” He smiled as he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “You look just like her. So beautiful. She would have been so proud of you, kisa.”

“Why did he kill my mom?”

“Because she defied him when she married me. He disapproved of our union. He knew I was lying about my identity, but your mother knew everything. I never hid the truth from her.”

“So you were a KGB agent?”

He bobbed his head to confirm. “Your mother was my mark. The Russian government sent me to the United States to get closer to her. They wanted me to learn her father’s secrets. The Knights and The Founders have access to valuable information.”

“Did she give it to you?”

He raised his broad shoulders, which filled out the black tailored suit. “Some things. But your mother knew little. Her father kept his secrets well guarded.”

“So instead of walking away, you stayed. You married her and had me.”

He bent down, so we were at eye level, a grin stretching the corners of his mouth. “Every moment of every day for the past thirteen years, I have thought about you.” His hand cupped my cheek. “About how you would look. What you would be like. How you would sound. I imagined you with your mother’s beauty and my resilience. You’re exactly as I had hoped, Katarina.”

“I go by Grace now.”

“I know.” He lowered his hand from my face with a sigh. “But you will always be my Katarina.” He tipped his head toward the thick hedges. “We have to get into the neighbor’s yard. Your grandfather has too much security on his property.”

Viktor made a path for me, parting the bushes. “I worked in intelligence for years,” he continued. “I learned things about your grandfather and The Founders. They killed your mother, took you from me, and tried to destroy my life because I knew about your grandfather’s plot to kill his eldest daughter.”

“Bastian’s mom?”

He nodded. “Fitzgerald paid The Lucaya Group to make the plane crash look like an accident.”

“So that part is true?” My mouth widened in horror. “Why would he kill Bastian’s mom?”

“Because she spent most of her trust fund to start Atlantic Airlines with Marcus Kincaid.”

Bastian’s father.

“Fitzgerald hated Marcus’s family. Your aunt went against your grandfather’s wishes when she married him. He considered her a great disappointment.”

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