Page 30 of Sinful Lies

“We know better than to trust anyone. We all knowfirsthand that people can be bought. Who’s to say Frederik isn’t working for Igor himself?”

Mikhail gets to his feet and walking over to the bar cart. “That makes no sense, Dimitri. You’re being delusional.”

“I’m being delusional?” I round on my brother, grabbing him by the shirt and slamming him against the wall.

Mikhail grunts, but I don’t make a move to loosen my grip. “Listen to yourself. Alexei tells you our father cheated on our mother with the wife of one of the most powerful men in Russia, and you just roll over and accept it? I swear to fucking god, Mikhail, he could tell you the sky is fucking green, and you’d accept it for truth.”

“Fuck you.” Mikhail slams his hands into my chest. “You’re not any better.”

“You understand what Alexei is saying, right?” I release my hold on him.

“Oh, I heard him perfectly. And I’m saying I’m not fucking surprised.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’m saying that people have affairs all the time.”

“Not our parents.” My hands curl into fists. “Not ourfather.”

“That’senough!” Alexei gets to his feet. “This is exactly why I didn’t fucking tell you.”

Danil looks at Alexei. “How long have you known?”

We all turn to look at our youngest brother, whose face has drained of color.

“Alexei.”

Guilt flashes across Alexei’s face as he looks down at Danil.

“Frederik confirmed it on the day of Bianca’s baby shower.”

Danil shakes his head. “Fuck.”

My stomach feels like lead.

Mikhail points a finger at Alexei. “You’ve known all this time, and you didn’t fucking say anything?”

“No, I didn’t, because it never seemed to be a good time to tell you that the man we all looked up to, the man weidolized, was an adulterer.”

I throw my arms in the air. “You didn’t need to tell us. They’re dead, Alexei. They’re dead…”

I sink down into an armchair and bury my face in my hands.

Alexei’s eyes are wide. “You’d rather not know?”

“What fucking difference does it make?”

“It makes all the difference!” Alexei slams his fist on his desk. “It might be easier to believe the lie that our parents had the perfect marriage, but the truth always comes out in the end, Dimitri. Always.”

I don’t miss the knowing look he gives me, but I don’t have any fight left in me to push back. In the space of a few minutes, my brother has shattered the memories of our parents that I cherished. Was it all a lie? Were they simply acting the part of the perfect couple, playing us all for fools?

I swallow the bile in my throat as I consider the fact that it might be true.

Mikhail’s voice cuts through the heavy silence. “Does Igor know?”

“Yes.”

“Fuck.”

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