Page 77 of Crown of Hate

By the time I finish, Mama is shaking with rage. I swear I can see the fumes pouring out from her ears.

“That bastard,” she seethes. “I had a chance to kill him years ago, after your papa died. I suspected him then, but I was afraid I might be wrong.” She pauses and inhales. “Your papa wasn’t agood man, but he loved us. He accepted us, and he loved Akim like a brother. And this is how that snake repays him.”

A horrible thought strikes me. “Do you think he killed Papa because of us?” Unless Akim had been greedy all along, maybe he killed Papa for revenge... But then why would he want to be Pakhan too?

Mama opens her mouth to respond, but I’m already on my feet. “Mama, I’ll be right back. I need to talk to Mikhail.”

I dart out of the room, sprinting down the stairs, mind whirling. I find Mikhail in the parking lot, about to climb into his SUV.

“Mikhail!” I call out, running towards him.

He turns, brow raised. “Alya?”

I skid to a stop in front of him, gasping for breath. “I need to tell you something…in private.”

He nods to Alexei and Semyon, and they take the signal, moving away. “What is it?” Mikhail asks, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“I think I have an idea why Akim is acting the way he is.” I pant, still trying to catch my breath. “He and my mother, they sort of had…”

“A relationship?”

My eyes widen. “How do you know?”

“Well, unless he forced himself on her, it’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?”

My forehead creases into a frown. “You could try to be less of an ass about it. No need to rub it in my face that I’m that monster’s daughter.”

He throws his hands up. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.”

I wave him off, the fight draining out of me as quickly as it came. “It’s fine. But listen, what if this is all about revenge? Hebelieved Papa took something from him, so now he wants to take everything Papa ever had?”

“That’s one way to look at it, but we can’t know for sure,” Mikhail says. “If he was that concerned about you and your mother, he would have tried to have a relationship with you after your papa died. Not use you like this.”

The truth of it stings, even though I know he’s right. I may hate Akim, but knowing he’s my father—that he knows and still doesn’t give a damn about me—it cuts deep. Even monsters like my papa had the capacity to love and protect me.

“Does it upset you?” Mikhail asks, his eyes narrowing as he scrutinizes my face.

I shrug. “I couldn’t care less.”

It’s a lie, and not even a convincing one, but I refuse to seem any more pathetic than I already do. Part of me feels resentful towards Mama, wants to scream at her for her mistake, but I understand her. And I also don’t want to blame her and risk making her health worse.

There’s just too much to process, and honestly, I wish I could just shut down my mind and pretend I never learned any of this.

Warm, rough hands cup my cheeks, bringing me back to the present.

“You hate this situation, don’t you?”

I open my mouth to lie again, but he presses a finger to my lips.

“Shh. Don’t lie to me.” He brushes a strand of hair away from my face. “Do you want him to be your father? I hate him, but I won’t kill him if you don’t want me to.”

Despite the tightness in my chest, I know with absolute certainty that as much as Akim doesn’t consider me his daughter, I will never consider him my father. He killed my papa, threatened my mama, and used me like a disposable chess piece.

I might feel a flicker of sadness for what could have been, but there’s not even an ounce of pity or softness towards that man. My gaze meets Mikhail’s, and I hold my head high. My answer is final, and there’s no part of me that wavers as I say, “I want him dead.”

24

MIKHAIL

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