Page 130 of Sinful

I did. Children were heirs and ushered in whether they liked it or not.

“I wonder why it is that Nico hasn’t looked for you,” I said, frowning. Nicolai Reznokov was a monster. He was mostly situated on the west coast but had once had his fingers deep in Chicago. He’d pulled out suddenly, and now his name was simply whispered in terror. De Santis took over most of the city, and Ivanov took what was left. And us. We sat somewhere beneath it all, waiting. Watching. Plotting, apparently.

“Perhaps he has, and you simply do not know about it. Or maybe he’s smart to let me go. Waging war on the Underground seems a bad idea, don’t you think? Everett’s reach is far and wide.” He stared glumly at his hands before he let out a soft sniffle.

I sighed. He’d been in this fucking hole for too many years.

“I’d have gone back,” he said after a moment while wiping his eyes. He stared at me, so much sorrow on his face it made my skin crawl. I hated seeing sadness in people. It angered me. I had no idea why, so I didn’t spend a lot of time exploring the emotion.

“I-I have another child aside from Sirena and Cadence. I’d have gone back for all of them.”

I stared him down, knowing damn well Sirena and Cady had no idea they had another sibling.

“Who is the third?” I asked.

He looked away from me. “Why would I tell you? So you can trap her too?”

I let out a soft, dark laugh. “Sirena belongs to me. Trust me, it’s better than who she could belong to. I’m a walk in the fucking park compared to my father.”

He scowled at me, the fury still alive and well in his eyes as he gazed back at me.

“Do you torture her like your father tortures the people here?”

“No,” I answered evenly.

He crinkled his brows while surveying me. “You-youlovemy daughter?”

“I do,” I said. “And she loves me.”

He shook his head. “Impossible. Sirena is a sweet, innocent girl—”

“Sirena is an adult with a mind of her own. She chose me as much as I chose her. She is mine, and I am hers.”

“She would never. What did you do to her?”

“I did nothing she didn’t want,” I responded fiercely. “Now. Tell me who the other child is.”

He glared back at me. “I will tell you nothing.”

I sighed. “Listen, Anatoly, I’m not in the fucking mood. Get your shit done here. Fucking off to buy yourself some time won’t work. I’ll kill you without batting a lash. There are other mediocre hackers out there we can replace you with.”

He rose from his seat, his bottom lip trembling. “I want to leave here.”

“Then get the fucking job done,” I snarled at him.

“Everett will never let me leave. This is where I’ll die.”

He was right. I was certain that’s exactly what would happen to him. I also knew I couldn’t be aware of his whereabouts and let that happen to him. It would devastate my specter.

“I’ll ensure your freedom if you finish the job,” I said, my voice low.

He drew in a sharp breath. “What?”

“For my girl. I’ll let you out. She deserves to know why you did what you did. Why you left. And you’re going to tell her yourself.”

He nodded wordlessly.

“But I want to know the name of your other kid. Sirena and Cady deserve to know they have more family out there. If you die before you’re released, then it dies with you. You’ve already fucked their lives enough.”

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