Page 38 of Dark Obsession

"Thank you," Luk replies.

As we make our way to the elevator, I feel the pull of the past rising, ready to come out. As the doors close behind us, I know that once I come clean, everything will change.

But there’s no turning back now.

The conference room is larger than I expected, with a view of the parking lot, the Chicago skyline in the distance. I step to the window, hands in my pockets, trying to gather my thoughts and find the right words.

Luk’s voice cuts through the silence. “Start with our past. Alexei’s new to the crew and he doesn’t know everything.”

I turn, meeting Luk’s eyes for a moment. There’s no escaping this. I take a deep breath and consider how to tell them everything that’s been going on in the last few years that I’ve kept secret.

It’s time.

“We all grew up together,” I begin, the memories hitting hard. “Ever since I was ten, we’ve been practically inseparable. I was an orphan, and your uncle, Marcel, brought me to Chicago. He had connections, knew my family in New York. So when they died, he made sure I was taken care of by your family.”

Luk nods, familiar with the beginning of the story. But no one knows the truth about the rest of it, not even him.

“I was raised an honorary Ivanov,” I continue. “Loyalty, family—it’s all I’ve known since I was a kid. I followed your father’s orders without question, no matter how bloody things got.”

The room is tense, everyone waiting for me to go deeper. But the next part is where things get messy. And I’m about to open a door that can’t ever be closed again.

“When I turned eighteen, I had a strong yearning to find out what really happened to my family.”

I take a deep breath, my eyes flicking to each of them. They’re all listening intently, hanging on every word, waiting to hear the story I’ve buried for years.

"The truth about what happened to them had always been murky. Marcel told me it was a tragic accident. That’s all I knew growing up. Nothing more, nothing less."

Alexei leans in, curious. Luk watches me, a stoic expression on his face. Lev and Yuri sit unmoving in their chairs.

"When I came of age, I couldn’t just leave it at that. I needed to know the truth. So, I went to New York. That’s when I found out who my father really was."

I pause, the memories of those days crashing back, vivid and brutal.

"I learned that my father wasn’t just some low-life crook. He was a drug dealer who ruled over parts of New York with an iron fist. He had power, respect… and enemies. It was a rival gang that took him out. They couldn’t just kill him, though—they slaughtered my entire family. My older brothers, my sisters… allof them. They left no one alive."

The room is deathly quiet now, their attention locked on me.

"I only survived because of Marcel. He knew what he was doing. Not only did he get me out of New York, he brought me into your family. He probably would’ve told you the truth himself, but he never got the chance.”

Luk’s eyes narrow slightly but he stays quiet, letting me speak.

“When he died in that car crash, he took the truth with him,” I continue, voice darkening. “By the time I figured it all out—what really happened to my family—I knew I couldn’t let it go. I couldn’t just sit back and accept it.”

I take a deep breath, but it doesn’t help. The tragic memories start crashing down.

“So I went back to New York a few years ago and I didn’t go to talk. I went there to settle the score.”

“Wait, was that when you told us you were going to find a long-lost cousin or something? You were gone for weeks,” Lev says.

“Yes. I lied, so you wouldn’t offer to follow and help me.”

A flash of the men I killed runs through my mind—face after face, every one of them burned into my memory. I was a different man then, one who cared about vengeance and nothing else.

“I left a bloodbath in my wake. Dozens of men—every last one connected to the gang that wiped out my family—I took them all down. I made sure they knew who I was, made sure they suffered.”

The room is silent, heavy with the weight of what I’ve just admitted. I let out a slow breath, the macabre scene still lingering in my mind.

“And that was only the beginning.”

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