Page 71 of Split

My chest tightens uncomfortably as I watch the faltering words fall from her lips. I’ve never experienced this strange,unpleasant twist of sympathy before for another human being. My emotions have always been an empty void, holding no place for compassion or concern. It’s why I was built for the Bratva. But withher…

Knox wasn’t wrong when he said she’s different.

That she fits with us.

Bothof us.

“When you mentioned the car accident, something you said didn’t add up,” I say, deliberately keeping my voice at a low, soothing decibel so as not to trigger her stress response. “How the car burst into flames before you hit the pole. You were quite insistent on it.”

“So?” she sniffles, jerking her gaze back up to mine.

“So, that would insinuate that itwasn’ta tragic accident,” Knox cuts in. “Tragic, yes, but accident, certainly not.”

I exchange a glance with my brother, a silent understanding passing between us. We’ve kept her in the dark for far too long. It’s finally time to bring her in on every sordid detail of what we’ve uncovered, and while it won’t be pleasant to hear, she deserves the truth.

My wife has proved her strength time and time again. She can handle this.

Eliza wipes her nose off on a wrist, her lower lip still quivering as her eyes flicker between the two of us. “What are you saying, that someone had my mother killed?”

“Yes,” Knox replies bluntly.

“Who?”

“Your father,” I say.

Her brows pinch inward as her plump lips purse in disbelief. “Why would he do that? He loved my mother, he…”

“Love has no place in this world, Eliza,” I remind her, that disturbing feeling of sympathy tightening my chest again. “Yourfather cared much more for your mother’s lineage than for her as a person.”

Eliza’s long lashes flutter as she blinks at me in confusion. “Her lineage?”

“The rank he currently holds in the Bratva, the one he inherited from her family line,” Knox explicates.

She shakes her head, wrinkling her nose. “I don’t understand.”

Of course this is confusing for her. It would be for anyone, to learn that everything they thought they knew has been a lie. Beating around the bush won’t make the truth any less difficult to swallow.

“I thought it strange that your father reached out to mine so soon after my ex-wife’s passing,” I murmur, swiping a hand over the rough stubble on my chin.I need a shave.“We’d heard that he already brokered a marriage deal with Ilya Belov, and speculation had been circulating about the circumstances of Alina’s death. I had to ask myself, why would a man who sheltered his daughter, who cherished her so much that he kept her protected her whole life, suddenly be willing to throw her to the wolves? To marry her off to a man he believed had murdered his previous wife? It didn’t make sense. The only explanation was that he wanted to rid himself of you, but I needed to knowwhy.”

Eliza slowly lowers the gun down to her side as she listens intently, hanging on my every word. My pretty little wife is nothing if not inquisitive.

“I’ve had my suspicions about Victor for a long time now, which is why I avoided doing business with him,” I continue. “But when he seemed so desperate to secure our union, I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to exploit his weakness. So, I directed my father to accept the proposal on my behalf. I figured my brother could have his fun with you while I waited to seewhether you’d betray any of your family’s secrets. When we found out you weren’t a virgin, it was apparent why the deal fell through with Belov, but it still didn’t explain why Victor would want you dead. Then you mentioned the car catching fire.”

“Once I started pulling at the first thread, Victor’s entire web of lies began to unravel. Back when your mother died, he refused to entertain the idea of foul play, insisting it was an accident. When I discovered it wasn’t, that pointed to him being responsible, but what would motivate a man to murder his wife? I followed the trail backwards, to the string of tragedies that struck your family within a short period of time. First your uncle, who had the misfortune of catching a stray bullet. Then your grandfather’s sudden passing a year after his son, leaving Victor as the male heir to his titles through marriage.”

“But my grandfather had a heart attack,” Eliza blurts, eyes popping wide like she’s shocked to have poked a hole in my theory.

“That’s what his death certificate stated,” I confirm. “But strangely enough, his autopsy report was missing from the file, and the coroner who prepared it also up and disappeared shortly after.” I glance over at my brother. “Knox has an affinity for tracking people down who don’t want to be found. He was able to get his hands on your grandfather’s toxicology screen, which confirmed the heart attack he suffered was the result of poisoning.” I swing my gaze back on Eliza. “After Knox put a little pressure on the coroner, he confessed to accepting a bribe from your father to forge the report and disappear.”

I can practically see the wheels turning in her pretty little head as she rolls her lower lip between her teeth, brow furrowing. “And my mother?” she asks tentatively.

“I’m guessing that your mother must’ve been curious like you,” I muse. “And when she uncovered the truth of Victor’s treachery, he was forced to rid himself of her or risk beingexposed. After you survived that accident, I’m sure he was nervous about what you remembered, but it was too risky for him to pull off yet another and hope to get away with it. So, he kept you close. Decided you’d have value in brokering an alliance through marriage someday.”

“Then why would he suddenly try to kill me now by sending Wesley?” Eliza questions, the pieces evidently still not quite adding up. “How would that benefit your alliance?”

“Because the last time we spoke, I told your father how well our marriage was going,” I admit, another foreign emotion taking root within me.Guilt,for putting her at risk.“I told him you’d been sharing stories about your childhood and remembering things about your mother’s accident. Him sending an assassin in response only further implicates his role in all of this. When he realized we weren’t going to do his dirty work for him and kill you off, he took matters into his own hands.”

Eliza just stands there for a moment, pale and shellshocked as my words slowly settle over her. Learning that her entire life has been a lie can’t be easy to process. F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote, “The loneliest moment in someone's life is when they are watching their whole world fall apart, and all they can do is stare blankly.”If the current state of my wife isn’t the personification of that quote, then I don’t know what is.

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