Page 68 of Lethal Alliance

“And you actually believed all this?” I’m incredulous. “You honestly thought you were such a fucking prize that VilnusOrlovwould offer you a job? More to the point, was that all it took for you to betray your entire family? To betray Mikhail’s legacy and everything your father built?”

“You kept secrets from me!” The words explode from Nikolai, and for the first time, I catch a glimpse of real anger. “Lance Ryder told me all about you. About how your father was the one who built the Petrovsky vault. I didn’t believe him at first. I even asked you outright, that day at the parade. You could have told me the truth then, but you didn’t. Orlov believed it, though. I met him with Miguel when I was in Miami with Cádiz FC. He does business with the Colombians that invested in Cádiz. That was when he offered to help Inger and me.” His face turns petulant. “Orlov said that if Ryder’s stories were true, you’d used our name to hide, to build a legacy for yourself, while all this time, you’ve been plotting to open that vault and take what’s inside it. He said you betrayed our family, used our resources to start whatever the fuck it is you’re doing up in that research facility.” Nicky gives me a look I imagine he thinks is cunning. “Orlov plans to steal whatever you’ve got going on up there as well, you know. I heard him talking to Inger about it.”

Dimitry makes a hard noise, takes his gun out, but I shake my head. Let Nicky talk. The more the dumb fuck says, the better, as far as I’m concerned.

“He said you and Darya Petrovsky are working together.” Nikolai throws the words at me as if I’m going to actually explain myself to him. “What I want to know is if that’s why my brother died, too. Did Mikhail work out what your game was, Roman? Was it you who planted that bomb in his car? Was that bullet you took for Mikhail even real? Or did you set that up too, just so you could win my father’s favor and steal from us?”

I’m too fucking flabbergasted to do anything other than stare at him in silence. Nikolai’s chest is heaving, his eyes flashing with pain and rage.

“You caused all of this,” he says. He spits again, his eyes not leaving mine. “Ofelia and Masha were kidnapped because Orlov wants you and Darya to open that vault. I was beaten almost to death just to send you a message, and the woman I love is probably being raped at this minute, all because of your greed. You stand there and accuse me of endangering the children as if you’re some kind of hero, like you follow some fucking code of honor that makes you better than everyone else. But the truth is that if you want someone to blame for what’s happened, Roman, you should look in the fucking mirror.”

His rasping breath is the only audible sound in the silence that follows his diatribe. His face is a picture of disconsolate anger, like a toddler after a tantrum.

A huge part of me wants to simply kill him and be done with it.

But another part of me knows Nikolai is right.

Not about everything, obviously. His accusations about Mikhail are next-level fantasy. But the part about this being my fault?

Yeah.

Yeah, that’s fair.

Not that it’s going to stop me from killing him.

I slow clap. “Looks like you’ve got it all figured out, Nikolai.”

He scowls and spits on the floor.

“So I guess you want in on the vault, huh, Nicky? And the research facility?”

He eyes me suspiciously. “I think I deserve that much, after everything that’s happened.”

“Sure.” I nod like I’m actually agreeing, then hold up a finger. “Just one last question. You’re doing good, Nicky.”

Dumb fuck actually looks relieved, as if he genuinely believes he’s going to walk out of here alive.

“Did Orlov ask you about the research facility? Did Alexei?”

“Seriously?” He looks at me incredulously. “Even now,that’sthe shit you care about? Of course Orlov asked about it. He asked on that first day, when we were in the compound. But it’s not like I had anything to tell him. It’s not like you’ve ever taken me up there, is it?”

There’s no faking the indignation in his face. Nikolai truly has no idea about Mercura, it’s obvious.

“And there isn’t anything else you’ve left out of this story? Nothing more you can tell me about the compound that might help us get the girls back?”

“No.” His face sinks back into sullen petulance. “I’ve told you everything I know.” It’s the whiny voice again, Nicky the victim, and it does my head in. “I want to talk to my father. I’m not your lackey, Roman. I’m Yuri Stevanovsky’s son, his true heir. I bled in that room. I nearly fucking died. And then you bring me in here and beat me all over again. My father is going to finish you when he finds out what you’ve done.”

That’s it.

Whatever final hesitation was holding me back, whatever faint sense of guilt or family allegiance I might have felt, slips away.

I cross the floor in three paces. Squatting down, I use my gun to tilt Nikolai’s chin up so he’s facing me. “Tell me, Nicky,” I say in a conversational tone. “When did you first fuck your brother’s wife?”

His eyes shift left and right, searching for an escape that’s never going to happen. He licks his lips nervously. “I was fifteen,” he says finally.

“Fifteen!” I tilt my head in mock respect. “How did a fifteen-year-old pimply little fuck get Inger’s legs open?”

He visibly squirms. “I caught her,” he mutters eventually. “Sleeping with the pool boy. I promised her I wouldn’t tell Mikhail about it—”

---