Page 107 of Vendetta Crown

I never once saw her as a mother who loves her children.

Someone with the same fierce drive to protect Mikayla, Stella, and Sofia.

Could I have been wrong about her involvement in this? Was I ready to condemn her to death for a crime that she didn't commit?

On Gregor's words?

The thought makes my stomach turn.

"I may have done many things you despise me for, Ruslan," Tamara continues, her voice breaking. "But don't you ever think for a moment that I don't love my children. They are everything to me."

I'm still searching for words when Aurora steps forward.

"I believe you," she says softly to Tamara. "About loving your children."

I glance at my wife, surprised by her intervention.

Tamara wipes at her tears, smearing her makeup further.

"Thank you, and I'm sorry." She turns to look directly at Aurora. "For playing my role in exposing you."

"But how did you know?" she asks Tamara quietly. "How did you discover I was Jamie Fields?"

Tamara wipes at her smeared mascara with trembling fingers. She looks between us, seeming to gauge how much to reveal.

"A few days after Sienna Voss made her first post on Instagram about you and Ruslan at Nikoforov," Tamara begins, "Kristofer came to Los Angeles."

The name echoes in the air like poison. I feel Aurora's grip tighten on my hand.

"He was frighteningly efficient," Tamara continues. "Within days, he'd figured out that the entire Los Angeles underworld was looking into Aurora's background. He somehow pieced together who all the major players were—who controlled what territory, who had access to what information."

I do some quick math and realize that would've been the same week after I had ordered Artyom to look into Aurora.

My stomach drops.

I clench my jaw, hating that I might've played a part in this monster getting so close to Aurora. Hating that I might've inadvertently helped Kristofer find her.

"He came to my uncle directly," Tamara says. "Offered his services and said he could help expand my uncle's operations far into the Midwest. In exchange, he wanted help finding Jamie Fields."

Aurora's breathing accelerates beside me. I pull her closer, wishing I could shield her from these words, from this reality.

"My uncle accepted," Tamara continues. "Kristofer helped reveal who Aurora really was. He had photos, records... things only someone obsessed would have collected for years."

I can feel Aurora trembling against me, and what little control I had over my hatred for Kristofer slips away entirely.

"My uncle thought he could use Kristofer," Tamara says, her voice dropping. "But the moment Kristofer found out where Jamie Fields was..." She shakes her head. "I saw a look in his eyes that reminded me of my father at his worst. That's when I realized Kristofer was using Semyon, not the other way around."

"But that's not all of it," Aurora says, her voice steadier than I expected. "Sienna Voss told me you threatened her. She said that you would kill her if she didn't post that photo with my real name on Instagram."

Tamara doesn't flinch at the accusation. Her eyes drift to the floor as she nods.

"Yes." Her voice is barely audible. "I did do that."

My muscles tense at her confession. I want to lash out, to make her feel a fraction of the pain Aurora suffered because of that post, but Aurora's steady presence beside me holds me back.

"Why?" Aurora asks, the single word cutting through the silence.

Tamara looks up, her eyes hollow. "Because my uncle and Kristofer made an arrangement." She takes a shuddering breath. "He was going to betroth Mikayla to Kristofer once she inherited the Dragunov bratva."

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