Page 52 of Twisted Obsession
Fixing my gaze on Kumar, I demanded answers, my voice barely a whisper. “Why? Why would my father do this?”
“He discovered she was having an affair. He learned that his little Ana wasn’t his own. It shattered him, turned his heartto stone,” Kumar confessed, shaking his head, regret etched into every line of his face. “I tried to intervene, but he wouldn’t listen. That was when he exiled me to the motherland on assignment. I was loyal to him, so I went. When I came back Ivan convinced me it was your fault your mother and Ana died, that you needed to pay. He had proof that you were responsible for Viktor’s death, and that you had no right to bePakhan.”
“Proof. What proof?” I demanded, my voice a growl in the oppressive silence.
“A confession signed by your father.”
It felt like I was suffocating. Every belief I held about my father and the circumstances surrounding his death crumbled before me. Doubt clouded my mind, leaving me uncertain about what and who to trust anymore. My father’s signed confession my uncle claimed he had was nothing more than a fabricated tale. On the night he died, I was far away, nowhere near him. Instead, he was engaged in a clandestine meeting with Andrei. That night, Andrei promised Lara to my father to settle his mounting debts. Everything about that night hung heavily in the air, altering everything I thought I knew.
“Did my uncle order the hits on my warehouses?” I seethed, repulsed by so much deceit.
“I can’t tell you. My loyalty is to the Bratva,” Kumar replied, his voice tinged with defiance.
“I am yourPakhan. Your loyalty is to me,” I cursed, frustration and betrayal mingling in my words.
“Not anymore. The members have banished you asPakhan. They will inaugurate Ivan to take your place,” he revealed, the finality of his words like a knife twisting in my gut.
BANG!
Over my dead body. No way in hell would I let Ivan get away with this. I just found another bad grape in the vine. And I was going to get rid of every last one of them, even if I had to tear down the goddamn orchard to do it.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Lara
Don’t let this man get to you, Lara.As I held the tiny tracker in my hand, the feelings Dmitri left me with confused me. Was I starting to fall for him? Even now I could still feel my heartbeat pounding like it was going to come right out of my chest. Every time he kissed me, it felt like my soul left my body and my heart nearly jumped out of my chest and I could barely breathe.
Was this what love felt like?
Had I fallen for a man I should hate?
Hate.
It seemed so easy to hate him, but now whenever I looked at him, something inside wanted him to hold me and never let me go. I wasn’t sure anymore what I was supposed to feel.
Placing the small Band-Aid over the cut on my neck, I looked at myself in the mirror and convinced myself that I was his prisoner and nothing more.
My stomach began to feel queasy and I could feel bile rising in my throat. Without warning, I clasped my hand over my mouth and hurried to the toilet. The contents from lunch spilled inside the porcelain bowl until there was nothing left. The sight of blood never had this kind of effect on me, but then again, I never had to dig a tracker out of my neck either.
I walked back over to the sink and grabbed the bottle of mouthwash and swished inside my mouth before spitting it out. Even though I feel somewhat better, my stomach was still a little unsettled. I took one last look at the Band-Aid covering my incision and felt satisfied that my hair covered it completely.
After cleaning the small tracker, I walked back to the bedroom and looked around for a good place where I could hide it. Tomorrow night was the gala and I would be free. There would be no reason for Dmitri to track me inside the mansion, so I decided to hide the tracker along with the letter opener in the closet in one of the dresses with a pocket. Tomorrow, when Dmitri left the mansion, I would return the letter opener to his study.
When I emerged from the closet, Dmitri stood in front of me covered in blood. His eyes met mine, and I thought for a second he had caught me, but then he stepped past me.
“I’m going to shower.” Dmitri threw his suit coat on the bed and stepped past me.
My gazed followed him as he stripped out of his shirt and threw it in the hamper. His muscles flexed, and it was as thoughthe tattoos along his upper back and arms came to life. I hadn’t noticed how beautiful they really were, like each one was telling a story. Like the two angels covering most of his back with blood dripping from their spread wings. Then I remembered what he had told me about his mother and his sister. It was a memorial for them.
“You’re welcome to join me,kukolka.” Dmitri’s voice broke me from my fixation on his body.
Blushing, I met his mischievous grin. “I’m good.”
I had turned on my heels to leave the bedroom before I embarrassed myself further when he shot back another command.
“I have arranged for a special dinner for us on the patio. Wear something nice.”
~***~
