Page 130 of Cinder
He avoids answering the question.
“You both had to pay.Iam the rightful heir.Iam his first born.Ideserve the kingdom.”
I repeat, “Did you kill our father?”
His crazy eyes dart to me. “I didn’t kill our father. But I sure as fuck had fun making your life hell.”
I shift my attention to the irritated pakhan getting more restless across the room.
“How do you fit into this?”
I ask the question to Viktor.
But Luca answers. “When you have something someone else wants, it puts you in a very wonderful position. I didn’t need anything from the Bratva. But they needed something from me. So I thought, why not have a little fun?
“Which has dragged on,” Viktor mutters.
Luca ignores him and keeps his dark eyes trained on me. “They needed to run their guns and their girls down our coastline. I gave them permission.”
“In return for?” I ask.
“Torturing you.” His dark, soulless eyes remind me of a demon. “Creating impossible scenarios and watching you squirm.”
Another piece falls into place.
Despite already knowing the answer, I say, “There was no auction, was there?”
“My bad,” Luca says with an evil grin. “But it was very satisfying to watch you tremble in front of the camera thinking I was selling you to the highest bidder.”
More theatrics meant to humiliate me.
To scare me.
“You had already promised me to Viktor,” I whisper, as the picture becomes clearer.
“He wanted the alliance but felt iffy about the things I wanted in return. The auction to torture you. The quest to pressure you…”
“These games are such a waste of time,” Viktor grumbles.
“But they were important to me nonetheless,” Luca reminds him, then slides his cold black eyes back to me. “So I said to him, give me ten million, help me terrorize my bitch of a sister, and you can have your coastal routes.”
He sold me to Viktor for the coastal routes. But it wasn’t enough. He wanted Viktor to help torture me. “But why send me to the clubhouse?”
“The first night was a bit of fun. Create an impossible task. Watch you squirm. See you fail. But then you got yourself a job and handed me so many opportunities to torture you further.” His chuckle is cruel and maniacal. “It couldn’t have worked out any better for me. I knew I was going to enjoy it. You scrubbing kitchens and living in a filthy motel.”
I played right into his hands.
I turn to Viktor. “Why did you go along with this for so long?”
“My inside man was becoming unreliable,” Viktor says. “So when I heard you were going to work there, I told him I was sending in someone to watch him. Let him think you were a spy for me so he would step back into line.”
“You told your insider I was your spy?” That would make them wary of me. I think back over the last couple of weeks to see if I can remember who was standoffish toward me. Apart from Annika, no one comes to mind.
“It successfully brought him back into line,” Viktor says.
I drag in a rough breath.
I kept playing right into their hands.
