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“What?” I ask.
“Ask the question.”
My father is goading me the same way he does his business partners when he thinks he has the upper hand. “Are you serious?” I hiss down the phone.
“You will want to hear the answer, trust me.”
“Trust you? After you tried to have me killed?” Yeah, not likely.
“It was rather inconvenient that your husband got in the way. From what I hear he’s still with us. Pity.”
My irritation at my father’s blatant hatred for Theo grates on me. Especially after he agreed to a ceasefire.
“Is there a reason for your call?”
“Oh yes, there is.”
Silence on the other side of the line tells me my father is waiting for me to ask the question before he will answer me. Eventually, I cave.
“Fine. Why are you calling?”
My father chuckles. It is a deep sadistic sound. “I understand your cousin, Natalya, was at your wedding.”
“And?”
“You know just as well as I do that classifies as a betrayal to the organization,” he states.
“Do you have a point you’re getting to?”
“You should know we don’t tolerate any form of betrayal.”
There is some muffled talking in the background, as if my father has covered the mouthpiece before I hear a woman scream in agony. “You hear that, Katherine? That is justice being served.”
Is that? It can’t be. Have they got Natalya? How is that possible? Natalya and her family are supposed to have constant protection. Theo made sure of that. How would they have gotten to her? Unless …
A numbness spreads through my limbs. We have been at the safe house ever since the night Theo got shot. I have not had any contact with the outside world, and Gavriil has not discussed anything that is going on with me. For all I know, they could have called the men back because of what happened to Theo to add to our protection. That would have left Natalya without protection. And ripe for the taking by my father.
Another scream filters through the phone. “Are you listening, Katherine? Do you hear your cousin pleading for her life?”
I choke back the bile rising in my throat. “Why are you doing this? What did Natalya ever do to you? She’s not even part of the organization.”
My father scoffs. “She betrayed her own blood. She deserves everything she gets. Besides, as I told you before, I want what is mine.”
My father is referring to me. In his mind, I am still his property, regardless of who I am wed to.
“It’s not that simple, and you know it.”
“Sure, it is,” he drawls. “I propose a trade. You, for your cousin.”
I rub at my temples. “I can’t do that.”
“Of course, you can. You are the wife of the head of the Bratva, after all,” he mocks. “You can do whatever you want. Oh, and in case it was not clear, you should be coming alone.”
“I will not be able to just sneak off.”
“You managed just fine when you were under my roof,” he retorts. “You have one hour to get here.”
I remain silent as I mull it over. I do not really have a choice at this point. If I try to get support from Gavriil, he will either try to stop me from going or tell Theo, who will then stop me from going. And by the time they can gather enough men and do something about it, it would likely be too late.
