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“Yes.”
The word is said so softly I almost believe I imagined it, and I stare at Titus in complete shock. His face is ashen, his eyes gleaming with emotion as mama sobs, “I poisoned him.”
“Why mama?”
My voice breaks as my world blows apart and she cries, “He was leaving me—for her. That woman. The person who never got the message. She was always there. Waiting in the shadows, promising to ruin all ourlives, and he was going to do it. The unthinkable. He was going to walk away from our family.”
For once, Titus is lost for words and I’m not much better as the evil truth hits home.
She raises her eyes and stares at us with a dark gleam in her eye and whispers, “He wouldn’t give her up. For some reason, he loved her. That stupid, boring wall flower, with no intelligence and no charisma. He chose her over me in the end and it broke my heart.”
“But murder, mama! How could you?”
The words fall from my mouth as choking sobs and Titus doesn’t look any better as he balls his fists and exhales sharply, struggling to understand why the woman we all love so much betrayed us so cruelly.
“I told you about the alliance formed in Switzerland. Charles and Adele were happy to play their part, and Boris and Denislav were intent on pursuing the same path. Power was everything, and they formed a plan to build up their resources and take over the world. They preyed on weakness to build their own strength, and Marsha Steele unwittingly gave them an idea. For a while they used her skills in a more basic way and as the years went by they formed Burning Roses, a club where the wealthy could indulge their perversions. A gentleman’s club for the most depraved and, in return, the members would help with favors when asked. It worked well too.”
“But what about Veronica?” I ask, alreadyunderstanding the business of Burning Roses, and mama’s face falls.
“Boris and Denislav decided that Andrei’s part in their scheme was as the middleman. Subsequently, he would benefit financially from the arrangement, but he needed a suitable wife. They considered Veronica unsuitable. She had nothing to offer their cause. She was poor, introverted, and blended into the shadows. Whereas I came from a powerful family already and moved in the right social circles that Andrei would need to infiltrate. To befriend the elite and enroll them in his club, to climb the ladder at a fast pace and set their plan in motion.”
“Their plan?”
Mama raises her eyes. “World domination. I told you.”
She inhales deeply. “It’s why we are so wealthy. Between Charles in the United States, Adele and myself, Andrei had access to places usually off limits to foreign investors.”
“So, it was a marriage of convenience.” Titus says a little softer than before and mama shrugs.
“For him it was, but I loved him. I still do, even though he was leaving me.”
“But why now? I don’t understand?”
“Because it was always his condition that marriage to me was on a temporary basis. Once the business was thriving and he had produced his successor, who was ready to take over, he would walk away. He would sailoff into the sunset with his mistress and live the life he wanted to in the first place.”
“How could he be so cruel?”
The tears roll down my face as I grieve for my father again, and Titus adds, “But why kill him?”
Mama fixes him with a sad smile. “I had no choice. He was a loose cog in the machine. He knew too much and Boris decided he was disposable.”
“Fedorov ordered this,” Titus growls and mama nods.
“He arranged for the poison to be secreted inside a pot of moisturizer I have delivered every month. It would pass scrutiny and all I had to do was drop some into his food and the rest would be taken care of.”
“Mama–”
I can’t stop the tears cascading down my face as my heart shatters and she whispers, “Please don’t hate me, Ana. It was kinder that way. If I didn’t deal with the problem, as Boris put it, he would. At least your father never suffered. Not for long, anyway. Boris promised a more violent death and to drag you all into it. He told me that unless I carried out his request, none of you would be safe. The Romanov dynasty would be at risk and we would all suffer and lose everything, possibly even our lives. I did it for all of us, including Andrei.”
She shakes her head and glances at the photograph with a wistful gleam in her eye.
“If Andrei had given up on love, he would still be alive today. He made it perfectly clear to me that thisarrangement was a temporary one. He always told you that business is everything, and he meant it. At least in his mind, but it isn’t to me. Family is and always will be everything to me and I did this for The Romanovs. For what we built and created out of love on my part and duty on his.”
She pulls herself up and sets her mask back in place and says evenly, “So, now you know. I will accept your decision on what you want to do with the information. Until then, if you’ll excuse me, I need to lie down.”
We say nothing as she walks away from us, as if she tossed a grenade behind her and didn’t stick around to witness the damage caused. An eerie silence descends on the room as she leaves and Titus stares darkly at me the entire time.
When the door closes, he says huskily, “I don’t know about you but I could murder a vodka right now.”
