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She chuckled then, and I wanted to throttle her. I might have done that, were it not for the bomb she just threw at my feet.
“Mafia? Daddy, is that your business?” I asked in disbelief. I stared at him as if seeing him for the first time.
Sebastian was in the mob, too. Was that why they married me off to him? Some kind of arrangement?
“Tell me!” I shouted. “Answer me now, Dad.” I was done being patient.
Releasing a ragged breath, he raked his hand down his face. Defeated. “It’s true, Marinka. What your mother said. We always tried to protect you and your brother from this world, but we failed and I want you to know we are sorry about that.”
“Don’t be so dramatic, Vlad,” my mother muttered, checking her reflection in a pocket mirror she plucked out of her bag. She’d always cared more about the way she looked than she ever cared about her family.
“So what happened on that yacht?” I pressed.
“Sebastian was married before he met you, but his wife was killed because of me. I … revealed some information that turned her into a target. I made a mistake, and he claimed I betrayed him. He blamed me for her death, so he chased us all the way to the yacht, when we were vacationing in Italy. His men raided us and he was going to kill us all…” Dad went on.
I was having a hard time, wrapping my mind around the whole absurd story, but maybe I’d just kept my head in the sand all those years growing up. If I really looked—I meantreally—I’ve have picked up clues that would have led me to the knowledge being shared with me today. All the secret meetings, constant traveling, and visits at all hours from strange, intimidating men. It could be that subconsciously, I never wanted to know, so I didn’t ask questions.
“If he hated you so much, how did I even end up with him? Was he that dangerous?” I asked.
“Of course he was, darling,” my mother interjected. “He shot your father in the leg, and would have done worse, were it not for my quick thinking. I knew you looked like Russina, his late wife, and because of that, I figured out how you could save our lives,” Mother said, steepling her perfectly manicured fingers together, then interlacing them and lowering them to her lap.
This didn’t make much sense to me, but I did get that Sebastian was married before me and then, his wife died. He must have loved her very much if he was ready to execute my parents, who he considered responsible for her death.
“So you made some sort of agreement with him. You agreed for him to marry me?” I asked, and my father sighed loudly. “But why? She was already dead. What would he want with me?”
“Well … many in our world had no clue Russina had been killed. She was very influential in keeping the peace, so … having you as payment, so he could use you as he saw fit, must have sounded attractive to him. So much so, he accepted.” She smiled. “See? And now we’re all alive to tell the tale.”
So typical of my mother to justify something horrendous to make it fit her narrative. Dad wouldn’t meet my gaze, so at least he had the decency to look mortified. But Mom just didn’t care what anyone thought. In her mind, she’d done the right thing, selling me to some gangster to save her own hide. I never should have expected anything else from her. Sebastian had told me the truth: I didn’t know much about my parents. They sold me to him without a qualm.
I had to catch my breath for a moment as I tried to imagine the whole thing. If he truly bought me from them, then I must have hated that man from the very beginning. This was all so confusing. How did I end up pregnant then? A voice deep inside told me rape was out of the question. He might have done it, but I didn’t think he did. He also clearly loved our child, and wanted her to know she had a mother.
“I went with him then and you never heard from me again... I married him, got pregnant, got shot ... and then I gave birth in here...” I hugged myself, releasing a mirthless laugh.
My mother’s expression changed from semi-bored to annoyed.
“Well, Sebastian just informed us we are grandparents. Shameful that he kept us from meeting Lilly. She should have been a part of our lives,” she scoffed.
I wondered why she even cared about my daughter, all of a sudden. If there was nothing to gain, she normally wasn’t interested in anyone or anything.
My father cleared his throat and brought his hand to my face for a brief moment.
“She’s so beautiful and looks just like you, honey. What matters is that you’re well, and she’s a healthy little girl. We can make up for lost time. I just wish…” he said sadly, letting his voice trail away.
And just like that, the dam broke and I started bawling like a baby.
All the emotions finally came to a head. It was a lot to take in, and I’d reached my limit, mostly because all this talk of Lilly made me yearn for my daughter, my desire burning with the heat of a thousand suns. I wanted to hug her, feel her close, make sure she was real.
“Lilly can help us rise to the top again. You have to talk to Sebastian, Marinka. Convince him it wasn’t our fault that Russina died. It was just an unfortunate accident,” Mother said, completely ignoring the fact I was in extreme distress.
Her words did make me pause though. I sniffed and wiped my tears away, wanting nothing more than to sock it to her and give her a black eye.
“Marta, you’re crossing the line. We haven’t seen Marinka for years and now that’s all you care about? Your position and wealth?” Dad snapped, disgusted.
I wanted to laugh then because I’d never seen him talk to her like that. He just never questioned her, pretty much letting her do as she wanted. From his tone, he’d finally had enough. Time could truly change things.
“Oh please, Vlad, if it wasn’t for me, you would have been dead already. Marinka doesn’t remember her life with him, but now they have a child together. This changes everything and the situation could benefit all of us,” she countered.
“This changes nothing, Marta,” another voice said, and my heart stopped when Sebastian entered the room.
