Chapter 30 #2
“So am I,” I said with a shrug. “I’m telling you this because, unlike your father, I think you deserve to know. I’m sick of all the secrets, and it hurts me to think that you believe my mother abandoned you and ran with me because she loved you less.”
“You’re right…she didn’t love me at all,” he said, and my heart sank.
Walking to him, I grabbed his hands, but he jerked away.
“Don’t. I don’t need your sympathy or pity.”
“I don’t pity you. I understand your pain.
I’ve been digging for the truth since my mother was murdered before my eyes.
Every day since coming here has been another painful realization that I don’t have a clue who my family really is.
The man who raised me wasn’t my father. My name isn’t my real name, and I have family that I’m pretty sure wants to see me dead.
I don’t pity you, Sabastian, but I refuse to let the lie between us continue any longer. It’s not fair to either of us.”
His eyes softened, so I tried again to comfort him and gave his arm a squeeze.
“I want us to get to know each other on our terms without our parents’ mistakes between us.
If you’re willing, I want to create a bond outside of the lies that have tried to ruin us.
Please don’t think that I’m the enemy just because I’m the only one brave enough to be the messenger,” I said, and let my hand fall from his bicep.
His gaze met mine, shimmering with unshed tears.
A hard knock broke the moment. Sabastian walked away, his face once more masked with a calm expression. He opened the door, and I could tell before he said anything that it wasn’t Ivy.
“Dad, what are you doing here,” Sabastian asked.
Christov walked in, and his cold, calculating stare found me in the middle of the room.
“I came to see my son. You’ve been so hard to reach, but this is a nice surprise. I get to see both my children at the same time. Kill two birds with one stone and all that.”
He moved toward me, and I stepped back.
“You’re not my father,” I said, and the corner of his mouth turned up.
“So, it is true. Your mother whored herself out to Edmundo and got knocked up, and now you know.”
Anger burned in my gut at the insult.
“My mother was not a whore. You are,” I growled.
“You are so much like your mother. She didn’t know her place either, and it’s obvious that you inherited the same disrespectful behavior,” he said, glaring at me.
“Dad, don’t talk to her like that,” Sabastian said, grabbing Christov’s arm.
“Don’t tell me what to do,” Christov said, glaring at Sebastian like he wanted him dead.
“He knows the truth,” I blurted, drawing his attention back to me. “I, at least, had the decency to be honest.”
“Oh, and what truth is that? One your mother made up in her deceiving mind to turn you against me. She was great at that. Twisting everything to make me look like a villain when all I ever wanted was to love her.”
“You’re full of shit,” I said, and took a step closer, holding his icy stare.
“My mother never loved or wanted to marry you. You manipulated the situation and made it happen. The truth is that Sabastian is not her son but the product of your affair, and you’re the asshole who has lied to him for his entire life. ”
Three things happened at the same time.
Ivy walked in with food and froze.
Christov raised his hand to strike me.
And I…reacted.
Expecting the hit, I used one of the moves Nash had taught me and grabbed his wrist before taking his feet out from under him and pinning him to the floor.
I’d been dreaming about this moment for a very long time.
“Get the fuck off of me,” Christov snarled.
I twisted his wrist and made him wince.
“Never mention my mother again. You’re a monster. You always have been and always will be, and the only good thing that came from the entire charade you call a marriage is Sabastian. He is everything you’ll never be and then some.”
“I always wondered if you were mine, and now I’m happy that you’re not,” he growled.
Letting him go, I stepped back and glared as he stood.
“The feeling is mutual.”
Sabastian moved to get between us, but I held up my hand, keeping him at bay.
“You’ll get what’s coming to you,” he said, and I smirked.
“I’ve heard that more than once from bigger assholes than you, and I’m still standing. So, bring it if you dare. But remember that I have the Mikhailov and the Genovese families backing me. Who do you have now that Lawrence is…no longer with us?”
He snorted, straightened his suit jacket, and then looked at Sabastian.
“I want to speak to you outside, right now,” Christov ordered and walked out.
Sabastian gave me a look that I couldn’t decipher as he followed his father, leaving Ivy and me alone.
“Holy shit, that was intense. You are such a badass,” she said, and then her face fell. “Oh, god…poor Sabastian.”
Ivy kept talking, but I was too focused on what had just happened and how I felt to concentrate on a single word. My fists uncurled, but the adrenaline still flowed through my veins.
For the first time, I felt…strong. I felt like I could be what my father wanted me to be and be the queen my mother named me.
I hadn’t believed that I was cut out for this world, to rule the Genovese empire, until this moment, but now…I had a bit more confidence.