Chapter 82
Ren
The throbbing in my head was so violent that it felt like my skull had split apart from the inside.
“That is not what we agreed on,” a woman snapped. “This is supposed to be quick and clean, and then we get the hell out of here.”
The sound of her voice speared straight through the pain, and I groaned softly before I could stop myself.
What…happened?
My eyes fluttered open, then shut again, feeling like they weighed a ton. The last clear memory I had was falling asleep in the hospital room. White walls. Beeping machines. Blake, sitting beside me as he wrote down song lyrics.
“I don’t care what the plan was,” a man said sharply. “You brought a liability here, so now, she needs to get her hands dirty.”
That voice. No.
My stomach dropped as I forced my eyes open again, vision swimming, the room blurring into warped shapes and shadows. Blond hair. Sharp features twisted into a familiar snarl.
Christov.
I tried to move. Tried to lift my arm. Nothing happened.
Panic flared, hot and immediate, cutting through the fog as I looked down and saw thick bands of silver tape wrapped around my wrists, pinning my arms to the chair.
My legs were bound the same way. My chest felt tight, my breath shallow and uneven.
My mind started to clear as adrenaline flooded my system.
“She has to be the one, and we don’t have much time,” Christov said.
“We don’t know that anything has happened to Vadin or Sharpe,” the woman replied.
I was just able to make out the red-and-black pantsuit and black hair tied up in a twist.
Patricia.
“Don’t be so naive. Of course, something has happened. That arrogant old windbag would’ve called celebrating Yuliana’s death. If you want your revenge, you need to take it now,” Christov said.
Why didn’t I remember getting here? Where was Blake? Where was Mo? Did they hurt them? Did they hurt my dad? What were they going to do to me?
My thoughts scattered, sliding over each other and grating like broken glass. My mouth was dry. I tried to lick my lips and realized I also had tape over my mouth.
“I don’t want her involved,” Patricia said.
Glancing around, I tried to gauge where we were, but nothing looked familiar. I turned my head and spotted a door, but a wave of dizziness washed over me. I had to close my eyes for a few seconds to regain control of my turning stomach.
Once settled, I opened them and saw Patricia and Christov face-to-face near the lone window in the room.
The space felt wrong, like it was from another time.
Old wood and mildew clung to the air. The wallpaper was peeling, some faded floral pattern from decades ago.
The plaster beneath it was cracked and crumbling.
The only light came from a dull yellow bulb atop a brown glass lamp shoved into the corner by an old bed.
No other furniture other than the chair I was sitting on.
“Go talk to her and get it done. Right now,” Christov ordered.
Patricia sighed as she walked past me to open the door.
“Mama, what’s going on? It’s freezing in here, and why are we in this shitty old farmhouse? It’s creepy as hell.”
Vicky?
I sucked in a deep breath and tried to push the static out of my brain. It was like trying to fight through sludge. They must have drugged me. It was the only logical explanation.
“I’m sorry, Vicky, but I had to bring you. We are leaving town,” Patrica said.
“What? Why? I’m being interviewed tonight. Thad will think I stood him up. And what about Papa and graduation? I can’t leave.”
“I’ll explain later, but right now I need you to do something for me,” Patricia said.
“No, tell me now,” Vicky said.
“Enough of this.”
Christov swore as he stomped past me. Each of his footfalls sounded like a gun going off inside my skull. I kept my eyes down and tugged on my arms again, but they wouldn’t budge.
“Hey! Let go of me,” Vicky shrieked when Christov dragged her into the room.
Vicky looked glamorous in the short black dress. She was looking down, trying to stay upright, as her heels dug into the old wood.
“I said, let go of me.”
Vicky jerked on her arm, but Christov just pulled harder. She stumbled, wobbled, and almost fell over twice with her long hair covering her face.
Christov shoved Vicky away. She tripped and grabbed the wall to stay upright.
“What the fuck is your problem, jerk face?”
The room swam as I lifted my head. Vicky pushed her hair out of her face, and her eyes went wide, but then hardened into her typical glacial stare.
“Close the door, Patricia,” Christov ordered.
Patricia came back in and walked around me to stand by the window.
I was severely outnumbered and was sure there were guards stationed outside, even if I made it out of the room. A thread of panic took root, but I squashed it. This was not the time.
Vicky rubbed at her bare arms and shivered.
“Why is Ren here? And what is wrong with her? She looks…out of it. And why is she taped to a chair?”
No one spoke, and the silence stretched.
“Uh…hello? Can one of you tell me what is going on? It feels like we’re all auditioning for some creepy horror movie.”
Christov pulled a gun. Vicky stepped back, but he grabbed her arm. She looked like an animal caught in a trap.
“Ow, you’re hurting me. Let go.”
“Open your hand,” he ordered.
“No. What the fuck is happening?” She looked at her mother. “Mama? What is all this?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Christov yanked her closer. “This is the day you get to take your revenge.”
“What?” Vicky looked genuinely confused.
It was obvious that she wasn’t in on whatever they had planned. It didn’t mean she wouldn’t decide this was a great time to get rid of me, but it also meant there was hope.
“Just do what he says,” Patricia said, standing off to the side, hands folded like she was here to watch an execution.
Christov squeezed Vicky’s arm tighter, his fingers leaving imprints on her skin.
“What the fuck is your problem?” She growled at Christov, and I would’ve stood up and cheered.
“Take the gun,” he ordered.
“No.”
Christov’s nostrils flared, and I cried out a muffled warning, but it did no good. He backhanded Vicky across the face, gun still clutched in his hand. She would’ve fallen over if he hadn’t still been holding onto her arm.
“Ah!” Vicky cried out and then touched her face where she’d been struck. Anger rose and burned throughout my body, pushing aside the lightheaded sensation from the drugs.
“Fu..k..eer,” I snarled, it coming out muffled.
“Don’t you dare hit my daughter,” Patricia shrieked, moving closer, but stopped when he pointed the gun at her.
“What is wrong with you, you lunatic,” Vicky asked, glaring at Christov.
She pulled on her arm, but he wouldn’t release her.
“Let go of me.”
“I’m only going to tell you one more time. Take the gun, or I shoot your mother in the head,” Christov growled.
“Christov…what are you doing,” Patricia asked, stepping back, hands up.
Either this was all part of the plan, or he was going off the rails. I was praying for number two.
Vicky looked at me and then her mother before finally holding out her hand for the gun. My pulse spiked, and my heart thundered in my chest as she wrapped her fingers around the handle.
“I don’t know how to shoot a gun.”
Vicky yelped when Christov yanked her closer to me.
“It’s not hard, just point and shoot. If you miss her from this distance, you’re an idiot,” Christov laughed, but neither the joke nor the sound was amusing.
She shook her head. “I’ve never killed anyone. Why are you making me do this?”
“You are Genovese’s daughter? Pathetic.”
Christov grabbed Vicky by the back of the neck. She screamed as he forced her to bend over at the waist so she was staring me in the eyes.
“Don’t you hate her? She took your life. She stole the love of your life. She took your family name. Your father. Now your legacy. The empire that was supposed to go to you is now hers. Everything she touches, she annihilates. This is your chance to take back everything she’s stolen from you.”
He let her go, and Vicky slowly lifted her arm. The gun was pointed at my chest, but her hand shook.
“He’s right, you have taken everything from me,” she said, voice soft and calm.
Christov gave me a smug smile.
“Loooook whoooo takkking,” I growled, but it came out muffled.
Christov smirked and then grabbed the edge of the tape and ripped it off. I winced from the sting but glared at the man who had systematically destroyed lives with a sadistic smile on his face.
“Have something to say? Any last words?”
He mocked me with a smile that only the devil could love.
“Do you really think this is going to work? And what is the plan here? Kill me, frame Vicky, and then what?”
He kept smiling, and I wondered if this insanity was what my mother saw before she shot him.
I was focused on Christov, but I noticed Patricia inching across the room to a duffel bag in the corner. It all made sense, now, and everything clicked into place.
“Vicky, this isn’t about revenge. It’s about control,” I said, leaning forward as much as I could with the restraints.
“You may hate me, but I’ve never lied to you.
You know that. Deep down, you know that despite everything.
I’m the only person who has ever told you the truth, even when it was hard to hear.
They want you as a pawn to control our father.
They know that he loves you and would do anything for you, even keep you out of prison for murder.
But what would he have to give up to make that happen? ”
I licked my lips when she didn’t say anything. Vicky’s light hazel eyes filled with tears, but behind them was pain and anger.
“The choice is simple. Kill Ren, or I’ll kill your mother,” Christov said. “Who do you love?”