Page 55 of House of Lies
Nothing and everything is wrong with me at the same time. If I unravel what’s wrong with me, the sun will rise.
“Do I look fucking dead to you? I’m not Mattia! My name’s Kazimir.”
“All right.” He nods calmly. “Then tell me, who do you think you are?”
I am my father’s son. And I’m pointing a gun at his killer. This night will not end well for him.
“As I said, Fiona gave birth to twins. She kept Mattia and sent me to Alexei Mordvinov, our father, in Russia.” I watch him closely, searching for any crack in his façade, but it’s not there. “You eventually discovered the truth. You went after my father and blew him up. Does that ring any bells?”
“No, it doesn’t. And frankly, I think you’ve had too much to drink, son. I’m going to call you a car.”
He reaches for the phone, but I’m quicker. I grab his wrist, holding it firm. He looks up at me, puzzled. I press the barrel harder against his temple. He doesn’t plead for mercy or waver. He’s not afraid, and I admire that.
“Listen to me,” he says, turning his head slightly and placing the barrel in the middle of his forehead. I stand before him, awaiting his next words. “I knew your father. Let’s assume what you say is true, figlio.”
“I’m not your fucking son.”
“Right.” He raises his hands in a peaceful gesture. “So let’s say you’re right. Let’s say you’re not Mattia. You’re not my son.”
“No, I’m not.”
“So you’re Kazimir, Alexei’s son.” I nod. We’re getting somewhere. “And Fiona cheated on me. I never knew this.”
“You’re a fucking liar!”
“I’m many things, Kazimir. A liar is not one of them.”
This doesn’t make any sense. Any of it. I don’t believe him, but if there’s a chance that what he’s telling me is true, then who killed my father?
“You say that you knew my father.”
“I did.” He nods. “I wouldn’t go as far as to say that we were friends. But we were associates.”
“If you didn’t kill him, then who did?”
“I can take a guess.”
“Then take a fucking guess!”
“He had a brother. I’ve met him once or twice. I told Alexei to watch his back with that one. He was bad news.” I shake my head in disbelief. My father only had a brother, and that’s my uncle Sevastyan. He is the one who set me on this path of revenge and fed me information for so long. “Where’s my son, Kazimir?”
His son. He honestly doesn’t fucking know about any of this. He considers Mattia his son. Even after I have just told him he’s not, and he sees me standing here, the exact copy of my brother, he’s not angry about it. He’s not enraged. He still calls him his son. Blood is not everything in this life.
“Don’t worry, he won’t get to live long after you.”
“Think about what you’re doing, figlio.”
“I’m not your fucking son,” I remind him. He lowers his gaze to under his desk, where he likely has a hidden gun. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” He attempts to stand, maybe even to fight me, but his body is too weak. “Or that.” I sigh, pushing him back into the chair.
I try to focus, swallowing down the bile in my throat. “Tell me, Ermanno,” I finally utter, my voice barely a whisper behind the ringing in my ears. “Did you have anything to do with my father’s murder?”
A loaded silence hangs in the room, and I can see it clearly now. There’s something more at play here. Goddamn it. I let my guard down. I should’ve seen it coming.
“I had nothing to do with your father’s death.”
“Perhaps not. But you know what? You’re going to die anyway for how you raised Mattia. Considering the way he treated his wife, you fucking failed! And for that alone, you will die.”
Not solely for that, but it’s the most significant part. I can’t let him live. He will come after me, seeking revenge for what I have done to Mattia, if what he says is true and he had nothing to do with my father’s death. If Ermanno is not lying, I’ve started a war for nothing. He will not turn a blind eye, and I won’t leave this office alive tonight.