Page 66 of House of Lies
“I’ve already told you. I don’t know where he is.”
“You must know something.”
Vanya watches my every move, ensuring I won’t do anything stupid. He knows not to mention my name in front of her. I refuse to grant her that power over me.
“What I know is that you killed Caelia and Ermanno. You kidnapped and tortured my son. Why are you doing this?”
Her son. I’m guilty of some of those things, but I saw red the first time she said that I killed Caelia, and it’s not getting any better. Mattia spread the lie that I killed her on the same night I killed Ermanno. Fuck knows what excuse he found for the missing body. He buried his father and held a small memorial for his beloved wife, a sickening charade I knew nothing about until now. I’m driven mad by my thoughts, which are spiraling out of control. I have to get her back. I can’t even imagine what he’s doing to her.
“You brought this upon yourself.”
My revenge plan went sideways, but now I have a new motivation. I can’t be in two places at once, so I had to choose—remain in Russia and hunt down my uncle or come to New York to find Caelia. My father would understand why I opted to have my men search for Sevastyan. Alexei is dead, and she is not. At least, this is what I tell myself to keep moving forward. Mattia has reasons to kill her. She cheated on him, although unwillingly. She ran away and tried to kill me, thinking that I was him. He knows nothing about the last part. He doesn’t know what she means to me.
“Does family mean nothing to you? Why are you so determined to destroy yours?”
After several hours of futile attempts, Fiona stopped pleading with me and spilling lies. I don’t hear how much she missed me or how hard she tried to contact me. There’s only concern for Mattia left in her eyes.
“Do not dare speak to me about family.” I laugh bitterly. “I understand. You didn’t want children. You were too young and didn’t know how to take care of or love me, which would have been all right, Fiona, if you were willing to learn. But you gave up on me before you even gave me a chance. I will say this one last time, and you’d better remember.” I try to calm myself down. “Blood does not make you my mother. It does not bind me to you as you believe it does, and for the last time, it will not prevent me from killing you.”
I catch Vanya’s concerned gaze from the corner of my eye. He doesn’t dare speak a word. He knows there’s no stopping me once I make up my mind.
“I expected better from Alex.” She shakes her head in disappointment.
“His name was Alexei, and he did what you couldn’t. So do not dare speak his name.”
She mourns Ermanno. I don’t believe she is feigning her sorrow and exhaustion. Her eyes are bloodshot and swollen, her hands tremble, and she appears to have aged twenty years since I last saw her. Perhaps she truly loved him.
“You only got one side of the story, son. I understand your hatred.”
“Hating you would require too much energy.” I don’t have time to solve my family issues right now. I need to find out where Mattia is. I need to find Caelia. Everything else falls into the background. “When did you last see Mattia?”
“At the funeral.”
I wasn’t expecting my uncle to be stupid enough to let Mattia go. My men were monitoring Fiona. I only put two men on the job, and they both got killed. I will find him, and I will not have mercy on him. I won’t grant him the same painless death as Ermanno’s.
“Think about what you’re doing, figlio. You’re brothers.”
I started all this. Sevastyan tricked me into kidnapping Mattia. I killed Ermanno because there was no way back. This path toward revenge has always been one-way. Even if he didn’t kill my father, after what I did to Mattia, he would have come after me. It was an impulsive decision. Fiona’s words sound terribly familiar. She’s asking me the same thing Ermanno did just before I killed him.
Vanya signals that we need to talk privately somewhere. I follow him to the office, leaving Fiona with Domenico. I find Dmitri standing at the edge of the desk, a grim look on her face.
“What’s wrong?”
“You need to have a look at this, sir.” He hands me an iPad.
A video waits for me to play it. I don’t have much choice, but I don’t want to. My heart skips a beat as I touch the screen. The video has been filmed from the top of a building, close to the entrance of a warehouse, but not too close to catch anyone’s eye. Even if I’ve been aware of Mattia’s existence for a while now, I will never get used to looking at my face on a video, the movements and actions being estranged as he performs them. He leaves the warehouse with Ludovic. His men are following them close behind, carrying something. Someone. They placed a hood on her head. Her hands and feet are in chains. Vanya grabs the iPad before I smash it against the wall. I press my palm against the desk, leaning my weight against it. I need something to help me stand up straight. I can only afford to crumble inside, keeping my mask in place.
“You’d better know where they’ve taken her, Dmitri.”
“We do, sir. And we have Ludovic as well.”
Finally, here is some fucking good news!
“Let’s go.”
“What about Fiona, Kaz?” Vanya inquires, awaiting my orders.
How much more of my family can I eliminate before nothing is left? How much more of my blood can I spill before it comes back to haunt me?