Page 60 of Depraved Royals
Is Idina letting him call her Mama? What next? Is she gonna be breastfeeding him?
“Leave him,” Idina says. “He’s not going anywhere.”
Simeon sighs and points the gun at me instead.
“You didn’t have to make it this complicated, Kal,” Idina says. “You don’t want to kill Fyodor. That’s alright. You brought him here for us so that Simeon can do it. But we still need you to take control of the Pushkin Bratva.”
Simeon looks from me to her. “Mama, you said you wanted me to kill Fyodor. You never said Kal was still going to be Pakhan!”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Simeon,” Idina spits. “OfcourseI told you that. This is exactly why I can’t depend on you. Either you don’t listen in the first place, or you don’t fucking remember.”
I watch Simeon’s face contort with confusion. Two decades of gaslighting have left him with barely any sense of reality apart from hers. I was much the same until I got away from her mind games.
“I don’t want this,” I say. “I won’t play along, not on your terms. You were wrong about everything.”
“Everything I did was foryou,” Idina hisses. “Now we can take what should be ours. All we have to do is kill Fyodor, and that’s it. You’ll have achieved your destiny and avenged your father, just like you always wanted.”
“No!” I cry. “It’s whatyoualways wanted, and you never gave me a choice to refuse. I don’t have to be like Erik.”
“Youarelike Erik. You are a loveless, cold-hearted man, and nothing will change that. Even if you ran away to live with the girl and raise a family, you’d end up hurting her. You’re probably doing it already.”
I think of the last time I saw Dani’s face. Full of mistrust. She lived her life happily and without fear before I came around and fucked her up.
I’ve been worrying about her safety, ready to raise hell if she came to harm. But in the end, it’ll bemewho hurt her the most, no matter how hard I tried to be better.
Idina’s right. I can’t escape it. The darkness is who I am.
The car’s engine starts, and we all turn to look. Simeon whips his arm around and points the gun at the back windshield.
Fuck me.
Fyodor is not only alive. He’s conscious and in the driver’s seat, revving the engine like crazy. He releases the parking brake, and the car shoots toward us.
“You fucking traitorous cunt, Kal!” Fyodor screams over the squeal of the tires. “How could you do this to her?”
Simeon fires, the bullet ricocheting harmlessly off a pillar. I’m vaguely aware of Idina screaming as I rush at him, knocking the gun from his hand as we both fall to the ground.
I have to move, or Fyodor will run me over. Only moments to act.
Live or die.
I grab Simeon by the shoulders and roll, dragging him out of the way. The car’s tires miss my head by an inch.
Fyodor screeches to a halt, the car now facing forwards. He revs the engine again.
I can’t keep hold of Simeon. He’s on his feet again, swooping down to pick up the gun. I think he’s going to shoot me for a moment, but he’s advancing on the car, laughing maniacally.
“For you, Mama!” he cries. “Watch this!”
He raises his hand and fires, the bullet punching a hole through the windshield. Fyodor’s shoulder jolts, blood spattering on the seat.
Simeon turns to face our mother, waving the gun triumphantly.
“I did it! Were you watching?”
Holy shit. Simeon killed him?
No. The old man is made of sterner stuff than that.