Page 64 of Depraved Royals
“So Fyodor will be okay?” he asks.
“He needs a doctor and a good sleep, but he’s survived worse,” I reply. “Which is more than can be said for me. Why, Kal? Why did you drag me down to your level?”
“Not a day will pass where I don’t ask myself that same question.”
Kal looks broken. He seems weary and defeated, but his eyes are brighter than ever. I’m struck by an image of our child, a baby with the same cool blue gaze, and my rage disintegrates into a feeling of deep, agonizing sorrow.
This man was my everything.
Five minutes ago, as I held my father’s hand, I believed Kal had lied to me and used me to make it easier for him to take control of our empire and our lives. He went from the love of my life to the very personification of betrayal in just one day.
Yet he’s here. He just climbed over the wall in plain sight, with no plan, no nothing. Just like on the night he saved me from the fire…
“Answer my questions,” I say. “Yes or no is enough.”
He keeps his eyes on mine. It’s as though he has nothing to offer but the truth, anyway. Surely he knew he was risking his life coming here?
“Okay, Dani. Ask away. I’m through with lying to you.”
I take a deep breath.
“Did you and your family plot to burn down the gallery so that you could rescue me?”
“Yes.”
It’s like he punched me in the gut. It was hard to come to terms with the loss of my work when I thought it was a tragic accident, but this…
“Were you using me to get close enough to my father to kill him?”
Kal shifts his feet. “Dani, please…”
“Answer me!” I cry.
“Yes. At first.”
The tears are flowing now. I don’t care. I can’t imagine I’ll do anything other than cry for the rest of my life.
“You said you’d left your family. Was that bullshit? Were you in touch with them the whole time?”
“Yes, but—”
“Stop. Lies upon lies upon lies. Do you know what was true and what wasn’t?”
“Yes, I fucking do!” Kal steps towards me, and I can see he’s fighting back the tears too. Brutus snaps his gun back to eye level.
“Brutus,” Kal says. “Please.”
Mel is standing behind me.
“Fucking shoot him,” Mel says. Brutus looks from her to me, and I shake my head.
“You see what you’ve done, Kal?” I ask. “It’s years since anyone tried to hurt Papa. Before you came to us, our lives were peaceful. And then he trusted you, of all people, only for you to try to kill him.” I jab my finger at him. “And I chose to fucking love you, only to find I have no idea who you are!”
“Neither do I.”
Kal moves closer, and his eyes pull me toward him. He reaches for me, but I find some resolve and dodge his touch.
“I told you I’m rotten,” he says. “I’m a bad guy, a sicko. I never thought there was a place for me in this world except for my mother’s instrument of vengeance. For years, nothing else mattered. Until you.”