Chapter seven: Monster
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“No”
The word tumbles out of my mouth in a rapid fit. I shoot of from my chair, instinctively stepping away from him. A wave of disgust trickles up my spine before sinking its claws around my throat.
“No?” Nikolai’s voice is deceptively soft, but his eyes flash with a dangerous Intensity as he leans back against his desk. You would think he had never heard the word before with the way he was looking at me.
“No” I repeat, firmer this time. “I will not help you kill my father. My God, what is wrong with you? I mean, I knew you were insane, but this? This is a whole new level, even for the likes of you.”
y reaction.
He leans back against his desk, watching me. He remains amoyingly calm, unfazed by my
“Your father isn’t the man you think he is.“,
My brows furrow as I try to read his expression” “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He steps closer and runs a hand along his jaw, “Your father has blood on his hands, Solnishko, Russian blood to be
exact.
My shoulders stiffen, the weight of his words sinking slowly into my mind.
“You’re lying.”
He tilts his head to the side, “Am I?” he says and I glare at him.
Of course, he was. He had to be. My father may have sold weapons to the mafia but he was no murderer. That was Nikolai’s job.
“Yes, you are. My father may be many things, but a murderer? I’m sorry it’s just not possible.”
Four years ago my father’s right hand began to tremble. At first, it was a subtle quiver, almost imperceptible, but as time passed, the tremors became more pronounced. The hand itself wasn’t entirely useless. However, it was difficult for him to carry out certain tasks without the tremors interfering. I had seen his handshake
uncontrollably on his worst days, and at times, I would see him struggle to hold a pen. How could Nikolai believe that a man like that could be capable of using a gun to kill people?
“I never said anything about a gun, Solnishko”
He says, his eyes meeting mine and I realize that the words had left my lips and not resided in my mind like ! originally intended for it to.
“I’m sure you meant-
“Your father is responsible for the fire that claimed the life of my brother and his wife, three years ago.”
“Your father isn’t just a weapon supplier.” Nikolai began, his eyes narrowing, “He is a fixer.”
“A what?”
“A fixer is someone who men like myself employ to do their dirty work. In my opinion, only cowards used them but you would be surprised how many men in my world preferred not to get their hands dirty”
“You’re saying that my father is like some sort of hitman?
Chapter soven Monsior
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“Not a hitman. A fixer. There’s a difference between the two. A hitman is a tool, a killer for hire if we’re speaking bluntly. A fixer, on the other hand, cleans up messes. They be up loose ends and ensure nothing gets traced back
p.the person that hired them.”
I take a step back, shaking my head, “No, you sald my father murdered your brother”
“He did. Your father worked for my father for years, not just as his supplier but also as his personal fixer.”
My lips press together as I try to process Nikolai’s words. My father was a fixer and he worked for Nikolai’s father.
He continues, “Fourteen years ago, when your father was late for a shipment, and my father sent his men to kidnap you, my father wasn’t just angry at him for the deli, he was angry because he found out that your father hadn’t completed a job he was hired to do, My father fully tended to kill you to teach your father a lesson.”
der the same roof with a man who potentially killed lisgusted with myself. All this time, I had forced
terrible person. That he wasn’t a murderer, even
I felt sick to my stomach. All these years, I had been living people for a living and I didn’t even know it. I suddenly felt myself to believe that despite everything, my father wasn’t though he sold weapons that led to the death of others. I told myself that he was just doing what he could to protect me and my brother.
Maybe I shouldn’t have defended him so much to myself.
“Do you even have any evidence?” I ask. I’m not sure why leave my lips. Maybe it was because a small part needed something–anything–to prove to myself that this wasn’t true, but deep down, I knew that Nikolai wasn’t the kind of man who went around throwing accusations. A man like him doesn’t just go around pointing fingers without having hard evidence to back up his claims
“You want evidence?” he asks and I nod.
“If you’re going to accuse my father of something so vile, the least you could do is have the proof to back it up” He clicks his tongue on the rough of his teeth, staring me down, “Fine.” he says and walks around his desk.
He opens a drawer, retrieves a brown envelope from inside, and slams it onto the polished surface of his desk, the impact resonating softly in the space between us.
“Open it.”
My fingers tremble as I reach for the envelope. My heart pounds wildly in my chest before sinking into the pit of my stomach.
I pull open
the flap and examine the contents. Inside there are photographs of my father meeting with various people in different locations, each one marked with a verified timestamp. Alongside the photos are printed text messages between my father and unknown numbers, as well as a series of bank statements, all signed in his name.
My eyes scan over the printed text messages and my stomach twists with each line of exchange between my father and his clients.
Emotion clogs my throat as I try to make sense of what I am reading.
“This can’t be right,” I whisper. None of this made any sense, how could my father be responsible for the death of all these people? The were images, graphic once of his targets that he had sent back to his clients upon completing each task.
I felt sick to my stomach. I blinked away the tears that threatened to spill and carefully placed the envelope back on Nikolai’s desk. My fingers shaking.
Chapter geven Monster
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“Three years ago, your father was hired to kill me and make it look like an accident. But I wasn’t home when the attack happened,” he says, his voice tight with barely restrned emotion. “My brother and his wife had stopped by: briefly to discuss some business.”
I don’t need him to complete the story to be able to piece together what happened. I stumble back, lifting my gaze
to his.
“They died in the fire, instead of you.”
He nods once. I could see the pain in his eyes as he watched me. He was holding back his grief and a part of me longed to tell him that it was okay to be sad. To cry.
“Nikolai…” I take a step forward then stop. Why was my body’s first reaction to his pain to reach out and touch him?
“I don’t need your pity, Sqlnishko” he interrupts before I get the chance to come up with an answer. “What I need is justice.” He moves slowly until he’s in front of me. He steps into my space, his nose grazing mine slightly and my breath catches in my throat as he stares down at me.
“What I need is your father to lead me to the person who ordered the hit on me so that I can kill them both.”
I struggle to breathe. My body hums in delight at his proximity, the light brush of his skin against mine causes my skin to erupt in gooseflesh.
I drop my gaze, breaking the contact and step away from him, returning the distance between us.
“Look, I’m sorry about what happened to your brother. I really am, but if you think that I’m going to help you plot the murder of my father, you’re even more demented than I thought.”
I couldn’t pretend not to understand where he was coming from. I had a brother myself. I couldn’t imagine losing Aaron in such a terrible way, too, but that didn’t mean I was going to help him in his crazy quest for revenge.
Nikolai steps forward, and I instinctively step back, needing the distance between us to remain so that the fog in my brain can clear up.
Nikolai doesn’t stop, consuming the space between us with each stride, until he’s standing in front of me. His expression remains unreadable, but the intensity in his eyes is undeniable like a storm of emotions just waiting to be unleashed a
Knots tighten in my stomach as he towers over me, his presence heavy and oppressive. My back presses against his office wall and I realize all too soon that I’m trapped. He cages me in place, his scent consuming my senses.
I was quickly realizing that the attraction I felt for Nikolai was a dangerous thing. Each time I was in his presence, it felt like someone had tied a live wire between us, and every time we touched, I could feel the sparks shoot up my spine.
Come to your senses. I begged myself. Nikolai wasn’t an ordinary man. He was the head of the Russian mafia and my father’s possible martyr. Nothing about him should be attractive to me.
He says something in Russian and I narrow my eyes, wondering why his gaze looked harsher as he spoke.
My fist clenched to my side,
You promised to protect him.”
1 say bringing up the promise he made to me yesterday at the altar. He scoffs, “I don’t go back on my word, solnishko if that is what you’re implying”
“But you just said –”
Chapter seven Monster.
“I promised to protect your father from the Morett’s and protect your father from the Morell’s, but what I won’t do
punfulfilled promises, let’s talk about yours.”
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have no intention of breaking that promise. I will
protect him from me, and besides, if we are bringing
My shoulders stiffened, my hands instinctively balling Into ists at my side. “Excuse me?”
“I believe your exact words were that you would do anything I wanted as long as I protected your father and brother from Alessandro.”
My eyes widen at his words and a heavy weight settles in my chest, making it hard for me to breathe. “I never sald I would help you carry out your sick plan.”
He corks his head to the side and my heart sinks, “I believe my sick plan falls under the category of anything.”
I swallow hard, bile rising in my throat and my heart slams loudly against my chest. His green eyes pierced mine, watching me with the kind of look that unnerved me. I realized then that he had no intention of letting me back down from this. He knew that I was desperate to protect my family and he had preyed on that. He had perfectly manipulated the situation to his advantage leaving me helpless and at his mercy.
“You’re a monster” I hissed, glaring at him.
Nikolai’s lips stretch into a slow, sadistic grin, and I flinch as he lifts a finger and glides it down my cheek slowly. I’ve been called worse.”
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