“They haven’t been given the order yet,” my father sneers, looking around the room like he’s waiting for the leader to step from behind the ranks.
Bella is trembling next to me, and I need to get her out. I need to get us both out. But I don’t see how.
“We can negotiate,” I say, speaking to the room. “Whatever you want.”
“Don’t grovel,” my father bites, but I ignore him. He’s too proud to beg for his life, but I’m not. Not when my life has suddenly become so much more interesting.
I move to the center of the room where Andrey is sagging in his chair and begin to untie the ropes around his hands and ankles. “Who is in charge here? Who do we need to talk to?”
He groans as I lift him to his feet, and I worry he’s going to pass out immediately. However, after a few seconds, he seems to stabilize enough to keep himself upright. He looks at me, eyes bloodshot, and shakes his head.
“What does that mean?” I ask, resisting the urge to shake the information out of him. “How do we get out of here?”
Andrey leans around me and raises one arm slowly in a point. Before I can turn my head to see who or what he’s pointing to, a gunshot reverberates through the room.
I’m still staring at Andrey when the bullet shatters through his skull. I watch his eyes go wide and then lifeless in the span of a second. I watch his body flop to the floor like a discarded costume. I’m in such shock at his sudden death that when I turn around and see my father standing behind me, gun raised, I think he must be trying to avenge Andrey.
My father is going after whoever killed one of his men. But if that’s true, why is his gun aimed at Andrey? And where did the shooter disappear to?
Then I see Bella’s face. Her eyes are bigger and paler than I’ve ever seen them, and she’s looking at me like she’s afraid I’m going to crumble apart. I tilt my head to the side, eyebrows drawn together, wondering what has made her so sad.
And then my father lowers his gun, reaches into his pocket, and pulls out a Society pin. He smiles at me while he pins it on his lapel.
“Sorry for the theatrics,” he says, dusting off the shoulder of his jacket with a flat hand. “You know how I love a dramatic reveal.”
All at once, everything clicks into place, and it’s all I can do to stay standing. “You.”
“Come on, Yuri,” he says, circling his finger in a ‘hurry up’ motion. “I thought you’d be a little quicker on the uptake. Can we proceed or do you need a minute?”
I glare at him, trying to pinpoint when the man I knew became a monster. When my father betrayed me and our entire family.
“Since you aren’t going to ask me any questions, I guess I’ll start from the beginning.” He sighs and begins to pace back and forth in the same way he has always done. In the same way he was doing just half an hour ago in his office back at the Petrov headquarters. It feels bizarre to see such a familiar quirk in a man I no longer recognize. “I started The Society after our family began making decent money. We Petrovs started out as nobodies in this world, but we made a name for ourselves. Or really, I made a name for us. I made the Petrovs important and wealthy, but no matter what happened, I would always have to share it. With my brothers and you and your brothers. The money I made could never be mine the way I rightfully deserved. So, I started another project. A side hustle, if you will. The Society.”
Andrey’s blood is blooming across the floor, and I can feel the slippery warmth of it under my feet, but I can’t move. Bella is standing between my dad and one of The Society guards. I can’t get to her, and even if I could, we have nowhere to go. Nowhere to run. Because I trusted my father. Because even when my instincts told me something was wrong, I allowed my loyalty to lead us into danger. I killed us both.
Bella is staring at me, her eyes saying something I’m not able to comprehend. Not while my father is still spewing out the details of his story. He’s walking back and forth with his hands folded casually behind his back, taking easy, strolling steps.
“The Society is mine, and the men around you are my employees. Not my family. Not my co-owners. I owe them nothing more than their paycheck, and they don’t come to me with all of their troubles looking for cash. Like any good CEO, I’m on top.”
“Why lie to all of us?” I ask, finally finding the words.
“Are you listening?” he asks condescendingly. “If I told the truth, you all would have wanted your cut. The way you have always wanted a cut of what was mine.”
“We’re family. I thought that meant something to you.” I feel pathetic appealing to him as my father, trying to remind him that he loves me, but it’s all I can think to do. Because the man I followed into this building was a man I would have died for. But this man? I don’t even recognize him.
“It does,” he says, dismissing me with a wave. “That is why I kept the Petrov family. It’s why I kept all of your pockets lined. But The Society was my little secret, and I didn’t want any of you to know about it. That is why Senator McNair needed to be dealt with.”
Bella gasped, drawing my father’s attention. “He figured out your secret.”
My dad narrows his eyes at her before turning back to me, acting as though she never spoke. “The senator was the first person to ever get
