Kirill retrieves his phone, and both Uncle Albert and Yulia lunge at it. Babushka surprisingly hits them both with her cane, keeping them away as Kirill hits Play.
“You mean to tell me I’ll have an opening?” Roman says in Russian.
There’s a sound of skin against skin like someone is peppering kisses all over his face, before Yulia’s voice follows. “Yes, dear. I have an insider in that house who’ll make sure there’s little to no resistance.”
“Are you positive? I will kill your lover.”
“I’m proving that he’s not my lover. You’re the only man I’ve ever loved.”
“Really?”
“Really, dear.”
Gag. Even I can hear the fakery in her tone. Judging by the way he asked, Roman most likely knew, too. However, he probably decided to go with the flow because he wanted to use her anyway.
“Who’s your insider?” he asks.
“Albert. He never liked being under the dictatorial leadership of his mother and brother. Never liked his wife or even his children. They’re good to go, too, as long as he and the old lady stay alive since she’s the one who’ll be able to put him as the head of the family—”
Yulia’s voice comes to an end when Uncle Albert shoots the phone right out of Kirill’s hand.
Babushka's pale face must mirror mine.
The load of information I just heard makes my head spin, and my heart shrivels in my chest.
Uncle Albert and Yulia were the ones who planned the massacre.
My uncle.
My own uncle killed everyone I ever cared about.
My father’s brother plotted the inhumane butchering of his own family—children included.
“What…” Babushka is lost for words. Her thin, wrinkly lips open and close in a scene I’ve never witnessed before. When she speaks, her voice is barely audible. “What is the meaning of this, Albert?”
“Ahhh.” He laughs almost mockingly. “Fuck. It actually feels good that I can finally drop the annoying mask.”
“Albert!”
“What, Mother, what?” he screams in her face. “You always worshiped Akim and adored Anatoly, but I was the one missing from your list. You never thought I was capable of anything and pushed me back in favor of those other two fuckers all the damn time. You made me marry the least influential woman just to stop me from ever climbing to the top.”
“So you murdered your family?”
He raises a shoulder. “I never considered them my family. They were just a hurdle on my way to success. I would’ve preferred it if Sasha and Tosha hadn’t survived, so I wouldn’t have had anyone blocking my path, but oh well, I will just kill them now.”
“And Mike,” I snarl. “What about him?”
“I needed an heir.” He rolls his eyes. “His mother was alive with him in the closet, and she was so happy that I came to their rescue. I shot that bitch in the head and took him from her arms.”
“Albert…” Tears stream down Babushka’s cheeks for the first time ever. “What have you done?”
“Shut up, Mother. For once in your life, just shut up. I put up with your presence all these years for the power you hold over all the other families. I put up with Tosha and Sasha because they were my eyes in enemy camps. But all of you are unnecessary now.”
My vision is blurred with a waterfall of tears. It’s like I’m staring at a stranger. All these years, I thought we were fighting for the same cause, even if we had different methods, but he’s been the villain all along.
He didn’t only fool me, Anton, Babushka, and Mike, but he’s also been pretending that we’re a family.
My lips tremble. “You…did all of this for power?”
“And to get rid of the annoying people who didn’t allow me to reach my potential. Especially your goddamn father. You and Tosha are so much like him, I want to stab you in the eyes every time I see you. Fuck! It was hard to pretend I liked you when all I wanted to do was kill you. It’s why I sent those mercenaries to attack you on that Spetsnaz mission. Too bad both of you only suffered injuries and refused to die already. And again, you refused to be killed when I sent people trailing after you in the forest after you came back here.”
Oh. My. God.
No wonder that sniper was so focused on me. If Kirill hadn’t been there—in Russia and in the forest—I would’ve died for sure. Same for Anton—if Maksim and Viktor hadn’t been there, he wouldn’t have been able to escape with a mere hand injury.
“So it was you.”
Everyone’s attention turns to the newcomers, Anton—the one who spoke just now—Maksim, and…Konstantin.
He’s standing there without a single bruise on his face. Their grim expressions indicate that they heard the entire thing.
Only Babushka is still gaping at her second-born as if he’s a ghost.
Or perhaps a demon in human form.
The guards glance at my uncle, probably waiting for an order, but if he tells them to go after the three who just arrived, that means they’ll have to let go of Kirill.
Given that, shouldn’t they have more guards around here?
“That’s also why you didn’t come to my rescue all this time,” Anton continues. “You hoped Kirill would kill me while you convinced Babushka that you were working on the logistics. An excuse you always use whenever you need more time.”
“Aren’t you the bright one?” my uncle says with a note of mockery. “You should’ve died with your parents, but you refused to, even after they put three bullets in your body.”
“You…” Babushka’s voice sounds raw, haunted, as she chokes on her tears and raises her cane in his direction. “You murdered my children…and my grandchildren… I will tear you limb from limb, you ungrateful bastard—”
Her cane hits the floor first as a bullet lodges in her forehead. I scream as she drops to the floor, her lifeless eyes staring at nothing.
“I told you to shut the fuck up.” My uncle sighs and shakes his head. “Now you’ll be silent forever.”
Anton runs to Babushka, followed closely by Maksim. “Babushka…”
“You’re next.” My uncle points the gun at him. “And then Sasha and her bothersome husband. That way, no one will be in my way to get to the throne.”
Anton glares up at him and brings out his own gun. “Put down your fucking weapon. This place is surrounded.”
“Nonsense,” Yulia says. “Didn’t your men make sure Kirill came alone, Albert?”
The man in question, Kirill, looks at the guys holding him. “Are we going to do this nicely or not so nicely?”
They exchange a look but hesitantly remain in place.
“Not so nicely, then.”
He effortlessly removes his shoulder from one guy’s hold and starts to kick the other away, but Yulia steals a gun from one of the guards and points it at Kirill.
“Not another move. I won’t allow you to keep living.”
“Mother, stop!” Konstantin rushes to her side.
“Don’t even try to change my mind, Kosta! He locked you up and tortured you.”
“He didn’t. He just wanted to prove something.”