In the Beginning (Volkov Bratva #1)(93)

“You might have thought I would never find out.”

He shook his head. “Then you are not as smart as my son credits you. Tell me, why do you think I have had something to do with your father’s death.”

“A man, Ivan, was brought into the police station because he attacked me and someone I care about. He offered information to the attorney about a murder, my dad’s murder. He provided enough detail that they reopened his case. He said that you sanctioned my father’s death, sending him, another man, and Viktor to see it done.” Lauren looked away. “A robbery gone wrong. That’s what I grew up believing, at least until I heard him say that phrase at breakfast. I guess you really can’t fight fate.”

It had taken her days to find out what that saying meant. It wasn’t like she could speak Russian, but after trial and error, sounding it out over and over again, she finally had enough to find a match.

“How do you know these things?” Mikhail asked, his tone sharper than before.

“I was in the closet. No one knew I was there and it was kept out of the police file.”

Pity. That was what she saw in Mishca’s eyes as he stared at her, and understanding. But she didn’t want that from him. She wanted to keep the two sides of him separate so she could continue down this path.

“These men you speak of, they are the ones to attack you and the cop, yes?”

She nodded.

“Why would I do this? You cannot collect from a dead man.”

Lauren dug into her bag, conscious of the guards reaching for their concealed weapons, but she merely withdrew the folder and set it on the table.

“My father learned that Viktor was sleeping with your wife.”

Anya gasped. “You will allow her to accuse me of these lies? In my country, I would cut out your tongue.”

“There is no need for such threats, Anya. Let the girl speak. If she lies, well, we will deal with her, but know that no harm will come to her until she is finished.” But Mikhail didn’t look like he believed Lauren either. He just seemed amused by it all. “You claim to know of this life, then you know of my title. No one moves unless I order it.”

“Unless they were trying to hide it from you,” Lauren retorted. “If you didn’t order it, what reason would your Captain have to kill him?”

“Where is your proof?”

“There is no proof!” Anya exclaimed indignantly. “She is lying.”

Lauren looked down at the folder, knowing the answers it held, but she didn’t actually need them. All the proof she needed was in the room.

“There’s living proof.”

This time it was Mishca who spoke up, the confusion clear in his expression. “Was there a witness to the act?”

“Alex.”

“Me?” Alex looked to Mishca. “How did I get in this? I was like a baby when her father was killed.”

Steeling her resolve, Lauren looked directly at Mikhail. “She’s not your daughter.”

Silence.

The cool fa?ade that Mikhail donned bled away, replaced with something far more fearful. “I have tolerated this…tale on behalf on my son. I will not tolerate your disrespect.”

“You hired my father to be their private physician. Alex needed some kind of procedure that called for him to run your DNA against hers, you weren’t a match.”

They all started yelling in Russian, a conversation that was easy enough to follow just by watching them.

“Who is the father?” Mikhail demanded of Anya.

“It’s you! I swear.”

Viktor exploded out of his seat, going for the weapon at his belt, but before he could make another move, the guards restrained him.

“You!” Mikhail spat in Lauren’s direction. “Finish.”

“There was a familial match.”

“Familial?”

“Viktor. Alex’s father is Viktor. When my father stumbled on the truth accidentally, they had him killed.”

“I should have killed you too!” Viktor spat out, spraying spittle all over the table. “You and his precious whore of a wife!”

Tired of his mockery, Lauren ran at him, but Mishca intercepted her, holding her with irresistible force.

“Did you ever wonder why he never moved from in front of that door? Why he never tried to run? He was protecting me you son of a bitch and I hope you rot in hell!”

“Enough.” Mikhail didn’t yell, but his tone held enough authority that silence fell over the room. “Vlad, take Viktor to the wet rooms.”

“Brother, no. This is simply not true. I would never…”

Viktor’s pleas and curses fell on deaf ears as he was wrestled from the room, his struggles no match for the three men that were practically carrying him out. Alex looked crestfallen, looking to the man she had thought of as an uncle her entire life, and back to her mother, who refused to cry or beg.

That cloud of anger that had gripped Lauren since Viktor had hurled insult after insult dissipated as she was now faced with the cruel reality of what she had inflicted on another person. When more men came into the room, Lauren had to squeeze her eyes shut as Alex cried louder, having to watch her mother drag her from the room as well. Though her mother was too prideful, Alex begged Mikhail on her behalf, making Lauren’s guilt worsen.