Heart of My Monster (Monster Trilogy, #3)(20)

He purses his lips.

“I deserve to know, Uncle.”

“You know that our family is special, right?”

“Because of the noble blood, yeah.”

“Not only the blood but also everything that comes with it. See, we don’t just do business. We invent business. We’ve been the puppet masters of many politicians and have controlled the government. The president and his ministers needed to pay respects to us and ask our permission before they pass any law. We were—no, we are—Russia’s secret royalty.”

“What does that mean? We’re a cult?”

“Not a cult. Royalty. We’re what every government needs.”

“But governments are supposed to be elected by the people.”

“You really believe that nonsense? Every society has a secret order that controls politics and politicians. They might have different agendas, but the concept is the same.”

“If we were that powerful, why did I have to see my own parents and the rest of my family butchered in front of my eyes?”

“Because we made a mistake and allowed outsiders into our family business.” A distant look crosses his features. “We made a few investment errors, and the wrong person got into power, and that wrong person is now the president of Russia.”

“Fyodor Petrov?”

“That’s the one. He doesn’t like the concept of anyone controlling him or his decisions. In fact, he dedicated his youth to the KGB, trying and failing to get any incriminating information about us. It was a disaster that he came into power, and we had to finish him before he finished us.”

“And how did you plan to do that? Unless…you planned a coup?”

He nods. “We needed outside help for that. We had weapons and moles in higher positions, but not enough manpower to flip the Kremlin upside down.”

“Let me guess, Roman was one of the outsiders?”

“Unfortunately, yes. He was acquainted with your uncle Anatoly, and he offered his mercenaries and logistic support. Until he stabbed us in the back. The government only needed to issue the order to the general, Abram Kuzmin. Slap ‘elimination of a possible terrorist group’ on the operation and come after us.”

“So once Anton recovered, he decided to take things into his own hands?”

“Yes. However, like you, he believed Kirill had nothing to do with it until very recently.”

“What…changed his mind?”

“The attack on us and you a month ago, maybe?”

I clear my throat. “Right.”

“Just recuperate for now. There’ll be a chance for us to finally get Kirill.”

My heart aches, but I nod. Why the hell did I have to give my heart to the man who destroyed me? Not once, but twice.

I cram the toast in my mouth, then stand up and put on my coat. “I’m going to buy a few things.”

“Like what?” Uncle asks. “We have everything.”

“Woman…things,” I lie through my teeth. “I’ll be back soon.”

Mike bounds into the kitchen, his arms open wide. “I wanna go!”

“Maybe next time, Mishka. I will bring you candy instead?”

“Okay!” He jumps up with excitement although he had Anton promise him the same.

I kiss his cheek and jog out the front door, then head to the garage, where we keep three snowmobiles. I check my watch and smile when a dot appears on the screen.

So Anton is up to something.

I know, because he tends to disappear for hours and doesn’t tell me what he’s doing.

I’m done being kept in the dark, so I planted one of the trackers Uncle keeps in the engine of every snowmobile. I grab my own, put on my gloves, and speed across the field.

It takes us one hour to get to the smallest town on a snowmobile, and it seems that’s where Anton is heading.

I start to follow while keeping a safe distance. Before I can reach the town center, he’s on the road again, this time seeming to head out of town and into…nothing. There are no buildings in the field he’s entering. Only a forest.

Weird.

I follow him for another thirty minutes before he comes to a stop. Once I’m two minutes away from the target, I park the snowmobile beneath a low tree, mark the position on my watch, and then go on foot.

My movements are careful and silent, but I don’t even need to put forth an ounce of effort. I’m a sniper, after all. Moving like shadows is what we do best.

Anton’s snowmobile is parked outside a small cottage in the middle of the frozen forest. I hide behind a tree and take a closer look. The windows are busted, some of the wood is splintered, and the gaps are filled with ice.

What is he doing here?

As I get closer, I catch a glimpse of light from a window at ground level.

Of course.

Whatever this place is, it’s located underground.

I lift up my coat’s collar further, run to the entrance, then sneak inside and check my gun, just in case.

Sure enough, the interior of the cottage is shabby and fucking freezing at best. However, there’s an ajar door at the far end. I carefully slip through it and am greeted by dark stairs that are illuminated by a faint orange bulb.

I go down one step at a time. Due to the heat, the feeling slowly returns to my limbs.