Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 87695 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87695 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 438(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
“But you knew she could have. You’ve been maintaining it for a while, haven’t you?”
He glances away, maybe out of shame, I can’t be sure. “Hope is a brutal thing, Alina.”
“You’re disgusting. You knew. She had money. She had a place to hide. Taras is nearly dead, and it’s your fault.”
“No.” His voice is small and he looks so old. “That’s not right.”
“You know what the doctors said. They did what they could, but Taras might not ever fully recover. That’ll be on your head.”
“When did you start talking to me like that, Alina?” He draws himself up. A flash of his old self shows through.
“Ever since I realized you failed us. You turned your back on your own family.”
“She wasn’t killing Russian,” he hisses at me before shrinking back, probably realizing what he just said.
I can’t help it. I laugh at him. “So it was fine because she was killing my husband’s family, right? You let it all go, even though they’re supposedly our allies.”
“What should I have done?”
“Told us everything.”
“The Whelans would’ve still blamed me.”
“They would’ve seen you for what you are, a pathetic, old, lovesick asshole, but at least you wouldn’t have been complicit. Instead, you kept your mouth shut, and you nearly lost your only son.”
He slumps back like I punched him in the face. I’m breathing hard and shaking. I’ve never spoken to my father like this before in my life.
All I’ve ever known is obedience. I was raised to be meek and good. I took refuge in schedules and organizing. Everything in its right place. That way, I’d be a good girl and make my family proud.
Now I don’t care about any of that.
Slowly, I push to my feet.
“You’re going to fix this,” I tell him, my hands shaking with rage. “From now on, you’re going to own what happened and you’re going to do everything you can to make it right.”
“What do you want from me?”
“Catch Molchanie.”
“Your mother.”
“No, she’s not my mother. She wasn’t the day she walked out on me. That’s something you never learned.”
He lets out a soft breath, his hands curling into tight fists, knuckles white. “I’ll do what I can.”
“You’ll do more than that, because now the Whelans really are going to know everything, and I can guarantee they’ll be pissed.”
He nods miserably. “That’s probably what I deserve.”
“It’s so much less.”
“I’ll do everything in my power to stop her.” I turn my back on him and stride to the door. But he calls out and makes me stop. “You remind me of her right now, you know. Darya back before she became what she is now.”
“Stop it,” I whisper, gritting my teeth.
“It’s true. You have her look. You have her poise and strength. My Darya was so smart and beautiful. She was the cleverest woman I’ve ever met.”
“Fuck you, Papa. I’m nothing like her.”
I leave the hospital room, shaking all over.
My mind is caught between Taras and my father. I can’t help but think that so much suffering could’ve been avoided if Papa had only told us everything he knew. And poor, stupid Taras: he rushed out to take on Molchanie all alone, probably because he hated her so much when he was young.
This is what my family did. They were both too proud and too stupid to communicate with everyone around them. Now Taras is nearly dead and Papa looks like he’s aging ten years every five minutes.
“Alina.”
I look up sharply. Seamus is leaning against the wall beside the door. He’s looking at me with pure sympathy in his eyes. I nearly walked right past him; I’m so caught up in my own misery.
He pulls me into his arms and hugs me tight. I let myself sink into his touch. I release one ugly sob and keep myself buried against his chest. I listen to his steady heart and the slow rhythm of his breath, and I think this is what family should be. A man who pulls me into his arms, not a man who pushes me away and treats me like I owe him something.
This is where I belong.
“What happened with the police?” I ask when I’m finally under control.
“Don’t worry about that. It’s more complicated than usual, but we’ll take care of it.”
“That’s good. I don’t want anyone to get in trouble.”
He squeezes me tighter. “I’m sorry, princess. I tried to get there as fast as I could. I tried to tell him to wait for backup, but he wouldn’t listen.”
“It isn’t your fault. Taras has always let his pride push him into making stupid decisions.”
“Still, I didn’t want this.”
“What about your family? Nobody’s hurt yet? Molchanie said she was going to strike.”
“So far they’re all fine. I’m hoping she’s rattled now that she doesn’t have her main safe house anymore.”
I lean back to look into his eyes. Seamus stares back and his attention is completely on me. Ever since all of this started, I’ve been his main priority. Even when we were barely more than strangers, he cared about me more than my own family did.