Page 156 of Lethal Obsession

“Don’t blame Mickey, Papa. I put him in a difficult position.”

“Well, at least I know why he’s been avoiding family dinners of late. Boy knows how to keep his secrets, I’ll give him that.” He shakes his head disapprovingly, but I don’t miss his grudging smile. Papa has always put honor above all else, and keeping somebody else’s secret is, to him, the honorable thing.

“Your father,” he says, turning back to Alexei. “What do you want us to say to him of all this?”

“If you don’t mind,” Alexei says politely, “I’d prefer to have that conversation with him myself.”

“Have fun with that,” Roman says, not without some relish. He stands up. “We will hear from you soon, then?”

I nod, still swiping at the tears in my eyes, though now they’re more tears of relief than anything else. “Yes,” I say shakily. “Yes, Papa, of course you will.”

“I’ll call you later today, darling.” Darya kisses her fingers and waves them at me. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” I say, crying properly now. “So much.”

“Are you okay?” Alexei touches my shoulder as their faces disappear from the screen.

I nod. “I think I might need another drink,” I say shakily, wiping my face, “before we face your father.”

He nods, his mouth hard. “If it’s okay with you,” he says quietly, “I think I’d like to talk to my father alone.”

I nod. “Please tell him I love him.” My voice is all choked.

“I will.” Alexei’s smile is forced and doesn’t quite reach his eye. “And despite your newfound alcohol addiction, and the fact that it’s not even eight a.m., I think you should make yourself a very strong Bloody Mary and take it out to the pool.”

I give him a watery smile. “I mean, since we haven’t actually slept yet, technically it’s still last night, right?”

“Now that’s some epic drinking logic, right there.” Alexei kisses me once, hard. “Go, angel. I’ll be with you in a moment.”

31

Alexei

Despite my father having at least some inkling of my feelings for Ofelia, I’m still more nervous than I might have imagined as I wait for him to open the line. My tension isn’t relieved when his face appears on the screen, grim and unsmiling.

“Soy myn.” His eyes fix me with a stern, hard blue that isn’t at all dimmed by age. “You are putting that child in grave danger by having her with you.”

“I’m aware, Papa.” If I’d thought my father might be a softer landing than Roman and Darya, I was clearly mistaken. “I take it Roman did not respect my request to tell you in my own time, then.”

“Don’t shift the blame. I saw Darya shortly your call. She told me Ofelia is with you.”

“I wish she hadn’t done that.” But I know this isn’t my sister’s fault.

“And don’t tell me this was Ofelia’s choice.” He glares at me. “We both know there should never have been a choice to make.”

I remain silent.

“Roman is Darya’s husband. My son-in-law. Not to mention Aleksander’s son, a man who was as a brother to me. And now you have betrayed Roman’s trust in the worst way any man could. In doing so, you have also dishonored me. Beyond all of those considerations is the worst crime of all: your selfish actions have put an innocent girl directly in the path of mortal danger.”

“I thought,” I say stiffly, “after we spoke, that you understood—”

“I understood that Ofelia had formed a strong attachment to you. I understood that your life might be in danger. Critically, I understood that those two things could very likely be used to hurt you both.” My father’s voice is hard and unforgiving. “But if you thought our previous conversation was me giving you tacit permission to take Roman’s daughter as your own, you are either a deluded fool, Alexei, or woefully mistaken.” His eyes cut through the screen like shards of ice. “Which is it?”

In the face of such outright condemnation, my initial shock is rapidly morphing into a slow, churning anger I was unaware still lived inside me.

I match his tone. “Clearly, I am both. A deluded fool for assuming you might, just once, show me the same loyalty you have always reserved for a dead man and his son.” My voice doesn’t shake, and my eye doesn’t waver from his. “Woefully mistaken,” I continue, “to believe you have any understanding of the cost we have all paid for the honor you prize so highly.”

His eyes narrow. “Do not think it does not pain me to see your scars, Alexei, and know that I am the reason you carry them.”