Page 128 of Sing For Us

“It was so easy to find you, you know that, right?” I start mocking my father because of the lack of intelligence he displayed. He doesn’t say anything as he lies on the floor with his hands in the air, like a lost puppy.

Pathetic.

I kneel beside him.

“Hello, son,” he says condescendingly. I know what he’s doing, and I’m not falling for it. My team has prepared me for this.

“You will only talk when we permit you. Now, let’s get this party started.” My lips are pulled back far too wide, and my teeth are on full display. His expression is flat, but in the end, this is still my father, and I know him.

He’s trying to contain himself because he has never been apprehended.

“We’re going to keep this short and sweet, as I’ve wasted enough time on you my entire life.”

I spit near his head, and his reaction is what dreams are made of—disdain and anger. He always found spitting one of the most abhorrent things you can do, so imagine my delight right now.

“How did you figure out that mama was still talking to Lana’s parents?” I give him a slight nod, indicating that he can speak.

“When she was in Tuzla, I was going through her belongings because I had a feeling she was deceiving me. Then I stumbled upon a box with trinkets beneath the floorboard in her room. I found some of the last letters Leon sent her along with a diary she kept.”

“What was in those notes?” Lana asks him. His head whips so fast towards her it makes me angry, but Lana does nothing. She’s like a statue, unrelenting. Dario hates women, especially strong women, and thinks they’re only good for breeding, as he would say.

I notice he’s refusing to answer her, so I plunge a knife in his thigh. “Answer every question she asks.”

He cries out in pain, but I think he’s more hurt on the inside. Lana’s yawning, and I feel the anger radiating from his body. He’s so used to being the main character that this is unfounded territory for him.

He gulps. “Plans to take me down, and she needed their help. But then she got sick. I hated that she was friends with those people.”

“Why?” I ask him.

“They wanted her to have freedom and urged her to leave me. I would’ve lost face in this industry if that happened. When we got married, I forbade her to talk to them anymore. She refused at first, but then she found out that she was pregnant. I threatened to kill you and her if she tried to do that.”

“You’d kill a baby?” Oliver asks behind him.

Dario keeps his eyes focused on me. “You were a lump of meat; I didn’t fucking care.”

Model citizen, this one. It should’ve hurt me what he just said, but I was expecting it. He’s a horrid human being.

“Why did she want to take you down? And why did she need their help?” Another question from me. I want this to be over. Just a couple more minutes, Noa. Then he’ll be dead.

“Anita discovered I did personal hits, which was against our honor code. So, she started gathering evidence, but she needed help. My darling wife knew that her friends had Lana and she loved her. Lana was set to be revealed as the most ruthless assassin in the world, and you were to inherit the Vicious Vipers.”

A deadly combination. My mother and Lana’s parents wanted to combine forces, and if they had succeeded, we would’ve become unstoppable, and Dario’s reputation would be dead. And if there’s something a psychopath hates, it’s having his ego bruised and being deceived.

I move on to my next question. “Why’d you hate me so much?”

“Everybody in the organization respected you. Even when we were in meetings, the employees would say that you might’ve done things differently, more organized. They were making you out to be smarter than me.”

“Good. Anything else?”

“You became too much like your mother. I wanted to mold you into my perfect image, but I failed.”

“Yes, you fucking did. I have to say that it was stupid of you to order that hit on Leon.”

“It wasn’t! It was stupid of him not to take a billion euros; it’s not like he knew you. Pathetic. Luckily I had a backup plan of framing you for his murder. It was the best revenge against that cunt, taking her best friend’s life, and in return, she should’ve taken your life,” he sneers at me.

Convincing Dario to show any remorse is pointless. He can’t put himself in our shoes, and he never will—time to wrap this up.

Shit, forgot one question to ask.