It’s the look of victory.
And in his world—and mine—you can’t win without somebody else paying the price.
I close in. “Explain.”
Siguard stares me dead in the eye. “You chopped off Jamie’s legs.”
Igor shuffles his weight onto the other foot, glaring at me. I can see multiple questions forming on his lips.
I flash him a look. I’ll answer his questions when we’re back on solid ground, after I’ve taken care of Siguard.
“I had my reasons,” I say.
“Hm,” says Siguard. “Did you? Rachel’s father was a good man.”
“Then we both have very different definitions ofgood.”I grind my jaw.
“He’s the one who got me citizenship here in the states, you know.”
“I don’t care. We’re straying from the main point of this conversation.” I clear my throat. “How much is Joy’s ransom? I see you’ve already taken most of the money yourself.” I pin him a glare. “How much more do you want?”
Siguard keeps smiling, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. He looks at Igor, back at me, alternating between us both. “You haveto be fucked in the head to want to chop off your daughter’s legs. I get why he did it. She was gonna ruin everything for Jamie by going to the cops. But that?” Siguard bursts into laughter, shaking his head.“Thatis some next level shit. Even I wouldn’t go that far.”
“What the hell is he talking about?” Igor is staring at me, his lips pressed together in a tight line. “My own... grandfatherdid that to Mom?”
“Yes.” Siguard answers for me. “Valerian finished your mother off and put her out of her misery.” He hitches his eyebrow up at me. “Isn’t that right?”
I know exactly what game he’s playing.
Igor steps back. The weight of gravity is changing around him. I know the symptoms.
There are many stages when it comes to descending into evil. This is the first one.
“He chopped off her legs?” Igor repeats, searching the ground as he makes sense of everything. He finds my eyes, his face pulled back, full of hurt. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
I grit my teeth, flashing Siguard a glare, letting him know I’ll be dealing with him in a minute. “To protect you. Some things are best left unsaid.”
“I had a right to know.” Igor’s face turns red. He steps forward, growling at me. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell me?”
I look at him pointedly. “You might wanna take a look at yourself in the mirror. That’s why.”
I step back, turning over my shoulder. Joy is still on the edge of the building, pinned down by the men. Her life is at risk the most right now.
“I almost killed you,” mutters Igor.
“Good thing you didn’t.”
“Why the fuck would you?—?”
I barrel into Siguard and take out my knife. Fuck this. I won’t keep walking on eggshells around thismudak.
Joy’s screams cut through the atmosphere. I turn and see her, hair lifting in the wind, legs struggling for purchase as she fights to get back down on solid ground. These men are too strong for her. They lift her into the air again, holding her over the edge.
The wind carries her screams, stabbing me in the chest all over again.
I look at Niko, flaring my eyes, telling him to release the man he has in a headlock.
We’ll do this another way.