87

Anatoli

"I'll be with you in a few hours." I balance my phone between my ear and shoulder while I pick up the last contract document from the pile on my desk.

"Try not to stay at work too long," Leif says, his voice sounding raspy over the phone. It still holds that melancholic tone I feel. "Losing yourself in work isn't always best."

"I know. I still feel off." I swivel my chair around and gaze out the window toward the skyline. Rain is falling, so outside is a little darker than it should be for this time of day. It suits the sullen mood I can't seem to shake.

"I feel the same, my boy. I've been questioning my actions and decision to keep you a secret since we found out the truth. I can't express how guilty I feel about that."

"Uncle, you rescued me from certain death. Of course, you were in the right for keeping me a secret." I know if I were him, I would have done the same thing. And I pray I'll never be in that position. "I owe you my life, and I still think of you as my father. You did more for me than anyone could. Please remember that."

"Thank you, my boy. That means a lot. Everything is just going to be hard to process. And we have yet to get down to the crux of what's going on and find out who this Mark person is."

"Yes." I bite the inside of my lip, feeling the weight of my exhaustion.

It's probably a good thing I'm not around Avrora today. I'm finding it difficult to find myself. At the same time, being with her would have soothed me and I would have gotten to take care of her.

Jayce checked in an hour ago, letting me know he'd dropped Avrora off safely at Mira's house but that she looked sick. Ehlga said the same thing when she messaged earlier, so I'm going to call Avrora in an hour and see how she is.

"I'll let you go and finish up your work. I'll see you when you get here."

"Alright, I'll be there before the others." Zakh and Malik will be joining us later. Leif thought it would be good for us to meet at his house and have dinner.

"Good, be safe."

We hang up, and when I turn my chair back to the desk, I find Gytha standing by the door.

The door was already open, so I wouldn't have heard her come in.

"Hi." She gives me a cautious smile. I haven't seen her since my father died and I briefed my crew on the truth.

"Hey. What are you doing here on a Sunday?"

"Could ask you the same thing, but since I know you, I already know the answer."

When she walks closer and sits in the chair in front of me, I notice she seems to be different than she has been for the last few months. There's less tension in her expression and she looks more at ease.

Other than talking to her about business-related things, we haven't spoken properly since the night I told her to take the job in Denmark. I truly hope this isn't going to be one of those times when we end up arguing. I'm tired of the back and forth over a relationship that can't be resurrected.

"I had some stuff to do that I didn't want to run over into next week." She nods. "And I also knew you you'd be here. I wanted to talk to you and see how you were."

"I'm as good as I can be."

"I can imagine. All this time I've known you, the goal has always been to seek retribution. I'm sorry your father couldn't have lived to give you both the chance to make amends."

"I appreciate that."

She stares at me for a long moment, laces her fingers together, and rests her hands in her lap. "I'm sorry I cheated on you."

The apology is long overdue and respected, but it's too late. "It's okay."

"It's not. I will never stop being ashamed of myself. Not just for what I did, but because I knew you were serious about me. I got scared. Everyone I love, I lose. I thought it would be better not to be serious, so if I lost you, it wouldn't hurt. But I lost you completely, and the hurt is something that will stay with me forever."

I think about what she's saying and understand her more. Maybe the same thing happened to me, but in a different way. "Time will heal you."

"I hope so. With that said, I'm happy you found true love. You wouldn't have been able to love me the way you love Avrora because I'm not her. And that's fine. You're going through a sad time, but I can see how good she is for you." She nods and gives me a small smile, looking more like herself. "I've accepted the job in Denmark, but I'm not leaving until all is resolved."

"I'm grateful, but will that be okay?"

"Yes. They'll hold it for me. It was part of my terms. So, I'm on board to do whatever you need me to do."

"Thank you."

"You are most welcome. See you in the morning."

I dip my head, and she leaves.

I take a moment to think about everything and then finish off the contract.

It takes me a little over an hour to get to Leif's three-story mansion in South Boston. There was a traffic diversion that took up extra time. I look ahead and don't see Zakh or Malik's cars, so it seems I'm still early enough to have some one-on-one time with my uncle. I'm looking forward to spending time with Leif and taking a break.

I park up on the drive next to his truck and make my way up the steps.

When I reach the front door, I notice it's unlocked. That's strange for Leif even when he's expecting visitors. His butler, Jake, normally answers the door.

I push the door open and walk in, but the faint scent of blood hits me when I walk a few paces in, and I stop in my tracks.

In my world, you pick up on things like that, and you know there has to be a lot of blood for you to smell it. My nerves spike in an instant, and worry cascades down my spine like a million spiders crawling down a drain pipe.

Carefully, I start walking again down the passage, noticing the house is unusually quiet. Especially for a Sunday afternoon. Leif loves football and basketball, so he'd normally be watching sports on ESPN.

Jake and some of the other staff would also be talking away or moving around the house. But there's nothing but silence. The sort of silence that tells you something is wrong.

I check the living room. It's empty, so I continue down the hall.

I turn toward the dining room, and my blood freezes when I find Jake on the floor, lying in a pool of blood with bullet holes in his body. Across from him are the maids, Helen and Jessie.

Fucking hell, what happened here?

I grab my gun and look around frantically, checking to see if whoever did this is still here. Keeping my gun close, I rush down the hallway, heading for Leif's office.

Seeing the door open when I get closer makes my heart pound like a sledgehammer against my ribs. I run through the door, and my soul shatters when I see Leif lying on the floor surrounded by blood and a knife plunged into his heart.

"No... no, please. No." I rush to his side. Although I can see the knife and the blood, I foolishly hope, pray, and beg God and the universe not to take him from me.

Not him, not him, not him.

Please, not him.

My fucking hopes fade when I notice a few bullet wounds next to the knife, and when I touch him, he's cold. The life has already left his body.

Leif is gone. He's dead.

My uncle is dead.

I couldn't save him.

I couldn't save him the way he saved me.

We only spoke a little over an hour ago. How could this happen?

Damn it. If only I'd left work earlier, or not gone in at all, this wouldn't have happened.

I look at Leif, but my brain won't accept what I'm seeing. It can't because as much as I told him, and myself, that I'm no longer the helpless boy, I am. I'm that boy again, and my world has fractured.