Page 60 of Broken Embers

“There’s a word for that,” I say dryly. “Narcissism.”

“We never wanted to admit it,” he replies, voice heavy. “But as the years went by, it got harder to keep pretending.”

My mother nods slowly. “I’ve never been able to fathom why my sister had to be such a cold bitch.”

“Psychopathic narcissist?” I offer, only half-joking.

“It pains me, but you are probably right,” Timofey’s eyes are filled with a sad resignation. “I’ve tried to reach her many times. She’s my daughter.” He shakes his head. “But you have to get to a point when you realize it’s just not going to happen.”

“Well, I’m sorry to say, but that bitch is going down,” I tell him and he looks at me with raised brows. “Do you want to show me what you’ve got, and I can see what I can do to help ensure the right people are made aware of what is going on with General Ergorv’s special project?”

I look at my mother for confirmation as I know the man is a legend and my grandfather, but I don’t know him, and his daughter is a fucking psycho. Well, his one daughter, and I always think a trait like that had to come from somewhere.

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” my mother says with a nod. “You can show him.”

I’m still skeptical about trusting anyone else with this, so I show him the part where they have General Ergorov’s wife heavily sedated, and I’m shocked at Timofey’s reaction.

“Jesus, is that Ergorov’s wife?” His eyes are wide with disbelief. “I thought she was in a mental institution after suffering a nervous breakdown over twenty years ago.”

“No way!” I give a low whistle. “Her father put her in a mental hospital? Her daughter thinks she’s an alcoholic.”

“I have an idea, but you’re not going to like it,” Timofey says.

“As long as I’m included in this idea,” Oleksi’s voice sends my heart slamming against my rib cage, and I turn to see him leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest.

“Count us in,” Ivan’s voice comes from the stairs.

“What the fuck are you four doing sitting down there?” Oleksi asks them.

“We were just watching out for Sabrina and Carla,” Syd says standing up. “We are in Dmitri’s mausoleum after all and we were just making sure she didn’t get kidnapped by him.”

“Jesus, Syd.” I look at her skeptically. “You couldn’t come up with a better story than that?” She shakes her head. “You were eavesdropping.”

“No, spying,” Lev corrects her. “We were worried about you.”

“You are a good man,” Timofey tells Lev.

“Thank you, sir,” Lev says politely.

“So where are we going?” Ivan asks.

“Yes, Sabrina, where arewegoing?” Oleksi asks, his eyes boring into mine.

Uh-oh, he’s pissed.

“I…” My eyes dart to my mother who nods then I look back at Oleksi. “My mother and I are going to meet Yelena—together.”

“Over my dead fucking body,” Oleksi hisses.

“I agree,” Timofey says. “I can’t let you two go and meet Yelena. It is a trap. She will have the RMSAD guards with her. “You took a lot from her when you left.” he looks at Carla. “And she will not let that go easily.”

“She tried to take everything from me,” Carla responds. “And now she’s trying to do that again only this time…”

“You have us with you,” Syd tells her.

And suddenly mine and my mother’s two person mission becomes a team effort.

18

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