Page 74 of The Watcher's Bride

As Leo’s lifeless body is carried out of the room and I’m dragged kicking and screaming behind, I catch my father’s eyes. They gleam triumphantly and I realize that once again he’s been the puppet master and we’re his puppets.

Chapter 44

Leo

“Oh good, you’re awake,” Dimitri says casually as he enters the room.

“You fucking bastard, I’ll kill you for this!” I snarl.

Dimitri looks at me, completely unphased. “You’re upset right now, so I’ll overlook your insolence this once. Don’t forget who your Pakhan is, who your family is, boy.”

“She’s my family!”

“No. She’s a traitor,” Dimitri declares, fixing me with a knowing, self-satisfied look. “I had to find out just how far she’s hooked her claws into you, and I see now that they’re in rather deep. I should never have listened to you and let you marry her. For that, I apologize. You were too weak, too inexperienced to see her deceptions.”

“You’re the one who is weak.”

He shakes his head as if I’m a naive fool. “Quinn has betrayed our alliance. He’s working with the Chinese. His daughter was simply a spy that he planted. When I refused to take her, he gave me his other whore to do the job instead. I have proof that these two communicated. Norelle here had to get smart, to turn you against me, to try to bring our empire down from the inside.”

I debate telling him that I know Quinn is working with the Chos and that Nora had nothing to do with it. That she hates her father and is on our side, but I decide to hold back. To let Dimitri lay all of his cards on the table before showing my hand.

“You’re doing a pretty damn good job of making me hate you all by yourself,” I growl. “Tying us up and threatening to rape my wife is hardly the way to make me trust you.”

“I’m not going to rape your wife. Well, not unless absolutely necessary,” he sneers. “I had to make Quinn believe his plan was working. Plus, I didn’t want you to do anything rash. You’re so hot-headed, I needed you in one place so you could think rationally, without letting your emotions cloud you.”

The relief I feel that Nora is not in any immediate danger is short-lived. If I don’t play this just right, I risk both of our lives.

“Why not just talk to me alone? Why the theatrics?”

“Because Quinn needs to suffer. This man killed your family, and then when we extend our forgiveness to try to move forward as allies, he tried to destroy us. He used his daughter to trick you, to make you think they’re your friends and I’m your enemy. But he didn’t count on you, on how loyal you are to your family. So, you are going to repay him a debt. Today, you’re going to get your revenge. You’re going to kill his precious daughter while he watches and then we’re going to kill him.”

“I’m not precious to him. My father uses me, but he doesn’t love me. Killing me won’t hurt him. I am not a spy for him, I hate him as much as you do!” Nora says.

“Lies, all lies,” Dimitri snarls. “Did you think she didn’t know who you were when you moved into her building and pretended to be her neighbor? She was playing you for a fool all along. Pretending to be an unwilling victim instead of the one holding all the cards. ”.

For a moment, a flicker of doubt creeps into my mind. Did Nora know who I was all along? Was that why she so readily accepted my advances as her watcher? I know it’s not normal, that most women would have been terrified. Even as Max, she was unafraid when I beat Mike half to death. She didn’t even flinch when I killed a man in her apartment.

What if Dimitri is telling the truth? Have I let my love for Nora cloud my judgment? The only person who told me that Dimitri was working with Quinn to kill my family is Nadya, someone who has freely admitted to working as a spy for Quinn.

“Leo, please look at me, it’s all lies!” Nora begs, seeing that he’s getting to me.

Dimitri sees it too. “My son, don’t listen to any more of her lies. You’ve always put this family first, and that’s what you need to do now. You need to kill her. Kill her and rid yourself of her lies. Let her father watch as you take away his family, as he did to you. Prove to me that you’re still a part of this family, that you’re not Quinn’s puppet, and that you deserve to be the next Belyh Pakhan. Kill her and then we’ll end the Quinn family once and for all.”

I look at Nora, and all my doubts go. I know what I have to do now.

“Alright… I’ll do it,” I agree, choking on the words and hanging my head, my shoulders slumped in defeat. “I’ll kill her.”

Chapter 45

Nora

Iscream and beg Leo not to listen, not to believe his uncle’s lies, but he’s withdrawn inside someplace I can’t reach him. Dimitri triumphantly sends the signal and a sliding panel moves back to reveal my father watching us curiously from behind glass. I’m momentarily confused, wondering why if Dimitri thinks my father is a traitor he’s still working with him, unless this is yet another part of his plan? Dimitri moves to release Leo from his restraints. There’s no concern in my father’s eyes, no last-minute fatherly love. He’s triumphant. This is what he wants. My final act as his daughter will be to start his war, to give him an excuse, to rally people around his cause to take down the monsters who murdered his child.

“Please, Leo, you have to believe me. I didn’t do any of it!” I cry, but my husband is lost, his eyes are dark wells of pain.

“I’m sorry, Norelle, but my family always comes first. I can’t let anyone destroy what we’ve built,” he replies, his voice stilted and strained. His words almost break me, but then I catch something. He called me ‘Norelle’, in the time we’ve known each other he’s always called me Nora. Is he trying to send me a message?

“That’s it, my boy,” Dimitri encourages.

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