This contract is to secure the deaths of the following parties:
Elena, Talia, and Mikhail Dmitriyev.
Following their deaths, shares of equal values will be distributed to you once the ownership of Dmitriyev Ltd. and the Baranov Bratva are transferred.
I stop reading when a stone drops in the pit of my stomach and shock slams through me.
All this time, I believed the assassination attempt was on my family as a whole unit. I thought it was about all of us.
But it wasn’t.
It was just about my mother, my sister, and me.
Why?
“It was never about everybody.”
“No, Mikhail. It was not.”
I stare at Eric, but he looks like he’s already formed his conclusions.
“My past has taught me to keep my mind open. I told you that sometimes, the answer is right under your nose. You and I have been friends for quite a few years now, and we’ve done a lot together in that time, so believe me when I say I’ve been a friend to you and I’m doing exactly that when I say this.” He stops for a moment and presses his lips together. “Someone was watching you. They knew your every move. They think they have the power to do shit like transfer shares of the company equally, but only when the ownership is transferred. They also wanted you, your mother, and sister out of the picture. There’s only one person I can think of who would fit that description.”
There’s only one person I can think of who would do this to me, too, but I can’t believe he’d do all of this. Killmemaybe. But my mother and sister?
Why not?
He would do it if he stood to gain something and they were in his way.
We were all in his way.
“Ivan,” I mutter, and Eric nods.
“Yes, old friend.”
30
Mikhail
Iremember when I had my first fight with my brother.
I was eight and he was eighteen. We went on a camping trip, and he was supposed to be watching me while our parents went out.
He told me to play by the river and urged me to go past the signs that told everyone to keep away because it was dangerous.
Of course, I fell in the river because the reason the signs were there was the ground being unstable.
The current was so strong I couldn’t swim against it, yet Ivan stood on the bank watching me go down the river, crying for help.
Someone heard me screaming. It was an old man. He jumped in and saved me.
When our parents got back, Ivan lied and told everyone I disobeyed him and ventured out against his caution.
I got in trouble, but that night, I tackled him about his lie. I punched him, and he broke my arm. Another lie was told about how that happened, and because he was older, everyone believed him. No one would believe an eighteen-year-old would do such a thing to a little kid or try to drown him in the river.
I must have been around eighteen before our parents started listening to me.
It was clear starting back then that my brother wanted me dead. I just couldn’t understand his deep hatred for me.
