Heart of My Monster (Monster Trilogy #3) by Rina Kent

Yulia’s expression remains cold, but her whole body becomes eerily still.

“Much appreciated. I knew you were the voice of reason,” Kirill says in the same detached tone. “So, the thing is, Yulia had an affair with your son Anatoly for years. As a result, he’s my brother’s biological father. I thought the story ended there, but I found out through a recent letter left by my father that your son ended the affair after his wife got pregnant with their youngest child. Of course, Yulia, who always gets what she wants, didn’t like that. She’s a bit too possessive, my mother. Correction, a lot. If she couldn’t have Anatoly, no one else could. So what did she do? She deliberately let Roman know about the affair. She thought he wasn’t aware of her manipulations, but she missed the fact that he always employed private investigators to make sure any allegations were true. That’s how he knew Anatoly broke up with her exactly a year before the massacre. He still didn’t like the idea of another man having his possession, so when the government approached him with a request to annihilate you, he agreed. But here’s the most important piece of the puzzle, Mrs. Ivanova. Yulia is the one who gave him that plan. But that’s not the end of it. My father left me a memory card that has pictures of Yulia and Anatoly together as well as videos of Anatoly kicking Yulia out of his club when she went to Russia. I invite you to listen to this little recording that will explain my next point better.”

Kirill retrieves his phone, and both Uncle Albert and Yulia lunge at it. Babushka surprisingly hits them both with her cane, keeping them away as Kirill hits Play.

“You mean to tell me I’ll have an opening?” Roman says in Russian.

There’s a sound of skin against skin like someone is peppering kisses all over his face, before Yulia’s voice follows. “Yes, dear. I have an insider in that house who’ll make sure there’s little to no resistance.”

“Are you positive? I will kill your lover.”

“I’m proving that he’s not my lover. You’re the only man I’ve ever loved.”

“Really?”

“Really, dear.”

Gag. Even I can hear the fakery in her tone. Judging by the way he asked, Roman most likely knew, too. However, he probably decided to go with the flow because he wanted to use her anyway.

“Who’s your insider?” he asks.

“Albert. He never liked being under the dictatorial leadership of his mother and brother. Never liked his wife or even his children. They’re good to go, too, as long as he and the old lady stay alive since she’s the one who’ll be able to put him as the head of the family—”

Yulia’s voice comes to an end when Uncle Albert shoots the phone right out of Kirill’s hand.

Babushka's pale face must mirror mine.

The load of information I just heard makes my head spin, and my heart shrivels in my chest.

Uncle Albert and Yulia were the ones who planned the massacre.

My uncle.

My own uncle killed everyone I ever cared about.

My father’s brother plotted the inhumane butchering of his own family—children included.

“What…” Babushka is lost for words. Her thin, wrinkly lips open and close in a scene I’ve never witnessed before. When she speaks, her voice is barely audible. “What is the meaning of this, Albert?”

“Ahhh.” He laughs almost mockingly. “Fuck. It actually feels good that I can finally drop the annoying mask.”

“Albert!”

“What, Mother, what?” he screams in her face. “You always worshiped Akim and adored Anatoly, but I was the one missing from your list. You never thought I was capable of anything and pushed me back in favor of those other two fuckers all the damn time. You made me marry the least influential woman just to stop me from ever climbing to the top.”

“So you murdered your family?”

He raises a shoulder. “I never considered them my family. They were just a hurdle on my way to success. I would’ve preferred it if Sasha and Tosha hadn’t survived, so I wouldn’t have had anyone blocking my path, but oh well, I will just kill them now.”

“And Mike,” I snarl. “What about him?”

“I needed an heir.” He rolls his eyes. “His mother was alive with him in the closet, and she was so happy that I came to their rescue. I shot that bitch in the head and took him from her arms.”

“Albert…” Tears stream down Babushka’s cheeks for the first time ever. “What have you done?”

“Shut up, Mother. For once in your life, just shut up. I put up with your presence all these years for the power you hold over all the other families. I put up with Tosha and Sasha because they were my eyes in enemy camps. But all of you are unnecessary now.”

My vision is blurred with a waterfall of tears. It’s like I’m staring at a stranger. All these years, I thought we were fighting for the same cause, even if we had different methods, but he’s been the villain all along.

He didn’t only fool me, Anton, Babushka, and Mike, but he’s also been pretending that we’re a family.

My lips tremble. “You…did all of this for power?”

“And to get rid of the annoying people who didn’t allow me to reach my potential. Especially your goddamn father. You and Tosha are so much like him, I want to stab you in the eyes every time I see you. Fuck! It was hard to pretend I liked you when all I wanted to do was kill you. It’s why I sent those mercenaries to attack you on that Spetsnaz mission. Too bad both of you only suffered injuries and refused to die already. And again, you refused to be killed when I sent people trailing after you in the forest after you came back here.”