“Time to sort this,” I say as we step out.
Toby looks at me, nodding his approval. “You scare me when you talk like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you say ‘sort this’, but you sound like you’re saying ‘cut him into chunks and feed him to the hyenas at the zoo.’”
“That’s not a bad idea.”
We walk down the corridor to the door flanked by two men. “How is he?” I ask them.
“Bitching. Whiny Russian fuck.”
The door is opened, and we walk in. Ivanov is tied to a chair in the middle of the room. Next to him is a fold-out table with the paperwork ready, pen on top.
“All you got to do is sign,” I say, dragging a chair over and sitting opposite him. “All this is done, and you can go home to your wife and kids.”
“One of my kids is dead,” he snarls. “Isn’t she?”
“It’s not my fault your junkie daughter died.”
“In your fucking wedding bed. I know you did it. Why not admit it?”
“We’re not here to talk about Sofia.”
“Ofcourseyou don’t want to talk about her. Why’d you do it? You were supposed to love her.”
I almost laugh. “Love? Since when has any mafia marriage been aboutlove? You gave her to me to cement things between our two families. You knew she hated me, and you had her marry me anyway. Did you know she was a junkie when you handed her over or did she keep that secret from you too?”
“If she was on drugs, you gave them to her.”
“Deluded to the end. Your daughter was a bad person, George. Accept it.”
“So she deserved to die, is that it?”
“For the last time, I didn’t kill her.”
“Didn’t want to marry her, so you had a tantrum and stabbed her in the wedding bed, didn’t you?”
“Nice fairytale, George. Who told you that one?”
“But you don’t deny it? I tell you what, I’ll sign if you admit it’s true. Do the right thing for once in your life. Admit you killed my daughter.”
I shake my head.
“Then who did? The fucking boogeyman?”
“Don’t start.”
I get a hold of myself. I’m letting him rile me. That won’t do.
I take a deep breath. “There is no such thing as love, George. There is power, money, and weakness, and that is all there is. You were weak. You wanted a strong alliance with a more powerfulfamiglia. Knowing she despised me, you handed over your daughter to my family.”
“Your father believes in love, family, and the bonds of marriage. You shame him with these words.”
“My father planned this alliance with you for his own needs. He wanted the money and security from bonding the mafia and the Bratva.”
“Tell me, Hunter. I’m her father. I deserve to know why you murdered your wife on her wedding night.”