The Deep End

Chapter 39

• Polina •

She shakes her head as if the movement will remove his revelation from her brain. "No."

He nods. "Yes.

"Why? Why would you kill him?"

"He had become stubborn, didn't want to negotiate on anything and he was stirring things up with the Irish." He shrugs. "We needed him out of the picture, we had grown tired of dealing with him."

They get their weapons and ammunition from the Irish, breaking a relationship with them wouldn't be wise.

"You're lying!" She shouts in disbelief.

He remains calm and collected as he replies, "I'm not. I have no need to lie to you nor to prove anything to you either. I'm not the one strung up with two missing fingers." He leans in closer to her, dropping his voice, "He offered me you, his only daughter, to spare himself. I gutted him, made him watch his intestines spill out onto the floor and he squealed like a pig the entire time." He steps back, knowing he hit a nerve successfully from the devastated expression on her face.

Her eyes snap to my father, her face ashen. "You said Rafael Junior killed him." She tosses the accusation at him like a dagger.

My father grunts, not looking the least bit bad for his hand in things. "I would've said anything if it meant Rafael dying would be the end result."

Trusting him wasn't her best decision. In fact if she hadn't we probably wouldn't even be here right now.

Her features contort with anger, her uninjured hand balling up into a fist then her gaze flicks to Giovanni. "His men killed Raf just as you had suspected."

Her words washed over my body like a bucket of ice water, every muscle in my body stiffening in response to the sudden shock. Of course I had assumed my father had a hand in Rafael Juniors death but to have it confirmed was surprising.

"If you're going to start spilling secrets you might as well tell them you're the one that gave me the intel to get to Rafael Junior." My father snapped, his face turning pink. "I would've never gotten that information without you."

"Really?" Enzo trails in obvious interest, arching an eyebrow at Valentina in question. "Is that why you had Matteo take the surveillance footage of the week before Raf died? Didn't want us to see you making a visit, getting that intel on him, before you set him up to be killed. Must have had him remove it from the cameras at the gate as well, huh?"

She curls her lip in disgust as she stares down her nose at him. "You've got it all figured out don't you? Don't act so smug that you've finally caught me, you'll die just like your father did. I may not be here to see it but I'll die knowing it's evident. Death is the one guarantee about life."

"You're quite chatty for a woman missing two fingers. Maybe I won't cauterize the third one when I remove it. Maybe I'll let you bleed a little longer, give it a squeeze and make you really feel the pain." He suggests and she goes silent again.

I can't say I blame her. He's intimidating when you're at his mercy on a normal day but even more so when you've made yourself his enemy.

He cocks his head to the side, studying her for a second before continuing, "You were obviously the one in charge of things, so why'd the Russians take Nolani when they found her at the cabin? By that point everyone was aware the twins were Giovanni's, even Mikhail. Why not drop it?"

"Because the little bitch killed my men! I couldn't stand by and let her get away with that!" My father answered for her, his seething gaze focused on Nolani who held his stare as if he was nothing but a mere pissant beneath her shoe.