Irina's POV
Roberto held the phone so tightly his knuckles turned white.
"Who is this?" He demanded into the receiver. "What do you want?"
The distorted voice laughed, it was mechanical but somehow I recognized something in it.
"You know what I want," the voice said.
Then suddenly, the distortion cleared for just a moment, and I heard it, the real voice underneath.
Alexei.
My blood turned to ice. "It is Alexei," I whispered.
Roberto and Marina looked at me in shock.
"Give me the phone," I said, my hands shaking.
Roberto handed it to me. I pressed it to my ear.
"Alexei," I said, my voice shaking with fury. "You monster, you kidn*pped a child, an innocent child!"
Alexei laughed, a real laugh now, not distorted. "Ah, Irina, I knew you would recognize me.
