Chapter 70
They didn't go to the hospital immediately.
Adrian's decision. He held up his hand when Viktor started the engine, stopped him with a single gesture.
"Wait," Adrian said. His voice was hollow, distant. "I need to know something first."
"Adrian, she's bleeding..." Nadia started.
"I'm fine," she said, though her throat burned and blood still trickled down her neck. "What do you need?"
Adrian walked back to where Konstantin sat against the van, cable-tied and bleeding from his shoulder. He crouched down, eye level with the old man.
"Why?" Adrian asked simply. "Why do you hate me so much? If you knew I wasn't your biological son, why raise me at all? Why not just kill me as a child and be done with it?"
Konstantin stared at him for a long moment. Then laughed. The sound was
