Chapter 9 - The First BetrayalLeo pointed his gun at the door.
Natasha whispered, "Mom?"
"No."
"But..."
"That could be anyone."
The woman outside knocked again.
"Natasha."
Her voice was identical.
Perfect.
Leo motioned to Marcus.
Marcus checked the hallway camera.
No one.
He opened the secondary feed.
Still nothing.
"Thermal?"
Nothing.
Leo frowned.
"How is that possible?"
Then the voice laughed softly.
"Leo, you were always suspicious."
The door unlocked itself.
Natasha stepped backward.
The handle turned.
A woman entered.
It was her mother.
Older.
Thinner.
Same eyes.
Same mouth.
Natasha's knees weakened.
"Mom."
Her mother looked at her.
Then at Leo.
And smiled.
"You're pregnant."
Natasha covered her stomach.
"How do you know?"
"Because I know you."
Leo lifted his gun.
"Hands where I can see them."
Her mother raised them.
"Still dramatic."
"You've been declared dead."
"I wasn't given much choice."
"Who helped you?"
"Carlo."
Leo's expression hardened.
"He's alive too."
Her mother smiled.
"No."
"Then who?"
She looked at Natasha.
"The man who pretended to be Carlo."
Natasha stared.
"What?"
Her mother sat.
"Everything you've been told about the Tomlins is backwards."
Leo lowered his gun slightly.
"Talk."
Her mother looked at him.
"Carlo didn't start the family."
"Viktor did."
"No."
She shook her head.
"A woman did."
Silence.
"Who?"
"Your grandmother."
Natasha stared.
"My grandmother?"
"She built the first network between Chicago and Eastern Europe."
"Why hide it?"
"Because men couldn't accept that a woman controlled them."
Leo looked stunned.
Her mother continued.
"She used Carlo as the public face."
"Then who was Viktor?"
"A soldier."
"Why did everyone say he was the founder?"
"Because history is written by the people who survive."
Natasha felt dizzy.
"Then why was I involved?"
Her mother looked at her stomach.
"Because your grandmother left a blood oath."
"What oath?"
"Her descendants would control the organization."
Leo shook his head.
"That's insane."
"No."
Her mother smiled.
"It's legal."
She handed him a document.
A trust agreement.
Signed thirty-four years earlier.
The beneficiary field was blank.
Except for one condition.
The heir must be born of the Volkov bloodline and fathered by a Tomlin.
Natasha looked at Leo.
"The baby."
Her mother nodded.
"The child was the plan."
Natasha felt sick.
"What plan?"
"Carlo wanted to restore the original bloodline."
Leo's face hardened.
"You arranged for Natasha to be with me."
Her mother said nothing.
"Did you?"
Still silence.
Leo stepped closer.
"Answer me."
She finally whispered:
"Yes."
Natasha felt betrayed.
"You knew."
"I knew your relationship would happen."
"You manipulated us?"
"I protected you."
"By making me fall in love with him?"
Her mother looked at her sadly.
"I never told you to love him."
Leo's voice cut through the room.
"Who else knew?"
Her mother looked toward Marcus.
Marcus froze.
Then Leo turned.
"Marcus?"
Marcus slowly lowered his gun.
Natasha stared.
"No."
Marcus said nothing.
Leo understood.
"You knew."
Marcus whispered:
"For two years."
Leo's face became stone.
"Why?"
"Because Carlo ordered me to watch her."
"Not protect her."
Marcus's eyes lowered.
"Watch her."
Then he pulled a USB drive from his pocket.
"There's something else."
He handed it to Natasha.
"Carlo recorded it before he died."
They plugged it into the television.
Carlo appeared.
He was sitting in a dark room.
His eyes looked tired.
"Natasha," he said.
"If you're watching this, you're already pregnant."
She stopped breathing.
Carlo looked directly into the camera.
May you like
"And Leo is not the father."
The screen went black.
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