by Ivy Clyde
“The tributes aren’t supposed to be attractive, Vicky,” he said in a flat tone.
“I know that,” I said, suppressing the urge to roll my eyes at my cousin’s poker face. “So…you don’t know who he is? Not even a name?”
“No.”
“Then, I guess I’ll have to ask him myself.”
7
Victor
I strode out of the room to find most of the men standing in the hallway. Some of them were holding smoldering cigarettes and cigars while Boris was taking sips out of his hip flask. They were no doubt waiting for me to call them back inside and didn’t want to risk being late and then punished.
A smirk curled the corner of my lip as I realized my punishments were good enough to discipline these old geezers.
“Victor,” called Alexei from behind me.
“Get Perez’s complaint,” I told him without turning back.
Walking down the length of the corridor, I took the staircase that would lead me to the entrance hall of the mansion. Everything around me was quiet but just as I was about to walk through the main doors, I sensed a presence behind me.
Alexei didn’t make any noise but he was following me. I ignored him and walked out into the courtyard. A cold breeze blew all around me, causing a shiver to run through me. I suppressed the urge to clutch my jacket closer around me. A gesture like that would make me look weak in front of the recruits loitering in the grounds.
Digging my hands in the pockets of trousers, I strode forward to get closer to them.
I was used to heads turning to stare at me when I was around gang members but they soon dropped their gazes to my feet. No one made intentional eye-contact with me, at least not longer than a second or two.
The young man, however, stared at me openly.
It was hard to gauge his reaction. It was a strange emotion that couldn’t be placed as shock or fear. Wisps of smoke rose from the end of a smoldering cigarette held loosely between his fingers.
Reaching closer, I glanced at the skin of his delicate neck, peeking out from the top of his collar. It was flawlessly white like polished marble. His cheeks were slightly red from the cold in an alluringly flushed way.
He finally dropped his gaze when I came to stand before him.
“What’s your name?” I asked, making sure my tone was polite and not intimidating. “How old are you?”
“Da-Danny.” He cleared his throat and straightened his shoulders. Clearing his throat, he gave it another try. “Master Sokolov, I’m Danny Owens and I’m twenty-three.”
I liked his voice. It wasn’t too deep or throaty and there was a warm note to it.
“Danny Owens,” I said, liking the feel of his name on my tongue. “Who did you work for, Danny?”
“Pete Larson.”
“Pete? I don’t know him.” Reaching out, I grabbed his upper arm and pulled him closer to me.
He flinched at the sudden physical contact and muffled a shocked noise by biting down on his lip. I’d only wanted a drag off the end of his cigarette but enjoyed his reaction more.
Danny stared at me with large, brown eyes as I put my lips around the butt of the cigarette dangling from between his fingers. It had been a while since I’d smoked and the lungful of nicotine vapor burned my insides.
I breathed a plume of smoke and watched Danny inhale it.
“Pete works property,” said Danny in a calm voice. He was no longer shivering from the cold. I’d forgotten about it too. His closeness was enough to warm me thoroughly. “He also handles lawsuits and judicial matters should they arise.”
“So, you specialize in legal matters too?”
“Not exactly,” said Danny, glancing up at me. It was cute how he still stood so close to me, in case I wanted another drag from his cigarette. “I mostly work to keep his business in order.”
“Brains or brawn?” I asked, wondering how he’d answer. Even though he was leaner and shorter compared to the hulky thugs around him, he could take them all down single-handedly.
“Brains, Master Sokolov.”
I liked the way he said “master” too. My gaze focused on his delicate heart-shaped face. His soft-brown eyes were clear and framed by thick, dark lashes. Even women would be envious of his pretty features. His smooth, flawless skin was proof he’d led a somewhat sheltered life working indoors for his boss.
“Are you a nerd, Danny?” I asked, offering him a smile. “Are you good with a computer?”
He grinned, displaying a row of straight, white teeth. “Yes, Master Sokolov.”
“Since you’ve been taking care of the gang’s business, you know who the main players are?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he replied, looking far more relaxed than before. “I know quite a lot.”
Moving closer, I caught hold of his wrist and brought the butt of the cigarette back to my lips. This time, he didn’t flinch or look uncomfortable. Alexei stood like a silent grim reaper behind me, watching the scene without a word. If he hadn’t liked Danny, he would have said something by now.
Releasing a cloud of smoke, I looked back at Danny who was calmly watching me now. “Has anyone showed an interest in you yet?”
A flicker of discomfort flashed through his face but it was gone instantly. “Yeah…Boris Pavlov.”
“Pavlov?” A scoff escaped me. Of course, he’d want to get his hands on this beautiful young man. “He’s not laying a finger on you.”
A look of mild confusion settled on Danny’s face.
The courtyard fell silent. I could feel every pair of eyes watching us. They were watching the youngest recruit getting claimed by me. As if I’d ever let a skin dealer get his hands on him and turn him into another shit-for-brains pimp. Or worse, a personal slave.
Danny was incredible in street combat but I was more interested in his other talent. He kept business in order, knew who was who, and was good with computers. He was a lot like my cousin except still a rookie, but if I could show him the ropes, he would be an asset for me.
Danny took a drag of the cigarette. “Shit, it’s freezing today,” he muttered softly but quickly glanced up at me to see if I heard him.
“It’s freezing,” I agreed with a nod. “It’s much warmer inside. Come with me to the meeting and you’ll get an idea of what real Sokolov gang business looks like.”
Danny’s mouth fell apart, giving me a glimpse of his wet, pink tongue. It was a struggle to drag my gaze away from his mouth to look into his eyes. He looked completely taken aback by my suggestion.
“I’m sorry, Master Sokolov, I’m not sure—”
“Follow me,” I said, using a stern, authoritative tone without a hint of warmth or friendliness. “Join me in the meeting.”
He gave a nod. “Thanks for the honor, Master Sokolov.”
Pulling him closer, I took one last drag of the cigarette before heading inside. My father hated the habit and called it dirty, so I avoided smoking daily to stave off the cravings.
I smiled inwardly, wondering how Dad would react if he knew about my other dirty habits, like the certain pornstar I’d holed up in my penthouse suite for the last five months or the lines of coke I snorted from the cleft of his spine. What would he think if he knew I tasted another man’s cum on my tongue?
Danny dropped the cigarette as we crossed the grounds. I still didn’t let go of his wrist and pulled him along with me. I didn’t have to drag him as he was easily keeping pace with my long strides.
Every pair of eyes followed me as we walked down the hallway of the second floor to reach the meeting room. They were all staring at Danny, wracking their brains to try and remember if he was an important person they should know about.
Further ahead, I caught sight of Boris Pavlov. It was hard to see the look in his eyes because of those black shades but he was definitely staring at the spot where Danny’s wrist was firmly held in my hand.
I hoped Pavlov got the message just like the incident with River.
From now onward, Danny
was mine. Hands off, this one.
I led Danny inside the room. Alexei moved past me and dragged a chair beside mine.
“Sit down,” said Alexei, gesturing toward the chair.
I never gave enough credit to my cousin but he was a considerate man.
“You heard him,” I said. “Take a seat.” Glancing toward Alexei, I added, “Call them back. We can continue with the meeting.” When my cousin walked out of the room, I turned my attention to Danny. He was perched on the chair beside me now. “Did this Pete take you to meetings?”
“Yeah, he did. I was witness to quite a few of his deals.”
“Those are tame and boring,” I said with a chuckle. “This one will be very different from the meetings you attended before.”
Danny stared at me but it was hard to read his emotions.
I stayed quiet as the men filed back into the room, carrying with them the scent of cigarettes and cigars. Alexei sat down on my other side. Silence rang all around the room.
I gazed at the men around the table. “Before we proceed, does anyone have anything important to tell me?”
I waited, hoping Lopez would confess to the women he killed and the profits he stole from the gang. My gaze rested on Langdon, urging him to tell me why he couldn’t give us a recruit.
A long minute ticked by but no one spoke up.
“No one has anything to say to me?” This time, I didn’t wait for an answer. With a glance at Alexei, I decided to hammer in the nail. “There are two very important matters to be discussed but neither man has owned up to their faults. Men of the Sokolov gang should have more balls than this.”
Exhaling a breath, I locked eyes with Lopez, the man who thought he could kill the people working for us and steal from the gang. The man was a good actor, I’d give him that. He sat looking as politely confused as the old geezers around him.
However, his act was slowly slipping under the weight of my gaze. It was gradual but his face turned a shade of gray.
“I don’t appreciate our women being mutilated and murdered, Lopez,” I said, leaning against the backrest of my chair. “You killed nine of our women just last month. Their absence means a loss of profit to their pimps, which means less cash for their superiors.”
I raised an eyebrow but the man chose to stay silent. “Sokolov gang is losing cash to satisfy your fucked-up kink and you still dare to show up in front of me acting like everything’s good and peachy.
“Master So—”
“Don’t utter my family’s name, you piece of shit,” I spat venomously.
Danny stared at me with wide eyes and his lips slightly parted.
“Don’t even look at me,” I hissed. The man dropped his gaze to the table while I turned my attention to the man sitting beside him. “Langdon?”
“Master Sokolov?”
“You’re the guy who didn’t give us a tribute. Am I right?”
The man lowered his head but nodded. “I am sorry, Master Sokolov,” he said in a low voice.
“Stand up!” I commanded.
The man stood up and folded his hands before him. The fifty-year-old geezer in a gray pinstripe suit looked as repentant as a child after a mishap.
“Do you swear your allegiance to the Sokolov clan?” I asked in a softer tone.
“Of course, Master Sokolov, the utmost.”
“Do you regret committing your mistake?”
The man nodded and risked a glance at me. “It’s not that I didn’t want to offer a tribute but my best men got locked up after a bust at a local college. How could I send a man who wouldn’t meet the standards of the gang?”
I scoffed, thinking of the useless pieces of shit the other members sent us. They were all gathered in the courtyard like cattle.
“I regret fucking up, Master Sokolov, and I’m very sorry.”
“I can understand your reason but I can’t let it slide.”
Lowering his head, the man nodded, accepting whatever punishment I had in store for him.
“I have two situations on my hand,” I said, gazing at the rest of the men sitting around the table. They were all staring back at me. “I have a man who stole from me and killed our women. The other needs to show me that he is truly loyal to us.” Turning my head, I met Danny’s beautiful dark eyes. “What do you think I should do, Danny?”
“Me?” He looked ridiculously like a deer caught in headlights, like he’d just been caught jerking off into his mom’s panties.
“Yes, what should I do?”
He seemed to struggle for a moment but next moment, a determined look came over him. “Lopez killed the gang’s women and stole from profits. His punishment is …death.”
“What about the problem with Langdon?” I asked.
Danny’s teeth sunk into his luscious bottom lip but he didn’t look away from me. “The true sign of loyalty to a brother is to…kill for a brother,” he said in a low, soft whisper.
I glanced at Alexei. He was staring at Danny with a pleasantly surprised expression. I chuckled, knowing the young man had successfully managed to impress my cousin too.
“Well done, Danny,” I said and turned my gaze on Craig and Frank. They were slightly younger than the other gang members gathered around the table. Raising my chin, I commanded, “Grab Lopez.”
They both obeyed me at once, moving fast to get a hold of Lopez.
“Kill him for me, Langdon,” I said.
Langdon gave a nod. “How do you want it done, Master Sokolov?”
“The same way he killed those women,” I said in an icy tone. “Remove his underwear, stuff it in his mouth, and strangle him.”
I leaned back in my chair as Lopez started struggling to free himself. The two younger men held him down while Langdon proceeded to forcibly pull his trousers away.
Alexei stood up from his seat and walked out of the room. He never stayed as a witness when the punishment included torture and death.
I looked toward Danny. The rosy tinge to his cheeks was gone. He looked pale and trapped. There was a mix of fear and panic in his eyes.
“I didn’t mean to do it, it was an accident –”
“Once is an accident, Lopez,” I said calmly. “Twice in a night fucking isn’t. You even put up the videos on a new porn portal and made money off them. Did you really think you could get away with something like this?”
The man cried and apologized but I didn’t command my men to stop.
When Lopez realized I wouldn’t be stopping his punishment, he renewed his struggles and kicked Langdon several times as he pulled down his trousers. Maybe he thought he’d go after putting up a good fight.
I was glad when Langdon finally shoved Lopez’s boxers into his mouth, muffling his screams effectively.
Craig and Frank threw Lopez onto the surface of the table. Craig held him down by his shoulders while Frank gripped his ankles. They were both making a good show of the execution.
Danny made a funny noise, a cross between a wheeze and a squeak as Langdon got his thick fingers around Lopez’s throat.
I watched the scene with mild interest. I’d never strangled anyone to death before, only lightly for pleasure.
Langdon, however, wasn’t gentle or considerate. He was brutal and unrelenting, his face a mask of icy-cold emotions as he throttled Lopez.
I looked toward Danny and found him sitting with his hands against his ears to mute out the wet, squelching gags of the dying man. His eyes were tightly squeezed shut as well.
Reaching out, I gently eased his hands away from his ears. He opened his eyes to stare at me.
“Watch,” I commanded.
A defiant look came over him but next moment, it melted away as he obeyed me. His reaction arrested my attention and I found myself more interested in watching him than Lopez’s strangulation.
“This is what happens when you go against the Sokolov clan,” I said in a low, soft voice so only Danny could hear me. “You won’t cause this sort of mischief, will you, Danny?”
Danny’s gaze didn’t stray from the unmoving body on the table. Langdon moved and straightened his shirt and jacket while Craig checked the body’s pulse at the wrists and neck.
I took a deep breath and looked toward Langdon. He’d proved his worth.
Lopez’s body remained spread-eagled on the table. His shirt had ridden up his stomach, displaying his thick thighs and genitals. They were the cause of this fiasco and weren’t even impressive enough to be worth this trouble.
I laid a hand on Danny’s knee and felt him shaking under my palm. This had to be his first time to witness a murder. Working in the office of a property shark would have hardly shown him anything interesting.
He was ashen at the moment. A light sheen covered his sweaty forehead as he stared unblinkingly at the lifeless body on the table. I gave him time to get used to seeing a corpse.
“You were great today,” I told him, squeezing his knee. I smiled as he turned to face me. “Welcome to the Sokolov gang, Danny.”
8
Danica
A groan escaped my lips as I slumped against the wall of the closet bathroom. My chest heaved as my lungs struggled to draw in a breath. Bile burned my throat and left a foul taste on my tongue.
I need some water, I decided, standing up and flushing the toilet.
Stumbling back into the small room they’d allocated me that afternoon, I looked around for the bottle of water. Spotting it, I noted there was only enough for a few mouthfuls.
Taking up the bottle, I drank thirstily and hoped my stomach would calm down so I could catch a few hours of sleep.
Victor left me to stay back in the lodgings provided to the recruits of the gang. We were all shoved into small rooms furnished with a single cot and nothing else.
I spent the whole evening and night puking my guts out. Even when there was nothing left, my stomach heaved emptily, bringing up burning, acidic bile that made my eyes water.
My body begged me to remove the tight bindings around my chest but I resisted the urge. This wasn’t the place to relax. For all I knew they could have installed hidden cameras to spy on the recruits. It had been risky enough to pee sitting down on the toilet.