by B. B. Hamel
“No problem, boss.”
I opened the back door and Aida swung her legs out. I glanced at Ryan and saw his eyes go wide as she stepped out. I offered her my arm and she took it, shooting me a look that I couldn’t read.
“Ready?” I ask her softly.
She shook her head. “Not at all.”
“Don’t worry,” I said as we began to walk. Steven and Ryan fell in behind us. “The meeting’s taking place in the park.”
“So lots of witnesses.”
“Exactly. Not the sort of place that anyone would want to do something stupid.”
She frowned a little bit and stumbled over an uneven piece of sidewalk. I steadied her and smiled as she looked up at me. “I hope you brought more guys than just those two.”
I laughed. Couldn’t help myself. I glanced back and Steven rolled his eyes and Ryan looked annoyed.
“We brought more muscle, don’t worry,” I said as we walked on. She just shrugged and kept up, her hand on my arm.
People threw us looks. I was wearing an expensive bespoke suit, and Aida looked like she belonged in some French film, her clothes just as expensive, if not more so. Ryan and Steven tagged along behind us, trying to look nonchalant, but neither of them had the talent for it. Steven was too large to disappear into a crowd, and Ryan was too inexperienced.
But it didn’t matter. I liked the attention, I liked the appreciative looks from men and women alike. Women wanted to be Aida, and men wanted what I had, and I liked the idea of their jealousy. Aida was my prize, even if I could sense the tension rolling off her in waves, even if I knew she still hated on me on some deep gut level, hated me just as much as she wanted me.
The taste of her pussy still lingered on my lips from earlier. I’d taken her then, despite knowing I should wait, knowing I could wait for her to come to me. I couldn’t help myself, once that towel fell away, I had to taste her delicious little pussy. And god, I was right to do it. The way she came on my tongue, her breasts shaking with every gasp of air, drove me fucking wild with lust.
But like I said to her then. It was just a taste, just one little sip of her skin, and no more.
I’d have more in time. First, she’d have to learn to stop hating me, and learn to love the way I made her feel.
We crossed the street and stepped past the black wrought iron fence that circled the park. We moved down the brick sidewalk with its canopy of large shade trees and the benches that lined either side. I was right to expect a big crowd, and most benches were taken up. There was a guy doing the fake statue thing as we came toward a large clearing, and another guy playing a violin for tips. I ignored them and moved further into the park, taking the central spoke that cut toward the other side. There, sitting on a bench directly in the center, was Vlas himself.
I slowed down and checked my back. Steven and Ryan were lingering not far away, leaning up against a low concrete wall. They pretended not to be paying attention, but they were pretty obvious. I had other guys scattered all over the park, and most of them did a better job at blending in. I knew Vlas would have men hidden as well, and I forced myself not to try and pick them out.
“Don’t talk,” I said to her, turning away from Vlas so the man couldn’t read my lips. “Don’t tell him anything. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” she said, eyes flicking past me toward the Russian. “Is he dangerous?”
“Very. Keep your mouth shut.” I reached up and pulled her chin toward me. “You’re going to listen to me, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” she said, anger flashing in her eyes.
“Good girl.” I released her and turned back toward Vlas.
I led Aida over to him and he smiled at our approach. He was my age, early thirties, with a square jaw and a wide, crooked nose that had been broken more than once. His eyes were ice gray and his blond hair was buzzed down to stubble. He wore a black t-shirt, jeans, and basketball sneakers, and he didn’t look much different from any civilian in the area.
But I knew Vlas, maybe better than anyone else did. We grew up together, though we grew up in different worlds. He was Russian mob from birth, but I didn’t find myself in the Leone Family until later on. We knew each other in school though, and were friends for a time when we were just kids. But our worlds pulled us apart, and our familiarity turned us into enemies, slowly but surely.
“Thanks for coming,” he said without a hint of accent. “I appreciate you showing up on short notice. And you brought the girl with you.”
I nodded once. “I was ordered to show up,” I said. “If I had my choice, the next time you saw me would’ve been at the end of gun.”
Vlas laughed. “I don’t blame you at all. Come on, take a seat.”
“I’d rather not.”
“You know your standing only makes me uncomfortable.”
“Good.” I stared him and he just smiled.
“All right then, fine. Have it your way.” He slowly stood up and stretched his back. “You know, Dante, I liked you better before you were a Capo. You were no bullshit back then, know what I mean?”
“Sure. I wouldn’t have waited for orders before hitting back.”
“Exactly.” He grinned at me. “But here you are with your little girl, obeying your commands like a good soldier.”
“What do you want, Vlas?”
“Let’s talk terms.” He lingered a few feet away, a smile on his face. He clasped his hands behind his back.
“Terms?” I snorted. “I don’t follow. You’re finished with this already? I kill two of your guys and you’re done?”
He tilted his head, grinning. “Oh, no. Terms for you, my man. Terms for your surrender.”
I laughed, unable to help myself. “And why the fuck do you think I’d surrender anything to you?”
“Because we both know you aren’t winning this,” Vlas said. “I have more men and more guns. And I’m not constrained by a Don that’s unwilling to spill blood.”
“I don’t know, that’s not the rumor I’ve heard. I hear your boss is pretty goddamn pissed about what you pulled.”
He waved that away with a casual flick of his wrist. “I think you might’ve heard wrong, then. My Pakhan is willing to let his brigadiers do their jobs.”
“What do you think your job is?” I grunted.
“Killing you and taking your territory.” He smiled, teeth flashing in the sunlight. “Come now, Dante. You know how this goes. We’ve been at peace for too long, sooner or later our businesses are going to clash.”
“Makes no sense,” I said. “There’s no profit in killing each other.”
“Maybe not for you,” he said then his eyes moved over to Aida. He tilted his head to the side and looked at her body, top to bottom. From other men, I felt a sense of pride at their desire. But from Vlas, I wanted to rip his teeth from his skull and shove them through his chest. “I didn’t realize our girl was so beautiful.”
“Don’t speak to her,” I said, stepping forward. Vlas looked a little surprised, but I caught a flash of fear in his eyes. I’d always been a step above him, always a little stronger, always a little faster. He was a hard man, but we both knew that I was harder in a fair fight.
But that was the thing about Vlas. He didn’t fight fair and never had. That was how he won so often, how he climbed through the ranks of the Bratva to become a celebrated brigadier. In his family, those underhanded tactics were celebrated, so long as they were successful.
Tactics like ambushing a rival in the middle of the morning for no apparent reason.
“And yet you dressed her up for me.”
“I wanted you to see what I had,” I said. “And to know what you’ll never touch.”
He snorted. “Please. She’s pretty, I’ll give you that.”
“And she’s mine.”
His eyes moved away from her and locked back onto mine. “Actually, that’s what we’re here to discuss.”
My jaw tightened. “What?”
“Her father fucked me
,” Vlas said, a bit of anger leaking into his voice. “He embarrassed me and made me look weak. You took care of the little rat for me, which I do very much appreciate. But that wasn’t enough. I need that girl. I need to show what happens to those that cross me. I want the city to know that when you steal from me, you’re not the only one that gets punished. I break you and your family.”
I watched him for a long moment before laughing. I couldn’t help myself. The notion was so absurd, so over the top, that I just couldn’t hold it in. “No, Vlas,” I said, shaking my head and grinning. “That’s just about the most pathetic thing I’ve ever heard.”
His smile didn’t falter, but I saw the tension in his eyes. Other men that didn’t know him so well might not have noticed, but I could see it plain as the clouds in the sky.
“This is not negotiable,” he said. “Hand me the girl and we can end this war now.”
“No,” I said. “I wouldn’t give her to you for anything. And beyond that, you tried to kill me, Vlas. You went too far.”
He shrugged and shook his head. “What can I say, Dante? I wanted to get rid of my biggest threat in the city. You should be flattered.”
“I’m angry,” I said, keeping my voice low. I felt Aida stiffen next to me and shift closer, pressing her body against mine. “I’m very angry, Vlas. This won’t end until you apologize, give me concessions, or your whole brigade burns.”
Vlas clucked is tongue and shook his head. “Such words, Dante. But I’m not the Chinese. I’m not disorganized rabble.”
“I know what you are.” I resisted the urge to spit.
“You really want to go to war for real over some… girl?” He looked at Aida and shook his head.
“I told you already. She’s mine.”
He grunted and his smile began to waver. “You’re making a mistake.”
“No, Vlas. You’re the one that’s making a mistake.” I stepped toward him and I saw out of the corner of my eye several men turn toward the two of us. I assumed they were Vlas’s Boyeviks, though I knew my own soldiers were nearby and ready. “Calling me out here, making threats, and assuming I’d back down was a very bad mistake. Maybe I’ve given you the wrong impression over the years, because I’ve been under orders to keep tensions from boiling over. But hear me now, you little fuck.” I leaned even closer. “You tried to kill me. And worse, you almost hurt her. So I’ll cut your throat before I back down.”
I stared at him, breathing hard, rage filling my body. I wanted to strangle Vlas then and there, but I knew there was nothing to gain from it. His men would pull me off him in an instant, and we’d all end up murdering each other.
Vlas took one step back. “All right then, Dante. That’s your answer.” He turned away. “You can have war then.”
“Wait.”
I turned to Aida. Her eyes were wide and I felt a stab of rage. I’d told her not to speak, but she took a step toward Vlas.
He hesitated and looked back. His head tilted, and a smile slipped across his lips. “Yes, thief’s girl?”
She flinched at that. “You can’t do this. My father’s dead. He paid the price. Just… why are you doing this?”
“Aida,” I hissed.
Vlas only turned and laughed. He continued walking, melting into the crowd. Aida stepped like she meant to walk after him, but I grabbed her arm had and pulled her back toward me. An older couple wearing matching hats and t-shirt frowned at me, but I ignored them.
“I told you not to speak,” I said.
“But he—”
“You made me look weak.” I pulled her back the way we had come. Steven and Ryan fell back behind us as we moved past the buskers again. “You made me look foolish.”
“I wanted to help.”
“You didn’t.” I clenched my jaw. “He was feeling us out. That wasn’t a real attempt at brokering peace.”
She stared at me, eyes wide. “But... I don’t understand.”
“Vlas is a clever shit, as much as I hate to admit that. He wanted to see how many men I’d bring and how committed to the fight I was. But now he learned two things he didn’t expect.”
“What?” she asked softly.
I released my grip on her arm but kept walking. She hurried to keep up.
“First, he learned that you’re important to me,” I growled. “That was my mistake, and I’ll own it.”
“And second?”
I glanced at her and narrowed my eyes. “He learned that I don’t have control of you, and he’s going to use that against me.”
She stared at me for a second then her face tightened. “You don’t get to control me, you asshole.”
“It’s not like that,” I snapped at her. “I told you earlier today. It’s about obeying orders. If you can’t listen to me and trust me, how the fuck am I supposed to keep you safe?”
“Hey, wait,” she snapped, grabbing my arm and pulling me. I turned to her and stepped close. We stood on the sidewalk just outside of the park, right past the wright iron gate. Fewer people were around, but an overweight man wearing a backpack and a hooded sweatshirt stared as he leaned against the fence a few yards away. “I’m not one of your soldiers. You… you pulled me into this. You forced me into it. I didn’t want any of this.”
I leaned closer and spoke in a rough, quiet voice. Steven and Ryan lingered nearby, pretending not to listen.
“And yet you’re in it,” I growled. “You chose to come here, and by coming, you agreed to obey. You didn’t listen. Instead, you gave Vlas something to use against me, and now I’ll pay that price.”
I stood up straight and stared at her. My heart hammered an angry rhythm in my chest and she looked back at me, her eyes wide, and didn’t speak for a long moment.
I turned away before she had the chance to argue and continued walking back to the car.
I heard her begin to follow a moment later.
I was angry at her, but just as angry at myself. I never should’ve brought her with me. I knew that was a mistake the moment I considered it, and yet I went ahead and did it anyway.
There was something in her eyes earlier. It was the way she dropped the towel willingly. I thought she’d obey, thought she could follow orders and do what was best for all of us, but instead she decided to speak up.
This whole thing was fucked.
I reached the car first. She came after me and looked at me without speaking, anger in her eyes. I opened the back door for her and she climbed inside, and I shut it behind her. Ryan got in on the other side and sat next to Aida, while I sat shotgun and Steven got behind the wheel.
Nobody spoke for a moment as we sat in the car.
“How’d that go?” Steven asked.
I snorted. “Great. Vlas wants war.”
Steven nodded, his eyes staring straight ahead. “I’m guessing this was just to feel you out?”
“Yes,” I grunted, staring out the window.
“And Aida?”
“Wants to use her against me.”
“Hm.” Steven grunted and shook his head. “Bad news.”
“Fuck Vlas,” I growled. “He wants a war, he’ll get a war. I’ve already killed two of his men, and I’ll gladly kill more.”
Steven said nothing as he pulled the car into traffic. I caught sight of Aida staring at me in the side mirror, but I said nothing to her as Steven drove us back to the Mt. Airy house.
10
Aida
Steven pulled the car up out front and dropped me off. Gino got out and followed me up. Before I got inside, the window rolled down, and Dante called out my name.
I turned and looked back.
“Don’t go anywhere,” he said, barely concealing his rage. “Stay inside for now. I’ll be back tonight.”
I nodded and he gave me one more look before Steven pulled out and the car disappeared down the block.
I lingered on the front porch for a long moment until Gino opened the door. “Come on,” he said softly. “Let’s get inside.”
&nb
sp; I let out a breath and followed him in.
For the rest of the day, I kept playing that meeting in my mind. I kept seeing the way Dante reacted to Vlas, and the way the Russian man seemed afraid of Dante, but also willing to provoke him so aggressively. I couldn’t understand any of it at the time, and it still bugged me all through the day.
But the one thing I kept coming back to, again and again, was Dante’s willingness to protect me.
There was no hesitation in him. It surprised me, I expected him to at least consider Vlas’s offer, but he never once paused. I don’t know what I am to Dante, how I could possibly be worth going to war over, but that seems to be what he was doing.
Dante was willing to go to war over me, and that scared me almost as much as it excited me.
The idea that I was worth killing for… or dying for… it never occurred to me. I’d never known someone that cared me about me like that. Not my father, not my friends, nobody. I’d always been alone, always gone through my life looking out for myself with the assumption that nobody else would do it for me.
And now, I was at my most vulnerable. I was living in the house of the man that killed my father, a violent and intense mafia Capo, and I was always in danger. And yet I felt like someone cared about me for the first time in my life.
It was a strange, impossible tension. That same sort of tension grew inside of me every time I thought about the way I felt for Dante.
Both lust and hate. Desire and destruction.
Evening fell on Dante’s house and I spent most of it in front of the TV. Gino sat on the front porch, reading magazine and smoking cigarettes. I made him some tea and he smiled and thanked me for it, but his eyes never lingered on mine. The more time we spent together, the more I realized that he was afraid of me. Afraid of getting too close, afraid of crossing some imaginary line. Which was sweet, really, as if he respected Dante too much to be anything more than my guard, not even my friend.