by KJ Dahlen
Kosta laughed. “I don’t think Raven will have a problem with her father and grandfather’s love lives. Her own is keeping her very busy.”
Felix smiled. “That’s true enough isn’t it? Three children plus Yuri?”
“Indeed. But they are both very happy.” Kosta nodded. Then he hesitated and asked, “Brother, is Sergi really okay with this move? I mean I never thought he would give up the Bratva for anyone.”
Felix nodded. “Da, I think he is. He doesn’t look at this as if he’s pulling away from the Bratva, he’s instead taking the next step and bringing the Bratva here.”
Kosta shrugged. “That may or may not be a good thing brother.”
“What does that mean?” Felix frowned.
Kosta shrugged. “We’ve been keeping an eye on a group of men and women over near Bayou Cane which is just outside the city. They think we don’t know about them, but they are Russians. Russians that are hiding from God only knows what. Mostly, we think they’re hiding from crimes they committed in Russia. So far, they’ve committed no crimes here and that’s why we haven’t touched them but with Sergi moving here, that could change. And change rather quickly. He was the leader in Russia and there may be some harsh grudges going on In Bayou Cane for all we know.” He shook his head. “I don’t know about you but I’m not willing to lose Sergi or anyone else to these people.”
Felix’s fingers tightened on his coffee cup. “I’m not willing to do that either.” He then glared at his brother, “What did you have in mind?”
“We have our own people in place and they will warn us if there is a threat to anyone but we are watching as well.”
“Are you watching anyone in particular?” Felix asked.
Kosta nodded. “We were. His name was Pavel George. He was the most outspoken about the Bratva and seemed to hate Sergi on a personal level but he died several years ago, shortly after his son and grandson were murdered.”
“Does he have any family left?”
“His wife Greta and his granddaughter Abby. But I don’t see either one of them as a threat.”
“Anyone else you see as a threat to Sergi or his family?” Felix asked.
Kosta nodded. “There might be a few from that bunch. One in particular, is a nasty man. Anton Vericovok and he’d been tight with this Pavel George before the man died, but I don’t think they will actually do anything about it. They talk the talk but lack the courage to walk the walk.”
Felix snapped his head around to glare at his brother. “That’s a pretty big assumption.”
Kosta shrugged.
“I’ll need photos of who you think might come after him, including this woman Greta and her granddaughter. Make sure you share this information with your security team. We have Jasha taking over security for Anita for the times when Sergi has to be in New York.”
Kosta nodded. “He’s a good man.”
“Da, he is.” Felix nodded. “So why don’t you get the hell out of here and I’ll shower and get dressed for the day.”
Kosta tossed a pillow at him. “You’re in the USA now brother, so you’d better at least pretend to have some manners.”
Felix tossed the pillow back. “Yeah right, that’ll be the day. Just remember, I’ll need those photos right away.” He pushed the covers off and got up as he stood and stretched. His body felt tight. His muscles bulged and flexed as he worked out the kinks.
Chapter Four
Kosta stared as he shook his head. He was surprised at the ink on his brother’s body, most because it covered almost every surface of his skin. “Wow, since when did you get so painted?”
Felix shrugged. “I got sick of looking at the scars life has given me, so now instead, I got ink.”
Kosta shook his head and watched his brother gather his clean clothes and go into the bathroom. He got to his feet and left the suite.
Going down to the security room, he said hello to the two men there who were manning the security desk. He trained the both of them himself in fact over two years ago. “Anything interesting?” he asked.
They shook their heads.
“Just the same thing,” Alexi replied. “Guests coming and going. Mostly tourists.”
“Yeah, it has been all quiet,” Mila added.
Kosta felt relieved but he refused to get complacent. He had led the security for Yuri Anatoly for years now and in their world, one never knew who would come out of the woodwork. In fact, this is what he felt about this Pavel George’s family and the men in Bayou Cane. It was just overprotectiveness maybe, but Kosta couldn’t afford to go lax on anything.
He began copying the photos they had gathered over the last few weeks. It was only after he printed the picture of Abby George that he paused and studied her face.
He didn’t know why but she stood out for him. He laid her picture of the top of the file and closed it before going back upstairs.
Handing his now dressed brother the file, he waited for his reaction. He didn’t know why but he had a feeling in his gut and that had never failed him over the years.
Felix opened it and the first face he saw, stunned him. She was beautiful but she looked too young for him. He was forty years old and she couldn’t be more than what? Twenty five?
Her soft red hair reminded him of the color of the night sky at sundown and her stormy eyes swirled with blue and grey. “Who is this?” he demanded as he studied the face in the photo. Her skin looked flawless and smooth as silk, except for a small scar at the corner of her left eye. The scar was smooth itself so it was an old injury and it made him wonder how she got it.
“That is Pavel George’s granddaughter, Abby,” Kosta told him.
“Pavel George?” Sergi asked from behind them. “Who the hell is Pavel George?”
Kosta turned and looked at him. “He’s someone we felt was a threat to you at one point.”
Sergi shook his head. “But I don’t know a Pavel George.” Then he paused and his eyes grew hard as he turned his gaze to Kosta. “Pavel George? Is that what he changed his name to when he left Russia? George? His real name was Pavel Zorah. We were friends once upon a time. We were both in the Bratva together then he did something stupid and got caught betraying the Bratva. He killed three men and stole a payment meant for the Bratva. I came upon him at the last minute and he shot me in cold blood. He told me as I laid there bleeding that he couldn’t be caught. He was taking the money to start over in a new country.” Sergi shook his head again sadly. “He said he couldn’t live up to the high standards the Bratva had. The money he saw come in every day was too much temptation for him. He felt he owed himself much more than what he was getting and that this was the only way he would ever get his due. The last time I saw the man was when he grabbed the money bag and ran out of the alley.”
The two Grigori men listened and weren’t surprised, as many men had gone down the same twisted path when greed overtook them.
Sergi growled softly. “By the time anyone found me, it was the next morning and I was in critical condition. I’d lost nearly half my blood supply and it took weeks before I recovered enough to report what happened that night. The Bratva put out a bulletin on Pavel and his family but by then, they were just gone. No one could find them. That was almost forty years ago now.”
Kosta nodded at the file in Felix’s hand. “According to what we know, Pavel is dead along with his son Gregor and his grandson Alexi. The only members left of his family is his wife Greta and their granddaughter, Abby.”
Sergi sneered. “Greta is by now an old bitter woman. She can’t have changed much from forty years ago. She always was a shrew. She kept pushing Pavel to better himself.” He snorted. “I could almost believe he did what he did that night to please her. You guys may not know this but back then, we earned very little money and sometimes, we had to work a second job just to pay the rent, but Greta always asked for more than Pavel could bring home. He said she wanted bragging rights and I know that was true. She spent more than he could bring home on se
nseless things. She would buy new dresses and such when they needed food for their table. She was such a bitch of a woman.” He chuckled. “I wonder what she thought of having to come here with little or no money? The trip itself would have cost him almost as much as he took that night. Talk about culture shock.”
Kosta stepped forward and explained how they had been watching the group in Bayou Cane. “Our men have reported that the day before you arrived there was a lot of activity around Pavel’s home.”
“Like what kind of activity?” Sergi asked as he looked down at the file.
Kosta shrugged. “Looked like they are watching the George’s house for some reason?”
“What are you going to do about this?” Felix asked.
“Hunt Greta down and bring her in to see me,” Sergi told him. “Bring in the granddaughter as well. We need to find out how far they will go. I was the injured one forty years ago, but I know by now, Greta and Pavel have turned it around to make themselves the victims and me the bad guy.”
“And the rest of the neighborhood?” Kosta wanted to know.
“We can’t arrest everyone just because they may or may not like me. Sergi shrugged. “The people here have freedoms. This isn’t the old Russia and we can’t arrest people without good cause. Even in Russia, we couldn’t do that anymore. Until they come after me in person, there isn’t much we can do. Until this is settled, just watch over my family for now.”
Felix nodded and glanced over at his younger brother. This new development disturbed him but he would do as Sergi ordered. He would bring in Greta and her granddaughter for questioning. It went without saying that Kosta would alert his men to watch over the brothers and their extended families over the next few days.
When the vehicle drove up to the George house a few hours later, four men got out and looked around. Immediately, they knew they were being watched.
Shades twitched and men came out to stand in the doorways of the houses. They didn’t move beyond their porches but they watched what was going on with suspicious eyes.
Kosta and Felix walked up to the front and pounded on the door.
They waited but when no one came to the door, they pounded again. Finally, the door was wrenched open and they were faced with an older woman. She was leaning on a wooden cane but she glared at them and when she spoke, it was with mistrust and a tinge of hatred in her voice, “What the hell do you want here? There’s nothing left for you to take from me.”
“Someone would like a word with you.” Kosta growled back.
“Oh, yeah?” the old lady sneered. “And who would that be?”
“Sergi Constantine.”
She looked shocked. “Sergi Constantine is dead. He died in the back alley of St Petersburg, forty years ago.”
Kosta growled. “Net, he didn’t. He survived the bullet your husband shot him with. Now he wants to speak to you.”
Greta’s shocked expression morphed into hatred. “He can go to hell. I don’t owe that man anything and I refuse to go anywhere by his command. Leave my home and do not come back.”
Kosta smiled. “We can’t leave without you. Sergi wanted to speak with your husband but as your husband is no longer alive, he’ll speak with you instead.” He paused and his eyes went cold. “Don’t make us force you to come with us because we will drag you out of here in front of all your neighbors.”
“You would drag an old woman out of her home by force?” She snarled.
“Without even caring about her comfort.” Kosta nodded.
“Damn you and damn your boss. You both can go to hell.” She snarled. She raised the hand that held the cane and began to swing it like a baseball bat.
Kosta easily yanked the supposed weapon out of her hand and tossed it to the floor then grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out of the house.
They struggled all the way to the vehicle. The neighbors came out but stood there watching as Kosta opened the door and pushed the old woman inside the car. He looked up as he slammed the door shut on her and glared as he met their eyes.
He almost dared them to interfere with them.
Two other security men who worked for Yuri stood and stared them down as well.
When Felix joined them, they all got into the front seat of the vehicle and drove away.
Chapter Five
Abby paused to wipe her forehead when the front door of the diner was thrown open and three men rushed in. She looked up to see them looking around for her. One of them spotted her and rushed over her way, their next door neighbor Talem Rankov and another man, Boyra.
Talem barely stopped in front of her when he all but shouted out, “They came for your grandmother this morning. They dragged her off by force they did.”
Abby frowned. “Who did?”
“Kosta Grigori that’s who.” Timor growled.
Abby frowned. “Who is this Kosta Grigori?”
“He works for Yuri Anatoly. In turn, he works for Sergi Constantine.” Timor grabbed her by the arms and shook her. “You have to go and try to get her free. They will throw her into a cell and leave her to rot.”
Abby pulled herself free. “They can’t hold her if she’s done noting wrong. There are laws here that protect her and not even Yuri Anatoly can just do what he wants.”
“You have to go to them and beg them to let her go,” Boyra insisted. “She’s an old lady now.”
Abby shook her head. “She’s a tough old bird. She’ll survive a night or two with them. I’ve always heard they don’t abuse women and children.”
Talem reached out and slapped her.
Her head turned with a snap and the smack had split open her lip. She had seen the old man off and on for the last four years. He sort of reminded her of her grandfather but this old man had long greasy hair that hung down past his shoulders and a long grey beard stained with chewing tobacco. He was dirty and smelly but he always wore an old sea cap. The one thing she remembered about him was he thought he was better than most because he wore gold braid on the trim of his hat. He made a big deal of it, by always keeping the hat clean and dusting the gold braid off. Abby snarled at him as blood dribbled down her chin. “Don’t touch me again.”
“You need to go and get your grandmother out of there. Whatever else she’s done, she doesn’t deserve that!” Talem argued with her.
“Just what kind of men are these Bratva men anyway?” Abby asked. “You think they would harm an old woman? Beat her? Starve her? What? What do you think they will do to her?” She stepped away from them. “She wanted me to do much more than that to their leader Sergi. In fact, she was ready to force me to try to kill the man. You all know that. Yet I’m supposed to go to them and beg them to release her? Why should I?”
“She and Pavel took a Blood Oath for the wrong Sergi Constantine did to them. Pavel is gone now but she’s still bound by that oath and as her only living relative so are you,” Talem stated with a growl. “For the honor of your family you must do what you were asked.”
“Honor?” Abby asked. “You speak of honor but you all knew what kind of man Pavel was. Did he have honor when he let his daughter in law, my mother die a horrible death when I could have eased her pain? His own son wouldn’t honor his lover’s marriage vows until her husband put a bullet in his head to stop the affair they were having. He’d been told to leave her alone but he wouldn’t do it. She could have divorced her husband to be with him if she’d wanted to, but she didn’t do that. My brother died because Pavel told him he had to avenge the wrong done to his father. Pavel had no such honor. Not the kind you speak of anyway.”
“He fled Russia forty years ago!” Talem practically screamed. “To escape the gallows. He was being accused of a crime he didn’t do. Was the Bratva right then in accusing a man when he did nothing wrong?”
“How do you know he didn’t do what they were accusing him of? Were you there? Somehow, I don’t think the Bratva would accuse him if it wasn’t true.” Abby argued back. “I knew my granddad and he wasn’t mo
ral or a follow the rules type of man.”
“You weren’t there either, though were you?” Talem countered as spittle sprayed from his mouth. “You don’t know what kind of life we lived back in Russia in those days. You don’t know what kind of monsters the Bratva was and still are.”
Boyra nodded. “You can’t leave her in their hands no matter what. She still raised you after your mother died. She gave you food and a roof to live under all those years. You owe her that much at least.”
“And if they find out about the Blood Oath? Then what? They know as long as she lives, the oath is still place.”
Talem grabbed her by the back of her head and twisted her hair in his hands. “Then don’t let them find out you little bitch!”
Abby reached back on the counter and grabbed the first thing she could get her hands on. It was a steak knife and she poked it into Talem’s belly. “Let me go you damn fool.” She poked the knife a bit deeper and he finally released her. “I’ll go to them and see what I can do but I refuse to lie for her. If they ask, I will let them know about the Blood Oath against them. I for one will not die if she decides to go through with this insanity.” Abby snarled. “I don’t know what happened in Russia forty years ago and neither do you. All you have is Pavel’s word for what happened and I learned a long time ago my grandfather could lie if it suited his purpose.”
Talem slapped her again. It all happened so fast, she couldn’t stop it anymore than he could. She gripped the knife in her hand tighter and slashed out, cutting his arm. “You touch me again, and I’ll kill you.”
He gasped and grabbed the wound with his other hand, his eyes glittering at her.
She threw the knife to the floor and stomped away. No one tried to stop her and she wouldn’t have let them anyway. In fact, she almost dared them to try.
The owner of the diner had witnessed the entire event. He was of Russian descent as well, but he wasn’t one of these men. He came over as the men left. “You’d better take some time off, Abby. Those guys will be back.”