by SR Jones
“How long until you think Konstantin will make his move?” I ask Andrius.
“No fucking idea. The man has patience, and he has stamina, and a cold, deadly fucking will.”
Andrius should know; those two fought together in conditions most of us can’t even imagine.
“I know you hate the life and want out of it, but you could take out Allyov, take over, and simply turn the whole thing legit.” Alesso crosses his legs and fixes Andrius with a hard stare. “It would mean bloodshed at first, but in the long run, no increased danger if you close down the less salubrious side of things.”
“Yeah,” Damen adds. “You could keep the restaurant, the strip clubs, the betting shops, and sell them as legitimate businesses and simply let the rest go. Konstantin could take over the arms side of things, along with what he’s doing down in London. You could let the other mobs fight over the scraps of the rest of it, and you simply walk away.”
“A hostile takeover and shut down?” Andrius says with a smile. “Funnily enough this is exactly what Konstantin does in his legitimate business.”
“Or, better yet.” Markos sits forward, and I sit up. I always listen when Markos speaks because he doesn’t say a lot, but what he does say is often worth hearing. “You could let Konstantin do the takeover, publicly at least. That keeps you out of the business so far as everyone else is concerned, but in reality you’re helping Konstantin decapitate the head of the snake.”
“This is true,” Andrius says. “The only problem is the head of the snake is my old boss. And ultimately, the man who, however fucked up his actions were, led me to Violet. It’s not easy.”
“But you have no real loyalty to him,” Damen says. “It’s not like us with Stamatis. You were only in it for revenge, and you got sucked deeper than you ever wanted to be. This is a way to get out completely.”
“It’s a risky fucking move,” I state. “You take out a Pakhan? You’re going to get the other bosses after you. They don’t like it when someone takes out anyone that high on the rung, even if it’s a rival.”
“Yes, true.” Damen nods. “That’s why I suggested that Andrius let Konstantin be the one to do this, but he simply doesn’t get in the way. You don’t aid Konstantin, but you don’t stop him.”
“Do you think Allyov’s other men would come after you in such circumstances?” I ask Andrius. “If they see you not helping as a betrayal, would you put yourself in the crosshairs?”
“I’m not scared if they did,” Andrius says. “Except for Alexei who is loyal and well trained, he might come after me, but then again, he’s only in the position he is because of me. I was the one who found out he’d been loyal to Allyov and suggested he be promoted, as it were when I left.”
“What’s Konstantin like?” Markos asks.
Andrius sips his drink, smacks his lips, and blows out a long breath. “Where to begin. He is one of the few people I would fear, if he weren’t my friend. I know what he’s capable of, and he’s capable of a lot. He’s super smart, calculating, and fearless. Unlike me, he’s never been driven by revenge alone. K likes the money and prestige. He likes power.” Andrius thinks for a moment, and his next words chill me. “He’s what I would have been, if I’d have wanted to rule the world.” He laughs deep and so do I, but I’m concerned.
The thing about Andrius is he’s hard, harder than any man I know. But he was always guided by a moral crusade, the desire for vengeance. Now, he’s guided by love for a woman who has turned his world upside down. If Konstantin is as hard as Andrius, as deadly, but with ambition and drive, he could be an extremely dangerous hand grenade about to be thrown into our world.
At times like this, I regret my decision to get involved with Allyov at all. I had enough money and prestige as it was. I didn’t need more, but I’m like Konstantin too. I want those things. Andrius used to worry me because he didn’t, but now I understand that makes him less deadly … so long as you don’t cross him. Andrius is like some huge predator that simply wants to be left alone. Don’t poke the nest, and you’ll be fine. Konstantin sounds more like me, a man who always wants more.
I sigh and finish my drink. “Well, I suppose I must return home to the bitch waiting for me. I wonder if tonight is the night she’ll decide to kill me?” I’m only half joking.
“I can make the issue go away,” Alesso says, and he’s not joking at all.
He’s just offered to kill my wife for me.
Damen wouldn’t do it; I know it deep down. If I ordered him to, he’d shake his head and walk away. He’s killed for me, of course, but not a woman, and most certainly not the woman who cooked many a dinner for him over the years. Markos most certainly wouldn’t do it. Andrius probably would, if it weren’t for the fact Lena is female. But Alesso? Cold, calculating Alesso, yeah, he’d do it.
“No need, thank you, Alesso,” I say. “I’ll sort this out the old-fashioned way, through the courts.”
“She’s always going to be a danger to you,” Alesso says.
“You can’t simply kill your wife because she becomes an issue,” Andrius joins in the conversation and gives Alesso a hard look.
“Yeah, of course not, but Lena’s not a bit of an issue. She’s an unexploded bomb waiting to go off, and I think she’d do almost anything to bring you down, Stamatis, including harming herself in the fallout. The problem is, we might all go down with you.”
And this is the trouble with training the deadliest attack dogs; they can turn on their owner. “Alesso, hear me out. You touch a hair on that woman’s head, and I’ll personally tear you apart, and I won’t make it quick.”
“I wouldn’t touch a hair on her head without your order; you know this.” Alesso is getting pissed. I can tell by the set of his jaw. “I’m simply stating she’s potentially a huge problem. She knows far too fucking much for a start.”
I laugh then. “She thinks she does, but she doesn’t know jack shit. I’ve been feeding her misinformation for years.”
“You mistrusted your wife for years?” Andrius sounds surprised.
“Yes, sadly. I thought we’d be okay, tried to be a good husband, because God knows I was a shitty one at the start, but I didn’t trust her. Not fully. Same as I didn’t trust my shitty brother.”
“It pays never to trust anyone outside of our little circle too closely,” Alesso says.
“I trust Violet,” Andrius says. “But I don’t tell her most business stuff, to protect her.”
“Same,” Damen says. “Maya knows a fair bit, though. She’s hard to keep things from, she lives in this house, and she’s smart.”
I smile because my daughter is smart. Most people don’t realize that about her. They see her as some flighty, spoiled little princess, but she’s got a lot of brains. I like that Damen sees the real her, underneath all the hair and make-up and designer clothes.
If she weren’t female, I’d have made Maya my second without a shadow of a doubt, but she is, and in this world, that would mean she’d face awful consequences if ever any of our enemies got ahold of her. There are some incredibly unsavory people who operate in this world, but most of them have a code—no wives, no children. They don’t want their own wives or kids harmed, so they give the same consideration to others. It means if everything went to shit, Maya should, theoretically, be safe. Of course, she still has an armed guard following her when she goes out because there are always those willing to break the rules.
My thoughts turn to my son. Costas. I look over at Andrius, the man who took his life. The man I should hate and be gunning for, but am not. Andrius might have pulled the trigger, but I gave him the go-ahead. I had to sacrifice my own child for my other two children to have a chance at life. It’s the worst situation any parent can face, and instead of understanding it and facing the facts, Lena has simply chosen to blame me, and all but disowned her remaining son.
Mikhalis is happy in America, and doing well, but I know it hurts him that his mother no longer calls or visits. He doesn’t know
the details of what happened with Costas, and that’s to protect Mikhalis. He wants to be a lawyer, and if he knew everything it would put him in a compromised position. I can only hope that Lena’s desire for revenge on me doesn’t stretch to ruining things for Mihkalis. He is still her child, after all.
“What does Ilya think of all this, or doesn’t he know?” I’ve only met the man a couple of times, but I’d imagine he has a view on the situation.
Andrius shrugs. “I don’t know. Not spoken to him in ages. Not sure if K has told him. But I imagine he will if he hasn’t already. I think they do a fair bit of business together.”
I imagine they must. Ilya runs much of the St. Petersburg area, and Konstantin has his stamp all over Moscow. They will collaborate regularly; I’m sure of it.
“Ilya is levelheaded,” Andrius says. “Considerate. As long as it doesn’t affect his family, I think he’ll be with K on this because they work together, and Allyov hasn’t done a thing for Ilya in a long time…except for threatening to kill his woman if she ever returns to the UK…so there’s that.”
“What?” Alesso says.
“Yeah, he met one of Allyov’s girls, a stripper from the club. Then she gets attacked, right? So Allyov sends some men along with Ilya to save her, but they kill the guy, and Allyov freaks out. Tells Ilya that if Amber, or whatever she’s called, I think that’s her stage name, ever returns to the UK, she’s dead. Now, on the one hand, Allyov helped her out, saved her, gave a fuck ton of money, and gave Ilya what he wanted—which is the woman in Russia with him. On the other, Allyov will kill her if she ever returns. Or so he says. This won’t endear Ilya to him. One Pakhan threatening another’s woman?” Andrius shakes his head. “Big fucking mistake if you ask me.”
I consider his words. It seems as if the cards are stacked against Allyov if he decided to make a war of this with Konstantin. I can only hope he sees it the same way and works on a solution both men can tolerate.
“Well, gentlemen, this time I really must go.”
I head to the door, give them a nod, and close it behind me. I go find Maya before I leave and give her a hug, and then I step into my car, my man following me and getting in the back. He’s armed and a fucking good shot. He’d drive if I asked, but I like to drive my own damn car.
All the way back to the house, instead of thinking about this mess with Allyov and Konstantin, I’m thinking about how to get Lena out of the fucking house. That, and what the hell to do about Rhea.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Rhea
The great big man who spent the night tossing and turning on my tiny sofa, I could easily hear him in the bedroom, is now loading my things, which are embarrassingly few, onto a van with another man.
Gus is watching them, wide-eyed from the window.
“I can’t believe we’re going on another adventure,” he says, turning to me, his lips stained red from the lollipop he’s sucking.
“Well, we are. How lucky are we, getting all these adventures? And we get to live right by Star.”
“Yay,” he cries, jumping up and down. Literally. Where do kids get their enthusiasm for life? If only you could bottle it.
I don’t want to go and live like a prisoner within Damen’s gates. Yes, it’s luxurious, there’s a pool, two pools actually as there’s a new one completed now for the men living in the apartments to use. But there’s the rub—those men. I’m going to be living amongst ex-Spetsnaz soldiers, Gus too. Those soldiers are now guns for hire to some of the most corrupt men and regimes in the world, or I assume they are because they’re working for Stamatis who is a mob boss. No, he’s not, I forgot; what did Maya say? Not mob, cartel. Apparently, he’s higher up the food chain than your average hoodlum. Marvelous.
When you go from living in a cult, on a compound, to living amongst mobsters—on a compound—you have to look at your life choices.
They might not call it a compound, but it damn well is. It’s guarded, it has a high perimeter, and a whole plethora of folks live there. It’s no ordinary home.
My daughter lives there, I remind myself. And she’s clearly got a better head on her shoulders than me. Although, I do worry. Is she repeating my mistakes? She got pregnant despite being on birth control, and it worries me sometimes whether or not she’s staying with Markos for the baby. Then I look at them, see them together, and know she’s as happy as can be. He seems to love her deeply, and I don’t think he’s a man who easily gives his affections. I don’t think any of them are. Markos most of all, though. He’s withdrawn, quiet, in his own world a lot of the time; as is my daughter. They suit one another; two ethereal beings trapped on this earthly realm who at least have one another.
I think of Stamatis and wonder what he’s doing right now. The previous evening, I overheard a snippet of conversation between Andrius and Alesso. Alesso was saying that Stamatis ought to get rid of his wife, Helena, by whatever means necessary because she was a danger to him. Andrius said that would be dishonorable and that Stamatis would never go for it.
I found this reassuring in two ways. One, because it means the man isn’t the sort of psychopath who would have his wife killed; even if said wife was a real danger to him. Second, and this is pathetic of me, but it’s how I feel, because it reassured me there is absolutely nothing remaining between Stamatis and his wife. Their relationship is so over and done with; she wants him dead.
“We’re ready now.” I turn to see him at the door, our guard … helper … captor?
If I said no, would he simply pick me up and bundle me in the van alongside my possessions?
“Okay,” I say because I’m a coward, and I’m not about to find out.
“We’re going to see Star,” Gus shouts.
The man … how do I not know his name? I’m so vague these days it’s making me rude. The man ruffles Gus’ hair and laughs. “Yes, you are. She lives where we are going.”
“Is it nice?” Gus asks.
“It’s awesome,” the man says. “Right by the sea. You can go to the beach, and there’s a kid’s playground close by.”
“Oh, wow!” Gus does a weird little dance with his feet, and I smile, so happy for a moment it chases all my doubts away.
“You’re good with him,” I tell the man.
“Got four of my own.”
“Four?”
“Yep, and another on the way.” He grins at me, and I smile back.
Gus has issues with people. He either takes an instant dislike and won’t talk or interact with them at all, or he falls in love with them at first glance and is far too open and trusting. He’s been that way ever since we left the commune. I don’t know if it’s because life there didn’t prepare him for being out here in the big, bad world, or if it’s the huge upheaval he’s been through.
Either way, I feel fiercely protective of him out here in this world, and I know I have to let him have a normal life; hence me letting him have sleepovers at his friends, but it kills me whenever he’s away. Stamatis provides distraction, but I need to find a way of lessening my terror of something happening to Gus. Or he’ll eventually pick up on it, kids always do, and that might affect his confidence further.
Luckily for me, Stamatis’ giant of a man is firmly on the list of people Gus likes.
“You get to ride upfront now, Gus,” the giant says.
“Great. I’ve always wanted to drive a truck,” Gus shouts.
“More of a van than a truck, but still fun,” Giant says with a grin.
We head out to the van, me turning and looking at the apartment I’ve called home for a last time. Where will I end up? I know I won’t be staying at Damen and Maya’s place forever. This apartment isn’t mine. It’s rented for Star and won’t be a long term thing. I need somewhere for Gus and me, and I need to stand on my own two feet, but I have zero skills. Except for sewing, and who wants that these days? I turn to Giant. “You did pack my sewing machine, didn’t you?”
“Yes, of course; you asked me to.” He smiles.
We arrive at the house, and it’s quiet. The apartments the soldiers live in are showing no signs of life. There’s a forecourt and a couple of basketball hoops outside them, and often the men are out there bouncing a ball around, or gathering around the pool, and being told to fuck off to your own pool, by Alesso, who apparently doesn’t like them ogling Stella.
These men are going to have to tone the language down with Gus around, but that’s going to be good practice for when the baby comes. I don’t want my grandchild growing up with the mouth of a sailor.
“Mother, and Gus-bear.” Star comes flying down the steps as we pull up outside the house. Gus is already trying to climb over me from the middle seat to get to his sister.
When he manages it, she catches him as he half falls out of the van. They hug one another fiercely, and the guilt hits me so hard it takes my breath. I didn’t only fail Star when I let her be taken as an Offering—I failed Gus too. He suddenly had to live in a world where he never got to see his sister.
I’m so angry at myself these days I think I’d punch my own shadow.
Damen appears behind Star, and Gus shrinks back. Damen is huge. Probably bigger than Giant to be truthful. He hunkers down until he’s almost level with Gus and looks at the backpack dangling from Gus’ small hand. It’s a shark, an animal Gus is obsessed with.
“Cool backpack,” Damen says with a smile. “I love sharks.”
“Me too,” Gus says. “Did you know that baby sharks have teeth from the minute they are born?”
“Wow, really?” Damen rocks back on his feet as if shocked. “I didn’t know that. Cool fact. What other stuff do you know about sharks?”
“Well,” Gus says, and he’s off. It seems we can safely add Damen to the list of people Gus likes from the start.