CHAPTER SIXTEEN
YURI
Last night was one of the better nights I’ve had in a long time. It felt good to take down Nico’s men for what they did to Daniil!
It was dark in the park, but the sky was clear and the moon shone bright alongside the lamp posts making it easy to make out Dante and Lorenzo the moment they entered through the gates.
It was Jeremie’s job to take down Dante. Adrenaline was rushing through my veins waiting for Jeremie to pop out of his hiding spot and go for Dante.
Viktor was ten yards away, laying in wait for Lorenzo and Maxim and I were twenty feet across the park so we could see both Viktor and Jeremie in case they needed any help.
I heard someone clear their throat, and knew it was Jeremie’s signal that he was ready. Everything started happening quickly after that.
Dante went down quick, and easy, landing loud and hard like a red-oak tree being cut down. Maxim and I stayed where we were, just in case anyone else came into the park and needed to be dealt with.
Viktor popped up like a daisy and pointed his gun at Lorenzo when he started to run after his buddy went down. He didn’t get very far before Viktor fired three shots and he hit his mark. Lorenzo slumped to the ground.
The only thing that could have gone better is if I could have taken one of the bastards down myself.
It was a long, thrilling, yet tiring night, so when I woke up this morning I knew I was going to need a large cup of coffee.
I roll out of bed and head into the kitchen to make a fresh pot when I hear my phone buzz on the bedside table.
I walk over and quickly pick up after seeing Maxim’s caller ID.
“Max, What’s up?” I say groggily.
“Yuri, Charlie is at the crime scene!” I can hear him panting heavily.
“Why do you sound like you need an inhaler? And what do you mean she’s at the crime scene? What crime scene?” I ask rapid fire as I walk into the kitchen. I need that coffee ASAP.
“I was at the gym, sparring with one of the guys and Konstantine came out of his office shouting for me to call you. He was checking on the app to make sure it was working and saw her location. She’s at the park.”
“The park? Like, last night’s park? What the fuck? Where’s Andrey?” I say pouring coffee grounds into the filter.
“He’s still at her apartment. He said he must have fallen asleep. He didn’t realize she left.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I grind through clenched teeth, livid. I’m going to kill Andrey!
I hear the coffee pot start to brew as Maxim says, “I don’t think she’s in any danger right now. The place is crawling with police, but I wanted you to know.”
“Is Andrey still at Charlie’s apartment? That fucker better not have gone to the park!”
“No. I told him to stay put. I figured I’d call you and see what you wanted to do,” Maxim said. I’m glad he has a good head on his shoulders because right now I’m fuming.
“Good! Meet me at Charlie’s apartment in twenty minutes. We need to have a chat with Andrey!” I say hanging up just as my coffee maker beeps letting me know it’s ready. Once I have my cup of black coffee in hand, I head out the door and make my way to the car to go figure out what the hell happened. I honestly don’t know what to do with Andrey anymore. How the fuck did he fall asleep?
I arrive at Charlie’s apartment after taking a short detour and stopping for a quick breakfast sandwich, allowing myself some time to cool off so I won’t take Andrey’s head clean off his shoulders.
I pull up behind Andrey’s car and he gets out. Walking calmly over to him, I stop next to an old oak tree and I take a deep breath as I see Maxim’s car round the corner.
Before I say anything, Andrey starts rambling, “I’m really sorry Yuri. I have no idea how I fell asleep. I should have had some coffee like you did. I really don’t know how I let this happen. Charlie is fine though right?”
“Shut the fuck up, Andrey!” I growl out. I need a minute before getting into it with him. Today started out so good and then he had to go and fuck it up! “You’re very lucky that Charlie is safe. What the fuck is going on with you?” I ask.
“I’ve just been trying to focus on the plan, to undermine the Italians. I’ve been up too many late nights watching Charlie. I was supposed to have a night off when you guys went to follow her to the pub, but you needed me that night too. What was I supposed to do? Say no? She didn’t even get home until well after midnight. You got to take a nap and have coffee. I didn’t!” He’s honestly not wrong, but at this point he’s just making excuses. We are all running on fumes, but he’s the only one fucking up.
“I don’t care if you’re so tired you’re about to keel over. If I give you a job, you better stay the fuck awake! What if someone had broken into her apartment and killed or raped her? You know this city Andrey. Wake. The. FUCK. Up! You need shit or get OFF THE POT! Charlie is MINE and she’s not going anywhere. Understand?” I am screaming now. Maxim puts a heavy hand on my shoulder and pulls me back a foot so I’m not in Andrey’s face anymore.
“I know you’re mad, Yuri. But I’m angry too. You aren’t thinking straight because of Charlie,” Andrey bites back.
“Don’t even start with this again Andrey!” I warn.
“No. I’m serious. The Italians don’t even know who she is. She’s just Dominic’s friend in their eyes. Why are we wasting time on her?”
I can’t take it anymore. I punch Andrey square in the jaw and he’s down on the pavement before I can get in another hit. He puts his hands up and looks at me shocked.
“Don’t look so surprised. You know what Charlie means to me. Go back to the gym. I don’t want to see your face for a few days,” I say as Andrey starts to peel himself off the sidewalk.
Once he’s upright, Andrey glares daggers at me, but he doesn’t say anything as he walks back to his car. Maxim and I head back to my car so we can drive back to my condo. Pap said he was going to take over with the Italian’s for now since he didn’t want me anywhere near the cops, so luckily for Andrey, I wouldn’t be needed at the club for a while.
It’s a little after two when I get a message from Konstantin.
Konstantin : I just went through some of the data from Charlie’s phone from last night and up to about an hour ago.
Yuri : Is she ok?
Konstantin : She’s safe for now. She was talking to Dominic and he’s coming back to the states earlier than expected.
Yuri : Ok.
I tell Maxim what Konstantin said and then realize I’m going to have to go back to the club. I need to find a way to warn Charlie about Dominic. She must abandon this dream of investigating and living in Chicago. It’s just too damn dangerous.
“Let’s go to the club. I’m gonna see if Konstantin has any ideas on how I can warn Charlie. You make sure Andrey stays the hell away from me.”
“You got it boss!” Maxim says.
We make it back to the club in record time because I drove. When I’m angry, I see the speed limit as more of a suggestion. I wasn’t worried about being pulled over this time. I have to get to the bottom of why Dominic is coming back and how this might screw up our plans.
We walk through the front entrance, Maxim goes in ahead of me to cut off any interaction I might have to have with Andrey, and I head straight to Konstantin’s office. I knock a bit harder than I meant to and hear, “Come in already, you don’t have to break the door down.”
“Sorry Kons, I’m a bit on edge today. Have you heard anything about Dominic’s reasons for coming back?”
“Nothing yet. I imagine it has something to do with the deaths of Dante and Lorenzo though.”
“Yea. That would make sense. Do we know when he’s coming back yet?”
“He didn’t say in his messages to Charlie and he’s too smart to say it over the phone, so we’re going to have to hack into the Interagency Border Inspection System (IBIS) and see if he is registered on a flight back yet. Although, if he takes a private plane, we won’t know anything until he’s already here.”
“Fuck! Okay, we need to work with the boss on this. I’m not sure what else we can do, but we need to figure out what the Italians are up to.”
“I’ll talk with the boss about it and if we need you for anything, I’m sure he’ll let you know.”
“Thanks Kons! Hey, could you help me with something else?” I ask, thinking about a way I can warn Charlie about the danger she’s getting into. She’s way in over her head with going out to the crime scene and talking with the cops. If the Italians catch on to her sniffing around, it won’t matter if she’s friends with Dominic; they’ll take her out.
“Yea. Shoot!” Konstantin says enthusiastically. He always enjoys a technological challenge.
We talk over some ideas for a while until Konstantin lands on our quickest and easiest option: an email with an untraceable IP address. I’m not sure how all that works; he tried to explain it to me, but all I kept hearing was the wah wah, wah wah wah like the Peanuts’ parents from those Christmas and Thanksgiving cartoons.
He sets everything up for me within a few hours and I send out an anonymous email before heading back to the condo for some well deserved rest.