CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
YURI
I decided to head back to Dom Chaya to work instead of stewing in my apartment waiting for Charlie to call or text me. I would have gone to the club, but I’ve had enough of grappling with the guys and I don’t want Pap to see me like this. He would just say, “ I told you, son. You should have left well enough alone. If you would have forgotten about her, you wouldn’t be in this mess” , and I don’t need that right now.
So instead, I brought my laptop to the Tea Room to get back on track with a few projects. Pap put me in charge of one of our gambling dens a few years back and I need to balance the books to make sure no one is trying to take off with any extra cash. I haven’t been as focused as I should be.
I know Andrey’s been trying to keep me on track, and maybe I should have heeded some of his warnings, but Charlie is more important than a dumb game of chance, even when that game of chance makes us over $200,000 a week.
Baba started the gambling dens back in the fifties. You’d be surprised how many cops and lawyers, even the mayor and a congressman or two you’d find at one of our dens. Everyone likes a gamble, but I won’t play with Charlie’s life.
I’ve spent half the day going over the books in an effort to distract myself. I know Andrey and Maxim have everything under control, but I can’t help but think that something bad is about to happen.
I’m up to my elbows in numbers when my phone buzzes in my pocket.
I see my Pap’s face light up my screen. If he starts yelling at me for not having these books done, I’m going to lose it.
“Hey Pap, what’s up?” I ask.
“You need to come back to the apartment, NOW!” he says, sounding breathless.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s Alek. I don’t know what the fuck is going on! He was on his way home from hanging with some friends and got jumped. I don’t know anything else right now. I have some guys on it, but I need you in this apartment NOW!” I can tell he’s trying to stay calm. My mom is probably going out of her mind with worry.
“Ok. I’m on my way!” I say, “I just need to pack up my things and see if I can convince Charlie to come with me. I’ll be there in five minutes.”
“I don’t want you to stop for any reason. Bring Maxim and Andrey with you. I want all hands on deck for this! We can check on Charlie later.”
“They’re at Charlie’s apartment already. I’ll call them. Pap, I know you’re worried, but I’m going to leave Andrey there. I won’t leave her unprotected.”
I can hear his teeth grinding through the phone. I don’t usually go against his orders, but he knows how important Charlie is to me.
“Fine! Just get here NOW! Not five minutes from now… RIGHT NOW!” He hangs up and I’m dazed.
What the actual fuck is going on? I’m used to our guys getting into fights on the street nearly every week. But this is getting ridiculous. Pap has worked hard to keep our family safe and out of the spotlight.
First Daniil, now Alek. Something isn’t adding up.
First my mind goes to Dominic, but why? He wouldn’t have known who sabotaged his car. He may have some inkling that it was us, but it could have been any one of his enemies. He has so many of them. How would he know it was us? And why Alek?
This has to be something different. I don’t usually believe in coincidences, but maybe this is a random mugging that just happened to take place the day after we made his car go BOOM!
Muggings, car jackings, and rapes happen more often than I’d like. We’ve worked hard over the last ten years to make the streets safe. We went so far as to create our own patrol to fight the Italians. Every time we push them back, they come back and dirty up the city.
Most people are safe walking around the city in our territory. If Nico is trying to make a push for more territory, I wouldn’t put it past him to create fear with random muggings. I just don’t like that this happened on the heels of our mission yesterday.
I quickly grab all my stuff and head to the car. It doesn’t do me any good to guess. Once I get back to the apartment, Pap and his team will have answers.
Once I’m in the car, I head toward Charlie’s apartment first and I call Maxim. He answers on the first ring.
“What’s up man?” He asks.
“Alek’s been mugged. The boss wants us at the apartment now. Tell Andrey he’s to stay there. You meet me at the apartment.”
“Ok. He’s up the block a ways monitoring the entrance to the street. I’ll go over and talk to him.”
“I’m going to try and get a hold of Charlie. If I can get her to come with me to my apartment, I’ll feel better about all this. Tell Andrey I’ll call him with an update about if he’ll be able to meet up with us, until he hears from me he is to stay with Charlie!”
“Understood.” he replies.
I hang up and try calling Charlie.
She doesn’t answer, so I call again, hoping that she’ll answer since I don’t usually spam call her.
I call three more times, but she doesn’t pick up the phone, so I leave a message.
I turn around and head for my family’s building instead. Andrey is there, so I know she’ll be safe, but I’d feel tons better if we were in the same building.