CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
YURI
I’m at her door. Again! About to plead with her to come with me. Again! We need to get to a place where we understand each other better. I realize now that she needs more from me. I can’t expect her to be a damsel in distress and just come with me because I say so.
I gave her the bare bones, but she needs to know more. She needs to know who Dominic is, but when I tell her will she believe me? Will she understand how dangerous he is? I thought after hearing about Alek being in the hospital in a coma that she’d understand what I’m up against.
That phone call didn’t go well, so I’m here, in person even though she didn’t invite me over to talk this through. I’m determined to tell her the whole truth so she’ll see why I’m so concerned. I don’t want her to move in with me because I’m a misogynistic pig. I want her to move in so she’s safe, so she’ll have more freedom.
I know she won’t see it as freedom, but until we can figure out who we are battling against I can’t just let this go. I’m fighting blind here.
I knock on her door, knowing she’s about to be pissed, but I’m prepared. We have to talk, now.
She opens the door so quickly and the look on her face is pure rage.
“I told you NOT to come over here, Yuri! Why aren’t you listening to me?” she shouts. She is holding the door in a death grip. I have never seen so much fear and rage on her face before.
I blow past her and walk into her apartment, I can’t give her the change to run or hide away from me again. “We need to talk, Charlie. This is important…” I start to explain.
“That’s why you should be with your family, with Alek! Not here with me! That seems a bit more important!” she says, raising her eyebrows and tilting her head. Crossing her arms over her chest clearly thinking she won the argument before it has even started.
“I know where I need to be, and I need to be here, with you.” I say pointing down toward the floor. “You’ve been wanting full honesty from me, and I see now that there are things you need to know if you’re going to understand where I’m coming from. Please, just give me five minutes.” I said please, I never say please but she needs to understand the seriousness of this situation.
She starts pacing. She’s so cute when she’s mad, but I have to focus. I can see the wheels turning in her mind and know she’s furious that I’m here right now.
“Yuri, this is beyond irritating.” Her eye starts twitching and I can tell I am in for it. “You aren’t listening to me at all. You want me to listen and understand where you’re coming from but you’re not listening to me. How are we supposed to make this work if you aren’t hearing me ?” she says. Pleading in her eyes but I know if I leave her with this it will only put her in more danger. She needs all the information. That's why I am here.
“I know. I know. That’s why I’m here. We need to talk. I want you to say everything you’ve been holding back, but I need you to hear me on this.” I explain. Hands up in surrender hoping she will hear me out.
She stands there, eyes flaming with rage, boring into my soul. If her face gets any more red it might explode.
“Fine.” she huffs breathing out, “but I have a feeling this is going to take longer than five minutes. Do you want coffee?” she asks.
“Yes, please.” I say with a sigh. Thank God that she is finally hearing me out. I walk over and take a seat on the couch.
Once the coffee is brewed and we are sitting across from one another, I take a deep breath, “Do you want to start?” I ask.
“No. You go ahead, since you seem to have a lot to say.” she says sarcastically.
I hold in a chuckle because I know she’s mad. I haven’t thought through how I’m going to explain everything, so I take a few heartbeats to organize my thoughts.
“Okay, I’m not sure where to start, so I’m just going to go with what I think is most important, but I need you to keep an open mind, okay?”
“Sure…” she says, crossing her arms over her chest, coffee forgotten.
“Alright, well, we’ve already discussed the family business, and that my father has worked tirelessly to keep me and my brothers out of the spotlight. He was always worried about his enemies coming after us to get to him…”
“Yes. I know.”
“Okay, well that’s why you coming and staying at my apartment is so important. I’m not convinced that Alek was mugged at random. This was an attack on my family, Charlie. What I don’t know is if it’s because of something I did, or if it’s related to something my father’s been working on.”
“What do you mean? How could it be related to something you did?” she asks. Confusion plastered on her face.
“Before I go into that, we need to discuss Dominic.” I say.
“Um… What about him? How is he related to any of this?” She asks, clearly frustrated at me bringing up a person she believes to be a friend.
“Dominic isn’t who you think he is,” I begin and I can tell she is putting up a wall, “He’s dangerous Charlie. I don’t want you around him.”
“What the hell?” His head moved as if she had been slapped. “We’re back to this again?” I can tell she is holding back her rage but I don’t have much longer before that red head energy rears its ugly head, focused solely at me.
“Yes! Charlie, please, let me explain. I know you’ve known him for a long time and that you trust him. But he’s been lying to you.”
“I can’t believe what I’m hearing right now.” She stands abruptly, clearly and visibly upset.
“Dominic’s family, has he told you anything about them?” I ask.
“No, not in any great detail. I know his father owns a big corporation that deals in imports and exporting of goods, and that Dominic went overseas to learn more about the company so he could start working with his dad. Why does that matter?” She says exasperated as if we have had this conversation a hundred times and she already knows how this ends. Boy is she wrong.
“Dominic’s father is the leader of the Italian mob.” I say.
“What?” she scoffs, eyebrows flying into her hairline in shock. But I see her anger crack. “That’s ridiculous!” she says, her eyes going wide.
“Any more ridiculous than my father being in the Russian mob?” I ask.
“Yes. This is all ridiculous!” she says.
“But it’s true. His family and my family have been fighting for generations. He’s a scumbag, Charlie.”
“Excuse me? I can’t believe what’s coming out of your mouth right now! How do I know you are being honest and not just trying to get me to move in by trying to scare me?” Hands going to her hips. I try not to get too distracted from the goal, my focus now being pulled to her curves.
“It’s true.” I say clearing my throat and getting back on track. “He is in charge of finding women to be trafficked. His family business is buying and selling women, Charlie. Importing and exporting humans . Among other things.” I say and I wish I had some physical proof to help her come to terms with this information.
“I… This is all too much…” she says, covering her face with her hands. I want to just go up and hold her through this revelation but I worry about making it worse by touching her.
“I know it’s shocking.” I say, taking a step towards her. “He’s a good actor, I’ll give him that, but he’s not your friend Charlie.”
“Okay, no. I can’t take this. This feels very manipulative.” She puts her hands up and starts to walk away from me. I reach out and gently touch her elbow guiding her back to a seat on the couch.
“I’m not trying to manipulate you. I just want you to have all the information, to make an informed decision when it comes to a person you trust. That I honestly think you shouldn’t trust. This is the truth as unbelievable as it sounds. He’s dangerous to you Charlie. I don’t know if he knows about us or not, but if he does, he’ll use you to get to me.”
“What do you mean? Why does it matter if he knows about us?” I am overloading her again. I can tell she looks like her head is about to explode.
“Because of our family businesses, we are not on the best of terms. His family hates my family for many reasons. They’ve been looking to take over for years. If Dominic thinks he can use you as leverage against me and my family, he’ll use it.”
She takes a minute before responding, “So, what you’re telling me is he’s only my friend to get to you? But you said he doesn’t know about you. I have never told him about your family business, or anyone for that matter, all he knows is that I was searching for you and now you are back in my life.”
“If he doesn’t know about me and my family, then I don’t know why he’s been getting close to you, but it can’t be for anything good.” I don’t know how to get her to see, to understand and believe that the guy she thought was her friend for the past four years is using her.
“Why would he pretend to be my friend for four years if he doesn’t even know who you are? I didn’t even know you were alive until a few weeks ago Yuri, you’re not making any sense!” She says standing and pacing the room.
“I honestly don’t know Charlie, I am trying to look into more. I know this is a lot to take in, but come back with me to my apartment where I know you’ll be safe, then we’ll be able to talk more. I have a guy who can show you security footage and pictures of Dominic that prove what I’ve told you. Please, come with me Charlie.” I say, hoping the promise of some physical evidence will convince her to come.
“I don’t care what you show me, videos and pictures can be messed with. I think I’d know if I was being played for four years. You may think you know Dominic, but he’d never hurt me. He’s been nothing but a friend to me. I’m done listening to this.”
“Charlie…”
“No, Yuri. I’m done. Leave. NOW!” she nearly shouts.
“I’m not leaving here without you. You can ask more questions or we can talk more about your concerns, but I will not …”
“You aren’t going to force me to come with you! I can’t believe you right now!”
“I’m not going to drag you out of here kicking and screaming. I want you to come with me so you’ll be safe. Why can’t you see that?” I’m getting frustrated now and I know she won’t like my tone, but I need her to hear me.
“Just stop, Yuri! You’re asking me to accept the fact that the man I’ve known for four years has been pretending to be my friend. I’ve only just gotten you back into my life and you expect me to drop everything, my job, my life, my friends and come with you. That’s fucked up Yuri. How can you not see that?”
“I know that this looks and sounds ridiculous. I wish things were different, but they’re not. Please, come with me. I’ll show you proof and it’ll all make sense.”
“No. GET OUT!” Her face is reddening and her eyes are darting everywhere. She looks like she is about to bolt.
“I’m not leaving.” I say, digging in my heels.
“If you won’t leave, then I’m leaving. Have fun in my apartment…” she heads toward the front door, “and don’t even THINK about following me!” she says, slamming the door behind her.
“Charlie, wait…please…” I say, but she’s already gone.
I do as she asks and don’t follow her. That won’t help. This is really hard on her, I know. If I just learned my best friend was lying to me for an unknown reason I wouldn’t believe it at first either. She just needs some time, but I need to make sure she’s safe so I grab my phone to call Andrey.
He doesn’t answer, so I send a text to see where he’s at. He should have followed her.
Instead of waiting for a response, I call Maxim to let him know I’m on my way, but he doesn’t answer either.
“What the fuck?” I say in frustration, “Where the hell are those two?”
I head back to my car and drive back to my apartment. I’ll talk to Maxim when I get there and give Andrey a call too; he better be looking after Charlie.