30. Half Alive
Chapter thirty
Half Alive
Adrik stayed distant as they wheeled his brother’s casket into the bottom of the family plane. His father’s casket followed behind. Five days before Alexei turned twenty-nine, he was headed for Russia. In their final days in jail, Alexei planned to visit their sisters.
And now he was.
Adrik was sweating beneath his black tux, the liquor and drugs in his system not helping him any. Tatianna looked back at him as she stepped on the stairs. She wanted him to go with her, but he couldn’t yet. He needed to get the family in order here before he began his pursuit of Katia. The duties of the family were chains, and no matter how much he yearned to be free of them, they clung tight, never to release him.
Adrik felt like half a person. It was as if a dull serrated knife cut him down in the middle, and he was bleeding and screaming, and no one was fixing it. Everything he was before was gone now. And there was no filling in the missing parts. He’d remain half alive till his brother and father were properly avenged.
Uncle Yefim stood beside him. Adrik had never gotten along with his bigoted uncle, but the old man proved himself. He was a powerful lawyer in Georgia who got Adrik and Alexei free of all charges. He was one of many to whom Adrik was indebted. Debts were terrible things. At any time, those who aided him in the past week could come years from now and ask Adrik for a favor, and no matter what it was, he’d have to concede. It’s the only way favors worked in the family.
But Adrik just found out a secret Yefim’s been keeping.
Yefim cleared his throat. “There will be a meeting in five days with all the heads. I expect you there.”
Adrik pretended not to hear him. Yefim’s tone was too authoritative. If Adrik didn’t know any better, he’d think his uncle was telling him what to do.
“I hope you are not as impulsive as your father and have learned to compromise.”
“How’s your son?” Adrik questioned, offhand, but it was far from meaningless.
The pause was everything. Adrik would have been amused if he could feel anything.
“Kuzma overstepped,” Yefim admitted.
“Overstepped? Is that the new term for insurrection?”
Adrik’s brother-in-law Rurik called him this morning. Kuzma had tried to take control of the family in Russia while Adrik was in jail. He had almost been successful, allying himself with other family members and a few mafia families that always despised Yakov. Rurik had thwarted the attempt, and now Adrik was in debt to someone else. It was never-ending.
“I’ve dealt with him. It won’t happen again.”
“Then we are even.” Adrik had cleared one debt, but he hoped Yefim didn't think it meant it would be forgotten. For right now, he needed Yefim on his side. “I’m busy in five days. I will call the families together when I am ready. ”
Yefim clenched his fists. “Understood. See you then.”
“Oh, and Uncle”—Adrik stepped up to the man—“I will be leaving for Russia soon, and I have decided to leave you in charge here. Make sure you don’t overstep . I am very low on forgiveness at the moment and have been solving problems without much thought. Impulsive , you might call it.”
Adrik turned and walked back to his car, feeling the weight of his uncle’s vehement stare. It brought him a little joy, annoying the man. Yefim walked away, diving into his limo and driving off. Fighting with family was never pleasant, but it was always necessary. If Yefim wanted to be Adrik’s second-in-command, then Adrik needed to trust him. Before, he didn’t understand why Yefim had helped him and his brother get out of prison, but now it made sense. It was self-interest. Thankfully, it gave Adrik an insight into Yefim’s weakness. If his uncle attempted to go behind his back, he’d string Kuzma up over a pyre and get the old man back in line.
Adrik brought his attention back to the plane. The doors closed, a finality to death, to hope. The engines roared, sparking the realization that Alexei would no longer be a phone call away. Failure was bitter on Adrik’s tongue and nearly choked him. All his life, he did everything he could to keep Alexei away from his father, to keep him safe, and in the end, it wasn’t his father that pulled the trigger.
What was the point?
Adrik’s walls began to slip. Filip lit a joint before passing it to him, and Adrik eagerly sucked in. The smoke filled his head, easing the ache of gravity a little. If he could risk it, he’d spend the days in a drug-induced coma till the worst of the pain healed, but there was too much that he needed to be mentally prepared for. His uncles were watching, hoping for him to slip up, to show signs that he could not take care of the family so they could file an injunction against him. If there were enough votes, they could decide to remove him. Never had this been done, and Adrik wasn’t going to be the first.
But he also didn’t know how to get through this sober. There was a small bag of cocaine in his pocket, calling his name.
Filip handed him a phone. An unfamiliar number showed up on the screen, but Adrik took it. “Who is this?”
There was a moment of silence, to the point where Adrik nearly handed it back, and then he heard, “Adrik?”
Adrik straightened. Thousands of cruel thoughts raced through his head, but nothing would be enough, not until he wrapped his hands around Gil’s throat and watched the life fade out of him. “Gil?” Adrik waved a hand, alerting all his soldiers, and they spread out around the car, searching for any odd movement. “Where are you?”
“He wasn’t—” A cry, a whine, a pathetic show of emotion. “He wasn’t supposed to get hurt.”
Adrik sneered as Gil sobbed into the speaker. How the fuck dare he have the audacity to cry to him? But Adrik played into his misery. “It was an accident,” Adrik conceded. “Mama will forgive you. Come home.”
“Do you think so?”
No, you stupid fuck.
“She wants to see you,” Adrik continued.
“I fucked up so bad.” The moan continued. “It hurts, man.”
Adrik’s brows knitted at the comment. “What did you do? ”
There was a pause, and Adrik looked at the phone to make sure it was still on.
Gil whispered, “I know God won’t forgive me. I know it. I know you won’t either. But she said if I could kill you, she’d marry me. She’d be with me. But it was a fucking lie, wasn’t it? You told me, and I didn’t listen. Fucking pussy messing me up. I’m so fucking pathetic.”
Adrik leaned over the hood of the car and pounded a fist into it. He didn’t want to know Gil’s stupid-ass reason. He knew it wouldn’t make everything right, and it didn’t.
“She got in my head, Adrik. But you’re my brother, and I should have come to you. I should have gotten rid of her.”
“Stop,” Adrik begged through grinding teeth. “I don’t want to hear anymore. It’s all fucking bullshit.”
“I know, I know, don’t hang up. I don’t want to be alone.”
“You think Alexei’s not alone?”
Sobs broke through the phone. “I’m gonna find him. I’m gonna find him.”
It was more nonsense from some drugged-out, drunk mind.
“It’s starting to feel better. But I’m tired, man. I want to sleep.”
The words were similar; they triggered so many memories. “What did you take?” Adrik questioned. “What did you fucking take? You don’t get the right to take my revenge! You hear me, Gil?”
“I never wanted to hurt Mama. She was always so good to me.”
Adrik darted for the door of the car, yanking the driver out of his seat and slipping in. “Where are you? I’ll come get you. ”
“It’s too late.”
Adrik pressed hard on the gas and weaved around the plane, nearly forcing it to break. He found his way out of the small airport and onto the open road within seconds. “Where are you?”
“I want to go home,” he said tiredly. “I want to go back to Russia.”
Adrik turned left. Gil’s house across the bay was being watched, so he couldn’t be there.
“Why’d you take his stuff?”
Adrik was ten minutes from his old house downtown. He could only assume Gil was talking about Alexei’s room. Adrik had everything packed up and brought to the new house. There was no staying in the place where his father was brutally murdered.
His muffled voice whispered, “He has something of mine. I want it back.”
If Gil was overdosing, he’d be dead by the time he got there, but Adrik had to try. “Stay awake for me. You hear me? I won’t forgive you if you fucking die, Gil. I won’t forgive you.”
Silence was his response. Adrik clenched the phone against his ear. “Tell me about the cruise.”
As the seconds of silence continued, Adrik almost crumbled.
“The cruise?”
Gil’s voice was a little victory, and Adrik let out a breath. “You and Alexei went on a cruise a few years ago.”
“Oh, yeah. We had a great fucking time.” A smile was heard through the words. “I think that’s where I put it.” It was a nonsensical statement that Adrik ignored .
There was more silence, and Adrik gripped the steering wheel, running a red light. Horns honked behind him, but he didn’t care.
Gil finally said, “Everything’s fading.”
Adrik slammed on his brakes when he reached a stoplight. There were too many cars, too many people. He couldn’t get through. He saw a break of pedestrians on the sidewalk and spun the wheel, jumping the curb. Shouts and screams went unheard.
“Adrik.” Gil’s voice was fading, and Adrik strained to hear him. “She left.”
Adrik didn’t have to guess who he was talking about. “Where’d Katia go?”
“Russia.”
“With Helina?”
“Yeah. They”—he paused and took a breath that turned into a groan—“just left. But it’s a trap. They set one up at Tampa International, but they went to Sarasota. Get her, Adrik. You can make it.”
It was information he wanted to trust but couldn’t. Even now, he didn’t know if Gil could be honest with him. But even if it was a risk, the reward would be Helina, right? A road sign for Sarasota was ahead. He could swerve on this road and head straight down to the airport.
When Adrik drove by it, he knew what he was doing. He was passing up a chance to get Helina to save Gil. He cursed as he continued straight. He couldn’t even call anyone to send to Sarasota, because he didn’t want to get off the phone with Gil. He feared he’d never hear from him again.
“You better fucking live so I can beat the shit out of you.”
A soft, barely there chuckle, and then there was silence.
“Gil?” Adrik called out, staring at the phone. “Gil?”
A shaky breath came through the line. “I want to die, Adrik. Just let me die.”
The line clicked.
“Gil? Goddamn it!” Adrik was still five minutes away. He called 911 and gave them an address. They wanted to stay on the phone with him, but he clicked it off when he stopped in front of the abandoned mansion.
Adrik never wanted to come back here and had avoided it, but now he barreled through the front door, overlooking all the crap left behind. He had taken none of the furniture, nothing that Vincent had touched. Adrik took the stairs two at a time, bursting into Alexei’s room, but it was empty. He went to Katia’s room next and went straight to the windows. Down by the pool, Gil sat in one of the chairs.
Adrik jumped out the broken window, rolling on the rotten mattress, nearly tripping as he ran to him while an ambulance siren wailed in the background.