Chapter 17 - Damien
The usual rush hour traffic moved past me as I pulled off the highway and turned onto the road leading to one of our warehouses on the outskirts of the city. I did it mindlessly, used to the drive and able to let my mind wander.
I didn’t remember most of the drive…not when I was preoccupied with thinking about Sky and everything I said to her the other night.
Since then, I was questioning myself and if I had done the right thing by revealing my hand. Even if I felt like I was close to exploding if I didn’t tell her or try to appeal to her in some way before, I wondered if it had been the right choice, or if I shot myself in the foot without considering the consequences first.
It was difficult to shake just how shocked she looked when I told her, and how she could hardly even speak in return. Knowing that only increased my doubts.
As a result of my overthinking, it was my turn to start avoiding her. It wasn’t like she was jumping up and down to speak to me or anything, but the vague shame and embarrassment I felt about confessing to her so abruptly like that made it harder for me to even look at Sky.
It wasn’t her fault in the slightest, but I needed that chance to heal my pride again, especially since nothing had been sorted out between us during that conversation.
I was just as lost as I had been before, but the only difference was that Sky knew all of my previous actions had been perfectly intentional. That I was helpless against her regardless of how hard I tried to prove the opposite was true.
Even if I didn’t know how to proceed or what to make of it all, it still didn’t shake the fact that I wanted her—needed her.
While it would likely take me some time to recover from that blow to my ego, I knew I still wouldn’t be able to get her out of my head, regardless.
But that distracted headspace of mine came to a halt the moment I noticed someone trailing me on foot through my rearview mirror. Driving slowly while I pulled into the employee parking lot, I pulled into a spot and turned the engine off, then watched. Normally, I’d keep going and park where my brothers did, but I needed to get a better read on the situation.
Given how many men worked for us, it would be fairly easy for someone to confidently pose as an employee of ours, especially if they looked the part. But something about the way that man was looking around and making himself seem suspicious gave me the feeling he wasn’t one of ours.
After a moment, he slipped away, disappearing behind a row of vehicles.
I knew that was my chance.
Smoothly, I grabbed my pistol from the glovebox and made sure it was loaded before I got out of the car and tucked it in my waistband. Walking casually, pretending to not notice, I pocketed my keys and moved through the parking lot, moving through the parked cars.
If he assumed I didn’t catch on to him trailing me, then he’d be completely unaware I was hunting him down, looking for any kind of shadow spilling from beneath one of the vehicles.
Before he could do anything, I was on him.
Darting out from the lineup of cars, I heard the catch of his breath the moment I appeared and swung.
My fist collided with the center of his face, causing him to stagger back and clutch his nose. But before he could get too far, I reached forward and snagged the front of his shirt in my grasp.
“Hey, where are you going?” I asked with a satisfied grin, catching his pained groan and the way he tried to pull away despite my iron grip.
Keeping him in place, I looked the stranger over all the while blood poured from his nose and he tried to avoid me with his hazy eyes. He breathed raggedly from the blow to his face and didn’t utter a word.
I chuckled, eyes darkening slightly as I tightened my grip on him. “You thought you could follow me, hm? That was your first mistake.”
The fear and regret of being caught filled his gaze all the while, he tried to squirm and fight from my grasp, but it seemed that punch had done quite a number on him already, and his head wasn’t working quite right. Perhaps it hadn’t been from the beginning.
Either way, I pulled my gun on him and let go as I gave his back a shove toward the building.
“You’re not getting away from me that easily…let’s have some fun, shall we?”
I could practically taste the dread emanating from him, and something about it only made me grin more.
If the man was someone’s goon, then surely he knew what was coming. That only made the moment feel sweeter for me.
***
“You said you found him following you onto the property?” Alex asked as he stood next to me in the interrogation room with his arms crossed over his chest.
Mirroring his stance, I nodded and watched as Daniil got warmed up, taunting the hostage and giving him a few good hits to loosen him up. “He wasn’t too discreet about it…he seemed almost like a novice if you ask me.”
He considered it for a moment, then hummed. “I guess that means we should amp up our security around here…Aristarkh has been advising me about it lately. Maybe then he’ll shut up about it.”
“Wouldn’t hurt.”
Even if I managed to capture the guy before he could attempt anything against me, or cause any damage to contend with, I was still angry that someone would try to trail me like that. I didn’t take kindly to anyone, thinking they could get the upper hand over me.
His intentions weren’t clear just yet, but I knew it was only a matter of time, given how the guy was already slumped over in his seat, panting while he tried to block out the pain.
“Always with the silent treatment…” Daniil said, grinning as he looked the captive over. “You’d think you people would learn by now…It doesn’t matter how long and hard you refuse…I will make you talk.”
As he smacked his backhand against the guy’s face, his head whipped back and he groaned, body visibly shaking from the pain Daniil continued to inflict upon him.
“As irritating as it is, at least we have an opportunity here,” Alex added, gears working in his head while he observed the scene in front of us.
“The Levovs have been turning up the heat on me lately…which means I’m fully prepared to take advantage of this situation,” I murmured in return. “Maybe this rat will lead me to its colony.”
Alex nodded his approval, then gestured forward. “By all means…do what you need to do.”
As I took a few steps forward, Daniil shifted and stood close to the captive’s side, eyes set on him still while he let me take the questioning reigns.
The captive managed to look up at me despite the blood on his face, caked beneath his nose from where I hit him earlier. His chest heaved with every deep breath. Even if he seemed to recoil under my gaze, he still kept his mouth shut.
Given the chance, I inspected him closer, seeing how his dark eyes didn’t look as hard as I would expect from someone in his position, assuming he was following the orders of another kingpin. His face was too obstructed for me to get a solid look at him, but I had the feeling he was younger than I initially thought.
Maybe I wasn’t too far off in guessing he was a novice. Closer to a kid, even.
“It was fairly bold of you to follow me to my territory…surrounded by our men and resources. You must’ve had some reason to do so,” I began, keeping my assessing gaze on him all the while. “Can’t say you did too well at it, but hey, that only makes my job easier. And my brother’s here.”
Even if he didn’t respond, I could see the fear in his eyes and how he took in every word. He didn’t have too much choice in the matter, after all.
“How about this…we’ll start with something nice and easy. Nothing to hurt your head over.” Hands in my pockets, I hardened my gaze by a fraction, determined to not spend all day working on getting him to talk. “What’s your name?”
As expected, he said nothing at first. Whether it was him being stubborn or simply unable to get the words out, he stayed quiet.
When Daniil cracked him over the face again, he grunted and spat out another mouthful of blood on the floor. Sucking in a breath, he finally let it slip with his exhale. “Dario…”
I grinned faintly at that, aware of how the pain was beginning to weaken his resolve. “Good. Dario, you’re going to tell me exactly why you were following me, who you work for, and what your boss is planning. One way or another, you will talk. Got it?”
Dario breathed a bit hard, eyes hesitant and uneasy all the while he looked at me.
Of course, regardless of how many times Daniil hit him or threatened his life, he did his best to hold out and keep his boss’s secrets. It’s what they all did since spilling secrets about your employer would earn you a fate worse than dying at the hands of your enemy if you managed to somehow get away.
But after some time, Dario was hunched over in the chair he was bound to, gasping for air as more blood seeped past his lips.
“Fine…just stop, please…”
Daniil lifted a brow as he looked him over before glancing at me. With my nod, he took a step back and waited.
“Then speak,” I uttered, growing more impatient as the interrogation went on.
Letting go of a shuddered breath, seemingly battling with his internal war, Dario swallowed hard and managed to speak despite his swollen face. “I was sent to follow you to scope out the area…to figure out your patterns and slip inside the warehouse undetected.”
“Why?”
“To get a read on your business…on your resources, your defenses, your structure…everything.”
I grit my teeth, anger flaring at the mention of it. “To what, use against us?”
Dario nodded. “Yes…the boss wanted to know what we were up against.”
Up against.
So that meant someone was planning on following through with a bigger job and roping us in with the Levovs to attack us both. The attacks on Levov property and their exchanges had only been trials. They had to be.
Despite my anger, I reined it in to continue. “And it started with the Levovs, correct?”
After a moment of hesitation, he nodded. “The Levovs turned out to be more resilient and stronger than we anticipated…they’ve been hard to crack, which made our boss turn his attention to you…the Novikovs.”
As frustrating as it was, it only made sense. It wasn’t difficult to see how both the Levov and Novikov names were becoming intertwined as of late, and if someone were to assume the former was too difficult to overcome, then it was only logical to hit the next best thing instead.
Even with my efforts to get the situation under control before my family could be roped into it, it seemed I was too late. They were setting their sights on us, and at the moment, we didn’t know who we were up against.
But that didn’t mean they’d be able to get the upper hand. There was still time. There had to be.
Finally, as my anger continued to brew within me, I leaned a touch closer. “Tell me then…who do you work for?”
The question sparked more resistance in Dario, but when I glanced at Daniil, he pulled his gun on him and pressed it against his temple.
The quick motion caused the captive to freeze up and his eyes widened. “Wait...wait—”
“Who do you work for?” I repeated, tone cold.
Swallowing hard, he closed his eyes and uttered, “The Pesci’s…The Pesci family…”
The moment the name reached me, recognition set in, and my brows furrowed.
That damn name again. The one we heard while Sky was conducting her interviews.
It didn’t make sense to me how their name connected between both the attacks on the Levovs and the recent crimes in that neighborhood, but that didn’t matter. I finally had a name and the slightest confirmation that they were a problem that couldn’t be ignored. I could only hope whatever else Sky managed to dig up on them would help my case.
Finally, I had something to work with.
Satisfied then, I grinned and leaned forward, face closer to Dario. “How old are you?”
Regardless of how the question caught him off-guard, he remained in his seat, slumped with defeat as he murmured, “Twenty-two…”
He was younger than I thought. Too young to find himself in such a precarious position.
I had a choice in front of me, and despite myself, I erred on mercy.
“Alright, kid…since you gave us what we needed, we’re going to let you go,” I said, apparently surprising Daniil as he cocked a brow at me.
Still, I focused on Dario and the fear that surrounded him so easily. “You’re going to crawl back to your boss and give him a message on our behalf. You ready to hear it?”
Through his defeat, Dario nodded.
My grin stretched slightly, feeling even more motivated than before to put an end to it all. “I want you to tell them Damien Novikov said your rats can’t hide for much longer…and soon enough, they will be caught between our teeth.”
It was both a threat and a promise, and I wasn’t going to falter until it was over.