Chapter 19 - Damien
After the interrogation wrapped up and we eventually let Dario go so he could scramble back to his boss, I found myself sitting on that new information, and I hoped it was the one thing I needed to make a difference in my efforts to catch that rat. To stop them entirely.
I still couldn’t completely wrap my head around how the random crimes in the city connected to the Pesci family and their attempts to infiltrate our operations, but I had the feeling I didn’t need to look too deeply into that aspect.
If anything, they were probably just making a mess…trying to stretch their wings and make a bigger mark on the city.
It tended to go down that way when a new family was trying to establish themselves. They typically try to get into whatever their ideal market is through the locals, hiring them and establishing their street gangs to hustle for them while they collect from up top.
I could only imagine some of their recruits were causing problems and getting too rowdy. Too overconfident given their connections.
Regardless, I had the name stained in my mind as I pulled up to a Levov warehouse the following day, hoping to give them the biggest piece of information I had dug up ever since I started working on the operation.
At Lukyan’s request, I decided to visit them and prove to them I wasn’t fumbling it. That I was capable of putting an end to it all, even if I still had more digging to do.
With clearance from their security, I pulled up to the warehouse and parked, almost beginning to feel like I was an employee of theirs to some capacity. I had been around their turf a lot more in the last little while, and it was a bit strange. Like they were an extension of my own family in a sense.
Not in a sappy way, of course. But still, thanks to Ari and Alex mending that bridge, it was pretty nice to not be at odds with the Levovs. At least it was one less family trying to target us. Surprisingly, that notion went a long way.
Used to the groove of things, I made my way inside and was greeted by some of their guards who knew me by name.
“Here for Lukyan?” one of them asked, standing with a more relaxed, friendly demeanor than one might expect. Another perk of being buddy-buddy with the Levovs—even their security wasn’t out to get us.
“Yes, sir,” I returned casually, noting how he smiled faintly.
The guard nodded before nudging at his buddy, who disappeared further into the warehouse. “He’ll be down soon.”
“On his time, of course.”
He chuckled, then gave me a slight nudge against my arm. “Say, I’ve been checking out your wheels whenever you come here…what do you think of the model?”
Amused and somewhat flattered, I grinned and shrugged. “It suits me fine, but depends on what you’re after...”
We continued our aimless chatter until Lukyan finally approached with Kir in tow, and the security guard gave us respectful nods before returning to his post. Lukyan gave a vague gesture for me to follow, and I didn’t miss a beat.
“I assume you have something for us, Novikov.”
“I do, in fact. Something I’m sure you’ll appreciate,” I replied, feeling somewhat pleased with myself. Not that Lukyan had been giving me much resistance since I started working alongside him, but up until that point, I hadn’t been delivering the desired progress as efficiently as I could’ve been. I hated seeming incompetent, but with a name and the concrete start I needed, I felt that I was onto something.
He gave a huffed response, although it didn’t pack much of a bite. Instead, they both led me through the building. “Alright, then. We’ll talk it over in the office.”
“Good timing, too, Novikov,” Kir added with a faint smirk. “Ari was getting restless and we’re all getting sick of listening to him bitch—”
The ever-increasing sound of a vehicle approaching cut Kir off and stopped the three of us in our tracks as we all turned to see what was happening.
Through the glass door at the front, a heavily armored truck came barreling forward, managing to crash through the front gate while men started running and shouting. Anyone inside and able to see what was happening as the truck surged on tensed, bracing themselves as more yelling rang out inside.
Before we could do anything, almost like everything was unfolding in the span of a few seconds, the truck collided with the front of the building, making it rock on its foundation as concrete, steel, and other debris went shooting into the main area.
The shock and force of it made me unsteady on my feet for a moment, but as the dust moved in, I shielded my eyes and reached for my pistol.
More yelling ensued as the doors on the truck opened and men came pouring out, opening fire on everyone inside.
Not wasting a second, I started firing back, trying my best to aim despite the heavy cloud of dust in the air and how everything seemed to be moving so quickly.
I nearly swung as I felt a hand grab my shoulder from behind, but I stopped myself once I realized it was Lukyan. He pulled me back behind a tall metal shelf full of wrapped products while Kir shot, covering for us both.
“Get down!” he shouted at me, pulling out his own gun and opening fire on the assailants.
Between the men running in and the Levov forces retaliating, the sound of volleying gunfire echoed throughout the steel and concrete structure and made my ears ring.
Regaining my senses after taking cover and finding a space in between the items on the shelf in front of me, I slotted my pistol through the opening and continued to fire, defending the Levov property right alongside them.
At first, it seemed like the wave of men just kept coming as more flooded in from the caved-in wall, but with Levov reinforcements and pushing as hard as we could, that flow eventually came to an end.
Soon enough, we were able to ease up and catch our breath, watching as the dust began to settle.
“Jesus Christ…” Kir muttered as he put his pistol away and moved out from behind his cover. We followed behind all the while their guys moved in completely and made sure the assailants were down for good.
Luk cursed to himself, shaking his head as he dragged a hand down his face. “How? How did this possibly happen?”
“Who in the hell was it this time?”
Ari’s voice reverberated within the warehouse as he stood on the top steps of the iron framing throughout the place. Everyone else flinched at the raw anger in his voice.
In all fairness, I couldn’t blame him. I’d be pretty pissed myself.
“I think I might have an answer to that,” I said, voice moving easily through the almost deafening silence within the shaken-up warehouse.
Ari’s gaze landed on me as he pointed in my direction. “You. Luk and Kir. Get up here now.”
The brothers next to me sighed, surely aware that they weren’t going to escape some sort of scolding for the incident, even if they couldn’t have anticipated it.
That was the curse of being a younger sibling. I knew it well enough myself.
Hoping to not anger him further, the three of us made our way to the second level and moved into the office as we adjusted ourselves and dusted off from the attack. Luckily, we were all in decent enough condition.
As soon as we sat down in the office, Ari looked at me pointedly. “Tell us whatever the hell you know. And be quick. I’m not exactly in a good mood right now.”
Knowing he meant that, I cleared my throat and nodded. “I was followed the other day and managed to capture and interrogate them…they gave up the Pesci name. I heard it while escorting Sky, Gemma’s employee, to conduct interviews about crimes happening in the city. Apparently, they’re the ones who have been targeting your operations, and they’ve been sniffing around us as well.”
“Pesci…” Ari murmured to himself in thought.
“How the hell did they know the front gate was compromised?” Kir questioned. “Or how much weight they needed to bust it down?”
Luk sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I called Ben the other day while he was at Gemma’s office, and I mentioned how the contractors couldn’t fit us in until the end of next week. Maybe someone overheard?”
“Wait, the Pesci family,” Ari continued as the confusion in his gaze simmered to recognition. “Andrei mentioned them to me before.”
“He did?” Lukyan asked, growing more curious.
The eldest nodded. “Their group had to deal with them a while ago. The kingpin kept trying to wager his daughter for an alliance between them, but she was still a kid, and by then, Andrei didn’t need to take that kind of deal. He was offended by the offer and blacklisted him after the fact. When the kingpin’s proposal didn’t work, he waged war on them and lost.”
“How badly were they beaten down?” I asked, curious about the aftermath and how it all connected to the present day.
“Bad enough for them to disappear. The kingpin was essentially turned on by all the other families, so he disappeared. He died not long after from natural causes presumably, and Andrei thought that would be the end of it. Until his son took over and by then, his sister was a bit older, so he tried a similar tactic. Of course, he was turned away again, and ever since then, they faded into obscurity. At least, that was what we all assumed.”
Considering everything he said, I nodded to myself. “There’s a motive then…if this son wants to avenge his father and their name, then I could see why he might go to all of this trouble.”
“And to get an upper hand, they’ve placed at least one rat in Gemma’s office,” Luk concurred, focusing entirely on the task at hand. “That way, they’ve been able to record or overhear conversations and relay whatever information has been said in assumed privacy. That’s the only way these people would even know how to find our weaknesses.”
“It adds up,” Ari agreed, absently stroking his chin, eyes intense while he mauled it over. “That means this rat needs to be flushed out as soon as possible. If they’ve come this far and managed to collect this much intel, then it’s only a matter of time before they launch an attack on one of us and succeed.”
There was no getting around it. No more delay. Ari was right, and I needed to close in as quickly as possible.
Eventually, our meeting came to an end, and I left the damaged building with a renewed sense of purpose and determination. I was closer than I ever had been to catching the spy, and I just needed to close in.
On my way to the car, I felt my phone buzz in my pocket, and I was quick to click on it the moment I saw Sky’s name. The text was from her, and she was asking me to come over for dinner.
My brows furrowed in surprise at the same time a flutter of hope moved through me. After everything, I didn’t think she’d want to see me again, let alone reach out and invite me over.
I could only stare at it for a moment before I texted back my confirmation, got in the car, and drove off feeling a little better than before.
***
Not a minute was wasted between me heading home, getting cleaned up, and heading for Sky’s place. Without trying too hard, I made myself presentable and drove over, following the directions given to me all the way to her floor, then to her apartment.
Pulling in a breath, reminding myself to play it cool, I knocked on the door and waited.
A beat passed before it opened faster than I anticipated, and I found Sky gazing up at me, looking as beautiful as ever.
Of course, I was a bit biased, which is why it took me a moment to realize she didn’t look as perky as usual. Despite pulling a small smile for me—again, to my surprise—I could see the bags under her eyes and the slight reservation in her expression overall.
“Hey,” I said somewhat lamely, immediately wishing I had led with something more significant.
“Hi,” she returned, stepping back to let me in. “Come inside.”
With a simple nod, I did exactly that, listening to the door gently closing behind me. I was running different questions and topics through my head, trying to land on something that might take the faint awkwardness out of the air, or help us get to a better place, but her hand was in mine before I could get any of them out.
My brows went up almost imperceptibly at the warmth of her palm against my skin, but I didn’t question it.
“Here…sit down, please,” she said, tone almost forlorn. Anxious, even.
Both confused and somewhat worried, I simply followed her lead as she guided me over to the couch and sat down alongside me. All the while, I kept my eyes on her, feeling more curious as the seconds ticked by.
Something about her quiet demeanor told me it was something serious. I realized then that she didn’t just invite me over for dinner. She needed to talk, and whether that was a good thing or not, I knew I’d find out soon enough.
“Look…I know things have been spotty between us, and this isn’t something I anticipated, but I need to tell you something,” she began, pulling in a deep breath as if mustering up the courage.
I never took my eyes off her while I waited for her to get started, even if hers were averted while she gathered herself.
“Damien…I’m pregnant.”
At first, I thought I misheard her. The words hardly registered while I gazed at her, wondering if I imagined it.
But the longer I looked at her and the more serious she seemed, the less that felt true.
“…what?”
She sighed, loosely crossing her arms over her chest as she leaned back a bit, seemingly still struggling to get it all out. “I was on the pill and I assumed it was fine, but I guess I missed one, and we had sex, and…here we are.”
I blinked back at her, feeling as if my world was rocked all over again for the second time that day.
“You’re pregnant…” I repeated, feeling lame again from my lack of a proper response. But it was a lot to take in. A lot to wrap my head around in such a short amount of time. But as it started to feel more real, I looked at her squarely. “…you’re sure it’s mine?”
Her brows furrowed slightly as she muttered, cheeks dusted with color, “Yes, I’m sure.”
“Just making sure,” I added, struggling to understand how it could all be real. How she could be pregnant with my child.
Our child.
Something about that thought swirling in my mind awakened something within me, and while I knew I should’ve been some sort of terrified or maybe even upset to some degree…I wasn’t. My chest squeezed at the very idea of her carrying my child, and I didn’t know if it was my infatuation with her talking, or if I really was ready to be a father, but having a baby didn’t seem like such a bad thing.
After a moment, Sky studied me, apparently looking for some greater, more shocked reaction from me. “…and? What do you think we should do?”
“What we should do?”
She nodded as if it were obvious. “Yeah…about the pregnancy.”
“There’s only one thing to do,” I said, finally regaining more of myself to reach out to her. I knew it was risky and potentially overstepping, but given the worry and fear in her eyes, I didn’t want her to feel alone in this.
As she held my gaze, looking more open than she had in some time, she listened quietly and patiently for me to continue.
“You’ll come live with me, and I’ll give you everything you need to get through this pregnancy. Our baby will want for nothing,” I told her, upfront about it all. “You won’t have to worry about a thing.”
Surprise veiled her eyes then. “…really? You’re sure?”
I nodded, not needing to think twice about it. “Yes, I’m more than sure. Regardless of what we are, I want this baby, and I want to be in their life, as well as yours.”
As I spoke, Sky’s expression softened as the emotions filtered into her features. “You mean that?”
“I do. I know we have some things to work out between us, but that doesn’t matter. Either way, I’ll protect you and the baby, and I’ll do everything I can to show you just how serious I am about this.”
Her eyes remained on me for a moment before she let go of a shaken breath, and her arms were around my midsection at a moment’s notice.
My brows went up, caught off-guard by the affection, but I eased into it and wrapped my arms around her in return, keeping her close. I closed my eyes and soaked in the feeling of having her pressed against me, heart warmed by the idea of us having a child.
Even if it was unexpected, to me, it was good news.
Regardless of me not being the head of my family, I’d have an heir anyway, girl or boy.
I wasn’t getting any younger, and the thought of finally having achieved something in that area of my life felt good…exciting, even.
And knowing it was with Sky only made me want her even more.
“Thank you…” I murmured against the top of her head, grinning at the idea of having a little one of my own. Of getting to experience fatherhood for myself.
Sky shifted a bit closer to me, keeping herself pressed against my chest all the while she let that relief flood through her.
She was pregnant with my baby…my child.
It was a gift I would never take for granted. And a notion that stirred something deep within me.