45
T he night was going to shit. If the worsening weather wasn’t indicative enough of that, the five Armenian assholes lying dead outside certainly were.
“What the fuck happened?” Roman seethed, his eyes flaying Matteo alive. The prick had materialized out of nowhere in the nick of time. Another couple of minutes and they would have been completely outgunned in their own fucking territory.
“Got tipped off by an associate that one of the Clan's cars was heading your way. I called, but you didn’t answer.” Matteo tucked his gun into its holster and frowned down at one of the figures lying dead in the drive. “It looks like someone betrayed us.”
“Well, we got here in time. They left the car down the street; a black sedan with tinted windows.”
Roman moved his gaze behind Matteo at the four Outfit soldiers lingering near the front gates, guns still drawn. “Where’s the rest of your men?”
“Lying low, waiting for orders.”
“Call them off. We need to regroup.” He glanced around, assessing the damage.
The Armenians had known exactly when and where to strike.
Roman had been inside the house with Andrei and Vladik while all of their ammunition and guns were in their cars parked in the driveway.
Pavel hadn't been so lucky, his brains splattered across the front of the house where they'd cornered him. If Matteo hadn’t shown up when he had, Roman didn't know if he'd still be standing there, staring at five other bodies that weren't his men.
An ominous feeling of unease whispered down his nape, demanding his attention. Roman pushed it down, needing to focus on the disaster in front of him. He ran a rough hand across his unshaved jaw and tried to think of what to do next. He needed to call his father, and for that he needed his phone.
The disquiet he refused to acknowledge came back with more urgency, making him restless. He had half a mind to go inside and look for his phone when a thought suddenly hit him, and the enormity of it knocked the wind out of his lungs.
“Fuck,” he spat, turning around and rushing up the stairs, taking them two at a time. “Alessa!”
He'd been so busy, so distracted, he’d forgotten that she was still inside the house when they attacked. Panic flooded his veins hot like lava as he stormed down the hall, heading for the master bedroom. Heavy footsteps echoed behind him as someone followed.
“Was my sister in here the whole time?” The anger in Matteo’s voice was impossible to miss.
Roman ignored him, his heart beating a furious rhythm. “Alessa!” he called, pushing open the door so hard it slammed into the wall. “Tatyana!”
Silence greeted him. He walked into the bathroom then the closet just to make sure they weren’t hiding somewhere. When he turned to leave the room, Matteo was there blocking his way.
“Where the fuck is she?”
“I don't fucking know. She was with my sister. We were about to send them off to a safe house.”
Matteo got in his face. “Motherfucker, if she’s hurt in—”
Roman didn’t care for his threats. “Move.”
When he didn’t step back, Roman slammed both hands hard against his chest. Matteo stumbled back with a curse, but before he could even think to retaliate, Vladik made his presence known. He stopped by Roman’s side, giving Matteo a warning look.
“There's no one else on the ground floor, but one of the windows in the study is wide open. I think they got out through the back and Alek is with them.”
“Goddamn it.” Roman pushed past him to go back downstairs. He took a hard left in the foyer and nearly collided with Andrei.
“Boss, what do we do with the bodies?”
“Put them in the trunk before the neighbors get an eyeful and call the police. Get the Italians to help then call Dimitri.”
It was the dead of night and most of their neighbors lived far enough they weren't in any immediate risk of being discovered, but Roman still had to be careful. They’d caused enough noise to attract unwanted attention if someone was interested enough to look into it.
Thankfully, he'd bought a house in an upscale neighborhood where people were all too happy to ignore each other. It suited him just fine.
Roman walked out through the kitchen, and when the door opened again behind him, he didn’t need to look over his shoulder to know it was Matteo.
It had started to rain a few minutes before, small droplets of water falling from the dark sky and landing on the shoulders of his suit jacket.
He surveyed his surroundings and tried to think of where Alek would have taken the girls.
His gaze narrowed as it caught onto something. He walked a few paces then leaned down to inspect the grass.
“What are you doing?”
“It's been stepped on.” He pointed to a spot where the grass was flattened.
Glancing up, his gaze landed on the brick fence and he knew exactly where to look next.
He straightened, removing his suit jacket as he walked across the wet grass.
Grabbing the top of the fence, he hauled himself up easily and straddled the wide edge.
On the other side, the neighbors' yard was unlit and quiet. Roman blew out a whistle, waiting a few seconds to see if any dog came running, altered by the noise. When there was nothing, he jumped down and let his eyes adjust to the darkness.
Matteo, of course, was right behind him.
Roman whistled again, louder this time. A muffled noise came from straight ahead, so he walked that way, keeping a hand at his back in case he needed to draw his gun.
“Alek!” he called quietly.
The noise came again, and it sounded like an object softly hitting wood.
“Alek!” he tried again when he reached the side of the house. He peered around the corner and thought he saw a shadow moving. He stopped and stared, trying to make out if it was a person or just his imagination playing tricks on him.
It was then a whispered voice reached his ears. “Roman, over here.”
“Thank fuck,” Roman muttered and started to make his way in that direction.
He’d only taken a few steps before the shadow moved and he realized that it was coming straight for him.
A moment later, someone slammed into him hard and slim arms wrapped around his waist tightly.
The tension in his body evaporated as soon as he recognized his wife's warmth and the unmistakable smell of her herbal-infused shampoo.
He squeezed her against his chest, saying a silent thank you to his lucky stars.
“You're here,” Alessandra said in a raspy voice, and he could hear the relief in her voice. “I was so scared. I thought you were hurt.”
“I’m fine,” he said softly, kissing her hair. “You?”
He felt her nod. “Yeah.”
“Anya?” he called quietly, glancing over Alessandra’s head at the other two figures. He couldn’t see much, but he knew it had to be her and Alek.
“I'm okay.”
As the two of them got closer, Alessandra stepped away from his embrace and shifted to look behind him. “Matty, is that you? ”
“Yeah,” her brother replied gruffly.
“What are you doing here?”
“Don't even ask.”
Her fingers wrapped around Roman's, her head tipped up. “What happened?”
“We'll talk later. First, we need to get you and Tatyana out of here.”
Quietly, they all went back the way they came.
Matteo jumped over the fence first, and Roman stayed behind with Alek to help the girls.
When they were into their backyard again, Roman stopped to assess Alessandra, his eyes taking in every inch of her.
Except for a little hole in her jeans, just above the knee, she looked fine.
“They can stay with my parents,” Matteo said, sounding calmer now that he could see his sister was unharmed. “We don't know who the rat is. It could be someone close to you who knows the location of the safe house.”
“Rat?” Alek asked, looking between them with a frown.
Roman shook his head because he wasn’t going to go there with the girls around. It was the last thing he wanted to do—having to resort to Nero’s help and give him the satisfaction of being proved right. But he was also out of options.
“You okay with that?” he asked Alessandra. As much as he hated the idea of her going back to her parents, her safety came before his pride.
She hesitated. “Do I have to?”
“It’s just for a few days.”
“But, Roman...”
“I don't know who to trust right now,” he admitted, the words feeling like sandpaper on his tongue. He’d promised her she would be safe with him. He had failed her once and he wasn't going to let it happen again.
“Family meeting aside, we need to move,” Matteo urged. “We're sitting targets here.”
Roman knew he was right. He gave a terse nod. “Call your father.”
As they walked into the house, Roman turned to Alessandra and his sister. “Grab your bags and be ready to leave.”
Alessandra followed him into the living room as he looked around for his phone. “What will you do?”
“Don't worry about me.”
“You keep saying that, but I do. I worry, Roman. How can I not?”
He paused at the anguish in her voice. “I’ll be as careful as I can, but I have to do this. There’s no way out of it.”
Alessandra nodded, even as the downward curve of her mouth said that she didn’t really understand. Roman spotted the phone on the couch, pocketed it and walked over to his wife. Wordlessly, he cupped her cheeks and kissed her forehead then the tip of her nose. She let out a quiet sniffle.
“Roman.”
He looked up to see Stepan standing in the doorway, looking livid, undoubtedly as a result of the bloody scene outside.
“Not now,” Roman said. He was going to discuss the details with him later. “Give me a minute, will you?”
Stepan gave a curt nod and walked away.
Roman looked down at Alessandra, but before he could say anything else, Matteo walked in his line of vision.
“Ronnie should be here in about fifteen minutes.”
Alessandra bent her head, discreetly wiping off a few tears.
“Thanks,” Roman said, pushing a hand into the hair at her nape. He brought her face up so he could look at her. “Don’t cry.”
She sighed as if she was getting a little annoyed. “Yeah, okay.”
Matteo disappeared, and seeing they were alone again, Roman leaned down to kiss her lips.
Two days.
It was all the time he gave himself to find the rat and put an end to all the betrayal happening inside his organization. There would be no more. No more traitors and no more double play.
Starting tonight, a new era unfolded for the Leskov Bratva, and those who didn’t side with him, were not worthy of being a part of it.