Chapter 3
Daniel
For a long, breathless moment, I’m transfixed. Her eyes are the color of a sea after a storm. There’s something restless just below the surface. She flashes a carefully polite smile in my direction. Another person might not notice the way her shoulders stiffen at the sight of me, but I do.
Who would have known this would be so simple? I expected to find Helena scrubbing floors or toilets somewhere with her head tucked down low. I certainly never thought that she would be teaching. Something about the notion of this viper being allowed access to young, impressionable minds doesn’t sit right with me. If even one of those young women in the room gets to perceive her as a role model, the world will surely suffer for it.
And I like the idea of her being in a classroom with Henry even less.
She observes the clothes I”m wearing. Her gaze moves slowly over my figureagainst the doorframe, from my polished shoes to the tailored fit of my button-down and vest. Three-piece suits are uncommon here. When she looks at me with those tempested eyes, I politely smile. I”m the perfect representation of any curious parent in this room. She has no evidence of the contrary.
“You play wonderfully,” I say casually.
She offers me a tight-lipped smile in return. “Thank you, I hope that soon the students will learn to play even better than I do.”
I expected her voice to be more sultry. I had this whole image and persona built up for her inside of my head. She’s currently not living up to it. Instead of siren eyes and a sexy pout, she almost comes across as demure. Her innocence could easily entice any man into her games. She exudes a fragile aura, as if she”s something I should want to protect. I”m not sure how she does it, but I want to be closer to her—as if she has some sort of enchantment that wants to consume me whole.
“With you being their teacher, I have no doubt they soon will.” I push off the doorway, hoping to bridge that gap between us. Placing a tracking device on her is going to be more difficult than I thought. I can pretend to be interested in greeting her formally and perhaps slip it inside of the open cello case by her feet. But I can’t know for sure that she intends to take it home with her this evening.
She’s not wearing a jacket, and I can’t see a purse from where I’m standing. I cannot be any more obvious in my searching than that.
Helena opens her mouth as if she’s about to say something else when a small voice makes itself known behind me.
“Excuse me,” a young boy likely the same age as Henry but much smaller tugs on my shirt sleeve. “I just… This is my class. Sorry.” his circular lenses bob up and down as he speaks.
“Not at all,” I say and step aside quickly. It’s for the best that he interrupted us. I”m afraid if I stared at her for another second, I might have donesomething foolish. I”ve never felt the need to be so close to a woman. I want to decipher the silent agony hidden behind her striking gray eyes.
Nikolai warned me to be careful. She has a knack for working herself under your skin, in ways you would never expect. When he said those words to me, I didn’t think much of them. I figured that it was a standard cautionary warning. She looks wholly different now than when Nikolai had been engaged to her, but there is no mistaking her. A chameleon in human form, it would seem.
At least she will keep things interesting until I can dispose of her quietly.
The small boy ducks around me and into the classroom while adjusting the straps of his backpack. “Sorry I’m late ma’am,” he whispers without making eye contact.
Helena transforms into someone warm and inviting in front of my eyes. She oozes motherly kindness, and nearly all of the other students watching her sit up straighter as a result of the subtle shift in her demeanor. It’s mesmerizing.
“The bell hasn’t rung yet, so you’re not late in my opinion. And even if you were, I’m sure you had a reason.” Helena winks comfortingly in the student’s direction.
I take this shift in focus as my cue to leave. I step backward silently, unsure if she looked in my direction or even noticed that I left. A part of me hopes that she does. I will return now that I know where to find her. I get my hands on a copy of Henry’s schedule to learn what name she’s going by here. I’m sure it will be only too easy to find out everything about the life she’s trying to lead.
Now that I”ve seen her in person and witnessedhow stunning she is, I believe I should alter my plans slightly. There”s no harm in causing her some...discomfort. Her painwill be my pleasure.
Before I destroy her, I’m going to make her mine.
Finding a decent meeting place in this dump of a town was next to impossible. At least the owner of the motel did not ask any questions when I rented out the entirety of the west wing for my purposes. I have total privacy there for the remainder of the month. It’s not the lodgings that I would prefer to have my men in, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
When I arrive, there is a line of black SUVs and Range Rovers parked just out back of the motel, all of which are cleverly positioned so they’re not in direct line of sight from the road. This place is just outside of town, so no further questions about what happens here will be asked.
I recognize my men’s cars from those belonging to Nikolai’s. They are all waiting for me inside the largest room. Nikolai is thumbing through an old, weathered copy of the St. James Bible that he pulled from one of the nightstands when I enter the room.
“You know, I half expected there to be condoms stuck in between the pages. Since this place is available to rent by the hour,” Nikolai says in his dark voice. He snaps the old thing together with an audible clap that sends dust motes flying up into the air. He uses the closed book and motions me further into the room.
“She couldn’t have picked a more fitting shithole to crawl into, I will give her that, at least.” Nikolai continues without looking directly at me. He seems to judge the rest of the room we’re in just as harshly as I do. At least after this job, I won’t have to work for anyone else ever again. Having Nikolai”s contacts in Las Vegas, where his turf is, will be critical for alliances. When we part ways, and I return home to New York, I will be free of him.
“I trust that the intel that I’ve provided you with thus far has been adequate?” Nikolai asks in a commanding fashion. This is a test. He knows that it was more than enough. He’s wanting a status update.
“More than adequate,” I answer plainly. I don’t want to give too much away before it is time.
Behind Nikolai, his capo cracks his neck from one side to the other. To most people, it’s a move that would strike fear in their hearts, but I’m used to attempts at intimidation. Nikolai doesn’t take me seriously, not yet. But, he will.
When I don”t offer any further information, Nikolai snaps his fingers and his capo hands him a bundle of paperwork: a manilla envelope tied shut with twine and a couple of folders stuffed with information. It”s probably more than I”ll ever need, but he extends the bundle to me, and I accept it with a nod.
“Here is the rest of the information on Helena. I presume I don’t have to tell you that there will be eyes on you at every given moment. Nor, I hope, do I need to explain to you that I will expect regular updates in regards to your progress.” Nikolai’s eyes seem to darken with the underlying threat of what will happen to me should I not comply with his demands.
My pride wants me to smirk and utter something sarcastic. My ego wants to remind him that we are not on uneven footing, no matter how much my father might have tarnished my family name.
Nikolai Volkovich is the leader of a Russian Bratva with territories in Las Vegas and parts of Washington. My father has been the head of the New York Mafia his whole life—the same as his father before him. The Colombo family name can be traced back for generations. I only need his assistance to secure our footholds in New York against competitors—against those who want to overthrow us.
Nikolai has an incredible number of men under his command. We could never compete with him, no matter how many men I managed to draw from the family and from Italy. Our territories do not border one another, and if it were not for the fact that Helena is firmly hiding herself away in my territory, I do not know if he would have ever come to me for help. He might have the upper hand, but we need one another. The fact that he feels that he can talk down to me in this way is deeply insulting.
However, he knows as well as I do that I need this alliance to work. I have no choice but to nod in gratitude.
Nikolai should leave things here… but he can’t resist a final jab. “I don’t trust you as far as I can throw you, Colombo. Not after that sneaky business that your father pulled. This is your only chance. If you cross me or fuck this up in any way, I will not be forgiving.”
“I have everything in hand,” I say in equal firmness. “I have my men looking into Helena and finishing the investigation so that nothing is missed. It won’t be long before she is out of the picture entirely.”
Nikolai seems to relax a bit after that. There’s a subtle shift of his shoulders as he nods once. The gesture is so small that I almost don’t recognize it as agreeing with my comment. “See that you do. I think that this will be a prolific alliance for both of us should you pull this off.”
If nothing else, Nikolai trustsI want to reclaim my family”s power. He believes in my motivations and my determination to succeed. That’s all that matters anyway.
“I’ll be in touch.’ Nikolai says as he leaves the room, leaving the dirty door open as his capo follows him out. I don’t move again until he and his men are all loaded back up into their cars. Their tires kick up clouds of dust in their wake.
Michael, my most trusted man and consigliere, steps into the open doorway from where he was waiting just outside. A tall but thin man with broad features—he looks deceptively harmless. Rather, he might look harmless, were it not for his thick, dark eyebrows and the jagged scar intersecting the tattoos moving up the side of his neck.
He looks at me anticipating an update. Neither of us was expecting to have Nikolai check in so suddenly, but I’m not bothered.
“Everything is going according to plan,” I inform him easily as I watch the dust settle on the road once more. “Better even.”
“How so?” He asks with an impressed inflection.
“I’ve already found her.”
Waiting in a school pick-up line is not something I expected to have to do. The line of average-looking cars extends nearly the entire length of the school and down the small street. It doesn”t appear that many students are taking the bus. To combat the late afternoon heat, I keep the windows rolled all the way up.
I haven’t made as much progress today as I would have liked. It seems that whoever Helena is pretending to be here is a fact well-concealed. She must be working with somebody. I doubt that she would have been able to cover her tracks this well if she were doing all this by herself. Not because she isn’t resourceful per se, but because she simply doesn’t have access to the right sorts of resources out here.
There is something bigger happening here. No doubt. So I will have to get to the bottom of things.
I run my thumb over my bottom lip, my elbow resting on the driver”s side window. My car sticks out like a sore thumb, but I could never part with it. Sitting here idly is grating on my nerves. Too many people lingering around and making small-talk instead of picking up their children. Before long, I spot Henry. He’s speaking to the same kid with the circular glasses that I noticed before.
Has he made friends already? Thoughts of my current mission slip to the side as I focus on the exchange between the two kids. Henry spots my black car and smiles at his friend before hurrying over to me. He’s already so much more relaxed than he was this morning. I was worried over him for nothing. Of course, he would adapt to anything I throw at him.
The car rocks from one side to the other softly as Henry throws himself into the back seat. His smile only grows as he pulls his backpack off and buckles up.
“Good first day, I presume?” I ask my ward.
“Yeah! Just you wait until I tell you everything! It’s so different than New York.”
“I’m on the edge of my seat with suspense.” It’s not even that much of a lie. I have to actively fight from smiling too wide. I pull forward slowly, inching forward as I keep my eyes trained for one particular body to leave the school.
“Uh, hello? You promised me food!” Henry counters and folds his arms expectantly across his chest.
“That I did. Good catch.”
I think I’m going to miss her. Perhaps she’s already left or staying late.
Suddenly, just before we have to pull out of the parking lot, I spot a blonde leaving out the back door. Helena is headed toward the saddest-looking car I’ve ever seen, but I get what I need.
Her license plate number.