26. Ciro
26
CIRO
I f you look hard enough, you really can see paint dry.
Especially when you’ve got nothing to do but sit on your hands waiting. Pyotr gave us a very important assignment in the wake of our return.
Rest.
A criminal mastermind king is plotting to take over most of our territories, the entire organization is planning a party to very loudly announce that they are not going to let him, and we are supposed to…relax.
Normally, I’d be all for time alone.
And don’t get me wrong, we took advantage of it. Repeatedly.
Until neither of us could walk.
But Vanya is going stir-crazy now.
Nothing normal seems worth doing. Even though I needed new clothes and the apartment we’re holed up in needed food. Fortunately, we have people for that.
Except for the clothes.
I can’t trust someone else to buy my threads.
“Beats sitting on the couch, right?”
“Only because I cannot sit still any longer.”
“You’ve got your very own Ken doll right here and you’re not the least bit excited?”
“Only to get you undressed later,” she hums, slipping her hand into my pocket.
“I’ll shop quick.”
Vanya keeps looking over her shoulder as we pick a store to go into in the shopping center. I feel it too. The itching sensation that we are being watched.
Not just by Bratva. They’re all over the place.
Openly.
There’s this shadowy movement around every corner.
And it’s probably our imagination. Or it’s my evil twin brother, come to replace me! Being identical would have been kind of cool. Especially if one of us had a goatee.
No such luck.
I’m trying stuff on when a buzzing sound catches my attention. Glancing around the stall door, I wait, listening for it again.
“Van!” I call.
“What?”
“Listen.”
The buzzing goes off one last time. Frowning, Vanya snatches my ratty old jacket off the bench I left it on. Fishing into the pocket, she whips out a phone.
“I thought you lost your phone in Marrakesh.”
“My phone is smashed in a dumpster that roof dived off in Marrakesh,” I correct, stepping out.
“What the fuck…” Vanya stares at me for a second, “Oh, never mind. Whose phone is this?”
“Gimme!’ I snatch it away, shuffling around her.
“Cut it out!” She slaps my hand.
I bob and weave, bouncing on my toes. Ducking a wayward smack of her hand, I lash out, snatching the phone. “Ha!”
Her fist connects with my face a second later.
“Yow!”
“That’s what you get for grabbing. And for that fucking stupid outfit. Quit bobbing and weaving!” Vanya scolds, giving me the stare.
“It’s the red jumpsuit from Rock ?—”
“I know exactly what it’s from. You look ridiculous.”
“I was gonna get one for Fyodor.”
“He will kill you like Creed if you do.”
“Woooorth it.”
Vanya flicks open the screen. “Needs a fingerprint.”
Hers doesn’t work. She grabs my hand, pressing my thumb to the bottom. We both freeze as the home screen pops up.
There are four unread messages.
I click them open before Vanya can argue for caution. She’s looking around the store as I read the first message.
Zero. Meat Lovers. Special Delivery.
“What the hell does this mean?”
“Tell you in a minute…”
North Pole. Eye. Sack.
Double. Nove.
Can’t figure out how to say this: Bring your girlfriend.
Vanya scowls at the screen for a few moments before thrusting it into my hands, shaking her head. She watches me, waiting for an explanation.
“It’s not what it looks like, babe. I only have eyes for you. But this might be a solicitation for a three-way, just FYI.”
“I am not worried about this. I am annoyed with nonsense.” She’s impatient. On edge.
“What nonsense?” I ask, pausing my flex-fest in the mirror. “Wait. What time is it?”
“Shit. Lemme change. We gotta go.”
We rush out, grabbing a cab. I tell him a rough area of town in my excellent Russian. He is impressed.
“Any other moment you never shut up, now you leave me in dark?” Her accent gets thicker when she’s pissed. So fucking hot.
“It’s a code. I didn’t want to say anything at the store just in case.”
“Whoever left you that phone is good. I did not spot a tail on us, other than Pyotr’s assigned goons.”
“Good use of ‘goons’!”
Vanya smacks my arm.
“Sorry. Zero is my nickname. Really, only one person ever used it. Same as this code. It’s really shit, but we always had fun with it.”
“Then it could be Ero? He would know this.”
“Nah. It’s the specifics that tell it’s not him. Particularly the North Pole thing.”
“You are infuriating.”
“I used to always joke when we were kids that Santa Claus must live in a church if he’s really a saint. Meat Lovers means meet . Special Delivery means secret .”
“And North Pole means church ?”
“Exactly! Eye and Sack had me for a minute. Then I remembered you pointing out St. Isaac’s when I first got here.”
“You are right. This code is shit.”
We step out of the cab, trotting along in the foggy cold. The days are getting straight up frigid. Slipping into the sanctuary, I maneuver to the side of the building along the wall. When I reach a hallway, I turn left.
“Time?”
“Five till.”
“Perfect. Double means two . Nove means nine , so left.”
“How did you ever run a global syndicate?” Vanya snorts derisively.
“Mostly by keeping Ciro from getting involved in any of the operations.” My heart stops as I hear that voice. Deep. A hint gravelly from smoking cigarettes.
“Aless,” I spin, tackling my brother in a hug. “I knew it!”
Turning back with the unrestrained child on Christmas excitement, I look at Vanya, wanting to share in the surprise. Finally, I can be totally open with her.
She just gives me a flat look.
“I knew he was alive. You are terrible liar. Nice to meet you. I am Vanya, his obruchennyy .”
“My what now?”
“I like her.”
“You would .” I like her too. Something in the back of my brain is scrambling with that word, shouting that she just dropped a bomb. Whatever. Alessandro is here!
“Lets get some coffee. We need to talk,” he announces.
* * *
“So then Adriano reaches up, feeling the top of his head. He actually cried. Right there in the middle of a gunfight.” I bust out laughing, Aless joining in, slapping the table.
Vanya covers her nose as she snort laughs.
Holy shit. Just when I didn’t think she could get any cuter.
Not that she’s ever cute.
“My incendiary round set a patch of his hair on fire,” Alessandro admits, trying in vain to take a sip of coffee. “Now quit interrupting me and let me ‘inform’ you.”
“Oh, right. I mean, you didn’t just come all the way to Russia to hang out.” I wave Mama Banu away as she tries to fill my cup again. She swats my hand and fills it anyway.
I couldn’t think of anywhere else to go to meet and have coffee. Until I remembered a certain hole-in-the-wall café in a shit neighborhood.
“I wish it were so. I can’t stay much longer. Too risky.”
“I understand. If anyone recognized you…The beard looks good, by the way. A lot darker than your hair. I don’t know about the dye job. Weren’t you going gray?”
“I was going to kick your ass.”
“He needs this. Often,” Vanya adds, keeping quiet for the most part to let us catch up.
“It’s true. Sometimes I even kick my own ass to get us out of dangerous situations in underground casinos.”
“As much as I would love to hear every single wild story…”
“Sorry. I get carried away. Just…tell me you’re safe. Isa, the baby?”
“She’s incredible. She’s due soon. Carla is through the roof. She’ll be delivering the first ‘next generation’ of Diamantes.”
“Fuck, man. That’s awesome. Tell her I miss her and Vincenzo. Ava too. Gah. How’re Angelica and Gigi?”
“Spoiled. Tomas is smitten.”
“Son of a…I always thought he had a thing for her.”
“They’re in…well. Better if you don’t know. For now. Same with Adriano and Gloria. They’ve assumed new identities, found a nice place to lay low. Someday, we’ll all?—”
“No. I can’t. Ever. I can’t know where any of you are ever , Aless.”
His face falls, but I see him really look at me for the first time since he got here. His shoulders bob in a little huff of disbelief.
“You’re…”
“Not as pretty as I used to be.”
“I was gonna say, different. In a good way. Not that getting this way was easy, I’m sure.”
“No. It’s not easy to get into the Bratva.”
Aless’s whole demeanor changes. For a split second the old don is back, a flare of indignant rage flashing in his eyes. What I just said is tantamount to treason. The ultimate betrayal.
“I see,” he mutters, taking a beat. That looming presence of his wrath, the powerful man I grew up with, fades. Honestly, I’m kinda shocked he didn’t spray my brains all over the tiles right here and now.
“I’m just glad you’re alive. Even if you do look like?—”
“Heh, Ero said I look—” I interrupt him, then cut off, biting my tongue. “He’s why you’re here isn’t he?”
“Yes. Ciro,” Aless looks at me for a long time, holding my gaze, “Ero is damaged.”
“We know,” Vanya snaps, locking eyes with Aless. This would be such a fun family reunion to watch. These two butting heads, me and Gloria relentlessly teasing Adri and Isabella for being the nerds they are.
In another life…
“The last mission the two of you were supposed to go on was…”
“Didn’t go as planned,” I finish for him. “He’s not always there. When we talked, I noticed…”
“Gaps?”
“Yeah.”
“I met with him months ago. I’m not sure if he even remembers. Fiero has gone off the deep end from all the intel I’ve managed to gather, from having him watched. I was trying to find the two of you, to make sure you were still alive. You vanished for three months. Ero…”
“Went on a killing spree.”
“Like we always feared.”
“Just not the way we always feared it would happen. It’s worse.”
“Much worse. I think someone messed with his mind. Tampered with his memories. Or he’s just unstable. I wish I could take it back. All of it.” Alessandro sighs, looking into his cup, the weight of the whole goddamn world on his shoulders.
“But you can’t bro. And you’re not the don any more. This isn’t your responsibility. We’re thirty for fuck’s sake. He stuck his head up his own ass. Made his choices.”
“He will always be my responsibility. I made him into?—”
“We all did. Which is why I will deal with him when the time comes. I can get through to him.”
“I hope you can, Ciro. Because if the tip I got from my informant in Syria is true, he’s planning something. He was spotted there just two days ago. Looking to buy some highly illegal explosives.”