Chapter 13 - Viktor
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Sparks turned to flames after the third click on the man’s Zippo lighter and he took it to the brown cigar stick between his lips. He sucked, inhaled, and let out a pathetic wheeze. The room was filled with smoke; it was hard not to choke. A flying buzzed over his head, and he whacked it with a folded black and white newspaper. His accuracy was impressive.
“I’m trying to understand why you came all the way here, Viktor.” The corner of his lips crooked to the side, with the cigar stick dangling halfway through. “We usually conduct our deals at places you are most comfortable.”
“I’m not complaining.”
“You sure?” His bushy brow went up and he brushed off the dead fly from the table. “You’ve been looking at the entire place like some douche with a stick up his ass.”
I deadpanned. “My discomfort has nothing to do with your shithole, Benjamin.” And that was the truth. I’d seen worse—lived in worse with my mother and sister, and we survived. The dilapidating building, leaking roof, and algae-infested walls were not my problem as long as he had what I wanted.
“If you say so. At least, you know I chose here because it’s the most convenient.”
The white fluorescent tube light hanging on the ceiling flickered and I tapped the glass of the silver Rolex on my wrist. “Our meeting should have ended fifteen minutes ago.”
Tossing the newspaper carelessly aside, she picked up a stack of cards and began dealing with and against himself while he talked. “But yet, here we are, enjoying the squeaks of fucking rats and the constant tapping of your shoes on the floor.”
My eyes narrowed.
I didnt like Benjamin Hawk; never had a time, and never thought I would ever be a fan. The stout man had snake eyes, the type that couldnt be trusted, and dirty fingers. I didn’t like dirty fingers. But Benjamin did business well and hadnt disappointed in any of his supplies in the past years working with him. He dealt in blow, and weapons, and was the best in the business.
Fifty years old but had vast knowledge that served different purposes. That was the only reason I kept him around.
“Im here for something else.”
The cigar stick dangled lower between clenched teeth as he focused on the cards spread on the table. He flipped a card. “You dont say.”
“I do say, Benjamin.” Another fly buzzed over his head. The newspaper had been discarded but he managed to catch it with a whisk of hand. Again, impressive.
It reminded me of times in the old shack, back in Moscow, when Id listened to the different sounds of creeping and crawling insects continuously until I mastered each sound and knew how to trace them. And when I did, I smacked the shit out of them.
“And you know what I want…”
He gave me a lazy stare, and after a minute, I finally had his full attention. “Its about the fucking Irish, isnt it? Cian Sullivan?”
A smile formed on my face. “Yes. Its him. I want you to cut his supply.”
“Cut his supply…” Benjamin repeated slowly, looking at me as if I had lost my mind. Maybe I had, but if I did, it was certainly a long time ago, when I decided to never let any fucking idiot trample on me or my family.
“Yes. Cut his supply.”
Folding his arms, he leaned back on the rickety chair, with a brow up. “By half?
“I want you to close the fucking tap, Benjamin. Everything… cut every fucking thing that links the asshole back to you.”
Benjamin didnt bother hiding the frown on his face. It made the wrinkles on his forehead more prominent. “But doing that means making him weak…” his eyes suddenly went bright. “Thats the fucking point, isnt it?”
It was.
Cutting off Cians supply from the best supplier was, in fact, a strategic way to destabilize him and watch him grow weak. It was simply dealing them a big blow that could crumble the entire empire if I hit right, and when they were at their lowest was the exact moment, I was going to strike.
Perplexed, the man placed leaned his flabby arms on the table and shrugged. “But why, Viktor? The peace with O’Sullivan has been kept for almost two months now. Why do you want to strike all of a sudden?”
My reason had a name. Ava.
“They have something I want,” was all I said, and Fedors voice resurfaced in my head when hed walked into my office, disrupting my session with some whore called Lydia, to break the news of Dicklan and Avas engagement.
I was livid. I should have seen it coming, but I didnt. And that was what made me even madder. That was the reason I didnt mind visiting Benjamin in his stupid convenient spot. My desire to go to any lengths to get her back was beyond anyones control. Even mine.
But I had to be smart about it. The Irish empire was powerful, undoubtedly. Going in there to snatch her might have worked, if I was ready to handle the backfires it was going to come with. Taking another route was the best bet, and that meant slowly making them weak until I got what I wanted.
What belonged to me.
I got up and started him down. “Can you get it done?”
“You know Im your guy, Viktor. Anything for my best client.” He nodded. “But its going to cost you.”
Smiling, I ambled toward the door with my jacket draped over my arm. “When has money ever been a problem?”
Fedor was waiting by the car, leaning against it with his eyes shut and a cloud of smoke covering his face. When I got to him, his eyes snapped open, and he crushed the stick on the curb. We got into the car, but I could tell something was up with him. He was unusually quiet.
“Youre going to make me ask, aren’t you?”
He shot me a glance and exhaled. “You went into that cockroach-infested place to prove a point, didnt you?”
He knew me well.
“Its about the girl. The Irish one.” He turned the wheel, avoiding a truck on the side of the road. “You are going after her still.”
I took my eyes off him, annoyance flickering in my chest like the fluorescent tube light back in Benjamins office. “Its not like its any of your fucking business, but yes. I am going after her. I am going to claim her.”
Fedor rubbed his temple and gripped the wheel with two hands. “Shit.” It was a low grumble under his breath, but I heard it anyway.
“What?”
“Boss, I think you should let her go. Stop the chase.”
A tiny bomb went off at the back of my head and, if the bloody bastard wasnt the one in the drivers seat, I might just have punched his fucking head.
“Well, what do you know? Your thoughts are fucking invalid, Fedor.”
“Youre not going to like this…” He pulled out a piece of paper from inside his jacket and handed it to me. While I went through it, he gave me the breakdown. “You already know, Ivan tails her. Two days ago, he was keeping an eye on her, and the trail led to a hospital. He gave me the heads up and I told him to get the information, by force, if necessary, we had to know what we were up against. The nurses were stubborn at first until the lad took out a gun.”
Briefly, he pointed to the paper in my hand.
“That is a copy of her pregnancy report confirmed.” I looked back at the document. Surely, it was a pregnancy report, and it had her name on it. “Im just saying, shes with the blonde now…”
“…and there are chances that he knocked her up and that might be the reason theyre getting married. You know the code, boss: Declan has a right to his child. Its absolute; everyone follows it. So, it wont make any sense if you keep going after her. In my opinion, and I know its none of my fucking business, I think you should respect it and let her be.”
I stared at the report in my hands, perusing through every detail till I found what I was searching for; and when I found it, an uncontrollable smile grew on my face.
“Shes eight weeks pregnant,” I said without looking at him.
Eight weeks ago, I had her.
Eight weeks ago, I fucked her.
Before me, there was no one else. She didnt have to tell me; I could differentiate between a woman who had experience and the one who didnt.
“The child in her womb is mine.” I folded up the report and our it in my jacket. “So, yes, the code will be respected and honored.”
I almost laughed out loud. I couldnt believe I went all the way to see Benjamin for nothing. All this time, I had a rightful claim to her without even knowing it. I faced the driver on the seat, feeling sudden excitement rush through me.
“Thank you, Fedor. You just made this a whole lot easier.”