3. Konstantin
3
KONSTANTIN
“Walk me through it again.”
Sima snaps his head back at the steel in my voice. You’d think he’d be used to it by now. I haven’t been able to speak without a razor edge since arriving back to the Amalfi Coast.
The house that I brought Emily back to is now bustling with activity.
All around us, men are checking their weapons and digging through boxes of grenades. Several computers have been set up in the kitchen, which has been transformed into a command center to coordinate the operation we are about to launch.
“Like I said.” He flicks his lighter open and snaps it shut again with every sentence. “Right now, the eastern half of the island under an unspoken curfew. Most of the residents have been confined to their homes, while his men are patrolling the streets around the Marina Grande district, both to receive guests and to keep out potential intruders.”
“Like us.”
“Exactly.” Sima nods grimly. “Based on satellite imagery from the last couple of days?— ”
“Satellite imagery?” I cock an eyebrow. “Since when did we have satellites?”
“There’s a website you can buy them from,” Sima replies quickly. “The prices aren’t cheap, but if it helps us put a bullet in the head of every Ferrata bastard in one place and gets your sister back? I figure you wouldn’t object to spending a couple of hundred thousand euros for the highest quality photos. Updated hourly, I might add.”
“You’re right, I wouldn’t.”
“A few months ago, the Villa Castiglione finally posted a sale after closing down its former business as a hotel. Mysterious buyer. All cash. Very hush-hush.” Sima resumes talking as he slides an iPad over to me. “Over the last seventy-two hours, it has been absolutely bustling with activity. We’re talking lighting, flowers, and even a damn temporary pavilion. More importantly.” He points. “See those parking lots along Via Roma? Those were completely cleared out. Until this afternoon.”
“Guests.” I say as I scroll through the images.
“Exactly.” Sima flips the lighter closed. “Now, this is going to be a bitch and a half. It’s very likely that Domenico controls the only major port in and out of the island.”
“Nobody is going to interrupt him.” I sigh.
“And that damn villa stands on its own fucking cliff.” Sima nods. “He’ll see us coming no matter which way we choose.”
“We’ll find a way. Or make one.” I muse. “How are we looking here?”
“Most of the boys are ready to go,” Sima says. “A couple of more stragglers bringing in some heavier firepower, courtesy of our Serbian friends. They’ll be arriving before morning. Our Ukrainian guests are busy checking the boxes of drones upstairs. By tomorrow night, we’ll be ready to commence the attack. I have each brigadier leading nine boeviki . We have enough small boats to get us as close to the shore south of the villa as we can. Once we disembark, it’s going to be a straight shot up. A helicopter will fly out of Sorrento to pick us up the moment we have Alisa Yurevna in our hands. Should take no more than ten minutes once we have her.”
“ Molodets , Sima.” I clap him on the shoulder. “You did well with the planning.”
“Konstantin Yurevich!” One of the men in front of a computer cries out. “I’ve found something!”
“What is it, Pasha?” I ask.
“Three hours ago,” Pasha replies. “A helicopter without a callsign touched down on the landing pad west of Anacapri.”
“What of it?” I ask.
“The helicopter had a callsign before taking off,” he replies quickly, eagerness in his eyes. “DFR010, which we’ve identified in the past as Domenico’s personal helicopter. Which means?—”
“Domenico was on the move?”
“Maybe.” He tilts his head. “Or the helicopter was transporting important cargo. But the part that really caught my attention was where it departed from.” He spins the laptop around. “Dubrovnik.”
“Dubrovnik?” I ask as I lean in to look at the screen, but all I can see are a list of numbers, figures, and endless little plane symbols that I can’t even begin to pick apart.
“ Da, Konstantin Yurevich,” he says. “It appears that Domenico’s personal helicopter touched down in Dubrovnik about six hours ago, and when it departed, it turned its aircraft identifier off so that nobody could trace it. Lucky us, I was watching it before it landed. ”
“ Khorosho, molodoy chelovek! ” Sima gives Pasha’s head a few paternal taps, smirking. “This boy might have a brain touched by the angels, but sometimes, it’s got a good use.”
But unlike Sima, I’m in a less celebratory mood at this news.
What the hell is Domenico transporting from Dubrovnik? And why is he doing it with hopes that nobody catches him?
Just then, my phone rings, interrupting my thoughts. I glance down at it, and see my grandmother’s name on the phone. Not now.
I silence the call, only for her to immediately call me again.
A second attempt at ignoring her results in the same thing.
Whatever it is she wants to call me about, it’s apparently pretty fucking important.
Growling, I pick up and put the phone to my ear.
“I’m a little busy right now.”
“What is the appropriate punishment for betrayal?” Alla asks.
I pinch my eyes. “Did you really just call me to ask riddles? Now?”
“No riddles, Kostya,” Alla says. “This is a very real question.”
“Just get to the point, Alla Antonovna.” I sigh. “I don’t have time to deal with this.”
There’s a hint of anger in her voice, but I can’t tell exactly where that anger is directed. “Your wife is gone,” she says.
My blood runs cold. “What?”
“Did I stutter, Kostya? ”
“I heard you,” I snap. “Where did she go? When did this happen?”
The viciousness in Alla’s voice is clear as day, and beneath that viciousness, an unmistakable glee. “I don’t know, Kostya, but it must’ve happened shortly after supper. Because when I went to visit her, she was gone.”
Visit her?
“I thought I told you to stay away from her.”
“I was worried, Kostya.” she explains. “Poor thing didn’t leave from her room since you brought her back up from those awful dungeons. And after two days, I was afraid that she might’ve done something rash.”
My heart squeezes as she reminds me of what I did to Emily—of how I hurt her.
But I refuse to believe my grandmother cares about her.
Not now. Not after she’s spent this entire time hating her.
“You never cared about her well-being. Why start now?”
“Because your child may be growing in her belly as we speak,” she answers. “The future of this bratva needs to be cared for. And with you fighting to bring my little Aliska back, who else can look after your darling wife other than me?”
“Everyone else,” I seethe. “And none of them have shown her the hatred and disrespect that you have.”
“You know as well as I do that my way of expressing love is different from everyone else,” she says. “So I questioned everyone who might’ve been in contact with her. And do you know what I found out?”
My jaw is clenched so hard that I’m afraid that I’ll crack my teeth. “What?”
“It was Ivica who smuggled her away.” Alla gloats. “Brought her down to the boat by the lake, and gave her instructions to flee through the woods. I’ve sent out my men to look for her, but they’ve found nothing.”
Ivica? Why?
“Let me speak to her,” I say. “She works for me! Not for you. Whatever it is she’s done, I’m sure there’s a good reason.”
“Oh, that won’t be necessary,” Alla replies. “I intend to drag the truth out of her, Kostya. Don’t you worry.”
My hands ball into fists. “Don’t you dare!” I bellow.
Suddenly, I wish that I’ve stayed behind in Croatia to direct this operation rather than be at the frontlines. I thought I was doing everything I can to keep those close to me safe, but instead, I put all of them in the hands of my monstrous grandmother.
And I’m powerless to stop whatever scheme she has.
The line clicks dead, and I stare in disbelief at the phone. Immediately, I call her again, but she ignores me. My fingers rake through my hair as bile builds up in my mouth.
How? How the fuck did everything fall apart right before the hour of my victory.
I turn, and find that every pair of eyes in the house is fixed on me. The kitchen is deadly silent. Brigadiers and boeviki alike wait on bated breath for what happens next. I don’t need to explain anything to them.
They can piece everything together from the few words they’ve heard.
Anger builds inside of me, like sparks falling over dry tinder, waiting to explode into an unstoppable wildfire.
“Where did you say Domenico’s helicopter left from?” I ask Pasha without looking at him.
“I …” Pasha blinks, chewing the edge of his mouth.
“ANSWER ME!” I roar, unfairly making him my target as the world around me turns red from rage .
“Dubrovnik, Konstantin Yurevich.”
“Where,” I repeat myself. “I want exact locations, Pasha.”
He furiously bends down, fingers flying across the keyboard. A few seconds later, he flips the laptop towards me. “It’s the same airstrip that we use.”
The same one I brought Emily to when we first arrived … I start doing the math in my head. Alla usually takes her supper shortly around sunset. If that’s the case, then that means …
Emily must’ve been what was on the helicopter, I realize . That’s why Domenico didn’t want anyone to track it!
I hang my head lower, my frown dragging me toward the ground like it weighs a thousand pounds.
“Sima …” I say after a few deep breaths to calm myself as I lean on my fists against the kitchen island. “I need you to do something.”
“Anything.”
“I need you to go back to Croatia.”
“Go back? Now?” Sima’s jaw drops open. “You need me here! If Emily Samovna and Alisa Yurevna are both on Capri, you can’t send me away!”
“Give me your hand.” I close my eyes and stand up straighter. Slowly, I twist the signet ring from my fingers, feeling the unfamiliar weight leave, and hand it to him. “I cannot abandon my sister and my wife to their fate on Capri,” I pause. “But I cannot allow any threat exist back home—both within and without the castle walls. That is why you must go back.”
He accepts the signet ring with hushed trepidation as I drop it into his open palm. “Kostya, this is …”
“Don’t argue with me, Sima,” I tell him. “Take two brigadiers and their boeviki with you.” I take a deep breath. “ And if the Siderov line ends on Capri … then you hold the bratva’s future in your hand.”
Sima gasps as he stares at the signet ring. Such a tiny little thing, yet I know he can feel its immense weight.
“Everyone here is a witness of what I just said.” I look around the room. “Should the Siderov line end, who will be your pakhan?”
“Gerasim Petrovich!” they belt out in unison.
“Kostya, I don’t know what to say.” Sima shakes his head.
“Say nothing, and do as your pakhan asks.” I grip him by both shoulders. “ Eto moi prikaz .”
Nodding, Sima takes a step back, his eyes searching the room as he looks for the men he will pull away from this rescue.
“Lev.” He points. “Osip.” Command comes easily to his voice. “Bring your men. We’re going home.”
He then turns to me and we embrace each other. His hand pats my back fiercely.
“You better come back and get this fucking ring away from me.”
I nod as I tighten our embrace.
I’m going to save you all. And unlike my last roundabout plan, the one that got everyone into this mess, I’m going to keep things simple.
And there’s nothing simpler than showing up to a location with men, guns, and explosives to kill my enemies.