Chapter 22 #2
“He’s feigning amnesia right now. He wanted to talk to you. He wanted to see what you wanted.”
My phone started to ring. It was Grisha. “Get someone to drive me to the hospital, and I want them to wait for me. I don’t want to deal with parking.”
“What do you want us to do with Sergei?”
I paused. “Let him count his guns. Just don’t let him shoot anyone.”
He nodded, already calling someone on his phone.
“Axel here,” I answered Grisha’s call while I walked across the bay. Ahead of me. I could see someone running to get a vehicle.
“I assume you’ve been calling me about Sergei landing on your doorstep.”
“I was looking for clarity about your expectations in regard to him.”
“He’s in charge.”
I paused as I got into the back of the vehicle. “Of what?”
“Of everything happening there. You’ll be next to him, but he’s going to be running the show.”
“No.” I shut the door and we started to move.
The pause that followed was long, probably because Grisha was trying to remember the last time anyone had told him no. “Excuse me?”
“You can put Sergei in charge, but I won’t work for him. The moment you try to give him control over me is the day I walk.”
He chuckled low and nervously. “No, you won’t.”
I stared out at the dark streets that passed me by.
Playing hardball with Grisha and calling a bluff was my very last move.
I had no cards left and I wasn’t even sure I cared.
I was so fucking tired of the bullshit. I couldn’t even remember why I had started all of this. “Say the word, and I’m out.”
“You just need to give him a chance.”
“He wants to escalate and start a war with the Volkovs.”
“As he should.”
“Violence costs money. More than you want to pay. If you think we’re financially bleeding now, wait until the violence and destruction get real. We’ll be hemorrhaging all our revenue. The only way past this is to play defensively and keep the fighting off the streets.”
“Sometimes you need a hammer.”
“Grisha,” I spoke coldly. “You can do what you want. If you want to put Sergei in charge and try and take the Volkov family down, that’s your prerogative, but I won’t work for him and I’m not a hired gun.”
“Get Sergei on the line right now.”
“He’s not here. I’m on my way to the hospital to handle Arkady’s medical insurance.”
“This is exactly why we have to strike back,” Grisha sputtered. “You can’t let the Volkov get away with this.”
“The Volkov outgun us and have more men than we do. If you and Sergei escalate this fight, I’m going to be signing death certificates instead of medical insurance forms.”
“God damn it!” Grisha blustered.
“If you insist he remains here, Sergei has to stay under my control.”
“You don’t tell me what to do.”
“I’m not.” My voice got colder. “I’m telling you my conditions, and you’re free to take them or leave them.”
We were approaching the hospital. I knew I was taking a reckless gamble, possibly throwing it all away, but at that moment, I didn’t care. No job was worth submitting to a man like Sergei.
“Fine,” Grisha grumbled. “But he stays there.”
“He’ll be on a tight leash,” I warned. “I won’t let him challenge my authority. You’ll need to make that clear to him.” We pulled up in front of the hospital’s front doors. “I have to go.”
Without even letting him speak, I hung up.
Arkady was just a skinny young kid who looked scared as hell and in a lot of pain.
When I stepped into the room, I could see the relief and emotion flood through him.
“Hey, kid,” I said. “You don’t look so good.”
“I’m fine, boss,” he mumbled through swollen lips, but he didn’t look fine. His face looked like it had been used as a punching bag.
I sat down beside him and looked him over. His arm was in a stabilizing sling. “Are they taking care of you?”
“Yes, boss. I’m going in for surgery to patch up my arm.”
“I’m sorry this happened to you on my watch.”
“The police were here. I didn’t know what to say.”
“You can tell them whatever you want.”
He swallowed hard. “I don’t want to involve the police.”
I didn’t blame him. “Then tell the police you didn’t see who jumped you, and leave it at that. When you’re done in here, you have your pick of working here or back at home.”
He looked relieved. “Thanks, boss.”
I felt nothing but a healthy measure of guilt that this kid was thanking me after he nearly got ended because I couldn’t protect him.
A nurse bustled in, pausing when she saw me. “I need to prep our patient here for surgery. Would you please give us some privacy?”
I gently touched Arkady’s good shoulder. “We’re all here for you. Just a bit of surgery, and then you’ll be as good as new, okay?”
“Thanks for coming to see me, boss.”
He looked so young lying in that big hospital bed. “Someone will be here when you wake up.”
I was almost done with the paperwork at the nursing station when I remembered Mila. I looked at the clock, stunned to see that it was after nine.
Fuck. I picked up my cell phone to call her when a nurse cleared her throat and pointed at a sign posted nearby: No cell phone use on the ward.
Guilt washed over me when I thought of Mila sitting at home, alone, waiting for me.
I finished the paperwork and checked on Arkady, but they had already taken him down to surgery. I walked out of the ward to call Mila.
I wasn’t even out the door when my phone rang. Maksim.
“What’s going on?”
“You need to get back here. Sergei got into a fistfight with three of our men.”
“You’re shitting me.”
“Wish I were.”
“Was anyone hurt?”
“A few black eyes, one broken nose.”
“Where is he now?”
“Handcuffed this time, and tied to a radiator.”
“I’m on my way back.” I walked out of the hospital and into my waiting car. “I’ll be there in ten minutes or less.”
“How’s Arkady doing?”
“Kid looks scared, and he doesn’t want to talk to the cops.”
“Don’t blame him.”
“Who does Arkady hang out with?”
“He seems close with Yaroslav.”
“Send Yaroslav to the hospital. I want him there when Arkady wakes up.”
“Got it. You almost back?” Maksim sounded stressed.
“We’re driving now.”
Sergei was sitting on the floor in the boardroom, his wrists handcuffed behind his back to a radiator pipe. One of my men sat and watched him.
I walked into the room. “Wait outside, please.”
He stepped outside, and Sergei smirked at me. “Everyone treats you like you’re the big boss around here.”
“I am the big boss.”
He studied me speculatively. “Not for long.”
“I had a long talk with Grisha this afternoon. He’s not interested in putting you in charge anymore.”
“That’s bullshit, and we both know it.”
“We concluded that you’d be allowed to remain in Vancouver, but you’ll be on a tight leash. Neither of us will tolerate you challenging my authority.”
He stared at me with deep hatred, but he didn’t respond.
“Are you in agreement with this order, or should we put you on the first plane back to Grisha?”
He continued to watch me with intensity but didn’t answer.
In my hand, my phone buzzed. It was Mila.
I needed to take this call.
I stepped out of the room and made eye contact with Maksim as I did. He pointed at the guard, who moved back into the room to continue his watch over Sergei.
I made sure to step out of hearing range before I answered.
“Hey, doll.” I winced as I spoke, knowing I deserved whatever reprimand I had coming.
The hysteria in her voice was high and intense. “There was a man… and it’s raining… The dogs are outside… I’m so scared… He’s still here.”
I pressed the phone to my ear, trying to hear her better. “Mila, what’s going on?”
“I woke up, and it was so dark, and he was chasing me.” Her breathing was so erratic I could barely make out her words.
What the fuck is going on?
“Baby, did you have a bad dream?” I could hear dogs barking, and I knew I was reaching but I didn’t want this to be true.
“He’s here.” Her voice dropped to a whisper, and the fear in it made my blood run cold. “Bandit, please stop barking.”
I snapped my fingers, which immediately grabbed Maksim’s attention. I covered my phone and spoke quietly. “I need four armed men to accompany me home now and I need you to try to make contact with the guard at my house.”
“Got it, boss,” he called after me as I took off down the stairs, my phone still pressed to my ear. “I’m coming, Mila. Where are you?”
Across the bay, four of my best men were running toward two SUVs that were parked and ready to go. All of the men were carrying heavy artillery.
“In the guardhouse,” she panted in my ear. In the background, I could hear all the dogs losing their minds.
“Is the door locked?” I got into the passenger side, and we were rolling before I had the door shut.
“Yes, and the lights are off.” She went quiet. “Hang on.”
I looked at Kirill, who was driving, and mouthed, “Faster.”
He was already driving like a bat out of hell. It was dark, and the weather didn’t help. The rain was pounding so hard the windshield wipers couldn’t keep up. The roads looked black and the streetlights were overwhelmed by the waving branches and torrential rain.
I braced myself as Kirill drove through a red light without even touching the brake.
“I think he’s gone,” Mila whispered in my ear. “The guard dogs outside have stopped barking.”
My stomach dropped like a stone. If our trained dogs were quiet, it meant the threat was gone, or the threat had removed them.
“Where’s Bandit?” I worked to keep my voice calm and low.
“Beside me,” she whispered. “I don’t hear anything except the rain.”
Fear washed over me.
“We’re almost there,” I said quietly. “Can you stay hidden and calm for me?”
“Yeah.”
Kirill motioned with his fingers that our ETA was two minutes.
I ignored the panic clawing in my chest and spoke softly in an effort to keep her calm. “I want you to stay down and low. Don’t speak. Can you do that for me?”
She whispered, “I’m scared.”