Chapter Twenty-Two
VIKTOR
IT HAD BEEN THREE days since Vincent had taken Gabriella. Seventy-two hours waiting for any news on their whereabouts. I was sitting in my office waiting for my contact to call me. He thought he was close to finding the area that Vincent was staying in, but didn’t want to message me until he was certain that he hadn’t moved on.
My head was going around in circles with what we could have done better for Gabriella. What could I have done to stop Vincent from getting to her? The short answer was nothing. I could have put her under twenty-four-hour protection and surveillance, but I knew she would have hated that. She would have felt exactly how she had while living in Detroit with that monster.
Nico had known everything and had put enough precautions in place. It would have been enough had it just been Vincent we were dealing with, but he couldn’t have come up with that plan to get her. It must have been the traitor from my own ranks, Nikolai Makarov.
I didn’t know that much about him when Aleksandr came in and told me that Gino had woken up and remembered his attacker had said his name. Nikolai was a low-level foot soldier who hadn’t been with us for very long. He had been recommended by one of Mikhail’s men, which was how he had come to know Vincent.
I had Aleksandr out looking for him now on the pretense of giving him a job to move him up the ranks. Part of that was he had to come and see me, and when he did, he was going to regret ever turning traitor on the Koslov family. I would see to that personally.
I didn’t usually get my hands dirty. However, anyone involved in my malyshka’s kidnapping was going to find out why I was head of this family, and it wasn’t because my father was before me. I had worked my way up the ranks like the rest of them. Proven my worth to the family. Killed who I was told to. There was the blood of a hundred men on my hands. Soon, there would be two more.
My personal phone started to ring, and I saw it was from my contact.
“What do you have for me?”
There were no pleasantries, and no names ever mentioned between us. Even though I knew this phone was safe, we never took any chances.
“The target and his guest have stopped somewhere in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. They must be staying somewhere remote or hidden away because so far, I have been unable to trace them. We know they are in contact with someone in New York. If we could just get the number they are contacting, then I might be able to trace them and pinpoint their location.”
At least we had a starting point. It was far better than everywhere north of New York, like we’d had up until now.
“We are certain we know who they are contacting, and I am having them brought into my office. Hopefully, they haven’t destroyed the phone they are using. If I get any details, I will forward them to you.”
“Good. I will find them. Knowing what they have done both now and in the past, I will make sure that they never do it again by finding them for you. If I don’t, you won’t need to kill me, because I will do it myself.”
Even if my contact didn’t find Vincent and Gabriella, I would never kill him. He was far too important to me. He had never let me down before, and I was sure he wouldn’t again.
“I know you won’t let me down.”
Our call ended just like that. I trusted that man with the life of my malyshka and her child. If he thought he needed to go in and unmask himself to save them both, then he would. However, he liked the anonymity that he had. Hardly anyone ever saw him, and there were only a few people who knew his name. He was only known as Teneva Diable, or Shadow Devil. No one ever saw him, just a shadow before losing their life. He was good, but very costly. I didn’t care, though. I would give up my entire fortune to save Gabriella.
There was a knock on the door, and my trusted friend Aleksandr walked into the room.
“We have him downstairs waiting for you. Have you heard anything from TD?”
I loved how Aleksandr called him TD. I had gotten to know him through Aleksandr, one of the only people to know his true identity, having been friends with him in the home country for years.
“Yes. Vincent is somewhere in Old Orchard Beach. He is hoping we can get the phone from whoever he is messaging here in New York so he can put a trace on the calls.”
A smirk came over Aleksandr’s face, and I looked at him, puzzled for a moment. That was until he pulled a phone from his pocket and placed it on the desk in front of me.
“You mean this phone? I had already thought that TD would want it. The passcode is 101598. He was stupid enough to use his own birthday. There haven’t been any recent messages from Vincent, but they have been in contact with each other. A lot. Including an hour before we arrived at the clinic. Nikolai called him and spoke for about thirty seconds.”
That was all the proof I needed to kill him. He had put Gabriella in the danger zone and almost cost Gino his life. For that alone, he would pay with his own.
“Does Nikolai have any family? Wife or kids?”
I wanted to see him dead, but I would never abandon any family he had. I would make sure that they were looked after. They shouldn’t have had to pay the price for what their traitorous father had done. I didn’t follow the ways of the old, to tar every member of a family with the same brush.
“He is single with no living relatives.”
Even better. There would be no one ever looking for him or wondering where he had disappeared to. It made my life so much easier.
“Good. Let’s go down and meet this traitor, then.”
I had purposefully asked Aleksandr to place him in one of the rooms in the basement. They were soundproof and easily cleaned. It had been a very long time since I had come down to these rooms. I usually left my men to deal with this. For traitors and the likes of Vincent, I would sometimes come down to watch if the mood took me. However, this was one time when I wanted the blood on my own hands.
I walked into the room to find Nikolai sitting down on a chair, looking quite carefree and comfortable. As soon as he heard the door open and my footsteps enter the room, he turned and immediately rose to his feet, showing me the respect I deserved. He stood tall and straight, lowering his eyes as he spoke to me.
“Privet, Mr. Koslov.” Hello, Mr. Koslov.
I didn’t say a word as I walked in front of him. A chair had been placed for me, so I walked up to it and sat down.
“Please sit, Nikolai.”
He sat, almost relaxed, in the chair. I was going to see if he admitted anything first before I decided to torture him.
“Do you know why you are here?”
His answer was immediate.
“Mr. Aleksandr said you had a special job you would like me to do.”
Aleksandr had done his job well, and Nikolai didn’t suspect anything, which gave me the advantage.
“That was partly the reason, yes. But there is also some information that I would like from you. Do you know a Vincent Forbes-Stuart?”
Not many people would have noticed the slight change in demeanor at the mention of Vincent's name, but I did, and when I looked over at Aleksandr, so did he.
Nikolai sat there for a moment, quietly saying his name before answering me. “Vincent Forbes-Stuart…yes, I believe I do. He is from Detroit, isn’t he? I believe I met him once when I was there visiting Vlad, my friend.”
I was surprised that he admitted to knowing him. I had been expecting a straight denial. Perhaps I had underestimated this man. He was more intelligent than I’d given him credit for. I decided for the moment to keep the conversation lighthearted. There was no reason for him to get worried quite yet.
“Have you seen or spoken to him recently? Here in New York?”
“I’d heard he was here and causing some issues for one of the Italian organizations. That’s about it. I haven’t spoken to him recently.”
I pulled his phone out of my pocket and watched his face turn white as he suddenly checked his pockets to confirm that it was indeed his phone.
“Would you like to try answering that question again, seeing as I may have evidence in my hand that proves otherwise?”
He lowered his eyes to the floor, but didn’t respond, so I thought I would dig a slightly deeper hole for him to fall into.
“You see, Vincent has taken something that doesn’t belong to him. Someone very special to three of my Italian friends. She is also extremely special to me. Gabriella-Rose, my malyshka. Someone called Nikolai put one of my friends in hospital. Now, is that a coincidence or not?”
His eyes shot up to mine when I mentioned Gabriella was my little one, suddenly realizing that he had probably made one of the biggest mistakes of his life.
“He never told me he was going to take her. He just said he wanted to talk with her and I should put her guard out of action for a while.”
I stormed to my feet. The chair I was sitting on crashed across the floor as I pushed it back in anger.
“Put him out of action. You almost fucking killed him. Do you know who Gino Russo is?”
Again, the shock on his face was clear. Yes, he knew exactly who he had just beaten up.
“Yes, that’s right. The underboss of the Veronese family. You could have started an all-out war between us and them. It’s lucky that I know them well and said that I would deal with you myself. Now, I am going to ask you one last question, and this will determine your fate.”
His fate was already decided, but I hoped to make him tell me everything he knew by telling him there was a chance that I would allow him to live. All it would change was whether he died quickly or slowly.
“Where are Vincent and Gabriella?”
The color drained from his face, which either meant he didn’t know or Vincent had something on him that would stop him from telling me. I was sure, though, that whatever Vincent could do to this traitor in front of me was nothing compared to what I could do. I looked up at Aleksandr, giving him a small nod.
“Are you going to make me ask you again, Nikolai?”
“Mr. Koslov, I swear to you I don’t know. If I had known everything about the situation, I would have come to you right away. He told me he wanted to speak to her, honestly. I wouldn’t lie to you. I know exactly what would happen to me if I did. I really didn’t know how important she was to you.”
I could see the fear in his eyes, but he wasn’t giving me the answers I needed to hear. I was sure he knew more than he was letting on. Experience had taught me when a man was lying and when he was telling the truth. Half of what Nikolai was telling me was the truth, but half of it wasn’t. I just needed to know which part was which.
Two of my men were now flanking Nikolai, but he was staring at me, so he didn’t notice. I looked at each of the men and gave them the signal. Within seconds, they had Nikolai pinned to the chair and were tying him to it.
I walked over to the table that was at the end of the room behind a screen so that Nikolai couldn’t see it. If he had, he would have run out of here the minute he walked in. To say I was unconventional would be an understatement. I like to put the fear of God into my victims. I picked up the samurai sword. It wouldn’t remove any limbs, but it would inflict enough pain for torture purposes. While impractical in reality to use, I loved the way it felt in my hand. This was more for my pleasure than anything else.
I walked out from behind the screen and watched as Nikolai’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
“Please, Mr. Koslov. I don’t know anything more than I have already told you. Please think of my wife and children.”
Now I knew he was lying. I walked up to him and placed the blade of the sword on his right wrist, slowly drawing it across the skin, opening it up and allowing the first trickles of blood to form and run down onto the floor.
“More lies, Nikolai? You aren’t even married, let alone have any children. Do you think I didn’t check my facts before I had you brought in here? Now that has caused your death to become slower.”
I followed the same routine on his left wrist, this time allowing the blade to go further into the muscle surrounding the bone. His screams, cries, and pleading were music to my ears. How I had missed this from being a soldier for my father. It had been years since I had done a hit myself, and to say it was exhilarating was an understatement.
“Mr. Koslov, please, I am telling you the truth. I don’t know where Vincent is. If I knew I would tell you.”
His pleas were doing nothing for me. It really didn’t matter what he told me; his fate would still be the same. He was a traitor and could never be trusted again, and he needed to realize that. I went back to his right hand, but this time further up the arm. The screams leaving his mouth were almost deafening, and I almost considered ending his life there and then just to shut him up. The sword easily carved through skin and muscle, and the crimson of the blood oozing out and pooling on the floor, turning the air with the distinctive metallic smell, was thrilling.
“Nikolai, you must realize by now that your fate had already been decided for you the moment you decided to go into business for yourself and become a traitor of the Koslov organization. Even if you had told me the whereabouts of Vincent, the outcome would still have been the same. It would have just come a lot sooner. Now I am growing tired of this, so I think it is time for me to say goodbye.”
Aleksandr walked over and passed me a gun, and I stood in front of Nikolai, pointing it directly at his head. The two men and Aleksandr had walked around behind me, not wanting to be splattered by this traitor’s blood. I was amazed at the look of defiance on his face as he spoke to me, far more confident than before.
“Fuck you, Viktor. I’ll see you in hell.”
The loud crack of the gun being fired and the bullet piercing through his skull and splatting the contents of his brain on the floor was the last thing he would have heard. He slumped in the chair.
“Not if I see you first.” I turned to the men behind me, adrenaline coursing through my body. “Clean up this mess and dispose of the body. Make sure no one will recognize him. Also, double-check check he had no family. I wouldn’t want them to suffer for this predatel'skiy mistake.”
I turned to Aleksandr, who gave me a knowing nod and walked out of the room and up to my office. I was now even more determined to make Vincent pay for what he had done.