Chapter 21
Seamus
Ipark outside of an old, abandoned sporting goods store in the middle of a quiet strip mall.
I cut across the bridge and follow the Belt Parkway to Brighton Beach.
It’s nearly three in the morning, and the area is dead.
I leave the engine running, since I figure Molchanie knows I’m here already, and let the heat blast from the air vents for another few seconds.
I hold my fingers in the warm air before checking to make sure my gun’s loaded.
I’m very aware that this is a bad idea.
Any other situation, and I’d never agree to meet like this.
I’m on Molchanie’s turf. They can choose how this goes down. It’s their trap to spring if that’s what they want. Except this is about Alina, which means I’m willing to take more risks than I might otherwise be comfortable with.
That’s what it means to be a husband.
Something I’m learning the hard way.
I finally kill the engine and get out. It’s a crisp fall evening. The leaves are starting to turn. People are fucking crazy for foliage. Never seemed all that great to me, but I’m a city boy. All I ever cared about was money and power.
Even all that faded over the years.
Money’s no issue anymore. Back when I was proving myself in the early days, money stood in as a way to show that I’m not just a soft, spoiled member of the inner circle. I figured if I outearned everyone, nobody could say I didn’t deserve everything I have.
Power followed. The more I brought in for the clan, the more responsibility my father handed over. Now I run almost all the street operations for the Whelan clan. There aren’t many people in the organization more powerful than I am.
None of that means much to me anymore.
Instead, I drift. Go with the flow. Bend, twist, and bend some more. Find the wind and tumble on.
Right up until I ran straight into my wife.
Now I’m stuck. I’m standing still. And I don’t know what to do with myself.
I carefully approach the entrance. It looks like it’s locked up, the windows blacked out with cardboard and paint, but up close, it’s clear the door’s been broken and left ajar. I test it, and it pulls easily.
The interior is black. A waft of mold and mildew hits me. I lightly hold my gun in front of me as I give my eyes a moment to adjust before I step inside, the door swinging shut behind me.
The store’s empty. There are still shelving units left where the products would’ve gone, but now they’re all stacked up against each other.
Old baskets, a few random soccer balls and baseball gloves, and some tee shirts for the Jets are tossed on the ground beside where the registers would’ve gone. Otherwise, there’s nothing.
I walk slowly forward. Molchanie told me to be here right at this time, which means they’ll show. But if they’re as good as I think they are, it won’t be until I’m completely vulnerable.
I keep going. I stumble into the trap. It’s not until I’m right in the center of the room that a shadow moves toward the back, just a black shadow leaning up against another set of shelves.
A familiar shape lowers toward me. A red laser dot appears on my chest.
Center mass. Just like a professional.
I don’t move. I don’t put away my gun, either. If they wanted me dead, I’d be dead.
“I’m happy you showed.” Molchanie’s voice is smooth with a light Russian accent.
And it’s a woman.
I’m surprised, but only briefly.
“After your polite invitation, I couldn’t pass up the chance to speak. Why’d you have to kill Oliver?”
“Oliver was specifically instructed not to speak about me. He decided he enjoys selling information more than he enjoys being alive.”
“You worked with him?”
“Everyone worked with Oliver the Nose. But I suppose New York will need a new information broker, yes?”
“Seems that way.” I study the shapeless shadow still leaning against the shelving unit, but I can’t make out any distinguishing features. The laser sight flips up into my eyes and forces me to look away.
“Stop that. You don’t need to know my face.”
“You’ve been killing my people.”
“Yes, I have.”
I grip my pistol, anger flaring in my chest. “You’re not even going to deny it?”
“Why would I insult you by lying? That’s not how our relationship is going to work.”
“Who said anything about a relationship?” I step forward.
The laser dot moves back to my chest, right over my heart, and doesn’t waver.
She has very good hands. “You sure you can blow me away before I squeeze off a few rounds? I bet you’re a good shot, but it’s still a gamble. I might be faster than you think.”
“You’re not so stupid.”
“You don’t know me.”
“I’ve done my research, Seamus Whelan. You come from a good family. Your mother is a clever, strong woman. Your father is a good leader. Your brothers are all decent men, or as decent as a bunch of criminals can be. I have no problems with them or with your organization.”
“Then why do you keep killing my men?”
“Because death is the only language you truly speak. I know you now, Seamus Whelan. I know what you are.”
I stare at her, struggling to keep my composure. There’s no doubt in my mind that my life’s hanging by a thread. She must want something from me; otherwise, I’d be filled with lead and bleeding out on the floor already. I can play that to my advantage, but only if I keep a cool head.
Float. Flow. Go with the wind. Right now, everything’s pointing me in the same direction.
I holster my gun.
“You don’t know me at all.”
“That you are wrong about. I knew you were smart. I knew you wouldn’t cause trouble.” The laser dot lowers to the ground at my feet, but the threat remains. “We can come to an agreement.”
“Hard for me to negotiate with a woman who’s been murdering my people.”
“They were expendable. Nobody important. Nobody you truly knew or cared about.”
My jaw tightens. “Tell that to their families.”
“You are annoyed only because of their inconvenience. You will have to pay death moneys, yes? This is a very hard thing, but you will handle it.”
“The money means nothing.” I step toward her. The laser dot lands on my feet. “The babies growing up without a father, they matter. The pain of their loved ones matters. We aren’t just an organization. We’re a family.”
She’s silent for a moment. I stare into the darkness, trying to make out her face again. But I still can’t see a thing. She positioned herself perfectly to where she has cover from the shelving units but also where there’s almost no light at all.
“Convenient story you tell. Easy way to make the grunts feel valued.”
“What do you want, Molchanie? Did you call me here to criticize my family?”
“Not in the least. I called you here to offer a warning and a solution to our mutual problem.”
“I wasn’t aware we had a problem, at least until you started cutting throats.”
“What I want is simple. I want safety and freedom for Alina Morozov.”
That surprises me. I knew it would have something to do with my wife, but those words, safety and freedom, don’t seem like they fit the situation.
“From my perspective, Alina is safe.”
“You are very wrong about that.” Molchanie sounds angry suddenly. The rage burns sharply. “She is not safe so long as she is married to a man like you.”
“You really don’t know me at all.”
“I said already, I do know you very well. Men like you are the problem. Controlling, possessive, violent men. You know two languages. Sex and violence. Often, they are the same thing to you. So long as Alina is your wife, she will never be safe. Not with you or any man like you. Which is why I offer you this deal. You will divorce Alina. Come up with whatever excuse you must. Leave her and walk away. Give her freedom. Give her safety. And I will leave you and your family in peace.”
My first reaction is fuck no. I don’t even have to think about it. Alina is my wife, she’s all mine, and there’s no way in hell I’m about to give her up. Not when I’ve just started to really like being with her.
At first, I thought it would be some bullshit arrangement I had to deal with, but the more I’m near her, the more I want her.
Alina’s worming her way into my life. She’s chewing her way into my brain.
I can’t stop thinking about her, and by obsessing about her like this, I’m only making myself need her even more.
I’ve never felt so steady before in my life. She makes me want to stop drifting.
I don’t want to give that up.
But the threat hangs there between us.
“If I don’t divorce her?”
“Then I will kill someone you care about every week until you do. No more random grunts from the ranks of your criminal organization. I will end the lives of people who truly matter. I do not care how much blood I spill. I do not care about the lives of monsters. One death per week until there is nobody left. And then I will kill you, and Alina will be truly free.”
I put a hand on my gun, snarling with rage.
The laser dot raises to my chest, and I force myself to stop.
My heart’s hammering in my head, and I want to charge forward like a raging monster.
I want to smash this woman’s skull to tiny fragments.
How dare she come here and threaten my family? The people I care about?
But I know it’s not empty. She’s already murdered people for almost nothing. Just as a way to warn me. Oliver died for saying the wrong things, and I have no doubt that Molchanie isn’t finished.
“You’re asking too much.” I lower my hand from my weapon. “My marriage isn’t my own. You know that.”
“Arrangements are made, arrangements are broken. There are other Morozov puppets who can happily ensure your two criminal empires remain tightly bound. It will not be Alina.”
“What is she to you? Why are you doing this?”
“You have one week to decide. And then I will take a life. You are only alive because I know they will simply marry her to one of your brothers, and the cycle will continue. You can save them all, Seamus. Make the correct choice.”
“Who the fuck are you?”
The laser dot disappears. Molchanie’s shadow fades backward. I count to five before running after her, but I don’t find a trace of the assassin anywhere, only an empty back room and quiet all around.
Vanished into nothing.
I walk slowly back to my car. I’m seething with rage. I’ve never been treated like this before.
I have to admit, I’m knocked off balance.
No part of me doubts what Molchanie said. If I don’t leave Alina, then Molchanie will start killing people I love. She will murder my family members, no doubt in my head. My brothers, my parents, people I’m truly close with.
But I can’t leave Alina.
Not just for alliance reasons, although that’s a huge consideration. If we got divorced now, Ruslan will be livid. My father won’t be happy either.
It could easily start a war.
Ruslan’s not exactly known to be the most rational leader in the world.
But more than all that, she’s my wife. I said the vows. I made the promises. I slept in her bed and got used to her breathing at my side. I want to see her when I come home at night. I want to hear her in the mornings.
Molchanie wants me to give that all up.
But that feels like ripping off a piece of my own body.
I don’t know how to save my family without ruining my marriage and potentially starting a war.