Chapter Two
Bane looked up as Sergi and Yuri rejoined them in the security room. He smiled faintly then turned his eyes back to the screen where he followed a red dot moving through traffic.
“So what did you think?” Sergi asked him.
“His arrogance is outstanding, isn’t it?” Bane concluded quietly. “I especially liked his fantasy of you actually just handing LaDonna over to him without question.”
“I liked the part when you just ticked him off so hard that he nearly cried,” James quipped.
Felix agreed, “The man was about to drop to the floor in a child’s tantrum.”
Sergi nodded. “Da, I noted how he acted like he gets his way quite often.”
“Well, not this time,” Felix concluded. “And if I didn’t know better I would have thought you enjoyed that meeting just a tad too much, boss.”
“Hmm, you know what?” Sergi smirked. “I think I loved it.”
There was a smattering of chuckles in the room.
Sergi looked over at Bane. “What’s our next step?”
Bane stared back at him then replied, “I can’t tell you what to do, but I can tell you not to worry about Dominic.
James and I will take care of him. You just worry about Partross and getting LaDonna back to stand before the High Council.
And keep those armaments out of Killian’s hands. Secure them tight.”
Sergi nodded. “They are under guard now and Killian will be in custody soon.”
“Good. Make sure he tells LaDonna who the fuck he is.” Bane growled. “I don’t want him to use my name again for his protection services. I never would have agreed to protect her in the first damn place. Women like her make me sick.”
“I’ll save you the recording of that meeting,” Sergi promised him.
“Maybe freeze their money or make it disappear altogether for a time,” Bane suggested. He looked over at Serenity and asked, “Any idea where Mr. Russo is staying while he’s in town? I’d like to pay him a visit tonight.”
Serenity smiled. “Sure do. His car stopped at the Black Rock hotel. I checked their computer and he has a couple of rooms there tonight. I would think one of those rooms is for his bodyguard.”
Bane nodded. “Of course. It is. You got some room numbers?”
She nodded. “Room 907 is listed as his room. The adjoining room, 910 is his bodyguard’s room.
” She smiled again. “And side note: his money is already gone. Well, it isn’t gone.
I don’t steal. I just appropriate. It is simply just somewhere he can’t get to at the moment.
And so is Oleg’s. He just doesn’t know it yet. ”
“I like the way you operate, young lady.” Bane paused as if he'd forgotten something. “When is your baby due?”
Serenity paused in surprise as she never expected this question from this man. “Two more months.”
He gave her a genuinely warm smile. “Congratulations. I bet Niky is thrilled.”
Nodding, she beamed at him and replied, “He is.”
Bane stared at her. “I hope you understand my intent here, but I have to say... You are a very beautiful Mom To Be. Especially when you smile.”
The room went utterly and completely stone silent.
The men in the room knew Bane. Or so they believed. They also never expected that. But they all kept silent and hid their shock.
James now beamed his pride.
Suddenly, as if he knew James only too well, Bane swung his gaze over at him.
Instantly, James dropped the grin.
Sergi grinned at this little exchange and he didn’t seem to care who saw it.
Yuri broke the stunned silence, “Real question here is what do we do with Killian and his brothers? If we bring in two of them, is the third one going to come in shooting?”
Bane shook his head and replied, “He just might. Aaron is the one with the brains but he’s just too chicken to do the dirty work without his brothers in the shadows.
So you need to look out for the last brother.
Brent is the bravest one among the two of them, Randal is the sneaky brother.
He’s the one you should expect to shoot you in the back. ”
“Charming family.” Kosta scoffed.
Bane nodded. “Just your average lawless scumbags.”
“What are you going to do about Dominic?” Sergi asked quietly.
Bane shook his head. “I’m not going to tell you, that way you don’t have to deny anything. I have a place I can take him here in town.” He paused, then said, “I won’t kill him. I already gave my word on that, but by the time I get him there, I’ll have help to question him.”
Sergi quirked his brow with the unspoken question... of who.
Bane shrugged. “Bastian is on his way down, as well as the girls.”
“And your brothers no doubt.” Yuri shrugged. “Seems like a family affair after all.”
“Perhaps.” Bane nodded. “Between both camps we should have enough to bring down everyone involved.”
Sergi and Yuri nodded.
Yuri then said, “Just be careful yourself tonight, Dominic might not be as easy to get to as you think. He’s got a lot of enemies out there all on his own.”
“Don’t worry, nobody will find him once we have him,” Bane assured them.
Just then, Viktor came into the security room and informed Sergi, “We finally got Aaron Killian in our custody. We also managed to collect his brother Randall. Deter and the rest of the Nomads are bringing the prisoners straight to the cell area.”
“Da, that is good but make sure they are secluded.” Sergi shook his head. “I don’t want them to find out that we have LaDonna in custody just yet. Also watch out for Aaron’s second brother. I’m sure if he can’t find the other two, he’ll be looking for him.”
Viktor disappeared from the room.
Kosta watched his screens as Viktor took the brothers to a separate cell area. He turned his head and told Sergi the brothers were separated from the rest.
Bane motioned for James to get his stuff packed up for the night.
“This ought to be fun.” James slid his laptop into the bag and followed Bane out of the security room.
Yuri looked at Sergi and had to ask, “Do you think he’ll find out something tonight? Something we don’t already know about?”
Sergi nodded his head. “Bane has his own way of finding things out. They say he’s a monster because he doesn’t feel any kind of pain, but he also knows what he’s doing.
He knows we need Dominic alive and well.
But if he’s calling Bastian in, I know we’ll find out all Dominic’s secrets.
Bastain has been known as the Priest for most of his life as well.
Separate... the two men are well groomed in their professions.
But together? Together, they will hardly break a sweat and we’ll still get the information we need.
” Shaking his head, Sergi added, “Never doubt that my friend. And I know James will verify everything Dominic tells them.”
“Now comes the part I hate.” Yuri growled.
Sergi looked over at the other man and lifted a brow. Yes...Now we play the waiting game.”
“Blin, I’ve found it’s a game I don’t play well.” Yuri snickered. “But I will try to play in any case.”
Sergi smiled slightly. “Sometimes parts of a fighting game aren’t as fun as others.”