Chapter 12 Anton
ANTON
By the time the sun’s up, word of the death of Emil Andreev has traveled through my Bratva and probably to the Amur Bratva as well.
They started all this. Killing a Pakhan is an offense worse than just about anything else, so they had to expect me to come for Emil.
Maksim’s vengeance was due and it was on me to make sure it got paid in full.
The meeting with my brigadiers has just ended.
I’ve given everyone their marching orders.
Anyone from the Amur Bratva will be wiped out on sight.
I want the businesses raided and burned to the ground.
I want bands of them broken up and murdered.
I want blood of the highest caliber. I’ll see them all dead before this is over.
There’s just one thing sticking in my mind. Natalya. She wasn’t supposed to be there. The implications of her telling anyone what she saw…
I’m in as much danger from the law as any of the Amur. It’s going to come back on her one way or the other.
I don’t know if anyone on Nikolai’s side knows about her.
At least not yet. If they do, she’ll be in greater danger from them than she ever would be from me.
They’ll torture her just to find out if she knows anything about my movements…
Especially if the Feds don’t end up knocking at my door.
They’ll come to the conclusion that she’s protecting me, and that’s death sentence enough.
I’m still sitting at my chair in the meeting room, contemplating what I need to do about it.
Natalya being out there and unprotected is going to be a distraction.
Yet, what can I do? She is not really mine to protect in the first place.
Her father belongs to a different Bratva. It’s on him to step up.
“Anton?”
I look up to see Mikki standing by the door, a question on his face.
“Everything all right?”
I don’t say anything, but I don’t need to. He was there when it all happened. He knows what’s troubling me.
He walks all the way into the room, closing the door behind him. “I’m only going to say this once, Anton, because I know you know this and I think that you just need to be reminded. That girl is not your problem.”
“I know.”
He nods, then, “It is also a gross overstep to even consider reaching out to her. It’s on Petrov to offer protection for his own. You know that.”
I rub my beard contemplatively. What was she even doing out that late at night, walking by herself at three in the morning miles away from Petrov’s house?
It’s been bothering me all day. Maybe it’s because of how we met.
Bratva men who have to raise daughters tend to keep a tight leash on them.
Well… sometimes. Sometimes, the women with the wildest pasts grew up in the Bratva life.
Still, she would know better than to be in a public place like the Firebird.
And yet, there’s something about Natalya that doesn’t strike me as the rebellious type.
Maybe it was her inexperience or just the innocent light in her eyes when she saw me last night.
There’s nothing about her that tells me that she’s trouble… well, other than who her father is.
“What if he doesn’t?” I ask Mikki. “That is possible, right? He could deny her protection.”
Mikki sighs and clasps his hands together. “That is also not your problem. Now is not the time to get distracted, Anton. You know that.”
“Yeah.” I look down at my watch. It’s just after nine in the morning. “She saw me, though,” I say aloud. “That should be addressed.”
He cocks his head. “Her father is Bratva. I would think she would know better than to snitch.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. I don’t know what her relationship is with her father. She was out walking the streets at three in the morning miles from her father’s house. For all I know—”
“You’re fishing.”
I sigh. I am fishing. Maybe. “Mikki, she’s still a witness to what happened. She knows I killed Emil Andreev. That’s not something I should leave up to chance.”
“Okay,” he says. “What are you proposing to do about that? Do you want me to take care of it?”
I don’t really want to have to say it out loud.
Mikki is the most loyal of all of my men, but even he can cast judgment when I push him too far.
“No,” I say, “but you’re right. It is a distraction for me to have to worry about her, what she might do or say to the wrong person.
I don’t think she’ll intentionally rat us out, but she has friends.
All it would take is a single person who knows someone else and the next thing I’ll know, the Feds are at my door.
” Or more likely, one of the Nikolai’s people will be clued in.
He raises a skeptical eyebrow. “You have always been very good at rationalizing foolish actions, Brother. I don’t like where this is going.”
“Protecting a witness to our crime is definitely not foolish. It’s shrewd.”
“Only if that witness is unaffiliated. Her father is Pakhan of the Kurgan Bratva and, again, it’s on him to protect his own daughter.
Which I have no doubt he will do. It’s shameful not to step up for your own children and he knows that.
His men will look down on him for it, maybe lose respect for him. He’ll do the right thing, Anton.”
He’s right. Of course he’s right. I should let this go, let Vladimir carry out his job as Pakhan for his own Bratva.
“Also,” Mikki continues, “you should consider what may happen if you butt in and Natalya’s father sees your intrusion as an excuse to side with the Amur in our little war.
The Kurgans are a weaker Bratva with a better relationship with Nikolai than we ever had.
You step in and try to protect that girl and we could end up making an enemy while fighting another. This is a bad, bad move, Anton.”
“I realize that,” I tell him. I sigh and think about it a little longer.
Vladimir and Maksim had never been close.
Typically, they’ve always kept one another at arm’s length, respectfully keeping to the other’s corners of the world with very few incidents.
There was never any reason for either Bratva to get mixed up with the other’s affairs.
And yet, I can’t seem to walk away from this. I’m still compelled to see that Natalya is safe. I sit up and pull out my phone.
“Anton,” Mikki warns. “Don’t do it. It’ll only cause trouble that we don’t need right now.”
“I’m just going to talk to her. Make sure she understands what’s at stake… and that’s she’s safe,” I say as I search for her number. She comes up as Devushka. “Once I know her father is on the case, I’ll leave it alone.”
Mikki crosses his arms as I text her. Meet me at one o’clock this afternoon. Vivaldi Park by the fountain.
I put the phone back in my pocket without waiting for her response. “Think of this as me dotting an ‘i’. Nothing more,” I say to Mikki. “We can both agree that my mind needs to be clear, right? Well, this will clear it.”
He sighs, knowing that it’s pointless to argue once I’m determined. “Of course, Brother. You have my support, as always.”
“Good.” I stand up and we leave the meeting room. I need to make sure that my arsenal is stocked and my guards are alert. Mikki will help me with that. The moment I step out into the hallway, I hear my phone ding. I pull it out.
Natalya texts, Okay. I’ll see you there.
And it’s set. She’ll tell me that she’s protected and that her father is on the case and I can continue on without worry. Easy as that.
We leave the meeting room and as soon as we’re in the hallway, Mikki says, “So, there’s something that crossed my path this morning. It’s probably nothing, but I thought maybe I should mention it.”
I don’t like the sound of this. I sigh and say, “Am I going to need a drink for this?”
“Not yet,” he says with a laugh. We walk down the stairs and to the living room. I go over to the drink caddy and make myself a drink anyway. It’s been a long day and it’s not even noon.
“Well, hit me with it,” I tell him as I pull out a glass. I motion to another glass, silently offering one to Mikki. He shakes his head and waves me off.
“So, remember how you called Kat a fly? Annoying, but harmless?”
I look up at him expectantly. He clears his throat.
“Well, I heard from one of Lev’s men that she’s been hanging out at the Firebird quite a bit lately, drinking heavily and bad talking you to anyone who would listen. Magda even had to have her thrown out a couple of times because she was getting into it with the dancers.”
I shrug. “So? Sounds like Kat to me. She loves her tantrums.”
“Yeah, well, that’s not all she’s been doing. She’s been spreading rumors about you. Telling people that you’ve gotten weak since Maksim died. Making up stories about how you wailed like a woman at his funeral.”
I chuckle. I can’t help it. What a ridiculous claim.
“It’s not funny, Anton. People could start believing that.”
“She wasn’t even there. Everyone knows Maksim only took me on that trip. If that did happen, how could she ever know about it?”
“I know that. You don’t have to convince me.”
He pauses and suddenly, I understand why he’s brought this up. Brigadiers can be like gossipy teenagers. Unlike high school, rumors could easily flourish into trouble.
“Ah,” I say. “But I may have to convince certain members of this Bratva.”
“I don’t quite know yet. I mean, I’ve only just heard about his.
I don’t know how long Kat’s been badmouthing you and I don’t know how many of our people believe that bullshit lie.
All I know is that Kat can be a sly snake when she wants to be.
And for some people, a pretty convincing one.
If something’s amiss among the troops, I want to cut off its legs before they get going. ”
I take a sip from my glass of whiskey and nod. “I hear you. I don’t think there’s anything to worry about, though. Kat…” I sigh because I feel a little begrudged at the idea of speaking kindly about her. “She’s just hurt. She’ll get past it eventually.”
“I’m sure she will. Just the same, I’m going to keep my ear to the ground.”
“I expect nothing less.”
He nods and leaves. Once he’s gone, I start to think about what he’s said. About both Kat’s actions and my insistence on reaching out to Natalya. Sometimes, every day feels like a game of chess. Every move I make has to make sense, lead to something, gain me something in the long term.
Maybe these little distractions won’t be that at all. Like I said, Kat will get over things and Natalya’s father is probably already protecting his daughter. All will be well in the end.