16. Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Sixteen
Nico
L iam O’Connor, the new boss of the Irish mob, sits behind a large desk in the back room of a nightclub. It used to be owned by Cillian Kennedy before I killed him a year ago.
“Guess it didn’t take you long to claim what your boss left behind,” I say, sitting down across from him.
He smiles like he finds me funny but we both know he doesn’t. Only a few years younger than me, Liam is now a forced to be reckoned with. He’s also conventionally good looking which pisses me off more. I like to be the only handsome mafia boss in the area.
“Cillian left his legacy to me. So, you’re back in New York. Word was out that you were in Italy on your honeymoon.”
“I was.”
“Why did you come back?”
I narrow my eyes. “Business. Why else?”
“I’ve been wanting to talk with you for a while, Nico. You killed Cillian. That doesn’t sit well with me.”
“I figured it wouldn’t.” I sit back in my chair like I don’t have a care in the world. It’s the best sort of defense.
“But I also want to thank you. If you hadn’t killed Cillian, I wouldn’t be where I am today. But you’re going to have to die for what you did.”
“I figured you would also say that.” I lunge out of my chair before the man behind me can shoot me in the back of the head. It surprises the young guy, giving me an advantage to grab the gun from him. I shoot the fucker in the head.
“Shit,” Liam mutters, raising his own gun.
We point our own guns at each other, neither one moving.
“You really thought I would just come here to let you kill me?” I taunt. “You’re even stupider than I thought you were.”
Liam smiles but there’s no humor to it. “So, you got married. Must be nice. One of those Petrov sisters, is what I heard.”
“Yes. Denis and I have an alliance.”
“I remember seeing them at Cillian’s wedding. They’re pretty.”
“They are. Sasha is mine, so don’t even fucking think about it. And Mikhail has Natalya under his thumb. You’re not going to get her either.”
“I can always go for one of the other two.”
“They’re not even eighteen yet.”
Liam smirks. “Then I’ll just have to wait. Word spreads fast around here. I heard that Mikhail attacked your home. Stole your wife right out from under you. That’s got to fucking hurt.”
“Do you want a bullet in your head? Because I’ll do it if you don’t stop talking. I’m on a mission to get my wife back. So if you’ll excuse me.”
“Fine. I don’t want to die either. But I will see you again, Nico. I will get my revenge for Cillian’s death.”
Slowly, I walk out of his office and hurry to the nightclub entrance. Liam nor his men stop me.
This little detour makes me hate Liam even more. I have to get Sasha back and he’s wasting my time.
I head off in the direction of Mikhail’s house.
Liam
I knew killing Nico would not be easy. In fact, I planned on it. I need him to lead me to where his wife is. I want to have some fun taking her just to drive Nico insane. It’s what he deserves after he killed Cillian.
“Boss, what do you want us to do?” Jeremy asks. I purposely told my men not to engage with Nico as he left the club. Too bad for little Jimmy who’s now dead on the floor because Nico killed him. The fucker wasn’t supposed to try and kill Nico but he was always trigger happy.
“I want you to follow Nico. I want you to find out where Sasha and Natalya are. They’re together. I know that much. Kidnap them for me and bring them to me. I want to drive both Nico and Mikhail a little crazy. Make them feel how I did a year ago when they killed Cillian.”
Cillian was like a father to me so to lose him was a huge blow, even though it did open up opportunities I never would have gotten if he weren’t dead.
“Bring me the Petrov girls,” I say. “Don’t touch them. I have no desire to hurt them. This is just punishment to their husbands.”
Jeremy nods and leaves to do what I told him. A loyal soldier through and through.
I lean back in my seat and light up a cigarette. This is going to be fun.
Sasha
Natalya and I remain in the house while Mikhail leaves to handle more business. By business I know he means kill Nico.
“I have to stop him,” I say.
“You cant. He just saved you. You need to stay here, Sasha.”
“But I never asked him to save me! I don’t want Nico dead.”
Natalya gives me a look that’s full of so much pity, it pisses me of. “He’s also going after Nico because Nico tried to kill me. I think that’s the reason he’s going so hard at this.”
“I can’t stand back and let it happen. What happens when Nico finds Mikhail? There’s a chance Mikhail could die too and I know you don’t want that.” I head for the front door but Natalya stops me.
“We can’t. It’s just safer here if we stay.”
“Safer for you, maybe. But Nico won’t hurt me. I’m leaving.” I yank open the door before Natalya can stop me and walk right past the guards on duty.
One of the guards tries to stop me. “Mikhail gave us strict orders that no one is to leave.”
“What are you going to do? Shoot me into staying? You can’t stop me.” I run past the guard and onto the street. Unsurprisingly, he chases me.
But what does surprise me is that Natalya chases him.
“Stop!” she calls out. “Gregor. Stop. Let my sister go. She doesn’t want to stay here.”
That makes me stop in my tracks. “You’re really going to let me go?”
“Yes. Clearly, you care for Nico. And all I’ve wanted was to keep you safe and if you say that Nico can do that… I don’t trust him when it comes to me or my husband. But if he cares for you…”
“I want to have you in my life,” I tell her honestly.
“I don’t want Nico or Mikhail to keep us apart.
But Nico is my husband and I couldn’t stand it if you got hurt because he was trying to get me back.
It’s safer for everyone if I return to him.
And if I’m being honest… I do care for him. It doesn’t make sense but I do.”
“Then I’m not going to stop you. I’m not going to be like our uncle and control your life. But you have to promise me that you’ll be safe.”
I look my sister right in the eyes. “I promise.”
She inhales sharply. “All right. If you want to go so bad, then you can go. But just know that I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Gregor looks between us before pulling out his phone. “I need to call Mikhail and let him know.”
“No,” Natalya says. “He’ll demand that Sasha stay. If she wants to leave, then she can leave. She’s not a prisoner here.”
Before Gregor can respond, a car comes careening down the road and stops right next to me. My gut tells me to back away but before I can, four men jump out of the car and grab me, hauling me inside.
“Let me go!” I shout.
“Do you work for Nico?” Natalya asks but the men grab her and shove her inside with me.
Gregor takes out his gun but he gets shot in the head by one of the men and falls to the ground.
“Sasha,” Natalya asks, grabbing my face. “Are these Nico’s men?”
“I don’t know who they are,” I whisper.
The men get back in the car and drive away before any of Mikhail’s other guards can get to us.
“Who do you work for?” Natalya demands.
None of them say a word to us. Natalya and I cling to each other as we get driven somewhere. The mystery is killing me.
The driver eventually stops the car and the three other men drag me and Natalya out and bring us inside of a nightclub.
A man is standing in the middle of the empty space. With it being day time, the nightclub isn’t open yet.
I’m shocked to realize I recognize the man. He worked for Cillian Kennedy but I can’t remember his name.
“Good,” he says. “You got them. Bring them down to the basement.” He doesn’t spare us another glance as the four men drag us downstairs to a creepy, cold, dank basement. They toss us into the room and shut the door behind them, locking it.
I stand up and slam my body into the door but it’s pointless. It’s not going to budge.
“We have to conserve our strength,” Natalya says.
“This is not Nico. I know that for a fact.”
“I know. That was Liam O’Connor. He’s the new Irish mob boss.”
“Why did he take us?”
Natalya shrugs. “Nico killed his boss a year ago. Maybe he wants revenge.”
“Damn it. If Mikhail had never attacked Nico’s house, then I wouldn’t be in the position and neither would you. You never would have been outside on the street if it weren’t for me and if it weren’t for Mikhail, I never would have bee at your house in the first place.”
“He was just trying to save you,” she snaps.
“No. He was getting revenge for Nico trying to kill you. I have a right to be upset, Natalya.”
Her shoulders slump as she leans against the wall. “You’re right. You do. I’m just scared.”
After a moment, I go to stand next to her. “I’m scared too. Do you think they’ll hurt us?”
“They haven’t yet but… who’s to say?”
Slowly, I grab Natalya’s hand, surprising her. “We have to stick together. We can’t fight.”
“You’re right.” She squeezes my hand. “Together.”
While it’s nice to be on the same page as my sister, we’re in a bad situation and I’m not sure how to get out of it.
N
ico
When I eventually reach Mikhail’s house, I find a dead guard outside on the road. What the fuck happened here?
Before I can check the house out, a car pulls up beside me. Mikhail. Fucking great.
“You killed my guard?” he growls, storming out of the car.
I raise my hands in surrender, which is a blow to my ego, I’ll admit. “I just showed up here. I didn’t kill this guy. You can check my gun. It’s not hot.”
“So then how come I have a dead guard outside my house?” His eyes widened and he rushes to the front door…
which is cracked open. He runs inside and comes back out a moment later.
“Natalya and Sasha are gone. What the fuck did you do with my wife?” He slams his hands against my chest, pushing me back.
“I didn’t take your wife. I came here to get my wife back. Why would I be here if I stole both of our wives?”
He calms down, considering my words. “Then if you didn’t take them, who did?”
I nod at the dead guard on the ground. “Maybe whoever killed that poor fucker.”