Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Alexei
Blood dripped off of my knuckles and splattered the concrete warehouse floor. I didn’t care very much for getting my hands dirty. Out of all the things we did, this was my least favorite but examples needed to be made. Jeremy was selling coke at one of my strip clubs. If I wanted coke sold, I would do it myself. He was also roughing up my girls. There were many things I allowed, there were many things my parents did, but you didn’t touch the girls. You didn’t disrespect the girls. You never put your hands on my merchandise.
The smell of urine was prevalent in the air. It happened. I slipped the brass knuckles off of my fingers and looked down at the beaten man. He wasn’t dead, I didn’t like to do things that way but if he kept it up, he would be.
“Now Jeremy,” I stared down into his bruised and bloody face. “What don’t we do again?”
Blood dribbled from his mouth when he opened it. “We d-don’t sell drugs on your property.”
I clapped him hard-on the shoulder and his body jerked against the chains hanging from the ceiling. “Good boy, Jer. I think we can get through this.”
He nodded while his swollen eye watched me. The other eye was completely swollen shut. I may have taken it a little too far, but examples needed to be made. “B-but, they threatened me if I didn’t sell the rest of their stock.” He watched as I dumped the coke onto the concrete and kicked it with my foot.
“Tell them the Cristof brothers would love to chat, when they’re ready of course, if they have a problem with this.”
He nodded and the chains clanked above his head.
I would make an example out of every fucking person in this city if it got it through their thick skulls. Especially the newbies that came into town and thought they could mess around on our territory. Dimitri was over the drugs. He didn’t mind getting his hands dirty more than I did. I didn’t care for the stuff so I stayed far away from it, but I wasn’t against making examples. I was good at it. Dimitri always took it a little too far. He enjoyed watching their souls leave their bodies a little too much. He was a psychopath, but he was also my brother. He never took anything too far with the family so as far as I was concerned, I could turn a blind eye.
Dimitri stood in a shadowed corner and watched me work. He didn’t care for my methods but in this instance, it didn’t matter.
I held my hand up and swiveled my pointer finger in the sky. “I’m done. Make sure he lives to see another day, please.”
Dimitri prowled out of the darkness and gave me a nod.
The door swung open and revealed a bright alley. I pulled my ball cap down over my eyes and got into the blacked-out SUV. My phone buzzed in my pocket. With a groan, I answered.
“Have you thought about what I said?” My father sounded bored, but I knew better. He didn’t want to hear that I hadn’t thought about it. If I didn’t do something about it, he would take matters into his own hands.
“Yes, Father.”
“And?”
“And I guess I better start looking for a date.”
“And you’re going to stop fucking around at that strip club or I’ll have it shut down. I’m beyond tired of the mess it brings.”
I could have laughed. “Don’t pretend like you don’t like the money it brings in.”
This time he laughed and I knew I was on thin ice. “Money? Yes, I love to make money, Son, but the money that comes from your trashy whores is nothing compared to what I’m doing.”
Ah, yes, here we go. He was pulling the strings of elected officials. He didn’t have time to worry about petty things like strip clubs, drugs, or whores. How funny he would forget what it took to get him to where he is. How amusing that he would forget where he came from. His ancestors set him up. They were the first mafia in New York City. They started out as thugs and the money just kept coming until my father. My father who now controls the city. He would love to say he controls the state, but I’m not sure that’s entirely true. He has his hand in many pockets, but I don’t think it’s that many. He also likes to forget that he started out owning strip clubs, though they were a lot classier than the fine establishments my brothers and I own, that doesn’t matter. He started out like us too. He has the scars on his back, the bullet wounds that almost claimed his life. As much as I wanted to say all of this, I knew better.
“Find a more respectable hobby or I’ll find ways to ruin your life. You must put on a better image for this family. I’m tired of the tabloids talking about you and your brothers and the wild nights you have.”
“Yes, Father.”
“Thank you.”
The line went dead and I shook my head. He would never get it. He only cared about image now.
I placed my phone on the seat beside me and thought of the one girl I shouldn’t. Audrey Wilde. In a way I absolutely hated her. I hated her in the way that I couldn’t stop thinking of her and when Father asked me to start dating and looking for a wife, I hated that I thought of her first. Which was insanity. She wasn’t marriage material, not in this family. She was already dating someone, even if he did suck in bed. I ran a hand down my face and shook my head. I didn’t know why she mattered. I didn’t know why I thought about her. I didn’t know why when I closed my eyes at night there she was and I loathed it, with every fiber of my being.