Chapter 11 - Artur
“I can’t fucking believe this!” I snarl. My heart is beating so hard against my chest that it’s aching. My palms are clammy with sweat, and the muscles running down my neck and across my shoulders are so taut I might pull something.
Stepping forward, I shove Joseph against the wall. “Are you blind?” I snap at him.
“Dammit, Artur, I am not going to fight you. Calm the fuck down!” he demands.
I shake my head, a cold, clinical laugh spilling from my lips.
“You’re all pathetic. And you’re all playing a dangerous game by letting her keep you wrapped around her little finger like that,” I warn them.
Benedikt sighs heavily. “That isn’t what’s happening here, Artur. This was…”
“Oh yeah? What was it, Benedikt?” I huff. “You were just talking, right? You were just hanging out? Please, I’d love to fucking hear what you think this was!”
“Stop shouting!” Maria shouts from inside the room. Apparently, she’s decided to peek out from beneath the sheets where she was ashamedly hiding. Stupid brat. She thinks she’s in control here, but she has a surprise coming.
I’ll fucking lock her up if I have to. I won’t let her manipulate this situation anymore.
I storm into her bedroom and stand over her bed, glaring at her.
“You’re playing a dirty game, girl. You should be ashamed of yourself. You should be hiding under the sheets,” I snarl.
“What are you talking about?” she splutters. “I’m not playing anything.” Her eyes widen and glimmer with the threat of tears.
I scoff, laughing bitterly. “Yes, cry those fake tears of self-pity. No one cares. We can all see straight through it.”
I turn to look at the others, but they aren’t angry like I am. Not at her, anyway. They’re all glaring at me.
“Don’t talk to her like that,” Benedikt says calmly. “If you have a problem with her, we need to discuss it like adults, not scream at each other like savages.”
“This is all her fault!” I blurt out, shocked that they are so blind.
“She left the safety of the mansion, and she had us all come running after her. She put herself in danger and then put Ben and Kaz in danger, too. If it wasn’t for her, we’d all be back home at the mansion, relaxing! ” How the hell can they not see this?
“It wasn’t my fault! I didn’t kidnap myself!” she snaps at me, kneeling on the bed now, not happy to be looked down upon. “I had every right to try and find my way back home!”
“Oh, go ahead, little mafia princess. Show your true colors. It runs in your family. The lies. The manipulation.”
“Artur, that’s enough,” Joseph demands.
Kazimir shrugs, leaning against the wall in the bedroom with his arms folded across his chest. “Don’t speak for me, Artur. I’m always in danger. That’s the choice I made when becoming a mafia boss. I can’t put that on her.”
Ignoring Kazimir, I spin toward Joseph. “It’ll be enough when you idiots open your eyes and see the truth,” I huff.
Benedikt steps between Maria and me, forcing me to take a step away from the bed. “Walk away, Artur. Walk away before I drag you out of here,” he says with warning.
“Benedikt, are you fucking serious…”
“I won’t say it again,” he mutters.
Maria’s eyes dart from me to Ben. She’s loving this, isn’t she? She loves the fact that they’re all on her side. It’s fucking disgusting.
Shaking my head, I give in and decide they’re all too hooked on her to see the truth. I’ll have to find a way to make them understand, but clearly, now is not the right time.
Pushing past Joseph, I storm out of the room and head downstairs to the living room. Pacing, I am like a trapped tiger. Agitated, frustrated, and angry.
***
Late afternoon, Joseph gets confirmation from his men that there is still suspicious activity in the area. Someone is out there looking for her, or us.
“We should stay here tonight. All of us,” he says, looking directly at me as though I’m going to argue with the obvious.
“I wonder if there are still enough frozen pizzas,” Benedikt says, glancing toward the kitchen.
“We can order takeout. I’ll have one of my security guys drop it off. No one knows we’re here, so it’s not like it will be an issue,” Kazimir says. “Who wants what?”
“I’d kill for a burger and fries,” Benedikt replies.
“Any specific kind?” Kaz asks.
“Cheeseburger. I don’t really care where it’s from as long as it’s good,” Ben shrugs.
“Can I have chicken chow mein?” Maria asks. I shoot her a steady, accusatory glare. She sneers at me, still not backing down since this morning’s incident. Even though my anger has simmered down, I’m still keeping a close eye on her.
“Chow mein and a burger…and you, Joe?” Kaz asks, punching details into his phone.
“I’ll have a burger, too. Cheeseburger,” he says, waving his hand in the air.
Kazimir looks at me with his brows raised.
“Whatever, man, burger, pizza, I don’t care,” I snap.
“I’m getting sweet and sour pork, I reckon. And crispy duck,” he says thoughtfully. “I’ll order you a burger so the delivery doesn’t have to come from more places, and it might be quicker.”
“I said I don’t care,” I huff, walking away. So we’re stuck here for the night. This place is smaller than the mansion and more cramped. I need space from everyone right now.
I head into the living room and find the bar, a large strip of sleeper wood set into the wall. Browsing his selection, I grab a bottle of bourbon. Single malt. A good year.
I grab a glass and press it against the ice machine dispenser. Several blocks drop into the glass with a delicate chime.
Carrying the bottle and the glass, I find a corner single-seater sofa and sit down, facing the windows that look out toward the sunset and the city. I can’t see the ocean from here, but I can smell salt in the air.
I splash bourbon over the ice blocks and set the bottle aside on a small stone table next to the sofa. Spinning my glass, I swirl the golden liquid over the ice to cool it.
“Fuck,” I sigh softly, letting out a slow breath, “What a fucking mess.”
A sip of bourbon burns delightfully down my throat. The sharp bite of good quality alcohol sears through my body and has an instant effect on my thoughts.
Breathe.
Relax.
She doesn’t matter.
Focus on what’s important.
Outside, the sky is shaded in orange and purple hues. White clouds scattered low catch the orange and make it shine in saturated, luminous streaks.
Maria slips into my thoughts. The first time I might’ve seen her in a different light.
I was at Misha’s place. He was excited that his little sister was coming home from college for summer break.
I hadn’t seen her for a while. Actually, I hadn’t even known she was coming until that morning when he told me she was coming home.
At the time, he insisted on keeping her very secret and safe from the rest of the underworld.
I remember the moment she arrived.
A flare went off inside me.
Something shifted in my brain. That’s what it felt like.
Maria was beautiful. Beautiful beyond any woman I’d ever seen. She was radiant, smiling, and full of life. Her cheeks were rosy from traveling, and her smile was captivating as she rushed toward her brother to hug him. I saw a lot of love between them and felt a pang of jealousy.
I remember smiling as I watched them, fascinated by her sweet innocence as she gushed about how happy she was to see him and be home for the summer.
The three of us spent a lot of time together for the first three weeks. We got along really well, and the more I was around her, the more I liked her. I was getting to know her and finding out she was more special than I could have imagined.
But then suddenly things changed.
All of my city connections in the mafia ghosted me. I stopped getting invites. People stopped replying to my messages. Clients disappeared. I was cut off from group meetings, and even when I arrived in person to find out what the hell was going on, people didn’t let me past security.
It was insane. The ground was ripped out from beneath my feet.
It got worse when my life was threatened. Day after day, things escalated. I couldn’t even leave my penthouse without someone making an attempt on my life.
But the real breakdown was when I found out that Misha was behind all of it. He was the one pulling the strings and orchestrating everything.
I could only assume that our mutual and growing rise to power angered him in some way.
He got greedy and didn’t want to share the profit of our work.
The only way for him to have it all was to get rid of me…
so he did. And apparently, he did it without mercy or a flicker of guilt over the fact that we were supposed to be friends.
In his eyes, we probably never were friends. He was using me until he no longer needed me. Then he threw me out like garbage.
I had no choice but to leave and come to Chicago.
I had to build from the ground up all over again. I started from nothing and made a new name for myself in this city.
And I don’t know if I can forgive either of them. Yeah, I blame both of them.
I swore revenge against the siblings, and I will have it. That’s why I took her. And that’s why I hate her.
The other guys in my alliance don’t know any of this, and I’m not ready to tell them yet. But soon, I might have to, because they need to know the truth about who she really is. This coy, sweet little persona she fakes is nothing but a ruse.
Maria is a witch in disguise.
I won’t let her fool my allies as she fooled me.