Chapter 40 - Gavril
I kept up a casual facade in case anyone was watching me, but no one was in sight, and it didn’t appear that there were any cameras around the building, either.
I had never been to this place and didn’t know it existed until now.
By the looks of it, Luigi had control of the entire two-story building, and walking through the big, empty lobby was like moving through a ghost town, quiet and eerie.
Everything hinged on how this meeting went, and if I could keep up the ruse that I was Luigi’s best buddy until the attacks were fully called off. My first instinct was to drop him where he stood as soon as I found him, but I still didn’t know the breadth of his campaign against the Petrovs.
I called him, and he directed me to come upstairs, not bothering to ask if I was alone.
He either had well-hidden surveillance going on or he honestly did trust that I was on his side.
In the large, corner office on the second floor, I found him by himself, sitting in a swivel chair with the air of a king.
The urge to punch him had never been so strong. Was he taking my appearance as an admittance that he was now in charge of the Collective? I swallowed my pride, picturing Lilia’s relief when I could tell her that her loved ones were safe at last.
The room itself was sparse, but had apparently become a command center of sorts. A map of Los Angeles hung on the wall with pins stuck in it, along with a list of names I recognized as businesses that were owned by various Petrovs.
I turned to grin at Luigi, truly grateful for all this information laid out so neatly for me. Nice and convenient.
“It’s already begun,” he crowed, getting up to clap me on the back. He pointed out one of the pins, making a mock sound of sympathy. “I hope they have good insurance on this building—not that the owner will be alive to collect.”
My hand twitched toward my gun. I had the information I needed, and there was nothing I wanted more in that moment than to splatter this guy’s brains all over the map in front of us.
I only hesitated because it still might be faster to get his men to stand down on his orders instead of mine.
So, the easy way or the hard way, and both would be messy.
Fuck it. I was done making nice with this asshole. Right this moment, people Lilia cared about were in harm’s way. If nothing else, I could threaten him to capitulate. As I reached for my gun, the door slammed open behind us.
We both whirled around to see my wife, a gleam in her eyes like no other I had ever witnessed, aiming a semi-automatic rifle at me.
I inwardly swore. The backup, under the seat.
How damn clever. If I hadn’t been so shocked, I would have been beaming with pride. She was really coming out of her shell.
My delight shriveled when the gun she held swiveled to me.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Luigi slowly easing his hand toward his side.
Keeping my gaze locked on Lilia, I reached over and gave him a hard chop in between his shoulder and his neck, effectively rendering his gun hand out of commission for the moment.
He swore at me and laughed. “I wasn’t going to shoot your pretty wife, Gavril.” He cleared his throat loudly, and the guard I suspected had been hiding behind another door in the office came out.
What I hadn’t suspected was for that the guard to be Benedikt.
He already had his weapon out, moving in a smooth arc between Lilia and me.
My first emotion was anger at the betrayal, despite already questioning his loyalty.
It was hard having friends in my line of business, but Benedikt had always been a real one. Or so I thought.
“Benedikt, he’s on our side,” Luigi said with a laugh as the gun swept back toward me. “He’s here, isn’t he? He could have sent his new army, but he came alone. The little girl doesn’t count.”
My eyes darted to Lilia, who still had her gun up, but her shoulders were slowly rounding, the fire fading from her eyes. She looked to me, then to Benedikt, the wheels spinning in her head. I had already warned her she couldn’t take time to think.
As she turned slightly toward Benedikt, his gun whipped back to her.
There wasn’t a single thought in my head—not all the times we commiserated together over a rough campaign, or the times we laughed in celebration.
The years he’d been my right-hand man faded to nothing while he aimed a gun at my wife.
A loud crack, and he fell to the floor, blood seeping from his chest. Lilia shrieked, looking down as if she’d been the one to pull the trigger. I quickly disarmed her and leaned over my old friend.
“Why?” I asked as the light faded from his eyes.
He shook his head. “You never made stupid decisions over a woman before.”
He didn’t understand. He couldn’t understand. He’d never loved anyone the way I loved Lilia. It was a shame, but I wouldn’t have done it any other way, not when he was on the verge of taking her from me.
He was gone, and I stood up, facing Luigi, who cackled with laughter, finding the whole thing hilarious. “I told him to leave the girl alone.” He shrugged. “Who would have ever believed you’d actually take your best friend out of the equation? Should have stayed in the car, young lady.”
I ignored him, although I agreed with his last sentiment. As he called me back over to the map to further explain how the destruction of her family would play out, Lilia’s shoulders slumped, all the fire draining out of her.
Damn it, she still didn’t trust me, not even after what I just did.
It did look like I was still on board with Luigi’s plans, though, and there was no way to explain to her that I still needed him to call off the attacks.
She was completely and utterly defeated, going pale and beginning to sink to the floor, every last bit of the strength and courage she had gained in the last weeks draining out of her. Nope. Not going to happen.
I shot Luigi through the head, not giving a shit about any of his last words. Blood spattered all over the map; the only sound in the aftermath of the latest gunshot was Lilia’s sob.
She looked at the slumped bodies, then at me, eyes full of shock and terror. I moved closer, holding out my hand with the gun. Not aiming it at her, handing it to her. She was so confused and still in shock that she wouldn’t take it. I took her hand and wrapped her fingers around the grip.
She could end me if that was what she wanted.
Death was better than having her believe I would betray her.
Our eyes locked, and understanding began to dawn on her face.
Trembling all over, she crouched down and put the gun on the floor, rising and wiping her hands on her jeans as if she’d just touched something foul. She nodded once and fell into my arms.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“There’s not a damn thing to be sorry about.”
She leaned back, putting her hand over her mouth, eyes wide. “I didn’t—I—Oh, Gavril. Your best friend? For me?”
I cut her off with a kiss. Everything I needed was written all over her face. “There’s no one more important to me than you,” I told her.
Her mouth melted against mine, her arms tight around my neck.
She pressed her body close, no longer trembling, at least not from fear.
I ran my hands up her back as her lips opened to me with a sigh.
Everything was right there in the urgency of that kiss.
The bodies surrounding us faded away along with the sting of betrayal by an old friend, the frustration of a year of fighting Luigi for supremacy in the Collective. She was all I wanted, all I needed.
Pulling away with a gasp, she pointed to the map, all those pins representing pain and even death. Oh, right. A war was still breaking out.
“We need to stop all that,” she said.
Keeping her in my arms, I scowled at the map, still readable despite the huge splat of blood dripping slowly down the colorful surface.
“Things might have been easier if Luigi were still alive to call off his men,” I admitted, silencing a new, apologetic outburst with a quick kiss.
“But I don’t mind doing things the hard way if it means we’re finally on the same team. ”
“We are,” she said, with that self-assured attitude back where it belonged. The fight hadn’t left her at all, and it felt great that it was no longer aimed at me.
I kissed her again, hard and thoroughly, until my driver burst in, stopping in confusion when he realized he didn’t have to do anything. Lilia pulled away, her cheeks flaming as the guard rubbed the back of his head. I suspected there was a very big lump there.
“I’m sure she’s sorry,” I said, squeezing her hand. “But right now we need to stop a war.”