14. Alex
ALEX
In the light of day, I see what Nona was doing last night and as much as I hate to admit it, it worked. I’ve been thinking about her ever since.
Right after the incident with the Central Park warehouse, we finally got in contact with the Blue Devils from the Bronx, or rather, they got in contact with us. We’ve been a regular supplier for them for years and I would say we’ve got a good relationship with them.
But according to my father, they’ve reached out to us with a problem. Someone jumped them for one of their shipments. All of the brigadiers have been called in to discuss the matter… and for the last few minutes, I can’t seem to get my mind off Nona in that little red nightgown.
She knew what she was doing. It’s been nearly three weeks since we had sex. Offering that tight pussy to me on a silver platter like that was bound to send me over the edge, and it almost did. I left the room with my head held high, but the thought of her still haunts me.
I tried taking a cold shower, but it didn’t seem to help at all.
I keep hearing her moans in my ear and I keep tasting her on my tongue.
The only reason I didn’t take off my belt and turn her over my knee like I said I was going to do was because if I had, I wouldn’t have been able to pull back.
There’s something about her that wakes something up inside me.
It makes me wonder how far out of control she could take me if I let her.
“Alexandr?”
The sound of my name pulls me out of my internal revelry. I look up to see everyone around the table looking back at me… including my father. He frowns deeply.
“Did you hear what I just said?” he asks.
Suffice it to say, no is the wrong answer, but I know better than to admit that. “I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night,” I say instead, sitting up in my chair. “I apologize.”
A warning growl rumbles in his chest. “This is exactly what can’t happen when we meet with the Devils,” he says, more to the rest of the room than me.
“The act of them reaching out to us so soon after our last shipment means that they are desperate. It could also mean that they’ve decided to ambush us. We can’t let our guard down.”
“With all due respect,” Gedeon says from his place across the table, “the Devils and the Rostovs have been allies since Stanislov’s era. There’s no reason to believe that they would stab us in the back.”
“There’s no reason to believe that they wouldn’t,” Dad says. “We’ve survived this long—all of us have survived this long—because of one fundamental fact of the Bratva. Trust no one. Not even your brother.”
He looks at everyone around the table carefully and gives me a side eye.
“The meet is tomorrow night. Midnight. Alexandr, I want you with me to negotiate. Gedeon, I also want you and your men there as well. As for the rest of you, stand by for orders. If all goes well, we will need to make adjustments to account for our gracious assistance to the Devils.”
With that, he waves everyone away. “Dismissed.”
I go to stand and he says, “Alex, hold on for a moment.”
I stop, waiting as everyone files out of the room. Once they’re gone, he says, “Make sure Rikki is available to come as well.”
I blink. Rikki is almost never present for something like this. He’s an enforcer. His job is to enforce our rules and eliminate whoever doesn’t follow and in terms of ranking, he’s almost never in on these meetings. “Of course,” I say. “Is there a reason you want him there?”
He gives me a half-shrug. “I think he could be valuable. Plus, being that I plan to be there, I would like some extra security at my back.”
“You don’t have to be there,” I say to him. “I can handle a deal like this with just Gedeon watching my back.”
He shakes his head. “No. I want to speak to Deshawn face-to-face about this matter, given that word of this hit didn’t come directly from him. His second reached out to us.”
I shrug. “We’ve gotten messages from the Devils without talking to Deshawn directly, Dad. I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation for it.”
“Maybe,” he says. “Still, there’s something about this that’s leaving me a little unsettled. Can’t quite put my finger on it, but I’d rather be overprepared than not. If they are planning some kind of ambush, I’ll be able to tell once I talk to him. He has a terrible poker face.”
I nod. “All right, then we’ll see you there tomorrow night.”
He waves me off to leave and I do, walking out of his house without another word. Once I’m in my car, I call Rikki. “You busy tomorrow night? I need you for something important.”
I’ve asked Gedeon and Rikki to meet me at the house beforehand. The more and more I think about Dad’s suspicions, the more it’s set me on edge. I think he’s right to be overprepared than not at all. The more, the merrier, after all.
Gedeon was supposed to be with his men, making sure they were all in place before we got there.
Instead, he offered to come with us despite having his own men to worry about.
“Don’t sweat it,” he said to me over the phone earlier.
“If my men can’t figure out how to get in formation to keep us covered, then I should turn in my title anyway. ”
They should be here in a few minutes. I’m in the parlor, the hidden door behind the armoire is open, and I’m going through my guns.
I’m tempted to try and conceal one of the bigger ones in my clothes somehow.
That may be overkill, though. As cautious as I want to be, I’m pretty sure that they’ll notice an AR shoved down my pants. That might sour our negotiations.
I hear a soft knock at the door. Nona, of course. I grab three of the handguns I plan on taking and call out, “One moment,” as I close the armoire back over the hidden cache.
I set the guns down on the nearest end table and unlock the parlor door. Nona stands on the threshold, looking up at me with those big pond green eyes. “Gedeon and your brother are here,” she says.
“Good. Go and tell them I’ll be out in a minute.”
I turn back to the end table and holster my guns—one under my armpit, one in the front, and the smallest one around my ankle. She watches me silently the whole time.
“Is there a problem?” I ask her.
“No, I just… You’re leaving with Rikki and Gedeon tonight?”
“Yes. I told you. We have business.”
She nods slowly. “Will you be back before breakfast?”
I tilt my head curiously at her. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say that you sounded like a caring wife just then. Don’t tell me you’re suddenly interested in my comings and goings?”
She shifts her feet nervously. “No,” she says. “Of course not. As long as you come back alive, what do I care?”
Something’s on her mind. She’s probably wondering if she’ll have enough time to snoop around the house again. “Do I need to wake Yeva up to come over? I can trust you to behave tonight, can’t I?”
She narrows her eyes at me with offense behind them. “You don’t have to call your sister,” she says.
“What’s with the concern all of a sudden, then?”
She shrugs and says, “I was just… wondering, that’s all. Maybe I’ll wait up for you.”
I nod and wait for her to say more. She doesn’t. “I’ll be home later. Don’t wait up for me.”
As I step out of the parlor, locking the door behind me, Rikki appears at the end of the hallway. “Hey, man, you ready?”
Gedeon steps out next to him. His eyes drift to Nona, who looks away quickly. She turns to me and says, “Stay safe.” She gets on her tiptoes and kisses me on the cheek. It takes me by surprise, but I don’t show it. Not in front of Rikki and Gedeon.
Nona turns and walks away, back toward the staircase.
“Yeah,” I say to Rikki. “Let’s get out of here.”
We walk out of the house and as we hit the street in front of the brownstone, the hairs on the back of my neck raise up. I look behind me and up to my bedroom window to see Nona watching us leave.
The rain started as soon as we pulled up to the docks. So far, it’s just a light drizzle, but if it starts coming down, we might have to make some other plans for this whole thing. Nothing sours a meet more than having to do it in the pouring rain.
The three of us park near my father’s car in the lot next to the old shipyard.
It’s closed now and will probably be that way until the weather warms up more.
He’s already waiting for us when we get out, standing in the misting rain in his trenchcoat.
He greets us three with a nod and a stony expression as we approach.
Gedeon’s boeviks are already in position around us, hiding in the shadows and rooftops, watching for our signal that something has gone wrong.
With all my training and with everything my father ever told us about not being too trusting, for some reason, knowing they’re there isn’t doing much to shake that odd feeling I’ve got about this deal.
On paper, though, one way or the other, it should be fine.
My father checks his watch. “Two to midnight,” he says. He looks up at the misting rain casting a haze over the nearest streetlight. “They’d better be here soon. This is supposed to turn into a storm tonight. I don’t know how long this weather is going to hold.”
“Spring in New York sucks,” Gedeon mutters as he pulls his jacket collar up. “I’m telling you. I ain’t doing it next year. I think I’m gonna split town right before the first rain hits. Maybe right after the snow melts.”
“Split town?” I say with an arched eyebrow. “To where?”
“And for how long?” Rikki chimes in.
He shrugs. “Cali’s nice this time of year. Not boiling hot like it is in the summer, no weird on and off cold like the winter. Plus, Liz’s never been to the beach. Might be nice to sit in the sun for a few days instead of standing in the rain waiting for these clowns to show—”
He’s cut off by the sound of a gunshot. Gedeon jerks backward, blood shooting out of his chest. He stumbles, grabbing for his gun absently.