ZAKHAR
I try my best to stop Aria, begging her to slow down or at least stop hitting our trucks. She laughs as I beg, her lips touching my bare skin, and then I start begging for other things. We meet in my little rented beach house, and I leave her safely in bed as I rush to the city.
I don’t understand the text.
The elevator doors open, and I hurry into the office to find Gennady pacing.
“What is it? What has happened?”
“I sent my boy,” he replies, and I frown in confusion. “I sent Desmier to carry out the hit against D’Artello. I have intel from Gunsyn that D’Artello is in Secaucus.”
I shake my head, knowing it’s not true, but I can’t say how I know. “I should be there.” I dash out of the office before Gennady can tell me to come back. All types of scenarios flash into my head. Each one is worse than the next, but I wasn’t planning to see what I saw.
The building in Secaucus is surrounded by vehicles, and I risk getting hit as I dash across the busy highway. From outside, I hear shouting, and then I hear a gun discharge. I climb up to a narrow window. Desmier is lying on the ground, but I’m too late. I look around, wondering where our men are. All I see are Mafia men. He should never have done this job alone. I take out my gun, ready to use it, and I see Emilio Lanzzare.
He aims his gun, and before I can blink, shoots Desmier between the eyes.
The shock stops me.
Why would he be here?
There’s nothing I can do.
And as penance, I am the one to tell Gennady.
Of course, Gennady takes it badly, but the fallout has just begun. His anger changes him, and he becomes distracted, careless, and crueler.
Alexander, Ippolit, Gunsyn, and I discuss what’s happened in private. They fear for the future of the Bratva, but I believe Gennady will come around once he’s done grieving.
“He’ll never get over it,” Alexander says. We meet at a nightclub he likes to frequent for the women. He watches as a blonde ina G-string walks past. “He’s so devastated he has lost interest in everything.”
“You know what will make him better?” Gunsyn smirks as he leans both elbows on the table. “Emilio Lanzzare getting the same treatment.”
Ippolit shakes his head. “Emilio knows Gennady wants him dead. The man is protected like he’s made of gold.”
“Yebat’!” Gunsyn shoves Ippolit’s shoulder, spilling his beer on the table. “You don’t think we can do it? Shoot a piece of scum dead in the street?” Gunsyn lifts his glass. “I would like to wager a bet. The first one who kills Lanzzare will get the prize.”
Alexander shifts his gaze back on us and off the narrow dance stage. “What prize? What don’t we already have?”
Ippolit smiles. “He has yet to pick his Avtoritet.”
We eye each other, knowing how much each one of us wants it. Gennady has resisted doing so, which would pit us against one another, but we agree with a rowdy toast of our glasses that the man who kills Emilio Lanzzare will be the Avtoritet.
Even though I know it won’t be any of them.
Aria sits on the edge of the bed, watching me as I dress. We have a routine, and we meet at the beach house every weekend. I want more, but I stop talking about the future when Desmier is murdered. She watches anxiously as I slide my gun into my holster.
“You will be back tonight?” she asks.
In the mirror, I look at her. “I have a job to do tonight.”
“What?”
I shake my head. “I can’t tell you.”
She grabs the sheet and twists it hard in her fist. “Zakhar, don’t do it.”
I turn and face her. “What do you think I’m going to do?” I’ve never spoken coldly to her before, and it breaks her. Tears spring to her eyes, and I regret being an ass to her. She had nothing to do with Desmier’s death. She swore she didn’t know why Emilio Lanzzare was there.
“Don’t do it,” she cries. “They will kill you.”
“I have to do it, Aria.” I hold her close, and she clings to me. “You know what I am. And men like me, we don’t live to old age.”
“Please, you can’t.” She cries fat tears that leave a mark on my suit jacket. “Don’t leave me.”
I’ve never seen her like this before. She’s always cool and confident, and then it strikes me. I yank her off me and grip her arms tight.
“Do you know something?” I ask, and she cringes. “Tell me what you know.”
“I’m pregnant,” she whispers, but it might as well have been a shout, and then she slumps against me. “Please don’t leave me alone in this world.”
We end up back in bed, and I know when I check my phone, it will blow up with calls. I’ll make an excuse, tell the other brigadiers I had to lie low. I’ll let Gunsyn win the stupid bet.
Her voice rises above the waves hitting the sand. “One day, my cousin Christian will take over the Lanzzare Mafia, and you will be the Avtoritet, which means that we can influence both sides into accepting peace. We can end this feud.”
I don’t dare tell her about the foolish bet, just like I haven’t told Alexander, Ippolit, and Gunsyn that Gennady plans to announce my promotion in a year.
“And then we can be together,” she says without looking at me. I hear her shift against the sheets, and I roll over, catching her in my arms. “Forever.”
“Let’s elope.” I kiss her until she giggles. “I’ll make you an honest woman yet.”
A quick trip to Vegas is arranged with Alexander’s help, and he swears on his life to keep it a secret. By that evening, I return to New York a married man. I’m happy as if I own the world because I’m married to the most beautiful woman walking on it.
But I’m a fool to think someone won’t die.