Somewhere in Greece.
Third Person POV.
Anton sat in the black Sedan they arrived with from Russia, watching the dilapidated building they got information that Thea, a distant relation to Helen lives.
Of course, since Andrei told him that he didn’t find Helen’s daughter at the school, both brothers had been restless.
It can’t be possible that all the money they’ve been paying to find something useful regarding the girl Helen gave birth to was a waste.
Hell, that got Anton insanely angry. He had forced Andrei to stay back in America until further notice but Andrei being stubborn refused to extend his stay in the States and flew back to Russia.
Anton can’t leave their business, given the fact that he’s the leader of their mafia clan. In fact, he’s only here in Greece now because he will still fly back tonight.
He needed to see the precious hidden relation of the late Pakhan and ask about the missing girl.
Anton sure paid the cooperate spy a whopping sum of ten grand just to have the woman’s location. He argued with Andrei before he made the payment because Andrei believed they were wasting their money on a girl who happened to be dead.
His brother so much believes the girl they’re looking for is long gone, yeah. But Anton has this doubt that the initial information they received regarding the girl was fake.
That’s the reason Anton’s doing this. The reason he’s putting in huge sums of money is until he clarifies himself or finds the girl.
The truth is that both twin brothers will marry the girl as theirs. Yes, they love to share with women. So marrying separately was never on the card for them.
If Helen’s daughter is alive and trapped in their clutches, she’ll be the bride for the two Sokolov brothers.
Anton’s bulky men unwrap a cigarette packet and take one for themselves. They lit the cigarette, making its scent flit the air around them.
Anton knew his men enough that he was not bothered about them losing focus. They were always on alert.
Just like now, as they were filling their systems with long drags of smoke, their eyes were sharp and their senses high.
The men are waiting for the right time to strike. As the iridescent sun bathed softly over the sky, the man kept counting time.
They had taken time to check everything regarding
Thia’s daily activities and figured the woman usually return home by six in the evening.
She had a son who was about eleven.
And right now, the boy with curly dark hair whooshed past their car with his bicycle and drew to a halt in front of the building Anton and his men had been watching.
The boy let out a sigh, as he slid down the stand of his bicycle when he parked it inside the narrow compound.
As he was about to stalk to the entrance and open the door after slipping the key from under the flowerpot, he instantly felt someone
looming over him.
Scared, the small boy slowly veered on his feet, and almost gasped at the sight of a man with bald hair and a scary tattoo drawn across his forehead, with piercings on both his eye brows.
The boy took a gulp of breath, feeling the thunderous hammering of his heart as he dropped his eyes lower, taking in the man.
The scary, bulky man gave him a bone-chilling grin and slowly, pulled a gun from his back.
Holding the boy at gunpoint, he ordered hoarsely. “Open up, boy.”
The small boy found his hands and feet obeying the order without wasting time. He shoved the key into the door and unlocked it. He sauntered inside with shaky legs. However, by the time he managed to look back again, he figured there were more men now.
About…five men with hunky bodies and scary tattoo drawn on their faces. However amongst these men, one looked to be the leader.
Yeah, the one on the suit with curly brunette hair.
The man walked through the wall of protection his men created and stood before the boy.
“Killian, right?” Anton’s accented voice asked. The deep baritone of his voice has the boy nodding.
Anton nodded with a smile. He grasped the boy by the shoulder and herded Killian to take a seat beside him.
The boy shivered in his arms as Anton’s men surrounded him, while they waited for the precious aunty and mother.
*
*
*
It was already nightfall by the time Thea alighted from a tricycle in front of her house. Her short, ten inches black hair, framed the sides of her face as she rummaged through her grocery bag in search of money to tip the driver.
“Ah, here.” She grunted with a smile and shoved the money into the driver’s hand.
Then, Thea finds her way into the narrow compound littered with lilies. She didn’t notice anything, of course.
The woman had always lived freely. Not involved in her brother’s mafia life. Though they say mafia business is shitty and dangerous, Thea never witnessed his brother being involved in trouble when he was alive years back, despite the fact he was the Pakhan of the underworld.
However, her brother was the one who sent them away from New York to reside in the remote part of Greece for over ten years.
Thea was newly married in that period. After years of staying here with her husband, they had Killian. Five years after Killian was born, her husband died, leaving Thea to shoulder the responsibilities alone.
Of course, her brother had been helping until he died alone too.
Thea swung the door open and found her way into the kitchen where she dropped her bag on the floor.
She noticed that the house was kinda quiet. It was unlike Killian to stay in a house this quiet. It was either the boy was outside or asleep. But he can’t be outside now. She saw his bicycle outside. Thea took the latter option.
Killian was definitely asleep. At that, she mindlessly swerved her way through the kitchen with a cup of water.
On getting to the living room, which was only a few meters apart from the kitchen, the light came on.
The glow of the bulb spread across the room, giving the woman the opportunity to take in her surroundings.
There. That was when she saw everything and with a gasp, her cup of water fell from her fingers and landed with a cringing thump on the floor.
“Omigod.” She whispered in shock, watching men in black, leather jackets and tattoos
standing in her space, her son trapped between them.
Thea’s wandering eyes then landed on Anton and the strange man gave her a smile.
“Hello, aunty.” Anton voiced out with a creepy smile.
She took a swallow against the lump in her throat. Thea’s heart skipped several beats until it started to hammer against her ears.
“Who are you?” She allowed herself a word.
Damn, the woman was scared for her son. She wanted to run across the room and whisk her son away from the man’s hands.
Killian shot his mother a fearful look as a lone tear escaped him.
“Your…humble visitors,” Anton responded to Thea’s question. “C’mon, have a seat, hmmm?” Anton hummed.
Thea would have believed him if they aren’t with guns and didn’t have this murderous looks.
She jerked in fear as one of Anton’s men stepped out to guide her to a seat.
Thea sat on the edge of the seat, shaking with fear for her life and that of her son.
She managed to stare up at Anton. His gaze was on her too. After a while, he swiftly sighed and crossed his legs, his back leaning over the seat.
“What do you know about Helen’s daughter, hmm?” Anton quickly got down to business.
The woman wasn’t one of their rivals so there was no need to run around the bush
The sight of guns alone was enough to make her speak.
“She’s dead.” She voiced out, uncertainly.
“Is she?” Anton spoke up, gruffly. “From what I found out…Helen came here years ago begging she keep her child with you. What was the girl’s name again…?” Anton tipped his chin in thought, running his hand over the tiny stubble there.
Thea didn’t know when the words came tumbling out of her lips. “Vera.”
“Correct.” Anton snapped in bliss. He locked eyes with Thea again and cocked his brow. “So…tell me. Where did you two connive to hide the girl?” he pressured her.
Thea looked dumbfounded. She had agreed to keep Vera with her when the girl was still a child. But a few days after Vera’s stay, Helen returned and decided to take Vera with her.
Well, since then…
“Answer me or…do you perhaps
need some motivation?” He asked, his fingers curling on Killian’s hair.
The air escaped the guy’s gaped mouth. Thea’s eyes went wide as she watched her son’s face contort in pain.
She shook her head, the words fleeing her mouth. “I don’t know anything aside from the fact that Helen came back and took her child, Vera, from us a few days after her stay.” She gushed.
The look on Anton’s face showed the man wasn’t buying her words which threw Thea into a frantic state. She’s gaped her mouth and continued spilling words just to save them. Herself and her son, Killian.
“Months later I received news that Helen was dead, likewise her daughter, Vera. I don’t know anything aside from this.” She practically
begged.
Anton snapped to his feet on a whim, pacing the length of the house in anger.
Could Andrei be right about this? Could Vera truly be dead by now?
Oh, shit. The girl was their main source of power. Their main source to becoming the leader they’ve always wanted to be. They’ve always wanted their Sokolov clan to be the most feared mafia clan but Vera is…fucking dead or…missing.
Shit! Anton barked under his breath.
He stared at the woman looking for any more doubt but he knew better than to assume Thea might be lying.
He had interrogated many suspects and he had tortured many too, so when a suspect lies, Anton would know.
Right now, he knew that Thea had said all she knew about Vera.
Coming here was probably a waste of time, energy, and money.
He gritted his teeth to tamp down on the rage brewing inside him at the knowledge that he was chasing a lost course.
At that, Anton stopped pacing. He gave Thea one last long look and began to pad away from the house with a curse.
It just didn’t make sense. Thea and her son are lucky Anton wasn’t entirely in his dark mood because wasting innocent and guilty people’s blood wasn’t new to him.
Between Andrei and Anton, the most feared and most dangerous one was Anton. He would go to any length just to get what he wanted.
He didn’t know shit but something was telling him Vera wasn’t dead.
Anton’s phone rang out when they all settled in the black Sedan. He fished it out and saw Andrei’s name flashing on the screen.
Anton picked up and whispered, huskily. “I didn’t get any information.”
The other side was silent and Anton knew Andrei was laughing silently at him.
They both wanted Vera, yeah.
But Anton needed her the most.
She’s supposed to be his bride.
His key to becoming the most powerful mafia.
To be continued…