Luca’s pov
A loud ringing of the doorbell was not how I’d have liked to start my morning.
I roused sleepily, burrowing further into my pillow to block out the irritating sound.
A quiet sigh drew my attention, and I turned to see Cara lying on her side beside me, at which point I realized I was in her bed.
The ringing stopped and I was content to watch her peaceful sleeping form, memories of the previous day flooding back in. We’d made love so many times that I’d lost count but I remember every single time being phenomenal.
I reached out to gently tuck away the stray strands on her beautiful face, my heart swelling when she purred at my touch. She smelled divine even after the hot, dirty sex we’d had immediately after showering together and another one before we slept for the night.
I’d been so exhausted and sated I didn’t even remember waking up past midnight to work like I do most nights, and this was usually the case whenever I went to bed with Cara. The meds I’ve been taking for my insomnia barely afforded me more than six hours of sleep but nights with her made me sleep like a log as long as there were no interruptions.
Speaking of interruptions, the ringing of the doorbell resumed on cue, reviving my annoyance.
“Merda,” I growled, pushing off the bed. Whoever was at the door better had a good reason for interrupting my sleep this early in the morning. Scanning the room for my briefs, I spotted it lying not too far off from the bed, along with my pants. I snatched it off the floor and put it on, snatched my pants next and put that on as well. Then I grabbed my glock from under the pillow and headed out.
“I was beginning to think that you two were lying dead in there.” Dominic said the instant I swung the door open, a disgruntled look on his face.
“Cara sleeps like the dead, I on the other hand, was ignoring you.” I pulled back my tousled hair from my eyes. “Why the fuck are you here so early in the morning?”
“Morning?” Dominic snorted, “Did you lose track of time in pound town or what? It’s fucking noon, Luca.”
All the grogginess I was feeling disappeared at once. I grabbed Dominic’s left hand and squinted at his Rolex.
Half past noon. I’ve been out like a light for more than ten hours.
Fuck.
Dominic snatched back his hand, “I’ve been trying to reach you on your phone but you didn’t answer. Went to your place but you weren’t there so I figured you’d be here.” He chuckled humorlessly, “If only I’d figured that out from the get go, I’d have saved myself from a useless trip.”
I sighed, rubbing my eyes and back heading inside. “So what’s so important that you had to hunt me down?”
“Alexei’s on the move.”
I stopped in my tracks right in the living room and slowly turned around. “What?” I was taken by surprise because the intel I’ve been getting from my spies in Russia said otherwise.
“He’s in Chicago,” Dominic said, further contradicting my intel.
A crease appeared between my eyes. “That can’t be. From what I’ve been informed, he’s supposed to be at his mother’s villa.”
The silence from Dominic’s end said more than words. Somehow and at some point, I’d been double-crossed or maybe there was more to the story. Whatever it was, that sneaky Russian bastard had slipped under my radar.
“For how long?” I asked, growing uneasy. If Alexei had been on my turf undetected, he’d have had time to plan out whatever it was he wanted to do. Enough time.
Dominic went over to the wall on the left to straighten an askew painting before facing me again. I didn’t like the look on his face.
“Unfortunately, we don’t know exactly. Alexei…” A dark chuckle, “that bastard, he made his men spread multiple versions of his arrival. We’ve heard he’s been here for only a day, we’ve been told it’s just for two days, another is saying a week and”
I couldn’t help it, I laughed. And I did it loudly, my chest shaking and all. For a spoiled prince, Alexei Mikhalov was as shrewd as a street hound. This must be how he contaminated my intel from Russia. I’d have to admit, it was impressive.
“Have one of our Capos contact our guys at the airport and police department. You and I would have to focus on the bigger matters.” If Alexei wanted to strike, he’d want to do it now that he thinks I’m unaware of his presence in Chicago. I needed to use that to my advantage.
“What are we going to do?” Dominic asked, his hands settling into his pockets.
I leaned against Cara’s leather couch and folded my arms, my eyes focusing hard on the checkered center rug. “We need to find out his exact location first and then we’ll take him out once and for all. He’s in a vulnerable position right now, the strife with his father has left him less protected, his cousin wants him out of the picture. If we tag up with them, we can easily kill him off.
Also, there’s the fact that he’s on our home turf. He has less power here and he hid news of his arrival because he knows this. We need to be quick and precise because the fucker is a wily one. Contact Mikhail, his first cousin. We’d need his cooperation.”
“You got it boss,” Dominic said. He glanced at the direction of Cara’s bedroom. “We’d have to-”
“Leave immediately,” I completed his words, “I know that, contact the cousin while I wash up, and call Grigori as well and tell him to meet us at the office.” I was already walking towards Cara’s bedroom. “Santino, too.”
Cara was still knocked out when I returned. She’d grabbed my pillow, hugging it as she snored softly. I took a minute to admire her before tucking her back into the duvet and heading for the bathroom.
It took me less than fifteen minutes to brush my teeth with her spare toothbrush and shower with her feminine scented soap. Not that I’d ever admit it but I liked the idea of smelling like her.
I got dressed quickly, tugged my gun back in my holster and grabbing my watch and phone. I placed a kiss on Cara’s forehead head, giving her one last stare before leaving, my body already growing agitated with the thought of leaving her when Alexei was lurking somewhere around the city. I sent a quick text to Sergio, ordering him to get all his men on duty today. I wanted all hands on deck.
Dominic was hanging up by the time I returned to the living room and we wasted no time in leaving. We took his lambo and sped out of the parking garage like we were on a chase.
My father called halfway through the journey and I explained the situation to him before he informed me of his meeting with the Serbian boss who was also in Chicago. Apparently, Serbia and Russia were still at each other’s throats so we were getting a new ally in him which was perfect. I told my father to tell the Serbian boss about our plan to take out Alexei and get back to me in thirty minutes.
Dominic put his racecar practices to use and we pulled up at Club Nova much faster than usual. I just hoped we won’t be bothered later for breaking some sort of traffic laws.
Sensing our urgency, my bouncers worked faster at opening the doors and everyone on the inside wasted no time in getting out of the way as we barreled for the VIP section.
Grigori and Santino were already waiting for us in the conference room, along with my Capos. An active Google map was on one projector screen and a zoom call with a dark haired version of Alexei on the other. As protocol, every man rose up the moment they noticed me.
“Have we found him?” I asked, getting straight to it as I sat down, the men doing the same.
Grigori went over to the projector with the map. “Yes, he’s meeting up with someone from the Prosecution office at Orion.”
Orion, the restaurant for dirty gatherings.
“Chandler,” I snarled, certain that the person Alexei was meeting was the cowardly district attorney. The bastard had double-crossed me again or maybe he was being held at gunpoint like he claimed to be last time. Either way, he was a useless limb to be cut off.
I signaled to Grigori to mute the call with Alexei’s cousin. We might be joining forces to stop Alexei but that didn’t mean I could trust him with the details. Alexei was famously the only level headed person in his family aside from his father. I didn’t want any impulsive input messing up my plans. What he didn’t know, he couldn’t mess up.
Grigori muted the call and I got to my orders immediately. “Release the dirt we have on our dear DA to the press. Make him useless before whatever plans he and Alexei are working on sailed. I need him to be immediately excommunicated from the prosecution, can’t have our pakhan tapping into that connection.”
“Yes, Don.” Grigori said, tapping away on his iPad.
I propped my elbow on the armrest of my fingers, cracking my thumb. “As for you,” I said to the capos, “mobilize all your men and head for Orion. I want Alexei to be taken out the second he walks out. Spare the DA, let the law take care of him.”
They rose to their feet as once, bowing before they filed out.
“Santino, I need you on standby in case he somehow gets past them.”
Santino nodded and followed them out, leaving just Dominic, Grigori and me.
“What about help from the Serbian boss? We could use his manpower too.” Dominic suggested but I shook my head.
“That won’t be necessary.” I got up and walked to the projected map, my eyes boring at the blinking location pin of the Orion’s. I didn’t have the time to set up another meeting with the Serbian boss and plan out his involvement.
Alexei Mikhalov needed to be eliminated now or never and I was not going to let him live past today, with or without the Serbians’ help.