Nikolai
“If you don’t fucking speak in the next five seconds, I’m going to shoot you dead.”
Tony barely blinks. We’re on our way back from a meeting and it did not go well. I got what I wanted; I always do, but let’s just say my usual charm had been replaced with the sharp edge of the knife and the barrel of a gun. Not literally, but even metaphorically, I’m aware I’m a scary mother fucker.
He changed gear. “Those were allies, boss.”
“They still are.”
Turning the wheel, he swings through the dense underbelly network of titty bars, low-level brothels, bars, and warehouses in territory owned by a vicious biker gang. Allies. Ones I managed to shake today. It wasn’t an easy task, and not a fruitful one, either. They hold grudges.
“Send them a gift basket. One of those edible arrangements.”
That makes him bark out an unexpected laugh. “Unless it’s one of drugs and pussy, I don’t think they’ll be interested.”
“They’ll get over it.”
I pull out my phone. I know what’s got me in this mood. Everyone fucking does. Everyone on my team, I amend. The GPS I pull up hasn’t moved since the big one yesterday. I say big, but it was all in the same compound, the house. What the fuck is this asshole doing?
Rush’s words continue to eat down deep, an aggressive cancer. Knowing I could swoop in and take her with an organized attack makes everything worse, not better like I thought it would. Because she’s there and
I’m…
I feel like I’m failing.
It’s new, that feeling. It’s not real. I’m not at all, but sitting about, seemingly helpless, seemingly weak, is not in my wheelhouse. “Derek is up to something.”
“No shit, Boss.” Tony turns again as we begin to enter my territory. “But threatening to shoot and maim your people isn’t helping. Nor is snapping. Everyone’s walking on eggshells.”
I turn to glare at him. “I wasn’t aware I have so many children working for me.”
He doesn’t respond. He doesn’t have to. He’s right. I’m an utter fucking prick right now. Rush even keeps out of my way.
All I need is something to happen. This marriage bullshit won’t be for a while. Mafia weddings never are, and Derek’s the type to make a big show of things like that. He loves to be big man and knowing something will annoy me is going to make him feel like King Kong.
Or so he thinks.
He’ll take her to the compound before then. Prepare her. Train her to be the docile mafia princess. My Rose is anything but docile.
Fuck. I miss-
My phone beeps, and I look down: a message from Rush.
“Forget the long way, Tony. Cut through. We got fucking trouble.”
I haven’t stopped pacing in the meeting room. My hands are clenched, and I’m itching to pull out my gun.
“What do you want to do, Niko?” The anxiousness in Rush’s voice is real.
Derek made a move. The fucker threw the first real stone in the war, the official one. He murdered someone, one of mine. It’s an outlier operation, very small, but he murdered an underling and tried to take it as his. For us, it would be a small loss, but he’d see it as a big gain.
We stopped it. My people are stellar, the best of the best. I don’t allow just anyone into my circle. Now there’s the next step, which would be retaliation. I’d be more than within my rights. It’s a stupid, ham-fisted move on Finnegan’s part. That brutal, sick fuck either wants to escalate, or he’s being overconfident. I move now, chances are, I’ll get part of what I want.
But…
“Nikolai? We have the numbers and the weapons,” Rush says. “What do you want to do?”
I grit my teeth, a muscle working hard in my jaw. “Nothing.” I stop my pacing. “Actually, send a message to him.”
“To where?” Tony asks as he leans against the table.
Rush has an iPad and is going over logistics. His face has a gray tinge; he’s furious, scared. Honestly, I think my little cousin is scared I’ll do something completely idiotic, which I won’t, no matter how much I fucking want to.
I start pacing again, tapping my fingers against my thigh. What I could do is cower and send a message via text or to his old compound. He’ll have someone there. Still, I know Finnegan won’t buy that. No way would I be so broken, and for him to know I desperately want Rose will make him think I care. That puts her in more danger than she’s already in.
Since I stopped his attack, since I know he deliberately made an act of war, I have to play this right. “Hawke’s Hollow.”
Rush’s head jerks up. “We could retaliate. There are vulnerable places and no one will step in to protect him.” Then he pauses. “Unless you’re worried about Rose.”
I narrow my eyes, swinging my head to him. “I’m not ready to escalate.”
Doing that to her needlessly? She might be that fucker’s flesh and blood, but she’s mine. She’s inside me. I won’t risk her for something this petty.
The edges of Rush’s mouth don’t turn up, but there’s a softening as some of the stiffness leaves him. “Fair enough. What’s the message?” Oh, fuck, this is gonna hurt. “Tell him stop, you’ve won.” I storm out of the room without a backward glance.
The longer the silence after my response to Finnegan, the more my rage grows. I’m out of patience, running on fucking fumes, and even those are dissipating.
I have to hold out. The reports yesterday were stagnant. No one else went out or into that fucking compound yesterday, but today…
This morning, vans rolled in. They rolled out to various locations, like Derek’s planning a move. The move, my gut tells me, but the thing about guts is that they also tell you things you don’t want, like there’s something more. Town cars started to arrive at Hawke’s Hollow about an hour ago, and there’s action inside.
The GPS signal has moved. It’s still in the confines of that place, but there’s activity in there.
A message lights up on my phone from an affiliate. It’s short.
Got an invite to Finnegan’s. In an hour.
I storm from my office to the living room where I know Rush sits. He’s set up camp here in one of the many bedrooms. He’s got a job to do, yes, but I’m thinking it’s more about keeping an eye on me. That pisses me right off, but at this moment, I’m glad. I need him.
“Rush.” I toss him my phone.
He reads the message, frowning. “Invite?”
Throwing my phone back, he starts to work on his tablet, then his phone. When he finishes, I’ve got my teams on standby. I’m fucking ready to roll.
“There’s…a party, Nikolai.”
“In the middle of what just might be a war.”
He eyes me doubtfully. “We had that message sent, so-”
“Derek Finnegan’s a lot of things, but he’s not actually stupid.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “No matter what I say sometimes. If he was, he wouldn’t be a threat.” I pull up the GPS on my phone, only to find it still in the same place, not moving much. Shit. Fuck everything. “I need eyes in there. Real eyes. Mine.”
“Nikolai.”
“Not physically. I need video.” I cut him a look and take a seat on the sofa. If I stay standing, I just might go in, guns blazing, the hell with everything. I force myself to breathe.
“Can’t get to my contact. It’s worn out its welcome for a while. Too much contact and Finnegan will notice.”
“How the fuck do I trust someone who willingly works for him?”
Rush blows out a breath. “He’s got reasons. What about the affiliate who contacted you?”
“No.” I shake my head. “This needs to be precision.” Suddenly, I look at him. “I know someone. Out of towner, New York way. He’s high up and does business with both of us. He has power, stays neutral, and…”
“What?” I don’t blame Rush for the unease as he inches forward in his seat. “Why don’t I fucking like this, Niko?”
“Nikolai,” I say absently. “Heard of Serpentine?”
His eyes widen. “You keep things even keeled with him. Nikolai, I-”
“He’s in town, and he’s going because there’s no way Derek wouldn’t invite him.” I send a quick text and get a guarded response. Yeah, the fucker’s going.
Serpentine isn’t a threat to me, but he’s a powerful ally or enemy. I did something for him once, and he owes me a favor. I’ve kept that close to the vest, waiting until the time is right.
This is all wrong. It’s a waste.
I send him a text. “He’s going, and he’ll be meeting me in an hour,” I tell Rush. “He owes me and I’m calling him on it.”
My cousin’s face says it all. I’m blowing up something big that I can and should use down the road, all for a fucking girl.
That afternoon, I get a video sent to me, no sound, from Serpentine. He’s beyond happy I used the favor. I’m not.
The party is still going, and he only put in the relevant time to make an appearance, which I know is the backdrop for a deal that has nothing to do with the war.
We keep watching the video. Rose isn’t there, but one fat fuck I know and despise is-Vitale Lugo and of course, Derek.
“Wait.” I wave a hand at the computer. “Go back.” Rush does. “Slow it.”
There. In the corner, the shadows, I see her, and my heart crushes. It’s a moment, but it’s my Rose, peeking out, dressed up, I think, in a flash of white. I replay it, over and over, pausing on that spot, trying to see more, even though it’s impossible.
“Why the fuck are they having a party?”
“You got nothing from others? Serpentine?” Rush asks.
“The others are still there, but he’s gone and he’s not going to say a thing. He took the video, sent it, and the favor is done,” I say.
Rush is frowning at me. “How-”
“He likes high tech shit. He likes to tape everything. It’s easy enough to get cameras small enough to go undetected. That isn’t important, the-” I stop as my phone beeps, and my pulse starts to hammer. The GPS is on the move. “Get everyone ready,” I say. “He’s moving her.”
Rush is holding his phone in his hand now. “Nikolai,” he says, “some cars just left.”
“So? She’s still there.” I gesture to the dot still in the compound.
He raises a finger. “Hang on.” Rush makes a call. “Talk.” He continues to mumble into the phone in a rushed whisper. I’m losing my patience.
“People are leaving, party’s fucking over, and she’s still there,” I say as he continues listening to the person on the other end.
“Yeah, but it’s not the guests…” Rush looks up at me. “Priestly’s following two of Finnegan’s cars, along with one other. Those three are definitely heading in the same direction.” He stops for a long moment, listening. “And…”
“What?”
“They’re heading into Vitale territory.” He looks at me, frowning. That frown deepens and then melts into an expression of realization that rocks my bones with numbing cold. “Oh.”
Oh? I don’t get it. Don’t get it or don’t want to get it, I’m not sure which because the numbing of my bones holds something. I glance at the GPS feed as the dot starts to move out of where the house would be and then towards the gates. I look back to my cousin. He hasn’t moved, and he’s gone white.
“What the fuck is it, Rush?”
He swallows. “Niko, I think I know what this is. They’re heading to a church.”
My blood turns into ice. I know exactly what he’s going to say.
“I think…it’s the wedding. I-”
“Fuck.” I thought I had more time. I thought Finnegan would wait. I thought-
A rage like I’ve never felt crashes into me, and I yell, sending everything to the floor. I pick up the computer-a brand new one-and hurl it into the wall.
Fuck waiting.
Fuck the calculations, the buildup.
Fuck the plan.
“Nikolai.” I check my gun, then put it back and stalk over to where I have a backup. That’s loaded, too. “Where are you going?”
“Where do you fucking think?” I snarl, not looking at him as I head for the door. “I’m going to get back what belongs to me and kill Derek in the process.”