I stared at Robin. She looked down at the table and I could tell she was uncomfortable. She wanted to say something but was having trouble.
“Robin,” I said.
Her eyes snapped up. “Yes?”
“What do you think about that?”
She looked around. All the men stared at her, including Enrico.
“Rolan wouldn’t turn on the family.” She spoke in a very soft voice. “He loves Uncle Maksim.”
“You’re his cousin,” Hedeon said. “You claim to have turned on them.”
“They tried to kill me, and I’m only… a half-breed, not full Russian. But Rolan’s full Russian and he’s always been treated well. I can’t imagine…” She trailed off, shaking her head.
Hedeon smiled. It looked sour on his lips. “Your cousin’s an addict,” he said. “Does that change your mind?”
She seemed surprised. “I find that hard to believe.”
“It’s true. That’s how I first made contact. He bought from one of my corner boys, and ever since then I’ve maintained a good relationship.”
“No… Uncle Maksim wouldn’t tolerate it.”
“Perhaps that’s why he’s willing to turn,” Reid said.
“If he’s angry and your uncle found out, that’s possible, isn’t it?” I asked.
Robin chewed her lip. “I don’t know.”
“Either way, he fucked us over,” Aldman said. “He sent us into a death trap.”
“I’ll admit, I can’t trust everything he says anymore,” Hedeon said. “We will be more careful in the future.”
“No more sending people in blind,” I said, staring at Hedeon. “That could’ve been me, taking that bullet.”
Hedeon inclined his head. “True, but I’m glad it wasn’t.”
Enrico snorted, but said nothing.
“Where do we go from here?” Reid asked.
“We’ll have to hit, man,” Aldman said.
“I agree,” Enrico said. “Hit them back twice as fucking hard. Two eyes for an eye.”
“Yes, I agree.” Hedeon sighed and looked tired. “It’s going to be on you then, Leo. Since you were there for the attack and the girl’s working with you.”
“Get the girl to turn over a good target,” Aldman said. “You can handle that, can’t you, Volkov?”
Robin flinched. “I’m not a Volkov anymore. And I think I can manage.”
“Good,” Hedeon said. “Show Leo an acceptable target. I’m giving you full authority to act as necessary without prior consent.”
Aldman looked surprised. Reid only nodded. Enrico snorted and shook his head.
“Mistake, boss,” Enrico said. “He’s going to fuck it up.”
“I’ll take care of it,” I said, looking at Hedeon.
“Sooner rather than later.” He stared back at me. “No mistakes. Nothing sloppy. We can’t afford it right now. There are angry voices in the crew right now. Nobody’s happy about what happened to Pavel.”
“Consider it done.” I stood. Robin did the same. She looked profoundly shaken and pale.
“Good luck, shithead,” Enrico said.
I walked around the table and faked a punch at Enrico’s head. He flinched back and I grinned viciously.
“Be careful,” Hedeon called as I took Robin’s hand and led her away from the table. “We can’t afford sloppy right now. We can’t afford mistakes.”
“When have I ever let you down?” I asked.
Aldman rolled his eyes. Reid only grinned.
I tugged Robin along and headed back down to the side door and exited into the afternoon sunlight.12RobinI didn’t speak as Leo drove away from the school and did slow loops around the neighborhood. I didn’t ask what he was doing or why, and it didn’t matter.
I kept thinking about Cousin Rolan.
We weren’t close growing up. I wasn’t close with any of my cousins. They were all good little Volkov soldiers, which meant they weren’t interested in giving the time of day to trash like me. I was a half-breed nothing and barely deserved any part of the family at all. Of course they didn’t want to spend time with me.
But Rolan was a little different. He was kind to me at least. Maybe he didn’t go out of his way to play with me, or invite me places, or really speak to me much. But he didn’t show me the disdain the others did. There were small kindnesses here or there, a shared drink, a slice of cake, small gestures that reinforced my humanity.
I always thought it was because Rolan didn’t quite fit in himself. Oh, he was a good soldier, all right. But he was overweight, slower than the other boys, not as smart, not as strong. He got picked on and teased mercilessly, and he was always the last in everything.
In some ways, I thought we had a lot in common.
Rolan went his own way as we got older and I didn’t see much of him. But I always remembered those small kindnesses.
Now he was an addict and intertwined with some other gang. I couldn’t imagine how he ended up here, but I believed Hedeon.
I could see him turning to drugs. I could see him shooting up just to escape the merciless teasing, the anger, the derision.
It made me mourn. It made me feel guilty.
“You’ve been quiet.”
I let out a sigh and looked at Leo. “Thanks for what you did in there.”