I groan and hit my head against the headrest. “Fuck. Fine.”
“What promise?” This comes from Zeno.
I don’t look at him. “To hear him out before acting.”
A grunt is all I get from Zeno, which is just as well.
I grab the door handle and say, “Let’s see what he’s got and get this over with.”
Zeno moves at lightning speed, jumping out of the car and walking around it to be next to my door as I get out. Despite his size, this man is fast.
Nikolai exits his car as well, a cowering Vladimir following him. Nikolai gives him an exasperated glance before gesturing to the simple table and chairs that are several feet inside the warehouse. We all make our way there and take a seat on opposite sides.
Nikolai steeples his hands together in front of him on the table. “Thanks for meeting me. I . . . I appreciate it.”
It sounds like the last few words are hard to get out, and I bask in his obvious discomfort, biting my cheek to keep from grinning.
“Like I said on the phone, I have proof Vladimir did not kill Tommaso.” Nikolai lets his Russian accent come out, and at his words, my whole side of the table tenses.
He clicks on the tablet he placed on the table. It must be a photo or video since we’re surrounded by signal jammers in the warehouse to keep people from listening in on us. It sucks to be cut off from outside communication for the time being, but it’s safer for both sides.
Turning the tablet around, he offers it to me. There’s a paused video on the screen, so I push the play button and watch as Vladimir meets with Tommaso, who seems jumpy as fuck. The neighborhood is dilapidated and dark, but I immediately recognize the clothes Tommaso’s wearing, and the dirty store behind them. It’s where we found him the next morning. They exchange cash for a bag of drugs, and Vladimir leaves. Tommaso shoves the bag into his jacket and turns to go as well, walking out of the frame with a cigarette in his mouth, and that’s where the video ends.
I propel the tablet to Nikolai and glare at him. “That proves nothing. He could have come back and killed him later.”
Nikolai elbows Vladimir in the side. “Tell them where you went after, durak.”
I’m unable to hide my expression, flinching slightly at the fact that Nikolai just called him an idiot in front of us. Not that that’s a terrible insult, but Nikolai isn’t known for handling his people like this in front of others.
Vladimir doesn’t immediately react, so Nikolai smacks him on the back of the head. “Now.”
At that, Vladimir sits up a little straighter. “I met with Tommaso and then I went to Maria and fucked her the rest of the night.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Zeno’s leg bouncing. Only once, but that tells me he’s just as done with this as I am.
Nikolai tilts his head back and peers up, as if the answers to his prayers are waiting there for him. He spits out something in Russian that’s too low and too fast for me to completely understand, but I’m pretty sure I heard “fucking moron” and “too stupid to live” somewhere in there.
Vladimir looks at the table and doesn’t move.
Nikolai inhales deeply before glancing at me. “Maria is his sister-in-law. He was fucking his brother’s wife, which is why he was hiding this whole time because his brother got wind of it and is out for his head.”
Behind me, Leandro snorts, but that’s the only reaction from any of us.
Nikolai drags a hand over his face before pushing around on the tablet again. “Fortunately—or unfortunately, depending on the situation—there is a video of that too. It’s on the tablet as well, in case you’re interested.”
I’m just about to answer when Nikolai lifts a finger and continues, “But to make all of this as short and as pain-free as possible, watch this first.”
Reluctantly, I grab the tablet once more, really not in the mood to watch this Russian idiota with his sister-in-law, but I play anyway. I’m surprised to see it’s not the expected sex tape, but the same location as in the previous video. It’s lighter than before as Tommaso walks into the frame, the huge-ass grin on his face confirming he’s high as a kite.
Annoyance floods through my blood, and I’m about to pause the video just as another person enters the frame. He’s dressed in all black, and it’s impossible to make out any features since his hoodie is drawn way down his face. There’s no audio for the video, but it’s clear that they get into an argument. Tommaso shoves the other guy, who’s on him in a flash, forcing Tommaso to the ground like he weighs nothing.
With a knee on Tommaso’s chest, he gets something out of his pocket and fiddles with it for a moment, like he needs to take it apart or something. The second he hits Tommaso’s neck with it, it’s clear what it is. A needle, probably full of cocaine, since that’s what Tommaso officially overdosed on.
Zeno mumbles, “Figlio di puttana,” and I couldn’t agree more.
Son of a bitch, indeed.
Tommaso stops moving almost immediately, and the other guy goes through his pockets. When he comes across the bag in the inside pocket of his jacket, the guy takes it, produces something from his own pocket, and seems to be writing on the drug bag.