That’s what happens when you’re made to look a fool, Sergei using my father, my family, playing us. My body tenses more, which is concerning because my head already feels like it’s about to explode.
I need to ask her questions, but I don’t want to hear the answers. How fucked up is that? I don’t want her to have to deal with this shit. No more. All I want is for her to live a life, away from the underbelly of ours.
Once we arrive home, I let her go. Fuck, she might take the bag of money and run for all I know, and I wouldn’t blame her. It’s still in the parlor, open and ready to go.
The front door swings open behind me, and Dante, Dave and Tommy walk back with me to the office. When the door closes, Tommy is the first to speak.
“How’s Lilly?” He sits in the old Chesterfield lounge.
“She’s not talking to me.” I pour a drink from the canter, then take my seat behind my desk.
“Maybe cause you look like you’re gonna blow a gasket.” Tommy nods at my face.
It must not change, because he turns away quick smart and I down the whiskey in one mouthful.
“So, you don’t know what he said?” Dante frowns.
My head snaps to him. “What did he say?”
He shakes his head, taking a deep breath in. “She should be talking to you, but she says you don’t listen to her.”
“Of course, I fucking listen!” I throw the glass; it smashes against the wall, shattering to pieces. “The mother fucker is dead. Done. This is why we are here. His time is up. I want him gone.”
“After tonight,” Dave says. “That will start a war, not just with his family, but the others. He’s played it as you’re the one with the problem. All eyes will be on you and if something happens to him, we’ll have to answer for it.”
“Then we find a way to keep our hands clean.” Tommy says.
But I want my hands dirty. Never since the day I was face to face with my mother’s killer have I wanted blood on my hands so much. Nikolov’s blood. Even so, I can’t risk my family, or anyone I love, just to feed the beast inside me.
“Well, you want to find out how he thinks, how he moves? You got intel in the other room,” Dante says.
I shake my head. “We keep Lilly out of it.”
“Then… you’re gonna lose her.”
“I need you on board, not against us.” If I need his support ever, it’s now.
“Then open your eyes. I didn’t get it before, but I get it now and I’m on board. But you’re blinded by her. You’re smarter than this, and you have to be. Because if I were her, after tonight, I’d be planning my escape, too. We look like chumps caught with our dicks in our hands, and your woman, she wasn’t surprised. She’s no flower, she can handle her shit. I’ve seen it firsthand. And if you don’t realise that, then all this will be for nothing. He gave her until Friday, whatever the fuck that means, to get her ass back to him. That’s what he told her. He orchestrated this whole fucking night to deliver a message.”
“That’s not going to happen.” I’m holding it together, by a string.
“No. It’s not.” Dante agrees. “So… How are we gonna stop it?”
I run my hands through my hair, and message my temples. I’m too wired to think clearly, too furious to act on anything but my anger.
“We won’t find any answers tonight,” Dave says. “We're all jacked up. Emotions are too high. I say, we up security. Get men around the clock to patrol the house. If Friday is the end game, then let him come to us.”
I nod.
“If he moves first…” Tommy shrugs. “All bets are off, he’s free game. And I, for one, wanna have my turn with him.”
“Get in line,” I grit out, but for tonight, there’s nothing left to do. “Go set it up,” I say to Dave and nod for Tommy to help.
“You got it.” Tommy jumps up, and both men leave.
When the doors close, Dante turns to me. “You think I don’t remember her?”
“What are you talking about?”