What if you threw your life away and the world threw it back? If you found yourself in credit to the value of one life? Would you spend that credit on a worthy cause, if fate offered up the chance?
...
"Bless me, Padre, for I have sinned. My last confession was...fuck, I don't even know. Oh shit, I swore in front of a priest. Fuck, I did it again. Er...sorry, Padre. I dunno when my last confession was."
"You are here now, my son. That is the important thing. What do you have to confess? No need to mention the profanity. I've already taken note of that."
"Uh, yeah. Man, where do I start? Lemme see..."
"Consider the ten commandments, my son. Then look inside yourself and examine your conscience. What are your sins?"
"Should I maybe just do the big ones, do you think?"
"Sin is sin, young man. Place your trust in God, a merciful father who wants to forgive your every transgression, no matter its size. Bare your soul and tell me all."
"Seriously? Well, in that case, buckle in and get comfortable, Padre. You might wanna clear your schedule, 'cause we're gonna be here a while..."
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"You have a visitor. Isn't that nice?"
"No." From her hospital bed, Zima gave the cheerful nurse her very best glare, nurtured and honed over the years, and rendered even more potent by her eyes' current sunken, bloodshot state.
To no effect whatsoever. "Of course it is, silly. Now, he can only stay for a few minutes. With a concussion like yours, you shouldn't really be having visitors at all, but he was very insistent. So, just a quick hello, and I'll be back soon to chase him away. Here he is now."
"Ah, Natalya—greetings." While she didn't recognise the stocky, balding man who took a seat by her bedside, there was no mistaking the accent that marked him as her compatriot. Every muscle taut, she waited for him to continue.
"What a mess, huh? A mess that will take some time to sort out. Oh, have no doubt, our organisation will recover. The process is already well under way. But in the meantime there will be period of disorder, perhaps even a little chaos. And with chaos comes opportunity. Already the scrabbling for the leadership has begun."
Leaning forward, he lowered his voice. "Please, Natalya—relax. I am not here to, uh...terminate you. Not even to discipline you." He chuckled. "Perhaps I should thank you. But in truth, I am here to offer you a second chance. A second chance and a job.
"My name is Lev Kustov, and I have decided that vacant throne is to be mine, even if my fellow...board-members do not realise it yet. And when I take my throne, I will need a strong right arm by my side. I will rest easier if that arm is Russian."
He grinned, revealing several steel teeth. "The sooner we can get back to business, the sooner we can put the mistakes of last night behind us, no? So, Natalya—what do you say?"
The drawn, ashen features formed into a grim smile. While she may not have recognised the face, she was all too familiar with this man's name—and reputation. A key player in the Syndicate's European operations, Kustov was both ruthless and ambitious—traits to which she could well relate. Presumably here in the US on some unrelated Syndicate business, he was ready to take advantage of being in the right place at the right time.
She would help this man take and keep his throne. But she was not so ready to forget the events of the previous evening. El Silencioso and her had unfinished business.
"Da. I say yes."
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Sam Q:+1 093 845 220 1.17am
Hey Sam. Nick here. I don't know if you remember me, but we fought in the quarter-finals of a tournament in LA a few years ago. You kicked my ass, but were disqualified for an illegal move and excessive contact. Don't worry, I crashed out in the semis. With the bruising you gave me, I was never going to progress. We got talking after the bout (if you do remember me, you'll know you talked and I mostly listened), and you mentioned you had a few contacts outside the sport. People who'd taught you some unofficial stuff. The kind of stuff that might come in handy for non-tournament use. For street fighting. For real fighting. And you wanted to know if I was interested in finding out more.
