Moodlist
Smoking On My Ex Pack - SZA
fuckwithmeyouknowigotit - JAY Z featuring Rick Ross
SAOKO - Rosalia
Return The Favour - Keri Hilson featuring Timbaland
NEED IT - Kaytranada featuring Masego
Autodéfense - Lous And The Yakuza
The Last Meeting
Paris, France
Late September
"We have been looking for Dmitri Vasiliev for a long time now. Angelo, you in particular, have your own issues to rectify with the man. The Don also has some retribution he'd like to exact against him. I have reason to believe that he is hiding in Turkmenistan, after falling out of favour with the Kremlin. See, Putin was not best pleased that Vasiliev ordered the assassination of an American Citizen on US soil. By doing so he overplayed his hand." That was the last thing any of them expected me to say.
I continued.
"Turkmenistan is virtually impossible to get into. There is no way that he can be reached there, even with some of my best assets. Instead, I have located one of his old enforcers, a man named Fedir Kovalenko. He is the man that administered the lethal dose of nerve agent that killed the late Antonio Leone, may he rest in peace." A moment of silence passed for the man who's actions set in motion the irreversible sequence of events that brought everyone in the room together today.
"Kovalenko? He's dead Vanessa. I heard it on old Bratva chatter." Raymond was shocked, his words coated in surprise. Having severed ties with his old employers, he was somewhat out of the loop. But Kovalenko was a big player and his alleged death was an even bigger deal.
Instead of answering, I slid a file across the table, and Ray wasted no time picking it up.
"Within that file, you will see photographs of Kovalenko in Vienna a week ago. He's working there as a financial advisor. We believe him to still be in contact with his boss, as his only connection to the West. I am confident that working him will allow us to smoke Vasiliev out." Angelo looked at me with incredulity.
I'm Miss Make It Happen now, nigga.
"How did you get this shit, Vanessa?" Poor Angelo, he had no clue.
"A lady never reveals her sources." More than that wasn't required at that moment.
"When you say 'working' him, what do you mean?" He knew what I meant.
Not killing him.
"I meant what I said. It will take a while to flip him and even longer to get him to pull Vasiliev out of hiding. But it will happen. And we'll be there to catch him when it does." The way he cleared his throat let me know that he didn't agree with me.
"I appreciate what you have done so far, Vanessa. I really do. But out of the two of us, I am the more experienced. I believe that handing this over to me now would be the best way forward. After all, that is what we are here to do, no? You are handing things over to me to lead on." Our audience were subtly moving their eyes back and forth, as if spectating a tennis match at Wimbledon.
It was my turn to serve like Serena.
"You may be more experienced, Angelo, but you are inferior in this space. You don't even know what your own team is doing behind your back." Indignation at the implication that he was inferior at anything rumbled through his chest like a cough. He sat up, face set in stone with anger at my acerbic observation.
Oh, by I was only just getting started.
Before he would respond, I turned my attention to the man who was least expecting it.
"Nic, I know you've been trying to work that Bulgarian after you were told to leave it alone. Do you know who those orders came from?" His dark irises became seemingly smaller, as more of the whites surrounding them come into view.
I couldn't see it, but I knew his heart started beating double time.
"I know that Angelo told you to cease contact immediately a few weeks back. Do you know why he did that?" The young man was taken aback. He had used allegedly encrypted channels of communication, and was surprised I even knew about it. Not being used to challenged so directly by a woman, he leaned into his first instinct and pushed back.
"I don't. But it was a contact that took me months to get my hands on. I wasn't about to just let it go. Y'know, don't ask for permission, ask for forgiveness and all that. I find bending a few rules isn't too egregious when you get results." I scoffed at the arrogance of the young man, and he too received a thin file to review.
When he opened it, the colour drained from his face.
The same would happen to you if you too saw the picture of a man who died by radiation poisoning. It was a truly a gruesome way to go.
"That is the deceased corpse of Tsvetoslav Ivanov. The man you were trying to get hold of. He died, 48 hours ago. If you turn the page you will see a copy of his death and autopsy certificates. They're in the Cyrillic alphabet, so please pass it to Raymond, who will be able to translate for us."
The only thing that could be heard was the faint sound of paper shuffling. While the file was being passed on to its intended reader, the room was silent with anticipation. Raymond was swift in his location of the certificate and his voice was what broke the silence.
"It says here that he died by radiation poisoning. Apparently the levels found in his blood were 'astronomical'" At this point, I almost felt bad for the young man. Almost.
"Okay, so I'll ask you again. Why do you think Angelo told you to cease contact with this man?"
I gave him a little more time to compose himself and produce an answer. I wanted to hear what he had to say. So I took the time to brush my hands over my lap, ridding myself from any imaginary specks of dust. A brief glance down, brought into view the set of Chopard rings and bracelets I had on.
Van Cleef & Arpels did not make an appearance in today's stack.
He remained silent. To my chagrin.
"He asked you to leave that lead alone because the order came straight from the Don. After I provided him with advice to cease communications with the Bulgarian. You continued anyway, but as before, you were unsuccessful in reaching him. Why do you think that is?" Angelo wanted to know too, and was looking over at his Capo with increasing annoyance playing across his feature.
"Speak up, the lady asked you a fucking question Nic!" This is not good cop, bad cop.
Fighting the urge to roll my eyes, I simple motioned for him to speak with my hand.
"I guess you had something to do with it." Bingo.
"You guessed right. I have been blocking all of your attempts to reach this man for months. The reason I have been doing this is because when he started courting Vasiliev, a Russian enemy of state, to sell him whatever weapons he had, he became of particular interest to the Kremlin. Y'know, like Putin?" I couldn't help but imitate the smug tone he'd taken with me earlier. He looked like he was going to vomit.
"Yeah, those guys were, very, not happy with him. They told him to back off, he didn't. Now he's dead. And a number of his associates are in hospital right now facing the same fate." Not interested in his response to me invariably saving his life and those of everyone around him, I moved my focus back to his boss.
"Vanessa, I didn't know he w-" I didn't give a fuck. It was his job to know better. I wouldn't have gotten away with anywhere near a blatant show of disobedience like this.
At this point, I hadn't slept a wink. Laurent was furious with me, for the embarrassment he inflicted on himself by engaging with Angelo when I told him not to. Although I wasn't in love with him, I valued his friendship and was upset that my best dick wasn't going to be bussing me down any time soon.
I stayed up all night, trying to think of how I could get him back. This was a bit extreme, but if Angelo was still the man he claimed to no longer be, then this would play into my long game.
So I made my move.
And got my turn to humiliate him while I was at it.
"I don't want to hear it. I said all this to say: This is my yard. My stomping grounds. Y'all clearly don't know your assholes from a hole in the wall here. I was notified within the hour when this man went on the red list. Within minutes when he died. I have gone to extreme lengths to procure this information about the enforcer for the Don. The fact that you are a benefactor of that work is merely a coincidental silver lining." He thought only he could get under my skin? We'll see about that.
"You need to a) do your job and control your dogs better and b) let me handle this my way. Your Capo acting against instruction very nearly made us subject to heat from the Kremlin. I am well acquainted with your elephantine sense of self esteem, which you seem to have passed on to your progeny, but I will not allow it run rampant. Not at the cost of all of our safety. I understand how important this is to you. And I will make sure that both men are brought to you alive to do with what you please. But do not test me. You are to stand down, and let me continue on with my lead on this. Have I made myself clear?" Crystal.
He. Was. Pissed.
And you didn't have to be his ex-girlfriend to know. There was a particularly distinctive blood vessel that ran down his forehead, which begun pulsating. The redness was only just starting to creep up his collar, but the way his lips were set gave him away.
Assignment understood.
My point couldn't be clearer if he underwent LASIK.
After a few seconds to compose himself, his tone took a much needed adjustment "You have demonstrated that this is best matter is best in your hands today. I will let you take the lead."
Although the response was for me, he was shooting eye daggers at the insubordinate Capo at the left of him.
His brothers and advisor were trying not to laugh. Today was the quickest round of all talks. I hadn't intended to do it quite like that. I was going to address Nic's misadventures with the young man first and give him an opportunity to own up to them before
Last night changed that.
He embarrassed me in front of company? I returned the favour.
Raymond stood opposite me and didn't care about Angelo's defeat today. He grinned big, winking at me. I gave him a gentle smile back
No one was gonna whoop him, so he did as he pleased.
To mark the end of the most excruciating negations of my life, I stood up and reached across the table to shake his hand.
Only sore losers don't end with a shake.
He closed the gap with his own, giving me a firm handshake, and while he was resisting the urge to use this grip to drag me out of the room, I was trying to ignore the sensation aroused by the brief contact.
Neither of us let out internal turmoil interfere with the staring contest we'd silently begun.
What he couldn't see, in all of his anger was that the saccharine smile I had on my face was cut by the saltiness of knowing.
Because I knew him. He wasn't going to let me do it my way.
So while we where shaking on what he just told me, I laid it on thick. My eyes rounded a bit with feigned relief, and I let a silent huff of air escape my mouth. My words would be dredged in false gratitude. And they would seal the deal.
"Thank you so much Angelo. I appreciate that you are trusting me with this." He thought I couldn't see the wheels turning in his mind. But he forgot.
I can see the future.
Vienna, Austria
Early October
This chair was really uncomfortable. I had been seated in it for about ten minutes. Slipping into the building and office undetected was easy. Vienna was a low crime city and people often left their front doors unlocked.
I couldn't see the scene in the building across me with my eyes, but I knew exactly what was happening anyway.
See, remember when Angelo said he would let me take the lead?
He was lying.
I knew it when he subtly scratched his beard after telling me he would stand down. The fact that he took the file with the information I gave him on Kovalenko like I knew he would confirmed it for me.
So when he returned to the US and then came straight back to Europe, to start recon in Vienna, I already had bodies on the ground, waiting and watching.
He was spotted almost immediately, but wasn't aware of the eyes on him.
He left the A-Team at home. He knew they wouldn't touch this. But they would find out anyway.
So after a week of recon, they figured out Kovalenko's routine.
As my team had weeks ago.
He got to his office around 8.30am. Once settled in, at 8.34am, he would open the curtains, using them to conceal his form. He would wait for a few moments to see if anything was untoward and once he was satisfied, he would take a seat and commence his working day.
When he arrived at 8.30am that morning, I began speaking to him in his native tongue. He was surprised, and wanted to enquire about my identity, but when I told him that I had reason to believe that his life was in danger, the questions on his mind were extinguished. He didn't believe me all the way, but that didn't matter. I had his attention. That was all I needed.
At this point, we had reached 8.34am and he hadn't opened the curtains yet. Across the street, in another office building, there was a single man, waiting behind the window. The floor he was on was closed for renovations, making it the perfect spot to hide. The windows had a glare reflecting quality to them, meaning that it was difficult to ascertain the internal goings on.
But I knew what was happening. The window the man was sitting behind had been propped up ever so slightly, just enough for the fine end of a sniper rifle to stick out. He was very experienced with this kind of activity, and his nerve ending crackled with anticipation at yet another hit.
He had been casing his mark for days, and when it got to 8.34am, he positioned his gun, to aim straight for where he knew the man's head would be once seated. The sniper was an arrogant man with a God-complex and a near 100% kill rate. But not quite as arrogant as the men watching the scene from a laptop screen in a nearby hotel.
Virtually standing over his shoulder were two other men. Nic, the subordinate who was itching to see the head of the Ukrainian man split open through the feed on the screen. Even more, he wanted to see my reaction after I received the news that he had been murdered against my wishes.
And then there was Angelo. He wanted revenge. If he couldn't get to the man who called for his father's assassination then he would go for the man who did the dirty deed.
Aim for the stars, land on the moon.
The moment was growing more intense. 8.34am had passed and they were about halfway through 8.35am. No curtain twitching yet. The sniper spoke, the voice being picked up by an earbud he was wearing. He was asking Angelo whether he should remain in position and Angelo responded in the positive. Panic started to creep up his shirt collar though shirt collar. Had they been compromised?
The apprehension he felt biting at his skin would be nothing compared to the emotion he was about to experience.
See, I didn't witness this with my own eyes. But I saw it all happen already. It why I was here in the first place. He had been warned not to test me. He called my bluff. Now, I had no other choice.
The office I was in heaved with trepidation. I decided to focus on what I did see. I could see Kovalenko moving towards his window with haste, and quickly opening the curtains as I instructed him to. I saw the glare of the window that the sniper was concealed behind, and how it was ever so slightly open. I saw the faint glimmer of a camera that wasn't underneath that window last week.
Then I saw Kovalenko's face go paper-white.
His mouth moved without sound, presumably trying to tell me to move, but the source of his panic disappeared about five seconds after it first graced my forehead. He visibly deflated with relief and closed the curtains again, not daring invite more sniper's eyes or bullets. I took this as my opportunity.
Turning my head to face him, I said. "You asked me why you should trust me? I'm not asking you to trust me yet. I am asking you to simply take a look at the state of affairs, Mr Kovalenko. You are wanted. I can protect you. The choice is always yours."
The City
Mid October
"Whoa, that is a LOT to unpack, Enzo!" She was fucking right about that.
Vanessa had a way of... minimising things, so the story that Malia had gotten from her soul sister was much more tame. She simply taught Angelo a couple of lessons.
"I know, I know. The whole thing was crazy Lia! Like something out of a movie." Running my hand down my face, I briefly let my phone slip back, before correcting it so that she could see my exasperated features. These niggas were nuts. And obviously made for each other.
And then I got fucking dragged into it.
Not wanting to withhold any "tea" from my little sunshine, I quickly began recounting how I came to know about this in the first place.
I was in the living room of my condo, in the middle of the night. I was working on something, and let the time get away from me. Then, I got a notification on my phone stating someone had airdropped me something, which was suspicious. Wild and I were alone in my apartment, and his old ass was a) dead sleep and b) didn't know how to do that.
What made my heart pound like I had just done a marathon, was what I saw when I opened the notification. It video feed of a window. The daylight of the scene informed me that this was taking place outside the US. The curtains almost immediately opened to reveal Vanessa, sat at an office chair. The architecture framing the window was reminiscent of what I saw in Paris, so I assumed she was at home or another office. I was trying to work out the time difference in my semi-slumbery state. The part that made me stand up straight with urgency was the fact that she had the telltale sign of a sniper's eye on her.
A red dot on her forehead, denoting the presence of a laser aim. Someone was trying to kill her.
"WHAT THE FUCK!?" That was enough to draw Wild out of his hibernation and room, but by the time that he came to me, asking what was wrong, the laser beam had vanished and the feed was cut short.
At first I assumed the worst. That is was some kind of adversary, sending a warning. But that didn't fit.
It didn't fit because she seemed to be looking right into the camera.
Like she knew it was there.
It was an intense stare and she held it for the whole duration of being at long distance gunpoint. Her face was unreadable, as it often was, but I could see just a hint of a smile.
When I gave Wild the run down, he picked up his phone and called Angelo.
Having concluded the story, Malia chimed in over FaceTime.
"See, that's why that nigga needs to stop playing with my bitch! He's a wasteman! I'mma beat her ass for pulling such a dangerous stunt when she comes home though! And his for trying her in the first place" The frown on her face was that signature of a black mama, and it was one I was quite familiar with. They were was definitely going to hear and feel about this.
During the story, she had done what many before had and roamed around aimlessly in her home. The kids were down for a nap, and she was now sat on the floor with her feet of the frame of her bed. Once she settled in this awkward position, she continued, "Okay so let me get this straight?" The incredulity was clear to hear in her voice. I could see the tips of her fingers slip in and out of view while spoke with her free hand and tried to map this nonsense out.
"Sooooo, they go to war over these negotiations. She gets caught slipping with fine-ass Laurent, and Angelo ruins their date. Presumably, she cusses Angelo out behind this, but they went outside, so we don't know what was said." So far, so good.
"Don't even worry my little bean, I will get the tea on that! Okay, so then, she hits back hard at the last meeting and he undermines her, because he's pissed and can't think straight when it comes to y'all's daddy? Right, so then, she then sets a trap for him. He falls for it, and ends up nearly assassinating her? Did I miss anything?" No, but she did hit a nerve.
"That nigga is average at best." I deadpanned. I didn't care to hear her describe anyone but me as "fine-ass" anything.
She rolled her eyes, moving the phone so close I could only see her brows and forehead. She muttered something along the lines of "It's not my fault God made him like that and then gave me eyes to see him." Once she reappeared, a sarcastic smile was plastered on her face.
"Sorry, Vinny! I promise I will think he's ugly from now on." This drew a laugh from me. I appreciated that she indulged my ego for a moment.
"So how did Angelo react when he saw she was sat on the chair?"
Ah, that delicious mess.
"I got this second hand from Nic, but basically it went like this..."
Vienna, Austria
Early October
"What. The. Fuck?" Nic spotted it before I did.
And then I saw it.
"Is that... Vanessa?" Yes it is Nic.
I swear when I saw her, my whole world stopped for a moment. I could have sworn I felt the force of the earth's rotation coming to a sharp end pass though my body. Every molecule of air was knocked out of my lungs. Every bit of blood drained from my extremities.
And then what was at stake came flooding back to me.
"STAND DOWN, I REPEAT, STAND THE FUCK DOWN, DO NOT SHOOT, OR I WILL SLIT YOUR THROAT!"
The red dot on her forehead disappeared before I could end my threat. Her eye contact didn't stop though. She had been looking right at the camera the whole time. Just like she had in the hotel in Vegas, and in the apartment the day she left me. It was becoming her calling card.
I saw red.
Throwing the laptop in my hand at the nearest wall, I stood up and started to pace with rage. The expletives that left my mouth with incredible volumes bounced around the soundproofed room. I couldn't believe it.
She had lost her natural fucking mind.
I nearly just fucking killed the love of my life. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
"How did she know about this boss?" I don't fucking know Nic.
At this point one of my hands was on my hip and the other rubbing my head. I was still pacing, speaking lowly to myself. Old man vibes, as Vanessa put it.
This woman is going to be the fucking death of me.
It would take nearly ten minutes for my heart rate to return to resting. I would need a fucking pacemaker dealing with her.
When my phone rang, I thought it was her and picked up before I even looked at the ID. Ready to cuss her out for the next 24 hours straight, I took a deep breath.
My older brother interrupted me.
"DON'T TELL ME YOU'RE IN FUCKING AUSTRIA RIGHT NOW MY NIGGA. ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND? YOU NEARLY KILLED THAT GIRL!" He had taken somewhat of a liking to her. After the garage fiasco, I returned to Vince's room, and they filled me in on the fact that it was her who had gotten him released.
She was an angel. My angel. But fuck, was she full of tricks.
I didn't have it in me to defend my actions, and let both my brothers verbally abuse me while they took turns on the phone before finally hanging up.
The sniper had long since vacated his position, having heard me go ballistic. And I had smashed up the laptop with the feed of the footage, so my stomach sunk with the realisation that I now had no means of knowing she was okay. I didn't have a number for her, and had lost visual access to the scene. The sniper had disappeared into the wind, taking with him his eye in the sky.
Then my phone came back to life, with new activity.
I was receiving messages from an unknown source. What they revealed let me know that my infuriating little vixen was still alive and kicking.
By this point, the Ukrainian had followed Vanessa's instruction and got in the back of the Sprinter waiting for him, to be taken to a secure location. I didn't know this though.
What I received was enough for me to throw my phone as well.
The first picture was of me disembarking the jet I had taken to this wretched city.
The next one was more ominous. It was a picture of my sniper, from an angle that clearly showed the observer was above him. The thing that raised my brow was that he too, bore the red dot of a sniper rifle's aim on his forehead. She came prepared.
The last one was what made me throw my iPhone too.
It was a picture of me. Mid motion, while throwing my laptop with as much force as I could muster. The device had just left my hand. It was blurry, but I could see that the view was from the window, again from an elevated perspective. My head and neck were red and the grimace on my face wasn't pretty.
It was masterful the way she did it. And I fell for it. Again.
Running my hand down my face; I couldn't help but smirk. And then let out a low chuckle. Nic must have thought I lost my mind. And I almost did. But before that could happen, I thought of my next play. I needed to remind her who she was dealing with. Soon.
I didn't want to hurt her, far from it. But she was getting reckless in her endeavours to humble me. We were getting closer and closer to the edge here.
So when it came to me, a grin spilt my face from left to right.
Chapter 9 Part 2 Everyone!
Well, Ladies and Gentlegays, I do believe Vanessa and Angelo have just declared war!
She's got balls of steel 😰
How do you think Angelo will retaliate? Comment your thoughts!
Next, we hear from the Final Boss, The Capo of all Capos!
And then, we get to meet Selassie! I love her, she's got such a unique story! And she's a bad bitch, so that compliments the deal!
LMK your thoughts, I wanna knoooooooooooow!
READ, COMMENT, VOTE AND SHARE WITH YOUR MAMA'NEM!
LOVE YOU LONG TIME - DUCHESS 🤍🤍🤍