SEVEN'S POV
The smell of aged liquor soaked and settled deep into musty, old carpets hits as soon as I open the door of the club. The smell of this places stale, unwashed carpets is always worse when there are no other smells to overpower it. Pugs stands near the bar of the club, my eyes like a hawk surveying the establishment to find my uncle.
"He's in the basement with Digger." Pugs informs me after scuttling across the club floor to my side.
"What's the plan?" He asks next.
"Who else is here?" I look around the club.
"Just us, maybe a couple girls outback. Grim is on his way." He answers and I nod.
"He came alone?" I ask and Pugs nods.
"He's looking for Koda, I didn't know what to say but Digger distracted him with the guy we've got downstairs." I can see the sweat lining Pugs hairline. I forget sometimes, the sheer fear my uncle has instilled in these men.
"Who's down there?" I ask.
"One of Sergey's guys. They've had him here for a day or so questioning him on intel." Pugs answers.
"When they're out I want you and Digger to leave and sweep the place. Take the guy with you. Sergey and his men are no longer a problem for us." I instruct.
"You want us to leave?" Pug asks confused, his eyes slightly wide and I nod.
"We can help you Seven. We want to." Pugs assures me but I shake my head.
"If this doesn't go well, Victor won't hesitate to kill anyone who he thinks helped me. I will take him alone." I speak just as the creaking sound of the heavy basement door is opened behind us. I nod to Pug and he scampers off, tail between his legs. Digger is first out the basement door, his eyes find me standing in the middle of the club right away. I nod my head to the side, silently directing him to follow after Pugs. Digger returns a discreet nod back in understanding of my request. He walks off after Pugs, both heading into the back area I just came from.
My heart picks up when he steps into the room. Brand new black shoes, shined bright so the light reflects perfectly off the polished leather. Tailored black suit, black fitted shirt and matching black tie as tight as a choker around his neck. Victor's facial hair is cropped close to his face, greying hair perfectly manicured. If you were to pass him on the street you would not look twice at the dangerous man. He'd blend in with the usual penguin looking businessmen on Main Street, milling about their day worrying about investments, money, whether their wives had caught onto their affairs with their college interns and their cutthroat business dealings. Yes, my uncle would blend in well with that crowd, that is, till his lips pull back to reveal his teeth in his attempt of a smile, gold tooth catching the light. It is not till my uncle smiles that you can pick out something sinister lurking beneath the mere flesh of the man. Victor's smile doesn't meet his dark, piercing eyes. Not a spec of light reflecting in them, not an ounce of human decency swims in their depth. His smile sends a subtle shiver down my spine, hard eyes meeting mine.
"Seven. What a surprise it is to see you here my dear nephew." Victor remarks, coming to a stop about six metres in front of me. His first words to me are lies, I can tell he isn't surprised. He knew I'd come to find him eventually.
"What are you doing here?" I ask, attempting to seem oblivious and conversational. My middle finger digs into my palm, a vice to channel the anger merely seeing him brings me. Victor is trying to seem relaxed, and he'd succeed if he were trying to fool anyone else but me. But I've known this man my entire life, learning all his tricks for deception and lies. His shoulders are squared as he stands tall, an adroit concealment for the tension they're stuck in.
I shift my weight to my left side in an attempt to seem casual. Two can play this duplicitous game.
"Just business." He alludes. Dark, snakelike eyes watch me carefully.
"Business, huh?" I ask but don't wait for his reply.
"I would say I was here for business too but I think you already know the reason I came back." My nail burrows deeper into my skin as I speak.
"Was it business that had Koda and Destiny parked up outside my house?" I ask rhetorically, but enjoy the way his smile falters, his perfect facade fumbling at the mention of them both.
"So it's true then? You're back with that traitorous bitch despite what you know? I had high hopes for you Seven, but it seems my confidence was misdirected." Victor spits his words regarding Lilianna and I press my nail so hard into my palm I must be close to drawing blood.
"What I know? Oh I know a lot more than you think." I pace a few slow steps to the side, Victor mirrors my movements so we remain across from one another.
"It seems you left out a lot in your stories Victor. I always wondered what your issue with Lily was. Not just because of who her parents were. This is personal to you isn't it? Because you're scared of her." I suggest and Victor humours me with a fake laugh.
"My dear nephew have you lost your head? Why on earth would I be scared of that little flower?" He challenges.
"Because you were scared she knew the truth. You were scared she'd remember you. A six year old girl, Victor." I shake my head in disgust.
"But you were right. She does remember. She does know the truth, and now so do I. We all do." I motion around the club as if it were filled with the members that usually occupy it during the trading hours.
"And what exactly is it that you think you know?" He's cracking. The smile now wiped from his face. The hardness to his voice overlying the urgency panicking in his tone.
"You killed my father. Your own brother. You couldn't handle it could you? Always being in his shadow. Always being second best." I watch as Victor's lip twitches at the mention of my father. His lip desperate to pull back in a sneer but he controls himself. Seeming to realise his scheming is up, Victor speaks freely for the first time probably since my fathers death.
"Your father was a weak man Seven. He should have never become Don. He didn't understand how powerful we could become if he ran the gang the way I suggested but he would never listen to me. He was going to drive this firm into the ground and we would've lost everything!" Victor begins to yell.
"What I did was for the firm!" He deludedly insists.
"What you did was treason! You murdered my father and then framed Jacob and Evangelina Costello for it." I state the facts.
"My father was a great leader. He didn't need to use fear to scare people into submission. They served him because he respected them. My father was not weak. You are!" I challenge and this time Victor doesn't bother to hide his snarl.
"I should have known you would be just like him! You found yourself a pretty girl who can stand to be around you longer than two minutes and crumples you into even less of the man you were before. Just the way your mother did to Ivan!" Victor accuses and my fists ball at the mention of my mother.
"Is that why you killed her too? Another obstacle in your way on your plot for power?" My blood runs incredibly hot when Victor's patronising grin mocks me.
"I killed her because she was worth more dead than alive. Just like your little whore." He tries to provoke me but I force myself not to grab for my gun yet. He'll be expecting it and I will lose the draw against Victor, I can see his own gun in its usual holster by his hip. Much less of a reach then my own tucked behind me.
"Why not me?" I ask him and he frowns.
"What?" Victor asks.
"Why didn't you kill me? After my father died you could of. I was only ten." I have wondered this from time to time. Why Victor had never just despatched of me if he had never intended for me to claim my rightful leadership. Victor's smile returns but it's only small now. Thoughtful almost.
"I had tried to. I had planned to. Only I could never quite get close enough. After your father died you were surrounded by too many close members. Someone was always with you." He answers. I remember very distinctly never being alone after my fathers death. Curby had always been my babysitter as such, and after my fathers murder he hardly ever left my side. Same with Grim and a few other older members. They must've known, deep down they must've known the danger and threat was still lurking amongst us, and hadn't died with the loss of Lilianna's parents.
"So what then? Just wait until I got older?" I press. Victor nods with a slight shrug.
"I had planned for something a little more inconspicuous. A job that went wrong perhaps? Maybe even a fatal overdose? You were getting pretty close to doing that one on your own, I thought for once the trash was taking itself out. But it seems you got that nose of yours out the bag, regrettably." He reveals. My heart is pumping at his brazen honesty. This is the most honest I've ever heard my uncle. For once he's letting the true demon slip out, and I couldn't be more prepared to rid the earth of the devil.
"I do wish now that I had done it sooner. It would've been a lot easier if you hadn't found out about your parents." Victor admits, looking down at his shoes.
"It doesn't matter now. Everyone knows. Even if you kill me the firm knows the truth now. And they'll hold you accountable for everyone you've killed." Not just my parents but Lilianna's, and all the other innocents that have happened to cross Victor's vengeful road to power.
"Well then," Victor smirks at the floor before glancing back up at me. "I guess I better make this count." In a flash Victor reaches to his hip as I counter and reach round to my back, fingers brushing the cool metal slipped into the waistband of my trousers.
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AN:
I will be editing the story over the next few weeks and adding some bonus bits (I.e cute and spicy scenes lol) So if you're a rr look out for some new parts :)))
Next chapter is the last one :(((
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Or is it??? Idk...