Waking up to the sight of Andrei wasn't how I wanted to start my morning. Now I was sitting at the kitchen table staring dumbfounded at the two siblings fighting. Somehow the argument about Lexi's business endeavors turned into some very pent up emotions about what happened to the family when Lexi and her mom ran away from home.
Andrei's a big fucking dude. He's tall, but he's muscled, which makes him all the more intimidating. Especially when you see him in contrast to the thin frame of his little sister. If he touched her I'd knock him out. As hard as that may be.
I should know, I almost killed myself fighting him. But for now this felt like something I should stay out of. This didn't involve me.
When Andrei Petrov chuckles like an evil villain it's chilling even for me. He laughed at Lexi's words and rounded his broad shoulders back, making him look even taller now. "A part of it at 12 years old?" He asked rhetorically.
"You know that I'm talking about Now. Present day" Lexi waved aggressively around them.
"Do you think I have a say on that call?! And what little say I did have I put to good use. I got you him, didn't I?" Andrei waved over to me. "Got me" isn't how I'd put it. He accepted my challenge to fight until we were raw and bloody.
"Oh you were playing matchmaker for me? Gee, thanks" Lexi spat sarcastically. She can give you a good tongue lashing when she wants to. She can be so incredibly dry and sharply sarcastic.
"Oh cut the shit!! I know you and him had a thing" he shocked Lexi and I both when he said it. Lexi stumbled on her response to it. "Yeah, I've had spies here in the States long before Dad did. So don't tell me you weren't seeing him, cuz I know you were" he called her and I out. I was unable to even react. I sat incredulously.
"You weren't exactly subtle about it either, smart guy. Always coming to her defense, always looking at her, and worrying about her. Pretty obvious she wasn't a stranger to you" now Andrei called me out one on one. Lexi was still standing there stunned.
"What spies?" She finally asked. Andrei was still addressing me, so she was sure to raise her voice when she asked again, "What spies, Andrei?!"
Andrei pinched his lips shut like he was regretting bringing that up. What was he up to? I know he's spent time in America before, he's just never told me Why he'd been in America. "Don't worry about it" he deflected.
"I swear to god, I'll throw this hot coffee in your face if you don't answer my damn question" his little sister threatened him. Andrei stepped forward and held his arms out at his sides. "Go ahead" he challenged her.
Lexi fisted the glass and grit her teeth. The crazy bastard just stood there willing to get hot coffee thrown at him. Lexi let go of the glass.
"Why didn't you say anything if you knew?" She changed her line of questioning. "Do you think I really give a single fuck about who your rolling around with? The contract would've happened either way, unless they wanted to have a doctor come check you out beforehand, and I figured those odds were slim" his sarcastic tone resurfaced.
"Did Dmitriy know?" She wondered, and so did I. "No. Him and Dad would've locked you in a tower" he snorted the truth like she was absurd to think otherwise. The two of them really did lock her away, but only for three days before I found out and intervened.
"I'm so confused," Lexi muttered to herself. I could see her furrowed brow when she turned slightly away from her brother.
Andrei decided to take the moment to grab his coffee and drink. Lexi was trying to understand why everything she thought she knew wasn't quite what she thought it was. "I'm a bad guy, but I'm not The bad guy of your story, Aleks" I heard him use a nickname I've never heard one of them use before. Her mom would say that. No one else.
Lexi turned entirely defensive. Her shoulders stiffened up and her demeanor was standoffish now. "I don't believe you. You're trying to get in my head right now. Why?" She wouldn't accept his answers. Andrei rolled his eyes, took out his phone, and checked the screen.
"This is getting old" he deflected now.
"How long have you known things about me? Were you the one that found me after my mother died?" She questioned him. I think for a split second I saw this uncomfortable expression flit across Andrei's face. What was that? What is he hiding?
"Thanks for the coffee, Rizzo" Andrei tipped his head at me and walked past his sister. She pinched the back of his shirt to stop him in place. He was in a black fitted tee like the ones I usually wear.
Andrei flicked her hand away, but waited for whatever she hadda say. "Answer that question" Lexi's tone turned deadly serious. "How would I have known where you were?" He rolled his eyes at her. She looked him up and down, studying him.
"Rehashing the past is just about as fun as plucking an eye out. I think I'll go off and do the second one instead" was his last sarcastic comment before he walked out our front door.
Lexi looked upset. She looked bothered in a way I didn't know how to help with. All I could do was offer her my presence. I lifted my arms to show her she could come hug me now. I could practically hear the wheels turning in her head.
"He knew everything. I can't believe he knew about you and me before the sit down. I can't believe he didn't fuck me over and say something about it...what spies, Anthony?" She asked me a question I couldn't answer.
"Anthony, I can't explain why or how I know this, but I just have this awful feeling that there is a lot more to my story than what I already know...what I Thought I knew" she practically shivered.
I think I did know what she meant though. When she'd called out Andrei I saw that same flicker of an expression that showed hesitance in a way I've never seen Andrei Petrov before. Like maybe he was holding back some pretty important secrets. And for Lexi's sake I'm gonna ask around.
-
Since Dom is a dick I decided to ask Elio if he'd do me a solid and get his super sonic military buddies to dig into something for me. He asked why and I told him the truth of it. Elio's an alright guy. I trusted him with this. And like an alright guy, he agreed he'd ask some buddies to look into some things.
Lexi was found three almost four years ago after her mother died. I know who the Petrov men have in their pocket in Boston because our expansion has everything to do with it. So I know the big players in the Boston game. Waldren, Wilde, and the Bishop brothers.
I got intel on Waldren's connection to the Russian's and just about how long they'd been allies. Those guys are less mobsters and more so gangsters. Their operations ran on a smaller scale. But Elio's guy did find flight records for the private landing strip where private planes come and go from.
A man of organized crime likes the least paper trail he can manage. They'd be coming and going through there. Since we're mobsters and not the feds, my guy got intel a lot easier than a stupid cop could.
I know the Petrov plane registery because we've set up flights for them here in New York. About four years ago is about as far back as Elio's guy could find records of them working in Boston. I don't care about that. I just needed to know that Andrei was in America before Lexi was even found.
I would've just asked Andrei the question if I didn't think I would raise his suspicion. After that heated conversation at my place I knew he would read into any question I asked. And I'm not on good terms with Dmitriy and Vitaly after what transpired the other day.
Where did Andrei get these spies of his? It wouldn't be an Italian, they'd never betray us for a Russian. And I don't think it was me he was spying on, but rather he'd been keeping tabs on his sister. That begs the question as to why?
I can't explain why this has become so important to me, but I guess it's because Lexi's been off ever since the conversation. And she has so many questions with no resources to use to help her find them. If there is anything to find then I'll find it. Then I'll tell her.
I don't wanna tell her until I'm sure there is even anything to find.
-
A few weeks went by. I don't know how the fuck Elio's intel guy got what I asked him to get, but the guy is good at what he does. Mobsters always know a guy that can Handle a thing. And I had my answer. Well, I didn't have my answer yet, but I was now in the possession of one of Andrei's spies.
Unlike Domani, I don't have a torture dungeon, so I wasn't sure where to interogate the guy at first. I didn't wanna ask to use Dom's because then I'd have to answer questions I'm not willing to give him. Instead I improvised.
I called up Enzo and told him to drive out to one of our more secluded construction sites and set up a tarp and some tools. Anyone who works for the Petrov men will be tough sons of bitches. They won't crack so easily, which means I'll have to work them hard and be vicious.
It's not my favorite thing to do. In fact, it's my least favorite thing to do in our line of work.
Enzo, being my ride or die, didn't even question me when I asked him to do that. His only question was, "Who are we killing?" But I wasn't planning on killing the guy. Not yet anyway. I told Enzo all about what I was up to and he thought it was a shitty idea, but it's too late now. I've already got the spy, and if I let him go he'll run straight to Andrei.
"You're stepping all over Russian business that's got nothin' to do with us. You're gonna walk into something real messy, man" Enzo had warned me. Still, he stayed. He helped me tie the guy to a chair, and he stayed at the abandoned site with me while I tried to pump myself up for this.
To no surprise the man was Russian, but Russian-American. He didn't even hold an accent. I just knew it by his name. Vlad Ivanov. Originally from Boston, but now living in New York. He seems to have moved here around the same time Lexi did. I doubt that's a coincidence.
"Why did Andrei Petrov hire you?" I decided to ask first thing. The building we were in was mostly just the infrastructure of the place. It was secluded though, and the easiest place to store a beaten and tied up man, sitting over a clear tarp.
Vlad laughed in my face. "Who?" The man lied. I punched him.
Vlad chuckled again and spit tinted pink saliva to the ground. "Why are you working for Andrei? Why were you spying on Lexi Petrov?" I asked again. "Who?" He gave the same reply. So I punched him again. And then again for good measure. The man groaned but held his chin up with pride.
"I'll pull every finger nail off your hand if you don't answer me" I warned him. I really didn't wanna have to do that. You have to slip into the void place to be able to do some of the horrid things mob men do. To put me in that place I had to let the dark stuff in.
"Enzo, get me the pliers" I held my hand out. My cousin had been a quiet observer for now, but he stepped forward with the tool and dropped it into my palm. The man's arms were zip tied to the two arms of the old discarded chair. His hands were accessible, which is why I brought that old chair in particular.
Vlad tried yanking at his bound wrists. They didn't budge. The plastic was cutting into his flesh. That's how tight I'd bound them. I let the darkness in and took hold of the pliers with more certainty. Lexi could be in danger. Andrei could be plotting something bad against her. Or he's hiding something important from her. I need to remember who I'm doing this for.
I clamped the pliers down on the nail of the man's pinky. "You ready to tell me?" I asked him one more time. He didn't even bother with a verbal response, so I pulled. It made my stomach roil. Do this, Rizzo. Man up.
The man's cheeks were shaking, but he refused to even yelp in pain. I did the next one, and the next one. It was torture for me just as much as it was for him, but the mother fucker wouldn't crack. Wouldn't scream.
Where'd Andrei find this tapped in the head asshole? Of course a crazy man would hire another crazy man. I had to do worse.
After I pulled every nail I started to threaten to cut off the whole finger. Enzo grabbed the clippers before I even asked him too. "Want me to?" He offered, eyeing me over. I shook my head no. I need to do it. This is my problem. If this gets discovered I'm in deep shit, and I wanna spare my cousin of that danger. I'll never admit to him being here.
The thought crossed my mind that I could just as easily be the asshole bound to the chair, getting his fingers cut off and cauterized with a hot blade so he doesn't bleed out. Vlad growled out through grit teeth when I used all my force to clip the first digit. Enzo came and set the hot blade against him. He seethed through clenched teeth.
"All I need to know is why Andrei was spying on his sister. That's it" I reminded the guy. Fuck him for being so hard core because he would not give in. Which meant I could not give up. To spare the gruesome details I did some things I thought I would never do.
There was blood all over him, me, and the tarp. Fingers fallen on the floor. Teeth ripped out. I don't even wanna say what else. I tortured that man for hours and as he became more belligerent so did I. He finally gave in after the third hour. He couldn't take it anymore and neither could I.
"He was watching her whereabouts! The Petrov's hired me to track her down" he blubbered out. His gums were bloody and raw, so when he spoke he drooled out the words.
"Why?" I asked him. "I don't know," he lied. I almost went to do the thing I did to him last, but he shouted, "NO" and gave in again. "They've known where Aleksandra was for a long time now. A real long time" he admitted. "How long?"
The man sort of released a short cry. He was in so much pain he actually wanted me to just kill him at that point. I pressed on the screw driver that was stabbed through his palm and he screamed, telling me everything.
I wasn't prepared for what I found out. This went deeper than I even realized. After I drew out all the man could possibly know I shot him in the head and ended his suffering. I dropped to my knees as soon as he dropped his head.
I couldn't even look down at the mess. At the mess on my bloody hands and clothes. Seeing blood soaked shoes reminded me of Dom and what he'd done to Conry. An ache shot through me at the thought of being anything like him. An animal. A monster.
Enzo came and checked on me. I jolted, forgetting he was there.
"You good?" He asked me. He looked concerned and maybe even a little queasy. "What am I gonna do? How can I tell her that?" I looked up to Enzo like a kid who's in trouble and needs help from an adult. Enzo blew out his cheeks and shook his head.
"I told you not to step into this. The best thing you can do for you and her both is to hide this body well and never speak of it again. This way Andrei doesn't find out you're the one who murdered his spy, and Lexi doesn't find out the truth" he told me.
I can't do that though. I can't lie to her. I told Enzo that.
"You know what's worse than lying to your girl? Destroying her" he stated plain and simple. There is nothing simple about this though. "What if I confronted Andrei, made him tell her?" I wasn't thinking straight. I was so fried with what went down here for the last few hours. For how long I was in the mental void. I still felt empty.
"Are you fucking nuts?! If Andrei knows that you know, then he'll kill you to keep the secret safe. No matter how much you try to protect yourself, I know he'll find a way. He'll fucking kill you man" Enzo talked some sense into me. I know he's right.
This secret is my death warrant signed and sealed.