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“I got to the diner and expected to find Maksim there alone, but he wasn’t.” I took a deep breath, not sure how to say the words, so I just took the plunge. “He was eating dinner with Enrico.”
A long silence on the other end. “Our Enrico.” Not a question, but a statement.
“Yes,” I said. “Ours.”
He let out a soft curse in Russian. “How could this happen?”
“I don’t know. But I saw him and I just… I saw red. I literally saw red. I went in there, killed some low-level soldiers, tried to get Maksim and Enrico, but they ran out the back. I wounded Enrico in the fighting though.”
“Enrico.” He grunted and coughed. “Do you know how I first met Enrico?”
“I don’t,” I said. “You don’t talk about the other guys much.”
“We were in school together. In high school. I saw him getting the shit kicked out of him at lunch one day and I thought, there’s the most pathetic kid in the whole school. Then I thought, I bet he’ll worship me if I save him. So I did, I punched this fat bully in the teeth and I hit the other one in the nose with a lunch tray. Got suspended for a week, but after that, Enrico never left me alone.”
“I guess he doesn’t still feel like he owes you.”
Hedeon laughed. “That’s the thing about Enrico. He never thinks enough is enough. He wants more, and more, and if he doesn’t get it, he’s angry. I never gave in to his childish whims and demands, and I think he’s always resented me for it. I think he might still hold that against me.”
“So he didn’t get some promotions and an extra cut of loot. So that means he can betray everyone?”
“No, it doesn’t, it’s only an explanation.”
“Fuck explanations. And fuck Enrico. Hedeon, you put too much trust in these goddamn amateurs, and Enrico’s a fucking amateur.”
His tone was tense and angry. “You don’t know them like I do.”
“I don’t give a shit. All I know is we’re trying to take down a major crime organization, and you’re still running with shitheads from high school.”
“Careful. I let you get away with a lot Leo, not like the others. I value your opinion, and if I try to muzzle you, I know you’ll only try to bite more. But you need to watch yourself, damn it.”
I took a deep breath. “I’m just saying. You can’t keep defending them.”
“I’m not defending Enrico. He betrayed us, and now his name’s been whispered. I’ll make sure the whole crew hears it, and as soon as he’s found, he’ll be put to death like he deserves. But I won’t sit here and act like the rest of my boys are worthless.”
“Fine.” I touched the window and ran my fingers down the cold glass. “I hear you.”
“Good. Now, you did good work, even if you fucked it up. And I bet you scared the hell out of Maksim.”
“I’m sure I did.”
“I’ll see what I can do with this information. For now, sit tight before I decide what to do next.”
“I will.”
“Good.” He coughed again. “Talk to you again soon.”
He hung up. I looked at my phone then tossed it onto the couch.
Frustration lingered. I was angry with myself for screwing up that opportunity, and angrier that Hedeon wasn’t trying to burn the city down to find Enrico. He was a traitor, the worst possible thing he could be, and yet Hedeon didn’t seem all that angry.
But fuck, maybe I was going overboard. Hedeon did say that Enrico was a dead man, and I believed it. If Enrico was still in the city, he wouldn’t last more than a few days, not with the whole crew on the hunt.
Things would be okay. I just couldn’t lose my cool like that again.
I turned from the window and found Robin lingering in the doorway. She frowned at me, head tilted, her hair spilling down her shoulders.
“How’d it go?”
“Hedeon said he’d whisper Enrico’s name to the crew.”
She didn’t react. “What’s that?”
“Means there’s a price on his head now. Everyone will be out looking for him.”
“Good. That’s good.”
“I guess so.”
“You don’t seem happy about it.”
I fell back onto the couch. “There’s nothing to be happy about. I fucked up the hit.”
“You discovered the traitor.”
I made a dismissive gesture. “Fine, so he can’t fuck with us anymore, but so what?”
“Leo—”
“I fucked up, okay? I lost my cool back there. When I saw Enrico, I just… I wanted to kill, and I fucked up.”
She drifted over and sat down next to me. She chewed her lip then put her hand on my leg. “It’ll be okay. Even if he’s not dead, he won’t be able to hurt the crew anymore, right?”
“True.” I tilted my head and looked into her pretty eyes. “That’s a good point.”
