Page 34 of King

Sure, his two nephews and his older brother were killed by various Mafia thugs over territory and money, but that’s just par for the course.

I watch his vehicle drive away and glance at my own ride, which is waiting a few cars down the street.

Unlike Ryan, I don’t expect my driver to wait on me, and I get in the rear seat of my own vehicle.

“Where to, Mr.O’Connor?”

I sigh, wishing things were different between all of us.“Back to the warehouse, thanks.”

He pulls out from the curb, and we drive through the streets back to the warehouse.My little meeting at Maxim’s has told me two things that I already knew: Tommy does not want out, and Ryan is hesitant, but will at least hear me out.

In other words, my plan to extricate O’Connor Enterprises from the grip of the Russians is not currying favor with my uncles.

I had better watch my back in the meantime unless I want to meet the same fate as my father and brother before me…

I arrive backat the warehouse, and enter my office, saying hello to my admin assistant as I do.

“Can you ask Clint if he can come speak to me?Thanks.”

She nods, and I close the door behind me.After I remove my jacket, I sit behind the desk and lean back, closing my eyes for a moment before I have to talk to Clint about my plans to sell off parts of the business.Just as I’m feeling a little less stressed, a knock comes to my door, and I blink my eyes open and sit up straighter.

“Come,” I say and watch as the door opens and my business manager Clint enters.He’s a middle-aged man with thinning greying hair and glasses.He looks every bit the accounting nerd, rather than a smooth operator, and I like that.

“What can I do for you, Mr.O’Connor?”

I point to the chair in front of my desk.I tell him about my meeting with my uncles to relay the information to them, along with my father’s own plans.

He frowns.“You know, I saw Tommy meeting with someone the other day just by chance.I was on my break and was heading to the hardware store to pick up something for my workshop, and I saw him talking to some Russian guy in the pub nearby.”

I lean forward, eager to hear more.“What did this Russian guy look like?”

Clint takes in a deep breath, like he knows he’s betraying Tommy.“Weird scar over his left eye and a greying beard.Maybe late 50s.”

I know who it is immediately.

Yuri Andropov.

I exhale and a sense of sadness fills me.

It’s better than anger.I’m sad that my uncle has betrayed my father.And me.

If he was meeting with Andropov, it had to be because he was actively conspiring with the man.

I thank Clint and ask him to keep this between the two of us, and he leaves me alone to stew in silence.

Now what do I do?

Both Ryan and Tommy have been actively fighting to keep my father and me from taking the business out of the underworld.To go clean.

Ryan has his own reasons, tied to his gambling debt and what he owes to Andropov.Tommy seems to have also been conspiring with Andropov.

It must mean too much money for them even to consider going clean.

My heart almost breaks from the knowledge of the betrayal, but the anger I feel overrides it momentarily.I glance at my watch and see that it’s almost six.Natalia will be home soon, and there’s nothing I’d love more than to spend the evening with her in the apartment.This business with my uncles demands that I figure out what I’m going to do with this information, but I decide to call Fillmore first thing in the morning.

Natalia comes first.Only she can truly ease this pain I feel…

ChapterSixteen