AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Four
RHYS
Damn that little blonde bitch for getting in my head! I couldn’t believe she had the balls to come right up to my mansion and threaten my security guard, and completely alone at that, just to tell me to get the hell out of the Ukraine. If she hadn’t seemed so serious, I would probably still be laughing about it, But there was something about her that told me not to discount her.
Even with the Clans, the way it worked was there was a king, a head, given all that respect, but when you thought about it, Ion even wasn’t working alone., he didn’t earn anything himself. His marriage to Mariana gave him a status, one that was respected because it had been earned decades ago by the first guy to be in his shoes. And then there was the fact that he had all these men serving him and doing the dirty work. Not that Ion and Mariana didn’t get in the middle of it every once in a while, but they had a network of people that were truly doing the work for them. They were the figureheads.
But this Ukrainiangagica, seems to be entirely different. She ran right into danger alone. She ran this alone and probably built this kingdom mostly alone, from what I know of her. Her reputation is everywhere, and now that I am roaming the streets and listening and asking, I can see that even more. Her name makes everyone cower in fear or suddenly break into praises. She is a queen in every sense, a queen of the underworld. So, being a bitch seems to have its advantages here.
So, I am going to have to use her to my advantage, just like Mariana had said. We...I need allies, and she is the best ally to have considering the way everyone reacts to her. But with the way she feels about me, I am not sure how to go about that without doing something entirely insane, something that my superiors may not even approve of. but I know I need to observe her in her natural environment if I am to make a final decision on how to get under that thick as metal skin of hers.
That is why I am risking life and limb...and a little ego bruising...to come out here in the middle of the fucking night, right in the center of downtown, to talk with anyone that looks like they might have the skinny on where and how Vera operates.
So far, I have mostly been shot down. They know I am Romanian, there is really no hiding that. Some of them even know who I am specifically, and I have been spit on and threatened in one evening more times than I can count. I need to go with someone who has less to lose by telling me something.
Finally, I see a woman on the corner of the street across from me, her back is to me, but I can tell she is severely underdressed for the cold, even if she is used to it. She hangs out close to the alley, probably so she can dive into it if there is any trouble. She is working, and I might be the easiest two hundred bucks she makes tonight, assuming she tells me something of use.
I go past her to cross, so she sees me coming. I know better than to startle a woman like this, especially in this part of the world. She will be prepared, She has to be in order to survive the scum of the earth that makes her profession profitable. I can tell even in the dark that she is in her 20s, beautiful likely still under her makeup that is on thick, probably an order form whoever is responsible for her.
I nod to her, and she leans against the aging bricks, a real seductive stance, and pouts her lips at me. Nothing about her interests me. Other than a means to an end. But I do wonder about the things that drive a woman to need to do this to herself and hate seeing such young ones stuck in this life. But I am numb to it as well. this crime life makes you numb.
I am sure to stay at least a foot away from her, my hands visible. I don’t want to scare her or give her the wrong idea. "Zdrastuyte," I greet in one of the Ukrainian words I know...hello. "I don’t want your services tonight, but if you can give me the information I am seeking, I will pay you anyway." I flash her the bills so she can see I am good for it, and she perks up real fast.
"What do you want to know?" she asks in a thick accent that I can hardly understand.
"I need to find Vera. Where is she? Where does she operate? I am past due for a meeting."
She purses her lips at me, and for a moment, I am afraid she won’t give me what I want. I know there is a chance even this woman works for her in some way and certainly know that Vera can reach her if she doesn't like her giving me this information.
She curses under her breath, and I am about to walk away when she tells me, "Chornyy, it's the name of a club. Don't go in the front. Go to the cellar. Ask forrozheva horilka...pink vodka. Now, give me my cash and forget you asked me a fuckin' thing," she seethes." I hold it out with a smirk, and she rips it away, strutting away to find another corner for her safety, most likely. And here I go to find this club, unsure of exactly what I am going to find when I get there.
***
As I travel down into a cramped cellar, I certainly hope looks are deceiving. I don’t know how many criminals and drugged out junkies I saw on my way over here, but this place is a hole in the wall from the front; it's hard to imagine it being any better down below. But this is my only lead, so I have to follow through.
It is dark, and I almost run into a stack of boxes full of alcohol of all kinds before I see him, standing adjacent to me in this tiny space. He is in a dark corner, and I can just barely make out a little light through a crack in the wall; possibly a door?
I go up to him and give him the password, hoping I haven’t been fooled and that the darkness hides enough about me that he has no idea who I am. Because this is a truly delicate situation. So fucking delicate. And I want down there to see what the hell is going on more than ever now. For something to be so secretive it has to be big.
The door is opened, and there are lamps lighting the way down some stone steps. It reminds me a little of the old speakeasies in America but a little more macabre perhaps. What the hell am I going to find down here?
And then suddenly, my ears are assailed by the roar of a crowd, and the stairs end at another door that just pushed open. Here I am in a room, unfinished like a warehouse, and it is huge. No one could possibly guess something like this would fit underneath the piece of shit club upstairs. But what gets me the most is that it is filled with bodies like we are at a concert, though the cage in the center and none other than Vera herself front and center, yelling in Ukrainian at the crowd, tells me this is no concert.
I have never been to one of these before, likely because almost everywhere they are highly illegal, but I know instantly what this is; a cage fighting ring. I am not sure how the fuck this saucy bitch gets away with such a thing, especially with all these witnesses, but I think I am about to find out.
I place myself as close to the front of the crowd as I can shove my way through, blending in with the crowd in hopes that Vera won’t notice I am here and cause a scene. I try my best to follow what is happening, and as the crowd gets fired up, I notice out of the corner of my eye eight men, two of which are in shackles and look both pissed and sick at the same time. As they come forward, I turn back into what Vera is saying as she lets herself out of the cage while the men are placed inside quickly, their chains removed and the cage locked. Just before the fight begins, I recognize a few words..."borotysya do smerti," she says.
And now I know exactly how Vera gets away with this. I know exactly how she is running this damn country, and I am both frightened and in awe of the idea. Her enemies are fighting to the death. I don’t know what happens to the winner, though.
I nudge a man next to me, taking an interested and casual stance. "What happens to the man who wins?" He looks me up and down with a scow for a moment, and I shrug, maintaining innocence. "My first time."
He then nods and slaps me on the back, pointing with elation to the two men in the cage, ripping each other apart.
Literally.
I see them digging nails into flesh until they bleed, shreds of cloth torn off of their clothes and strewn everywhere. This is some gladiator shit. "He is...how you say...her bitch."
I smile and laugh along with him as I process that. What better way to have a man loyal to your cause than to have him look death in the face and know it was at your hands?
Shit. This is insane.
But I like it.
My eyes instinctually find Vera. She sits up on a platform at the back of the room; a perfect place to view the fight from a safe distance. I see a smug smile on her face as she has it in her hands, her legs crossed one over the other. Her lips are red, and she is dressed in a match skirt and a top that doesn’t even come down to her navel, though she covers up with what might be a real fur coat.
Fuck. I shouldn’t find her sexy at all, but there is something about how dangerous she is that has me thinking about things that are awfully hard to think about with the bloody show that's happening right in front of me.
I need this woman on my side.
