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Alexsei
The call connects. A wisp of smoke rises from my cigar as I set it down in the ashtray. I lean back in my seat, refusing to think about what Mila just said to me.
It’s better I let her go. She must see that, surely. If she remains with me, her life will be hell. I cannot open up to her. I cannot open up to anyone.
Trust no one. That’s what my father taught me. He taught me well. If I’d listened, Igor wouldn’t have betrayed me, just like Mila will betray me sooner or later.
People betray you. They stab you in the back. That’s life. I am better off alone. I will pay someone to provide me with an heir, get a contract upfront so they have nothing to do with the child once it’s born.
I’ll have an heir and won’t have to have all these fucking feelings that I don’t want coursing through me. Infecting me with pain I don’t need.
There is no love. I hurt when my family died because they were family. It’s about respect, not love. She is wrong.
She must leave. After her father is dead. Which is about to be arranged.
“Don Belucci,” I say down the line.
“Alexsei Volkov,” he replies. “Am I speaking to you beyond the grave? Only I heard you had passed away.”
“She told me the truth about the vodka.”
He grunts. “I might have guessed. You tricked her into falling for you, is that it? Made her believe all that bullshit about husbands and wives taking care of each other. That is more than cruel, Alexsei. It is evil to convince a girl of such lies.”
“This ends, Belucci. Diego is dead. You’re next.”
He sighs. “Is it the same for you, Alexsei? A life of suspicion and paranoia? I tire of it at times. Do you know that?”
“Then let it go, old man.”
“The cards have been dealt. They must be played. That is the game.”
“You are going to die.”
“All men die. Tell me the truth. Do you love my daughter?”
“I do.”
“That is why my plan failed. I was so sure you could not love. Not after what happened to you. You have a world of enemies, real, and shadows in your own head. You must feel the fear that I feel that this life is cursed.
“You know, I wish I had remained a shoe maker like my father. I think I would have been happier that way. He told me to stay away from the mafia. Said I would spend my life afraid for those I love. Joke was on him. I never loved anyone.”
“Not even your daughter?”
“She was an asset to be used. That is this life. Do you not feel the same?”
A moment of epiphany hits me as I glance down at my desk. A red light is flashing. I curse myself. This entire time he was talking, it was just to keep me distracted. “You will die,” I tell him again. “For threatening my wife’s safety.”
“We will see, Alexsei. The game has a few more moves to play yet. She will not have your child, you know that, right?”
“She is under my protection. You will not get near her.”
“Won’t have to. She’ll come to me soon enough.”
“You’re sure about that?”
“As certain as I am about anything. You think you’re this big clever man, Alexsei, but you’re not. You cleared my debts in return for my girl but I’ll get my girl back and I’ll piss on your grave by the end of the week. You see, that’s the difference between you and I.
“You think you’re cold but you’re not. You’ve got a heart under that exterior and it will get you killed. While we’re talking, I’ve been moving on your house and my men are about to attack. Tell you what, give yourself up without fighting and I’ll let the rest of your staff go with their lives.”
