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Two brothers who grew in darkness, who suffered irreparable atrocity at the hands of a dead man we killed before we were ever men ourselves.
I blinked and stared when I saw him.Moy bratwore a fine suit with gold rings on his fingers and his sparse hair greased down. He looked and acted just like the Italian men who had been born into the Crotone family from birth.
He looked at me and made no attempt at a reunion. But he knew. He recognized me, as I stood towering, lurking in my solitude as I did often.
Not a soul knew of Alek. They knew nothing of who his father was or of his mother’s affiliation with the Kozlovs.
For a couple years, we played this dangerous game. Half-brothers who had once shared a dark time in dark closets, affiliated with rival families. Each with our own objectives. Neither voicing aloud who we were to each other.
I was Ivan Volchok, an up-and-coming Russian businessman as far as Americans were concerned. Alek was Lucius Mancino, an ambitious soldier rising up the ranks of the Crotone organization in speedy time.
“You keep hanging around,” Lucius said one evening, a couple years after our discovery of each other in the tight, deadly circles we operated out of. He came up to me as others mingled and I stood at a buffet table of assorted foods. Popping an olive into his mouth, he nudged me out of the way, and disguised his speech by chewing. “I don’t know what the fuck you think you’re doing, but you’re not fucking things up for me. I’ll sooner end you.”
I watched in silent amusement as my chubbymladshiy bratgnashed through some deli meats and cheeses. My silence, along with my calm and patient demeanor, always angered him. Even as boys.
“Stay quiet all you like,” he said with a crude curl of his lip. “Nobody’s keeping me from that throne.”
“Except that you are not who they think you are,moy mladshiy brat.”
“What’d I just say?! Didn’t I just tell you to know your place? If you’re gonna make problems, then I’ll solve them—and you ain’t gonna like my solution,brat.”
“No need to be upset. You are not my enemy.”
He scowled, standing up straighter. “Watch yourself. And find a different operation than sniffing aroundmine.”
He stormed off, bumping shoulders with whoever was in his path. I let him go without protest, though I amused myself by reaching for the same deli meats he had. My baby brother and I would always share, even if he did not realize that was still happening.
Lena was off entertaining Mr. Crotone—and by ‘entertaining,’ I mean she was tasked to sit in his lap and pretend she was somewhat attracted to a graying man old enough to be her grandfather. As time passed, she had grown tired of our mission; tired of being passed around as necessary.
I understood her frustration. Which is why I made promises perhaps I should not have. I pledged I would set her free. If I could succeed at sabotaging Leandro Crotone and helping the Kozlovs, I could reason that it was earned.
Lena could have her new start like she dreamed. The sight of her in Leandro’s lap made me too sick to bear witness.
I turned away, busying myself with more of the buffet table.
That moment changed the course of my life, though I did not realize it until later.
“Cesar, I said I’m not interested. You keep getting pushy, I’ll have to tell my Pop on you.”
“C’mon, Stefania. Just one night out. You know you want it.”
“I said no, Cesar. Scram!”
The soldier named Cesar eyed her with a sour expression before stalking off.
The delicate, willowy woman had come up to the buffet table to escape the man harassing her. I pretended to be interested in the meats and cheeses when truly, her flowery perfume became a distraction.
She was stunning. A woman art was created in the name of, with a swan neck and long, golden hair.
I had never felt nerves around the opposite sex until that moment. She picked at the food selection with rosy cheeks and puckered lips.
“Is your evening an enjoyable one?” I asked suddenly.
She flinched as if pricked by a needle. “Huh? What was that?”
“Your evening. Is it enjoyable?”
“Oh. Not really. No. Just… just more of the same.” With a deep sigh, she glanced over her shoulder at the center table—Leandro Crotone sat with Lena in his lap and the man who had just harassed Stefania joining him for drinks. Her eyebrows pushed together and the pucker of her sweet lips grew. “No wonder he won’t leave me alone. He knows he can get chummy with Pop and nothing’ll happen to him.”
