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Lucius went after Delphine.
That fact unsettles me to my core. I have never uttered a word about Delphine to Lucius. We’ve never exactly been close, the type of father and son to talk about anything but our disdain for each other. He doesn’t give enough of a fuck about me to ask about my personal life.
It’s not like he was the kind of father asking about my friends at school or the girls I was interested in growing up.
And Delphine and I have always been more or lesssecretiveabout our relationship.
While she was present in my loft when his men broke in, and we’ve recently been more public about dating, it’s still unsettling he’d know to go straight for her. That he’d know of her value and priority. It doesn’t help the paranoia that’s been making me question everything around me.
“Everything is as good as can be,” Stitches says vaguely when we speak over our secured devices. He and our computer guy set up military-grade encrypted mobile phones for us to communicate with as extra layers of protection. Our calls are untraceable and anonymous. “She’s not happy. That’s putting it lightly. But… we knew that.”
“And the rest?”
Stitches briefs me on everything else about the safe house. Nothing happening beyond security patrols and standard measures being taken is good news—or at least it should be. As we hang up, though, paranoia pinches at the side of my neck.
I roll my head on my shoulders and try to get rid of it.
“Are we doing this?” Omar asks, coming up on my left. “You sure thisSolnishkois reliable?”
“He said he’d give us what we need.”
“Who is he?”
“Somebody Stefania knew that Lucius didn’t want her knowing. The address he provided is all the way over in Heinsberg Park.”
“Not the best neighborhood.”
“They never are. C’mon.”
We roll out in several armored cars. These days we’re beyond the cockiness of assuming anybody we deal with isn’t trying to do us harm. With the countdown clock to the Five Families get-together winding down to zero, everybody’s a suspect. Everybody’s an enemy. Guilty until proven innocent.
Stefania seemed to trustSolnishkoenough to have him saved in her phone. Lucius wanted to keep that piece of info hidden enough to steal her phone. Florina and Marsia both thought it important enough to warn me about it.
But who’s to say what’s really going on? IfSolnishkois really a friend or a foe?
The address I’ve been provided has us pulling up in front of an old restaurant.
The Voronezh was a Russian eatery that closed many years ago. Nobody ever bought the property and thought to reopen it either as a second shot at success or as a revamped version of something else. The squat building sits unoccupied and miserable with graffiti-tagged boards in the window and trash scattered across the floor.
The door’s not even all the way closed—it creaks open on wobbly hinges and reveals what can only be described as a dumping ground.
The place is littered with signs of its use over the years. Used needles and other paraphernalia. Broken liquor bottles. More graffiti tag. Shopping carts stocked with scavenged junk. Even a few stale, used up condoms that make our stomachs roil.
The abandoned restaurant has been put to use for many purposes beyond eating… though that’s been going on too. A couple rodents have taken residence. They scurry by, clutching their finds from whatever dumpster they raided.
“Where the fuck is thisSolnishkoguy?” Arturo asks, shuddering after another rat dashes through. “I don’t like all these rodents being around.”
“It’s a rat. Shut the fuck up or I’ll feed you to it,codardo.”
“Do we know if this guy has any ties to the Bratva? He’s got us standing in a whole Russian restaurant,” Omar says.
It’s something I’ve considered—this could lead us back to Kozlov, who I have been slowly attempting to establish an alliance with. It could evenfinallylead us to Volchok, which would intrigue me most.
All clues regarding Volchok point to him being involved with Delphine’s attack. He paid off two of the men involved in targeting her. He’s a member of the Neptune Society, possibly ahigh-rankingone at that. Nobody anywhere has seen him in years. If he’s targeting Delphine and Lucius is targeting Delphine, then why would Stefania consider him an ally? Why would Lucius consider him a threat?
None of it makes sense.
The gentle pad of footsteps reaches our ears. Me and the others aim our guns at the back door. Whoever it is—that somebody beingSolnishko—they were smart enough not to come through the front. Which means they wanted a chance to see us before we saw them.
