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The man rolls down a window and points for us to head left, even though they're heading right. I do what he says. A car follows us and the lead car, and the last of our convoy, heads off to the left. The block seems eerily silent. Like a ghost town. There's a man waiting for me in the middle of the road; he’s dressed in a well tailored suit and has a toothpick in the corner of his mouth. I almost laugh at the stereotype of a New York Italian mafioso. Because I then remember how Luca cautioned me not to joke around with these guys, they were dubious ofme.I had been a known associate of Tommy Russo before working for him. I was still under suspicion despite everything on our end.
He motions to roll the window down.
“How ya going Sebastian.” Statement, not a question. He jams a hand towards me to shake.
I shake it and nod at the other man further up. “I’m good. Are you Leandro?”
“The one and only,” he says. He grins then and smiles through to Mimi. “Miss Martinez.”
Mimi smiles and gives a small wave back.
“Alright, here’s the thing. The meeting is happening up there in the building on your right. Alex, who chaperoned you two here, has just gone around the other side to meet the Kumarin’s. They’re gonna radio through to us for when you can roll through. You roll in. Get out of the van. Then get out of the warehouse. It’s that easy.”
I nod and regrip the steering wheel. “Right. Not a problem. I only have one question.”
Leandro gives me a look like there isn't a chance of me asking a question. I’m meant to stay silent. I know who he is and what level he is at, but I’m pissed off at these Russians for intimidating us along the way.
“I just want to know why the Russians felt they had to try and intimidate us on the way down.”
Leandro’s face doesn’t turn to surprise; he doesn’t even react. I can tell the information has shocked him, but being the heir to the Don of the northern Colombino family has given him a poker face like no other. “Expand.”
I look at Mimi and then back at him. I nod toward the front of the car. “As you know, we needed an extra twenty-four hours to get here because of our busted radiator. Well, someone pulled out in front of us, but it wasn’t an accident. The car had in fact been trailing us since the beginning, I believe. After the attempted crash, they were intimidating us the whole way. They were bratva men.”
“Kumarin’s men?” Leandro asks. A vein has bulged at the side of his head.
“I don’t know. All I know is that they were two Russian men, their car had identifying insignias of Russian crosses and the guys had some portraits on their hands.”
Leandro’s face darkens even more. He looks like he could chew cement back into dust.
“Look, I don’t know if they were Kumarin’s men, but I don’t know of anyone else who knew of this deal. Finally, they tried to ram us off the road just as we were leaving Jersey.”
Leandro twists his lips and looks away. He pokes his tongue out and rests it on his upper lip. He comes back. “They were not Kumarin’s men. That, I know. But, that doesn’t mean they weren’t Bratva.” He looks at both of us again with fresh eyes, we’re obviously smarter to him than he first thought. “I won’t say our deal hasn't been accepted by all. There’re plenty of people, even within our families, that believe that the families of our country's origins should remain separate. There are many that wish for this deal not to happen. That this partnership does not come to fruition.” He nods and takes the pick out of his mouth, he’s made a decision. He throws it on the ground. “I will take your knowledge into context. The deal still goes ahead, but I will talk with Sergei. He will be able to get to the bottom of it.” He turns and looks at his friend down the street. He signals for us to drive on. “It is time.”
Mimi and I inch down the street in the van. Itisempty. There’s no one anywhere. I look at the corners further on, and even there, I can't spot sentries of either Leandro’s or Sergei’s. The man signaling us forward points into the warehouse. I turn, and we descend into the shadow of a big brick building. Mimi shivers as we head in, and I feel like doing the same. I steel myself, though, for whatever could happen. I wish that I wasn’t bringing Mimi into this. I should’ve pulled over and let her out. I should’ve kept her with Leandro…
“Whatever you do, do not mention Sophie,” I whisper out of the side of my mouth. We’re inching towards a group of men standing in the middle of a clearing of debris. The warehouse has been long abandoned and deserted.
“Of course I wouldn’t. Why do you think I would?”
“I dunno. I’m just suddenly very on edge. The car followed us the whole way here. Now, the fact that Leandro wasn't even surprised that we’d been followed… it doesn’t sit right with me.”
“Me neither,” Mimi says out of the side of her mouth. “There’s something they’re not telling us. Something they know.”
We both share a look of caution toward one another. Are we in the depths of a trap? Could this all be a move to force Luca’s hand? The thought suddenly strikes me and scares the shit out of me. What if that’s the whole point? What if the other Russians were trying to warn us?
My mind goes into overdrive as I come to a stop in front of the group. I can instantly see who Sergei is. He’s a wolf of a man. Standing over six feet, thick gray hair and a beard, all groomed, and a suit that barely stretches across his barrel chest. He’s sixty-five but looks like he’d put me in the ground with ease. He’s covered in tattoos.
We share one last look and get out. I immediately slide open the rear van door and grab our things. When I come back, I catch a glimpse of Leandro’s father, Nicholas Colombino, the biggest Don of them all. Luca even answers him. He’s the same age as Sergei, but he’s wiry where the other is muscular. He’s covering his frame up in a baggy jacket, where Sergei is showing off his power. The two have shown who they are by how they are. I swallow, and he just grins at me.
There are not many men that scare me.
Not many men that I wouldn’t think I couldn’t fight.
But Nicholas Colombino is one of the men I’d never want to cross. The stories I used to hear about him when I was a Russo were horrific. The stories I’ve heard confirmed since working for Luca are worse…
Sergei turns to one of his men and whispers in Russian. His man nods and points at us, replying in the same tongue. All the while, Nicholas grins at us. He nods again and smokes his cigarette. Sergei’s conversation with his man is over. He nods. Nicholas licks his lips and smiles. He opens his hands wide.
“Friends of Lucas’, thank you for delivering the van here. At first, I wanted to question his move to send two such interesting characters…”
