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I pass a few other workers on my way, they give nods of greeting as they step aside respectfully. But one doesn’t step aside…the striking blond walks right up to me, eyes narrowed, and hands planted on her hips.
She’s wearing a red halter top that barely restrains the big fake tits and hot pants showing off legs a mile long.
She waits until the corridor is empty to start. “What’s wrong with your phone, Sebastian? Didn’t you get any of my messages? I haven’t seen you for weeks.” She pouts and slinks forward in those impossible stiletto pumps. “I miss my Bashy.”
I grip her wrist when she tries to slide her hand to my crotch. “Sorry, Arianna. I should’ve made it clear, it’s over.”
“What?” she says with eyes tearing up. “No, Sebastian. What did I do? Tell me.”
“It wasn’t anything you’ve done. It’s just over, but you’ll be well taken care of, so don’t worry.” I step around her, but she grabs my arm. “Wait, is it because Natasha is coming? I know the rules, Bash. I won’t make any trouble for you, I promise.”
I wrench my arm free of her. “It’s over, Ari. Don’t make me tell you again.”
I’m not trying to be an asshole, but it’s the only way she’ll get the message. Sympathy at this point would only give her hope. Making a clean break is the best to let them all know, those days are behind me.
I hurry up the stairs taking them by twos. I’ve got to get the hell out of this place. This is the last time I’ll take a meeting in this stinking dive.
I knock once on the door and turn the knob. “Stieg, you wanted to see me?” Stieg had been over here longer than anyone else. He’d gone to high school here and played varsity football, as quarterback. Would’ve been recruited to one of the big colleges if he hadn’t torn his rotator cup. Despite the graying hair, he managed to maintain an athlete’s physique.
“Hey, Sebastian, come have a seat,” Stieg says then motions for the two other guys to beat it. The room smells of stale cigarettes, moldy wood, and stripper ass.
I take up a chair across from Stieg’s desk. “What’s on your mind?”
“You heard about the hit on the Medici family,” Stieg says sitting back in his chair. His leather jacket creaks with the motion.
“They tried to kill me.”
“You fucked his girl, what did you expect?”
A tight ball forms in the pit of my stomach. “What the hell was one of Medici’s girls doing here at the club?” I say in my defense. “Besides, that was over six months ago.” Long before I met Madison.
“The point is you handled it, put a bullet right between the son-of-a-bitch’s eyes.” He shakes his head. “The Medici boss would have been willing to let it go since it was a low-level guy. But then Sergei had to go fuck it up by taking out one of their captains. Just when I was making in-roads with the Italians, Sergei pulls this shit.” He pounds his fist on the arm of his chair. “He’s out of control, Sebastian. He has been for a very long time.”
I hold my counsel just as I hold his gaze. I need him to keep talking so I know exactly what he wants from me. His brown eyes search mine. The corner of his mouth curves up.
“Sometimes I forget how much you look like him, your old man.”
I nod. “He put his stamp on me and Nicolaus.”
“He should’ve been here, Sebastian. To raise his two boys.”
I nod again but remain silent.
His eyes dart about the room before coming to rest upon me. “I was there with him that night, you know. We’d just finished collections on East Fifth and were heading over to Little Nikita’s for a bite. The ambush took place at a light. I heard them talk, they were Albanians.” He points to his left hip and ribs. “Caught two bullets here and here. I should’ve been gone too.”
I scratch the bridge of my nose having listened to this story a dozen times during my lifetime.
“I know, you think you’ve heard it all before, but I’ve some new info for you.”
I sit up a little straighter in the chair.
“Medici told me that a couple of days later some Albanian punks were hanging around bragging about taking out a Russian mafia don. Said one of our own had paid him to do it.”
I snort and glance over at the calendar featuring a girl in hot pants splayed out over the hood of a Lamborghini. I cringe and feel the dirty atmosphere clinging to me. How hadn’t I noticed all this before Madison?
“We’ve heard the rumors for years, Stieg. Why are you dredging this up now?”
His dark eyes narrow at me. “Alexei was my best friend, but he was your father, you think you’d give a damn.”
