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"As a token of good faith, turn thepalachover to us. He has murdered many bratva from our family. Making an example of him will ensure the commitment of my people to our agreement."
"As atoken of good faith, I will not send the executioner to Russia to kill your men off one-by-one. It is your job as theirpakhanto make sure your men abide by the terms of the agreement, not mine."
"Do not threaten us," thepakhansnarls in Russian.
"It is not a threat. It is an outcome you can avoid. Whether you will, or not, remains to be seen."
"Yourpalachis a danger to my bratva. He cannot be allowed to live."
"Your men have nothing to fear from their executioner if they abide by the terms of our agreement and stay out of our territory in the future. If they don't, it won't be thepalachthat they have to worry about."
That is true for everyone but Ivan. But when I go to kill that bastard, I won't leave anything for them to trace the hit back to the United States, much less our mafia.
"If you expect us to act as allies, you must make this concession."
"At no time have I implied an ally relationship. We don't do business with human traffickers. This agreement is for a truce and it only extends so long as all of the conditions are met."
"You do not have the position of strength you think you do. I could send over an army and destroy your Hades Brotherhood in a single day."
"You could try, but the only syndicate that will be destroyed is your bratva."
Someone says something to thepakhanbut the words are too low to understand.
The man slams his fist down on his desk. "A truce. For the return of my son."
Zeus nods, in complete control of his emotions. "Since you have reopened concessions, you have two weeks instead of a month to vacate Oregon and three months for your American brethren to get out of California."
That cuts both departure times in half.
Zeus cuts the connection while thepakhanis still sputtering.
"You don't trust him to keep his word, do you?" I ask before my brother can say anything.
"No, but this buys us time to build our numbers, so when they come for us, we're ready to destroy them."
I nod.
"You heard me give my word."
"That I won't kill any more of their men as long as they get the hell out of our territory and stop doing any business in it? Yes."
"They may not be men of their word, but we are. You don't kill another bratva in Oregon or California unless they break the truce."
"I won't be the one that breaks terms." But neither of us is convinced the Golubev Bratva is as determined to keep their word as we are.
Men who make human beings a commodity have no honor and cannot be trusted.
~ ~ ~
Over the next two weeks, I take my turn watching the bratva still in Portland while they put their properties up for sale and vacate the apartments they rent. Cars are sold or returned to leasing agencies and business is cancelled.
The listening devices we planted in the bar were found a few days after we took Dimitri, but that doesn't stop us watching them. We always have someone inside the bar they congregate in.
Thepakhanis probably scrambling to figure out another port to use for the human smuggling operation. Too bad for him his partners won't be available to do business. Zeus agreed to let the bratva live, but not their partners responsible for establishing the other segments of the new route.
Chapter 29
ATLAS
