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I ordered the guards at the front door to carry Audrey into one of the guest rooms on the ground floor and lock her inside. I was exhausted and I wasted no time sinking into my bed.
The night passed quickly and I found myself unable to sleep, alternating between pacing the room to smoking to lying motionless on the bed, just staring at the ceiling. The cool-headedness I had managed to muster had swiftly been replaced by extreme agitation.
Maybe it was the silence softly echoing throughout the rooms. Maybe it was the presence and close proximity of the potential mother of my child locked in one of my rooms. Or could it have been the sense of defeat I felt knowing that, despite my most meticulous preparations, the plan had still gone phenomenally sideways?
How did the police and the Bianchis learn of our plan? Who was this friend the detective had spoken of?
I finally sat down in the chaise lounge thin beam of sunlight spilled through the damask curtains as a rap on the door sounded, first gentle, then gradually growing louder.
“Boss, forgive me but there’s a situation you should know about.” It was Anton. Just when I had managed to get some shut-eye. Scratching my eyes, I donned a black velvet robe and unlocked the door.
He rushed in and began quickly. “Boss, the Bianchis are requesting a meeting.”
“What? Wait, slow down.” I slowly sat myself down and regarded him keenly. “What do you mean a meeting?”
“Don Giuseppe called for a meeting with you this morning.” Anton spoke slowly this time.
What could that snake have in mind?
I hear the voice of my father in my head saying, “Listen to me, Ivan. There are few men as cunning as that Italian bastard Giuseppe Bianchi. He and I, along with the Triad boss Lee Xing, go way back. Never trust what he has to say. I just hope you never have to deal with the Bianchis or Xing’s Triad.”
And for years we never did encounter them. Then our family met Lee Xing during our time in Los Angeles, and it was a struggle before my father and I finally took him out. I had thought I had nothing else to worry about. That was, until I set up shop in Philadelphia.
“Prep the car then. Looks like we’re going for a ride,” I snickered. “And get Diego for me.” Anton bowed and left. I washed my face, combed my hair and slicked it back with pomade, and threw on a black coat.
“Come in,” I said to the person knocking on the door.
“Boss,” Diego said humbly, his head bent low.
“Follow me,” I told him coldly, and took him down to the door of the locked room. “Now, you’re to stay here and look after this door, do I make myself clear?” He nodded without delay.
“Good. Do not go in, and do not let anyone in or out except me. I’ll be back later,” I instructed him, and left for the park, the neutral point where the meeting was to take place.
The car rounded the gate and in a moment, streamed into the busy streets of the city. We got to the park to find old man Giuseppe seated on a bench, already drinking a cup of coffee. Aguard stood behind him and several more blended in with the rest of the crowd.
“You younger generation and your aversion to punctuality,” Giuseppe laughed, his thick Italian accent accentuating the wisdom often attributed to the words of the old. Giuseppe wore a large plain brown shirt and cargo pants, with a creamy fedora next to him and his cane placed between his legs. His wrinkled skin was a tanned olive and his thin figure, a shadow of his glory years, looked like it would be swept away by any breeze. The mole beneath his left eye remained unchanged.
“Yesterday, you made an attempt on my life,” he continued, after I looked around and finally sat down at the end of the bench. Anton and the rest of my men stood by my side, their eyes alert for any sign of trouble.
I had set up snipers around the place, but I am sure he had done the same. In this space, no action was the ideal action. Civilians, mostly families, were out in the open. Neither of us was going to do anything stupid, not out here in the open.
“I must admit, I didn’t believe it. It was a really close one, I’ll give you that, but fortunately, a friend reached out to me,” Giuseppe’s laugh broke into a fit of coughing.
There it was again, this mysterious friend. Who exactly was it?
“Sorry about that," he wiped his mouth. "Anyway, I personally find all this fighting pointless. So, I’m suggesting a cease-fire between both organizations and an equal division of the city of Philadelphia.”
I listened to him as he went on explaining his offer, embellishing it with the skill of a marketer. “Never trust what he has to say.” My father’s words repeated themselves in my head, but for now, I had to take his offer—or at least, feign accepting it.
“Fine.” I leaned back and gave him a blank look. “I’ll think about your offer.”
His thin lips curved into a crooked, wrinkly smile as his small beady eyes stared at me with a piercing gaze, "Ivan Zolotov, you know I saw you when you were just a baby. Back when your mother gave birth to you, your father and I were still on friendly terms. I remember the joy in his eyes as he rejoiced in finally having an heir." Giuseppe turned his attention towards the sky, looking at it as though the memory was replaying itself in the clouds.
"I guess what I'm trying to say is that I've been watching you for a while now and you haven't made any moves towards getting an heir for yourself. My son Mario just got his second boy a few months ago and you should've seen the smile on that rugged face of his," Giuseppe chuckled. "Let me give you a friendly advice since I don't necessarily see you as an enemy owing to my history with your father: get yourself an heir. You could knock up some young girl or something but just find yourself an heir, because a Don without one is at risk of losing his power and empire the moment he dies, and trust me, death is always around the corner. Though from what I've seen, it's always best the child is legitimate, born from a woman you've married. That often prevents the quarrels of legitimacy."
Then, with his cane in hand, he slowly rose and added, “Think, but don’t think for too long. In matters like these, time is always of the essence.” With that, he was gone.
His words had touched me and I wondered if he was a sage or it was just something a person became the moment they grew old. I leaned back on the bench and fixed my eyes on the cloud the same way he had done, hoping to glean some insight from the morphing clouds. Maybe Audrey arriving with the pregnancy was actually a blessing in disguise, especially since worries had begun to circulate around the high levels of the Bratva. I had initially regarded the pregnancy as an unwelcome nuisance but I could use it to my advantage to consolidatemy power. It was funny. My mind was hardly on the issue of Giuseppe's offer. I thought about Audrey instead and her small round face smiling at me. I could hardly believe I was going to be a father. It all felt surreal to me. The thought had never crossed my mind since Josephine passed away, but yet here it was. Inititally, I thought it was the worst time possible, but maybe she and the baby came at just the right time.
