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“Get me a car down there immediately. Nothing over the top, though. I don’t want anyone to know that I’m showing up, and I don’t want any guards there, either.”
“Sir, if you’ll excuse me for speaking out, but isn’t that dangerous?”
“I don’t care,” I grumble. “Put a couple of guys on the roofs nearby if you’re so concerned. Anatoly knows better than to try to have me killed.”
“I’m just making sure you really want it this way. We can shut the entire street down.”
I scoff at his suggestion, even though it’s exactly what I did when I took Valerie out to the luxury boutique. I didn’t allow a single car down the road while we were there, for her convenience but also for her safety. The moment someone sees her with me she becomes a target. At the very least, Anatoly will want to take her from me, and I would sooner die than let that happen.
“Okay, I can have some guys on the roof, but I’d really like if you checked in once you were inside. This place doesn’t have super high security. It’s just a regular nightclub.” Boris’s voice is thin and tight in his throat, and I feel a smidge of empathy for him. His job, as well as thousands of others’, hinges on me. If I fall, everything else crumbles to dust.
“I’ll let you know when I’m inside. I just want to check the place out and figure out why Anatoly is interested in this one in particular. Shoot me the address over text.” I hang up the phone, jumping out of my office chair and grabbing my jacket from the hook next to the door.
My phone buzzes in my hand, and I check it to find the address for a club that only recently opened.The Pink Disaster. It’s deeper in the south side than some of my other places, so perhaps that’s why Anatoly is checking it out.
I’m moving in on his territory, and it’s making him nervous.
Tightening security should do the trick, but I still want to take a look for myself, if only to fill the remaining hours until morning.
The air is damp with the recent rain, and it smells like petrichor as I step outside. A large black sedan is idling in the road, taking up more space than it needs to with its dramatic diagonal stance.
I duck into the back seat, and the driver begins driving south. The road is silent beneath us, like we’re sliding across glass on the way to The Pink Disaster. I light up a cigar, puffing smoke into the cabin until I can’t see two inches in front of me.
I’m able to disappear for a while, lost in the thought of Valerie again. Her moody eyes and long red nails are burned into my subconscious mind, permanently woven into the gray matter of my brain.
She’s impossible to smoke away, and I can barely breathe by the time I arrive at The Pink Disaster. I can hear the pounding bass from outside, colorful lights flashing in the windows on the second floor as patrons dance deep into the night.
How long has it been since I let loose like that? I used to enjoy dancing, but it lost its charm as the years went on. Obligations got in the way, and work became the only thing that brought me any joy.
Until I met Valerie. Now, I imagine dancing at the club with her, holding her small body close as she grinds her ass into my lap. I’d want to strip her down and claim her on the dance floor, but she’d make me wait.
In the bathroom, in the car, but not until we got home. That would be far too long.
Smoke wraps around me as I walk up to the entrance. A bouncer stands just inside the doorway, his thick arms crossed over his chest, but he steps away with a silent nod when he sees me.
I walk in with my cigar, puffing on it as I pass the coat collection without taking off my jacket. I don’t plan on being here for long. I just want to know what made Anatoly so interested in this place.
The first realization I have is that the security is too low for something on the south side of the city. There isn’t a single bouncer on the first floor of the club, and when I go upstairs to the second, I see only one bouncer, and he’s behind the bar shaking a cocktail.
I sigh. This place needs to be way more secure, especially is Anatoly is going to be sending his guys over to snoop around. I can’t have any mishaps in my clubs. If one goes down, others are sure to follow. When people get spooked, things get sloppy, and it’s going to be a whole hell of a lot of work to clean things up.
I believe that’s what Anatoly wants. He’s never been the violent type, unlike me, but he likes to stir up trouble when he can. He’ll have people bust out windows of my apartment properties and harass the residents if I buy anything on his side of the city.
The truth is, none of the city belongs to him. It all belongs to the Chazov Bratva, and he’s not part of it. He’s Chazov in blood only. I don’t accept him as part of the Bratva family anymore.
Not since our father’s will was read and Anatoly was left out of it. That was all the confirmation I needed that he couldn’t be trusted with the family business. My father never trusted him, and I have more than my fair share of reasons not to trust him either.
I realize I’m attracting too much attention by smoking a cigar indoors, so I ash it out on the bar and head to the bathroom. Most people would have to weave through the crowd on the dance floor, but they part for me like the Red Sea, allowing me to walk through without so much as brushing shoulders with anyone.
As I reach the bathroom, I notice a woman with dark brown hair and an emerald pendant around her neck rush out with her head down. She hides her face from me, but I know who she is in an instant.
“Valerie,” I exclaim, stumbling back in surprise.
She almost does stop, but she realizes there’ no use in running from me. She’s already been caught.
She turns, and her expression is drenched in guilt.
“Valerie, what are you doing here?” I ask, coming toward her.
