AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But not like that.
What the fuck was wrong with me?
God, I hated myself.
My parents were right. I was no mobster. I was simply too emotional.
I walked downstairs into the kitchen where Svetlana, Igor, Roman, and Mr. Ivanov were huddled around the large marble island.
“How is the boy?” Svetlana asked. She was stirring a cup of tea with one of her long, maroon fingernails.
“Themanis having a bit of a hard time,” I replied, feeling protective. “But of course, I mean, who wouldn’t.”
“Love, why can’t we just kill Vladimir ourselves so young Nikolai can just stay here, safely, until then?” Svetlana asked. We’d been through this many times before.
“Yeah,” Igor grunted. I could tell he was already a few shots of vodka in, his eyes blood red with anger. “I’d like to grab that Vladimir by his puny neck andsnap it right in half.” He mimicked the action, making a cracking noise with his mouth as he broke the imaginary bones.
“You know why we can’t,” I replied, even though I empathized with their desire to rid the world of Vladimir ourselves. “If Nikolai doesn’t do the deed himself, one of Vladimir’s many minions will simply pop up and try to kill Nikolai next. The young man, our leader, has to take back power with his own two hands. Or at least with a gun he shoots those hands. Otherwise,
Vladimir’s little sect will always contest him as the rightful heir.”
“If they don’t see him as the rightful heir, then why are they even trying to kill him?” Mr.
Ivanov asked.
“Regardless of who Nikolai is today, he might one day decide he wants his birthright—the Russian mafia. It’s simply not a risk that Vladimir and his despicable crew will take,” I answered.
But again, they knew all of this.
“Are your parents still in that despicable crew?” Svetlana said, with a slight chuckle.
“You know damn well that they are,” I hissed back. “Now, enough of this. We are not here to play games and drink tea or vodka. We are here to protect Nikolai and to return him to
his rightful throne. This isn’t for fun. We are talking about people’s lives.”
I needed to give everyone a reality check, including myself. We were here to be professional.
We were gangsters.
Svetlana paused from stirring her tea and placed the cup down. She walked towards me and began to fix my tie.
“Love, you know that we know this isn’t a game,” she said, tightening the tie around my neck, almost too much, like a noose. “We’re all putting our lives at risk here out of respect and loyalty to Mr. Obolensky. We are just having a bit of fun, perhaps the last fun we’ll have before Vladimir annihilates us all. You take everything soseriously, Damien, my love,” she said. “Not everything is likeThe Godfather. You’re a mobster, yes, but you’re a human too. Show some humanity once in a while.”
If only they’d just seen me up there kissing that beautiful boy’s cheek. If only they’d seen how I let my humanity slip and had probably made the boy’s birthday so incredibly uncomfortable after, well, kidnapping him and telling him he was the rightful heir of the Russian mafia.
I put my hands on Svetlana’s shoulders.
“Tomorrow, we begin Nikolai’s training. I have a feeling he will be alone in his room for the rest of the night. He needs some time to process.”
I turned and walked out of the kitchen, returning to my own room across the hall from Nikolai’s. His door was still shut, and I knew not to bother him again.
I sat on my bed and took off my leather shoes. I’d dressed like a businessman ever since I was a teenager. I didn’t know any different, although I did know it wasn’t the most comfortable. It had probably been 20 years since I wore sweatpants or even jeans. I was always either in my suit or naked.
For now, it was time to get naked.
It was only 6:00pm or so and the night was young, but the day had been long and I was ready for bed.
It comforted me knowing that Nikolai was safe and sound just across the hall.
