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I quickly gathered up my new clothes from the bed and tossed them on a chair, and then we crawled beneath my blanket and I drew him into my arms. He was trembling slightly, and when I pulled back to look at him, he turned his face away from me. I gently took hold of his chin and turned his head toward me until he met my gaze. His eyes were bright with unshed tears, and I asked him, “Dmitri, what’s wrong?”
And he whispered, his voice rough, “Please don’t leave me, Jamie.”
“I’m not going to leave you. I love you. I’m not going anywhere.”
“You might, after you hear what I’m going to tell you.” He wrapped himself around me, and then he said quietly. “You wanted to know about my involvement with the Russian mafia. So here it is. All of it.”
“Ok.”
He took a deep breath. “For six generations, my family’s been involved in organized crime. As the last male Teplov I’m in charge now, but it’s in name only. My uncle, Gregor Sokolov, has the real power. I don’t know what exactly he does, and I’ve never wanted to know. Though of course I’ve heard stories about all kinds of things, ranging from drugs to extortion to the black market. I don’t get involved in his business, and by the same token, he’s supposed to leave my club alone.”
He continued, “Gregor married into the family, he’s not a Teplov by blood or by name. And that’s where I come in. The Russian mob is all about family and history and reputation. The other families only want to deal with a Teplov, as they’ve done for generations. My uncle has no claim to the Teplov dynasty, but I do. So I serve as a figurehead. I meet representatives from the other families. I vouch for Gregor. Once they’re satisfied that they’re dealing with the Teplov family, I hand them over to my uncle. From there, I can only imagine the deals that are struck, the crimes that are committed.” He raised his head, meeting my gaze. “I’ve never killed anyone. I’ve never bought, sold, or imported drugs, or stolen, or committed extortion, or anything like that. But all that has been done – that and more, all under the Teplov name.”
“But…then you yourself have never committed a crime,” I said.
“Sure I have. At best I’ve been an accessory, at worst, a collaborator. I’m the conduit through which these terrible crimes get committed.” Heartbreak shone in his eyes.
“Why do you go along with it?”
“My uncle is a ruthless, cold-blooded man. He’s made it quite clear that if I don’t cooperate with him, those I love could get hurt. I have five younger sisters, one of them has children now, too. And though he hasn’t threatened them directly, he’s made it perfectly clear that without my cooperation, they’re all in danger. I can’t possibly protect all of them. But because I do what my uncle tells me, they’re safe. Not only from him, but from other insurgent gangs that might seek to take down the Teplov empire.”
“Wait. So your uncle is blackmailing you into cooperating with him?”
Dmitri shrugged. “Strong-arming, more like. But yeah, basically.”
“Fuck. Dmitri, you’re not a criminal. You’re a victim.”
“No I’m not. I still have a choice. And I choose to do as I’m told. I could stand up to my uncle. I could take over the role that’s my birthright and overthrow him. Or I could call his bluff and refuse to cooperate. As bad as he is, maybe he wouldn’t really let harm come to innocent women and children. But then, who knows? I’ve never been willing to find out what he’s really capable of. And as a result, I’m one of the key players in organized crime on the west coast.”
“I knew it. I knew you weren’t a criminal,” I told him, hugging him to me.
“Of course I am. Weren’t you listening?”
“Yes. And you know what? Introducing one criminal to another isn’t actually a crime. You haven’t really done anything wrong, Dmitri.”
“People have probably died because of deals I set in motion. Ok, so all I did was make some introductions, take a couple meetings. But the end result is that crimes were committed. People got hurt. And I hate myself so fucking much for my role in that shit.” Dmitri looked ashamed, and rolled over with his back to me.
I spooned tightly against his body and wrapped my arms around him. And I told him, “If you want a way out, I’ll help you.”
“There’s no way out. For years I’ve been trying to figure out how to untangle myself from all of this. But it’s impossible. Like, say I just take off, run away from the whole situation – which I’ve fantasized about all my life. Then my sisters and their families are left unprotected. Worse. They’re left to the mercy of my uncle.”
