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PROLOGUE
Zeus
How doesit feel to be sitting next to a god?"
I lean back in the butter soft leather chair and blow the smoke from my cancer stick out of the car window.
"Oh, what the fuck could you get any more conceited?" Luka complains and both Josip and Sven laugh in the back seat.
"If Luka is saying that shit, you know it's bad" Sven offers up.
"How is what I'm saying wrong? I mean honestly, I have to be touched by the divine to pull off some of the shit that I've pulled off, but this last one, ahh" I put my fingers to my mouth and blow a chef's kiss, "It's my Sistine chapel."
I've always been fucking brilliant when it came to talking people into doing what we wanted them to do.
Of course, if that didn't work, I had no qualms about beating them to a pulp until they agreed. As the man in charge of all the extortion and business that takes place out in the public eye, I had to have some level of charisma that both Luka and Sven just doesn't have. Forget about Josip, the man could get a clown to smile.
I honestly don't know how their women put up with them.
Still, out of everything that I've done, I am most proud of my last accomplishment. I managed to get one of the most esteemed French government officials to back a trade route that allowed Marko and the rest of our family to have easier access to the motherland.
Ever since the Varva family has been taken care of, Marko has been hinting at the possibility that he wanted to go back home. There's no way he'd do something like that if he thought there was a chance that he wouldn't be able to make it back to the states if something were going down.
He sent me over to make sure our highly popular french congressman was firmly pro our idea. It didn't hurt that the man owed us a massive favor from when he wasn't so popular.
The government and all the news stories found it so intriguing that the congressman would be for the route change, especially since he was one of the first one's to speak out against it.
It was front page news all over the news that he's changed his mind. Nothing like the media to bring proof that I've done my job. All without so much as harming one hair on the man's head.
His family, that's s different story. I'm sure his son is going to remember the day he was kidnapped and thrown into an oil drum for the rest of his life.
"If you think you did such a great job, tell me what the hell is Marko calling us over to the Kosnica for? I could be at home with my family, and you know Luka's wife is about to pop at any second." Sven says from where he's sitting.
"I don't know, that's your father, man. I just work for him. Maybe he wants to tell me how much of a great job I did." I take another toke on my cigarette before I flick the butt out the window and stare off into space.
There's no way that this could be anything besides a congratulatory visit. I mean, I'd' done exactly what he asked me to do.
* * *
Walkinginto the Kosnica always is so amazing to me. Marko along with his Vor's and other hired help had managed to create a little country of underground towns under people feet. The one here in Las Vegas is one of his largest and handled a lot of high traffic.
I stop at the bar for a second to grab a shot before I follow Sven and Luka to the banquet room where Marko chooses to have most of his meetings. The man eats like his stomach has no end. I just don't know how he's not obese.
Sven knocks on the door and waits to be told to come in. Luka is right next to him and Josip is behind me. The fact that Marko asked Josip to come is one of the few reasons I'm a little apprehensive about this meeting. Josip is our bookkeeper, if there's ever a deal that needs to go down or a contract to be signed he's there. The man knows everything there is to know about the Juric family, and he's absolutely irreplaceable.
I thought of Josip as a friend, but I'm starting to feel more and more like this wasn't a friendly meeting with my boss. Josip is here on business. What did he need to be around if this was just to congratulate me?
"Da!" Marko calls out and the four of us come into the room.
Sven and Luka immediately stand at attention, and Josip goes to his normal place in the room, ready to take the notes if needed.
I'm standing towards the back, a little out of place. Luka and Sven are both the adoptive sons of Marko Juric, so they know what he wants, probably more than anyone.
I was never the type of person that wanted to be stuck in such a militant lifestyle. I really loved the job I was given, and I worked hard to move up from associate to Vor to the position I'm in now, a Bratok.
As the man who takes care of all the extortion and public problems, I'm usually on the road a lot.
California, New York, the Cayman Islands. It's like a vacation that never ends. I wake up and gargle with vodka, go to sleep with three for four women in my bed.
