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Maxim moved forward, withdrawing the H&K UMP from under his long coat. Anton and Valery fanned out behind him, their handguns drawn to supplement the submachine gun.
The jangling continued as more furniture moved around, guns cocking and bullets chambering on the far end of the restaurant. Too little, too late. My men had already done that in the car and if any of the idiots behind me so much as twitched a finger, they’d be riddled with bullets. Not as satisfying as dismemberment but I’d settle for it.
“Whoa, whoa! Easy!” Alonzo shouted. “Let ‘em go. Just let ‘em go.”
I breezed through the front door of the diner and into the wintry night. The others followed after, one by one, until Maxim was the last, ensuring our safe departure.
In the confines of my Escalade, I could finally relax the tightness bunched in my shoulders.
“What do you want to do with that piece of shit at the warehouse?” Valery asked.
“Dump him back where you found him,” I replied, quickly adding, “Alive.”
Disappointment flashed over Valery’s face but he nodded. “Yes, boss.”
35
MAREK
Before I knew it,Christmas Eve had arrived with a couple of inches of snow and a surprising lack of bitterness on my part.
I had long since given up on the stupid holiday as anything to be celebrated but I still tried to put on a good face for the kids. Thanks to Delirium, and by extension Misha, I was able to splurge on them for a change. There was no way a ton of presents would make up for their shitty life in any real capacity but it was all I had.
After Alonzo reared his ugly head, I dropped off a new phone for Bri, hidden in a box of cereal. It was connected to my account so Crystal couldn’t turn it off but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t smash it or sell it, just because she fucking could. So far, it had been quiet on the Homefront and as soon as I was done wrapping, I planned on making the trek out to see them, like Santa Claus himself.
I was up to my elbows in bows and wrapping paper when my cell phone rang so I looked to Misha for assistance.
“Can you grab that?” I nodded toward the phone. “It’s probably Bri. I told her I was coming by later.”
Misha nodded and grabbed the phone. “It says Axel,” he said, answering and putting it on speakerphone before setting it closer to me on the table.
“Hey. What’s up? Everything ok?” I asked, folding more obnoxious, glittery paper on itself and trying to get the damn tape to stick in place.
“Can you come get me?” Axel said, sniffing and breathing hard.
I froze in place, staring at the phone. “Where are you?” The answer should have been rehab. He wasn’t finished with the program yet and his dumb ass had actually made progress in recent weeks. If he fucking left to go get high I was going to murder him.
“The Stop-and-Rob on the corner, by the house,” he said.
“Why the fuck are you there? Why aren’t you—”
“Jesus Christ, Marek! I wanted to see my fucking family! Is that ok with you? They let me come home for the holiday weekend but Crystal flipped her shit and threw me out! You know what? Fucking forget it. I’ll crash with someone else. I should have never called you.”
“Axel! Stop. I’m—fuck! I’m coming, ok? Just stay there. Do you hear me? And be careful!” I never told him that I knew about him working for Alonzo, or that Misha had paid the debt, so the last thing I needed was for him to do something stupid like run right back to the King himself and stir up the hornet’s nest.
“Yeah.” Axel hung up without saying anything else.
“I can send someone to get him,” Misha said quietly.
“No. He’s my problem.”
“I’ll take you.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be at Delirium for that party thing?” Apparently Russians didn’t celebrate Christmas the way we did and New Year’s was more their thing, so Sergei used the holiday to his advantage and threw a massive party for anyone willing to meet the stupidly expensive cover charge at the door. And since Sergei was going to be there, Misha had to be there too.
Misha shook his head. “This is more important. Come on.” Snagging his burgundy suit jacket off the back of a chair, he headed toward the door.
I gave a last look at the half-wrapped pile of presents and groaned. It would have to wait until later. Which meant I had to drive to Axel, pick his ass up, come back here, finish wrapping, and then drivebackto the same goddamn neighborhood with the presents. Such a fucking waste of time but Misha was already in the hallway, so I couldn’t dawdle anymore.
