“See you guys later. Don’t you have school?” he commented.
“Not today. Homework assignments,” Solomon said still looking at the sky.
“Which you have done?” Tony asked in a mock stern tone.
“Yup,” Solomon said in the same resigned tone.
“Well…don’t think too much okay?” Tony said nudging him with his foot before walking away. Solomon turned his head to watch him go then rolled his eyes to look at Benjy who was dragging himself slowly to the edge of the blanket.
“That’s the spirit sonny,“ Solomon told him, ”Never give up.”
*****
Roman was waiting as they drew up in front of the April Shower, their Russian restaurant and base in Boston. So was Uncle Mikhail, looking so much like, yet unlike, his twin brother. Sophie’s heart beat faster just seeing them together. It was never a good thing when these two men had to be in the same place at the same time. They only ever seemed to get together when there was trouble afoot. Tony stepped out of the car and stood facing his father and Uncle. Sophie had never had a chance to study the three of them together. The genes were strong. All tall men, weathered and hardened by harsh winters and a Spartan lifestyle. Roman’s eyes were the ice cold color of slate; they were hard eyes, with no room for sentiment or softness. He loved his family though – she knew that. She knew he would kill or die for them. Just as long as he didn’t have to kiss anyone goodnight. His brother Mikhail was softer in that his affection for his loved ones was more easily expressed. The hardness in his eyes was disguised like dark clouds concealed beneath a fall of warm rain. His body was just as hard and muscled as his brother and nephew and they all stood as if poised to withstand a hard blow. Sophie wondered why anyone would want to trifle with these men. It was a fool’s errand as far as she was concerned. She alighted from the car and stood beside her husband. His eyes were blue and although they warmed when they fell on her, she knew how icy they could look.
“Well gentlemen, are we going to stand around all day or shall we go in?” she asked. She might not have undergone numerous Russian winters, but she was a child of hardship too. It didn’t do to trifle with her and hers either.
Roman and Mikhail were men of few words and as they sat around the office, Roman let Mikhail explain it all.
“These people you met, they are gangsters who style themselves as part of the ‘bloods’ of New York. They have branches in various parts of the country. This girl, Peanuts, she’s not really one of them so she has a lot to prove. The restaurant racket is her gig. I don’t know what she wants from you Anton, but I guarantee it’s nothing good.”
Tony nodded. “Figured that out for myself,” So what’s the best way to handle this? I’m guessing not the police.”
Roman and Mikhail exchanged glances, silently communicating something that obviously wasn’t making them too happy.
“Krysha.” Mikhail said.
“What’s that?” Sophie asked.
Roman took a deep breath, “Anton you left me in charge of running your businesses did you not?” he asked his son.
Tony stared at him in trepidation. “Yes I did,” he said.
“Okay then. This is business. Let me handle it,” Roman said. Tony continued to stare at him, eyes narrowed in an assessing way.
“Papa?” he said in a voice that brooked no possibility of denial. “What are you planning?”
Roman looked at Mikhail and then sighed, “The Krysha are in the protection racket. They can take care of this.”
“At what cost Papa?” Tony asked still staring hard at his father. It was his uncle who answered though.
“The protection racket is an ongoing thing Anton, we would have to pay them some money,” he said.
“For how long?” Tony asked.
“I don’t know Anton. Probably as long as we want to run. The upside is that they take care of small annoyances like the Bloods trying to muscle in on our business.” Roman said.
Tony looked down and then up at Sophie who looked back at him without flinching.
“Sophie?” he asked. Sophie studied him and then turned her gaze on his father.
“So does that mean we’re part of the Russian Mafia now or whatever?” she asked.
Roman laughed, “No ma’am, it does not. It just means we pay them protection money to…protect us.”
“Does anyone get killed?” Sophie asked baldly.
Roman shrugged, “Whoever pays the piper picks the tune.”
“So that’s a…’it’s up to us’ sort of deal?” she pressed.
“To a certain extent. Things happen after all,” Roman told her. Sophie nodded her understanding then looked at Tony and shrugged her acquiescence with her eyebrows and an inclination of her head.
“And there’s no other way?” Tony clarified.
“Not one that doesn’t get any less messy than this one,” Mikhail said.
Tony shook his head but not in negation.
“Alright then. Do it. But I’m coming with you,” he said.
Both his father and uncle jumped in with protests but Tony persisted in tight-lipped stubbornness. Finally Roman turned to Sophie.
“Sophia, talk to him. You have a family. A child. You don’t need this mess.” He said to her.
“No we don’t. But it seems we have it,” she replied with a small shrug.
“We can take care of it,” Roman protested.
Sophie nodded her head. “I’m sure you can. But then, you didn’t raise your son to let other people clean up his messes did you?” she said gently.
Roman flushed and paled at the same time. The lines around his eyes tightened in anger and frustration. “This is not his mess.”
“Yes well it’s at his door,” Sophie said. “It’s at our door; I brought it in. So I’m coming with.”
All three men erupted at that but Sophie just looked back at them impassively. She looked at Tony.
“Through sick and sin right?” she said. Tony deflated like a balloon losing air. Seeing the fight go out of him, his father and uncle stood down as well.
“Great, now that that’s settled, what’s our first step?” Sophie asked rubbing her suddenly cold hands together. “Is there someone that we call or what?”
“Crowley,” Roman said resignedly, “We call Crowley.”
*****
“Something is wrong,” Solomon said to his grandfather as he wandered into the living room. He’d just put Benjy down for his nap after he wore himself out trying to escape the blanket and being foiled every time by either Sam or Solomon.
Elijah put down his newspaper. He’d been hoping for half an hour of peace and quiet while he caught up on the day’s events before dinner but he guessed that wasn’t going to happen.
“What’s wrong?” he asked putting the paper aside without so much as another glance.
“I don’t know. I just know that both Tony and Sophie are really worried. And they left here looking like they were off to war.”
“Really?” Elijah said both eyebrows brushing his hairline.
“Yep. And Sophie was wearing pin stripe,” he continued giving his grandfather a significant glance. Pin stripe was Sophie’s ‘armor’ clothing when she was uncomfortable or feeling out of her depth.
“Where did they go?” Elijah asked.
“They said they were headed to work. Which could mean the April Shower. I could ask Katarina to call someone, make sure they’re there. Are we going after them?” Solomon was already standing again, ready to rush off.
“Solomon sit,” Elijah said making a quelling gesture with his hand. “If they need help, they’ll ask for it.”
The rumble of a turbo engine could be heard coming up the drive. Solomon looked out the window to see Tony’s black SUV park opposite the front door so that Sophie could alight before driving off to the garage.
Sophie’s head was bent and she walked like she had a weight on her shoulder. Solomon hurried to the door to let her in and then enveloped her in hi
s arms.
“Hey Soph,” he said casually even as he held her tight and close.
“Hey Starship, how’s tricks?” Sophie asked tentatively returning the embrace while looking completely mystified.
“Good. How are you? Everything good?” Solomon asked releasing her so far as arms length but keeping his hands on her arms. Sophie looked up in his face and shrugged.
“As good as can be expected,” she said.
“Which is…? How good exactly?” Solomon persisted.
Sophie studied his face then laughed ruefully, “I guess I never could hide much from you.”
“No you couldn’t so why don’t you just tell me what’s up and stop giving me ulcers?” he said. Sophie turned him around and began to walk with him to the living room, hand slung around his waist.
“Let’s sit down, pour me a drink.” She said.
“An alcoholic one?” Solomon asked voice rising in disbelief even as he crossed over to the mini-bar.
“It’s an emergency,” Sophie shrugged.
Solomon mixed her vodka with a lot of water, some ice and a twist of lemon and brought it to her, anxiously sitting next to her on the couch and waited for her to begin. Sophie sat thinking for a while and then turned to him.
“Do you remember Stephen Jensen?” she asked him.
Solomon thought about it for a while then shook his head, “Yes...”
“He was in my class in high school,” Sophie prompted. Solomon sat back with a sigh.
“I had no interest in your high school classmates. Wasn’t he mostly mean to you?” he said, frowning at the memory all of these years later.
“Well…I guess so yes. Anyway, so we ran into him in New York. He’s in a gang now.”
“Wonderful. Always good to know where they are now. Why do we care?”
“We don’t. Or at least we shouldn’t. Except that this gang Stephen is in, is kind of threatening our business.”
“And Stephen is helping you?” Solomon asked.
“Er, no, Stephen is the one who brought the trouble to us.”
“Wonderful, are we gonna waste his ass?”
Sophie laughed, “Really? And how exactly would you do that Clint?”
“Not me maybe, but Papa Romanov sure could,” Solomon said.
“Don’t tell me he’s you’re hero now,” Sophie said with an eye roll.
“He’s the guy who brought me home,” Solomon pointed out. “And then when I was in trouble he got me out again.”
Sophie opened her mouth to point out that Tony’s father had kidnapped him from the mental hospital but then closed it again. Technically, maybe, Starship was right so she’d let it stand.
“Well anyway, for right now, Roman and his brother are consulting with people who do this sort of thing for a living so we might hear back from them tomorrow or whenever,” she said instead. She slanted her eyes toward an uncharacteristically quiet Elijah.
“So Grandpa. How you doing?” she asked.
Elijah inclined his head, “I’m disappointed that more trouble has found us.” He said slowly.
Sophie stared at him, “You already knew?”
“Roman filled me in,” Elijah said, head still buried in the paper. Sophie continued to wait for further explanation.
“He was worried about security around the house. We don’t know these people. We don’t know their reach. He wanted to make sure someone here was aware and alert.”
“I see. Seeing as we’re just a bunch of careless yahoos right?” Sophie said. She didn’t know whether to be insulted or amused.
“Seeing as y’all have enough on your plate. It doesn’t hurt to share the burdens you know my girl.”
“Sure G.” Sophie said. Tony walked into the room and smiled at her then turned to greet the two men.
“Sophie filled us in,” Solomon told him. “You should have told us. Or rather me, since Grandpa seems to have his own sources,” he said sounding disgruntled.
“Yes well…” Tony said inclining his head in shrugging apology.
“So now what?” Solomon asked him.
“Now? We wait.” He said.
*****
Roman was at the house very early the next morning waiting for them in the breakfast nook as they came down for breakfast.
“Good morning,” he said nonchalantly. He held out his hands for the baby who was in Sophie’s arms. Benjy leaned toward his grandfather, just as happy to see him as his grandfather was to see Benjy. Sophie passed him along then sat down, pulling the coffee toward her.
“Good morning to you too,” she murmured taking a sip.
“Papa. Fancy seeing you so early,” Tony said sitting down next to Sophie and articulating exactly what she was thinking.
“Yes, we have spoken with Crowley and he has gotten in touch with the Krysha. We have a plan.”
“Already?” Tony asked in surprise as he poured his own coffee. Roman shrugged.
“This is what they do for a living,” he said.
“True. So what’s the plan?” Tony asked.
“We need you Sophie. You know this Stephen person in a personal capacity yes? He trusts you?”
“Well I wouldn’t go so far as to say ‘trust’. But yeah we know each other.”
“We need to get information. So you need to call this guy and convince him to meet you somewhere discreet. Can you do that?”
“Can Usain Bolt run fast?” Sophie replied buttering some toast.
“Okay then. As soon as you’re finished with your breakfast, we can do this.”
“Alright but shouldn’t we plan first where we’re going to meet him? Maybe scout out the area?”
Tony smiled. “You watch too many movies Sophie”, he said indulgently. Sophie flipped him off and then turned back to her father-in-law.
“Well?” she asked.
“We already have a place. Or rather the Krysha does, where they conduct these kinds of interrogations. You will not direct him there though; you’ll offer to meet him somewhere else and he’ll be picked up from there by one of Crowley’s people.”
“She’s not going alone,” Tony said coldly.
“No of course she isn’t. Our men will be surrounding her at all times. But she needs to give the impression of being by herself if this is going to work.” Roman said.
“Why? Is she supposed to seduce him,” Tony asked with an ugly smirk on his face. Roman was silent. Tony stared at him in disbelief.
“NO!” he shouted.
“We need him to not be suspicious and we need him not to have back up waiting. How else do you propose we do that?” Roman asked.
Tony glared daggers at his father, looking like he wanted to rip his throat out. Sophie reached out and put a hand on his arm.
“I don’t think your father is saying I should actually seduce him Tony, just give him the impression that I want to. Right Roman,” she said looking at her father-in-law. He inclined his head at her.
“And there’s no reason why you can’t be present. Just out of sight okay?” Tony’s hand was extremely tense under her hand and it did not relax.
“You’ll be right there Tony,” Sophie repeated softly turning to look him in the eye. “Sick and Sin,” she mouthed at him. Tony frowned but relaxed his tense stance. He took her hand and enveloped it with his.
“This means we have to go back to New York?” he asked.
“Well we’ll see about that. If Sophie can get him to come here, all the better.” Roman said.
“Better but not likely,” Tony replied.
“No. it’s not likely.” Roman agreed.
After breakfast they all retired to the library and Sophie dialed Stephen’s number, with Tony pacing up and down in front of her the whole time. She wanted to tell him to quit it, but didn’t want to do anything that would antagonize him…further.
“Hello,” she said tentatively as soon as Stephen answered.
“Hey Sophie. What’s up?”
“Well…er things got a bit awkw
ard the last time we met and I was wondering if we could possibly resolve it? You know, just you and me?”
“What?” Stephen sounded surprised.
“Er yeah, I thought maybe we could sit down, just you and me and come to some sort of agreement. All this ugliness is just unnecessary don’t you agree?” Sophie pitched her voice low and deepened her voice, speaking slowly and seductively. Tony’s knuckles gleamed white against his clenched fists as he paced faster and faster in front of her. She kept on eye on him as she spoke.
“What kind of agreement?” Stephen asked but his voice had quickened with interest.
“Well that depends doesn’t it. Is it a question of money or power?” she asked.
“Control,” Stephen said.
“How about we meet somewhere and talk about it huh? Maybe we can come to some sort of compromise?” Sophie said.
“Where you wanna meet?” Stephen asked. There was something gloating in his tone.
“I don’t know, you have a better knowledge of New York…unless you’d like to come down to Boston? We have some magnificent bed and breakfasts…” she coaxed.
“Yeah that sounds cool but I don’t think I’d be able to pull it off without Peanuts knowing. I mean you want to deal just between us right? You and me?” he clarified.
“Yeah. You know I’ve always had a soft spot for you Stevie,” Sophie said flirtatiously. Stephen laughed. Tony broke the pencil in his hand.
“So can you come over to New York? We have some good bed and breakfasts here too.” He said insinuation thick in his voice.
“I’d love that Stevie. Is day after tomorrow good for you?” she asked sweating slightly in sympathy with Tony.
“Yeah that works,” he said.
“Where do we meet?” she asked him.
“Oh you know there is this place known as the Red Hotel in the Bronx. We can meet there with no chance of your husband or Peanuts finding out.” Stephen said letting Sophie know exactly what he expected would happen.
Be Mine Forever (Brothers From Money #2) Page 20
