by Gina LaManna
My back stiffened, and I could sense Anthony’s attention now directed our way.
“Excuse me?” I retorted.
“You’ve gone on more than one date with a person who was…” Clay glanced at the two brothers. “Less than perfect.”
“Fine,” I agreed with a wave of my hand. “But whatever you’re doing on the Internet to meet people like Horatio—”
“There’s nothing wrong with Horatio,” Clay said vehemently. “Just because his brother is a bad egg, doesn’t mean that he is. What if you were responsible for every action of your family?”
The quiet that descended on the room was in part menacing and in part thoughtful. He had a point, and I was jumping to conclusions. Assuming things didn’t get me very far, so it was time to stop assuming.
“I’m not a bad egg,” Oleg said, breaking the silence. “It’s this one who left our family. He stuck close by mommy after his daddy died.”
“Someone had to be there for her,” Horatio said. “When dad died, do you know what grandmother did to give us the chance to get out of there?”
“Out of where?” I asked.
“Their family is an old name in the Russian Mafiya,” Carlos said, shocking everyone into silence with his even voice. “Their father was a particularly brutal leader and extremely high up in the ranks. He was killed by one of his own.”
“The other families said he was a traitor, just like my brother, here,” Oleg spat. “But he wasn’t. He was just fair.”
“He wasn’t fair. He took joy in punishing people,” Horatio said. “The other members of his own family killed him because he was a bad man.”
Oleg shook his head, a twisted smile playing at his lips. “Even his own son turning against him. Who would’ve thought?”
“You know them?” I asked, much more interested in Carlos’s connection with members of a rival family.
“I did,” Carlos said. “And I still know Anastasia well. She came to me when her son died – when Oleg and Horatio’s father died. Their mother had, sadly, died long before. Anastasia was all they had left.”
“She’s a confused old woman,” Oleg said, kicking his feet against the floor so his rocking chair began to creak.
“Silence!” Carlos said. The heaviness in the room felt as if he’d roared his command, when it’d merely been a whisper. “Anastasia is a smart woman wrapped up with the wrong people. She has your best interests at heart, and if she didn’t, she would’ve never come to me and asked for help. You should be ashamed.”
Oleg’s eyes were trained on the floor, but I couldn’t tell if he was reflecting on Carlos’s words or ignoring them.
“Why did Anastasia come to you?” I asked.
Carlos trained his sharp eyes on me. He paused to take a breath and study my face for a moment before speaking. “Because she knew I was a powerful man in America. I could get her what she needed.”
“But she was Russian and you’re…you’re Italian,” I said, finishing the sentence lamely. I knew what I wanted to say, but the words didn’t quite come out the way I’d intended. It’d sounded much more eloquent in my head.
“Sometimes human needs transcend the boundaries of our family name,” Carlos said. “Especially when the lives of your children are at stake.”
I swallowed and nodded. Carlos, despite his tough face and questionable work ethics, had morals deep down. I just knew it; maybe I had to scratch and dig and go spelunking beneath the cold exterior of the mob boss’s façade, but it was there. He’d helped out a grandmother in need despite her former loyalties, and for that, I was proud.
“Anastasia loves your grandfather,” Horatio said. At all of our confused expressions, he quickly waved his hand and backtracked. “Not loves, loves. She loves him like I love Batman. Like a superhero. Carlos brought my grandmother, me, and my brother over from Russia when we were just kids. He didn’t ask for anything from us, except that we didn’t rejoin the Mafiya once we were here. A simple task, right?”
Oleg looked down at his feet.
“For some of us, it was,” Horatio said, and I could hear the sad bitterness in his voice. It was no longer the dripping venom from before, but a disappointed sigh. “Grandmother and I tried the best we could. We’ve called the cops on him and had him arrested. He’s been in and out of jail. We gave him money and sent him to college, but he dropped out. We took the money away and he found other ways to get it. I don’t know what to do anymore.”
“Horatio, no offense,” I said. “But how can we know for sure that we can trust you?”
Horatio’s mouth opened and closed as if unsure how to answer the question.
“I trust him,” Clay said, his voice firm and his jaw set, as if daring me to argue with him.
“And I trust Anastasia,” Carlos said. “Horatio is telling the truth, Lacey.”
I nodded. “Good enough for me, I just wanted to make sure after this whole fiasco.”
Horatio gave a nervous smile. “I met Clay through—”
“Online, a while ago,” Clay said, cutting off whatever Horatio had to say.
Horatio took the cue and didn’t expand, which only piqued my curiosity more as to Clay’s online habits. “I didn’t realize who he was in relation to Carlos for the longest time. After all, we only have usernames online, and Clay’s name was—”
“Nothing of importance,” Clay burst in.
“Right,” Horatio said. “We eventually met in person, and when I heard his name, I couldn’t believe he was one of the Luzzi clan. When I met you the other day, Lacey, I was just trying to be helpful, I promise. You were going towards Stillwater and my grandmother lives there. I knew she’d be happy to see any granddaughter of Carlos’s and return a small portion of his favor to us if possible.”
I fought hard against rolling my eyes. “But she knowingly sent me to her grandson’s house, who she knew was wrapped up in bad business.”
“She didn’t know what was going on,” Horatio said. “She would’ve never sent you if she’d known it would become this big of a problem. She just wanted to scare Oleg a little bit; the cops and jail didn’t work, and neither did sending him to school or giving him money. I’m sure she thought that the threat of the Luzzi name getting involved could put a fire under his butt…”
I looked to Carlos, Anthony, Clay, and finally back at Horatio. “But he didn’t know my name.”
“Yes,” Horatio cringed. “Which was a problem. To this day, Oleg has been involved with small, small projects. Nobody from the Russian Mafiya trusts him – at least back home. Not after what our father has done.”
“But here in America it’s different?” I asked.
“Yes,” Horatio said. “Though in a different way. We changed our names and destroyed our past, but that means no criminal worth his two cents trusts him here, either. Nobody trusts newcomers. You should know that, Lacey.”
“Why didn’t she just tell me to show up at his door and say that the Luzzis had their eyes on him?” I asked. “In exchange, she’d make the sauce that Carlos loves so much.”
“She thought it would be a simple matter,” Horatio said. “And she didn’t have permission yet from Carlos to explain the family connection.”
Horatio’s eyes flicked towards Carlos.
“Why wasn’t it an easy task?” I asked, looking between the brothers.
“That, I’m not sure. I don’t keep up with my brother’s extracurricular activities, and I don’t know what he’s been up to lately. Apparently he’s no longer a messenger boy.”
“Who do you work for?” I asked Oleg. “Who was that man from the car? Is he Russian?”
“No,” Oleg said, his eyes blazing with anger. “He is not Russian. He’s not anything. He’s…he’s a bad man.”
“What do they call him?” I asked.
Oleg took a deep, shuddering breath. “They call him ‘The Fish’.”
There was a small giggle from Meg, and a collectively confused noise from everyone else.
“The Fish?” I asked.
“Something got lost in translation there,” Meg said. “Didn’t anyone tell him that when you pick a criminal name it should be something menacing? Like a sabretooth tiger-bird or something awesome like that.”
“That’s not a real animal,” Oleg said.
“But it sounds badass,” Meg retorted. “The Fish just sounds like…”
“He’s slippery,” Anthony said. “And to date, hasn’t managed to be caught.”
“You know about him?” I asked Anthony.
Anthony reclaimed his seat next to me, leaving Horatio leaning against the fridge. Nora had ducked out of the room almost as soon as she’d entered, probably to finish the gluing of her eyelashes in place.
Looking at me, he quickly took stock of the occupants of the room and guarded his words. “Do you remember the contents of my cup holder?”
The gun. “Yes,” I said quietly.
“He’s the mastermind behind that issue. He’s been after us for years. However, five years ago he ran into a, um, setback of sorts. This is the first time he’s resurfaced since,” Anthony said as an explanation. “Carlos?”
Carlos nodded. “Go on. It’s okay.”
“The Fish is responsible for the influx of guns into the Cities. He’s the reason I was distracted at the warehouse and made the poor decision not to tell you about the fake assignments. When I heard he was back, when I heard he was behind it…” Anthony shook his head. What he didn’t need to say was that the news had shaken him up. Between Anthony’s nerves being rattled and The Fish’s impressive display at Carlos’s today, the signs were there that this was a dangerous man.
“I’m not even working for the Russian Mafiya,” Oleg said. “I’m working for whoever pays me money. Ever since Horatio and grandmother cut me off—”
“You used the last money to buy fake identification and weed,” Horatio said.
Meg raised her eyebrows as if she didn’t quite think that was a terrible use of the money. Luckily nobody except Anthony and I saw her face.
“I’ve tried to get you to go straight. Get a job at the bank. Do something legal for once,” Horatio said. “It’s not that difficult.”
The entire Luzzi clan shifted uncomfortably in their seats.
“Or at least do something for the right reasons,” Horatio corrected quickly. “Look at this family. I don’t know how they do it. They managed to be the biggest crime ring in the Cities, yet they’re some of the most genuine, thoughtful people I know. Color me confused.”
“Don’t ever use that expression again,” Meg said. “I’m the expression police and that went out of style twenty-two years ago, to be exact.”
“Sorry,” Horatio said, doing a double take at Meg. “And thanks.”
“No problem,” she said with a smug smile.
Clay, however, looked livid. There was some part of me that still believed I couldn’t have been entirely wrong about the Meg and Clay rumor…
“I don’t know what to do with him,” Horatio said eventually, dropping his hands to his sides. “Carlos, er, Sir, I’m sorry – I’ve tried.”
Carlos looked thoughtfully, first at Horatio, then at Oleg.
“The Fish said he’d be back again,” I blurted. “I forgot to tell you guys. When we were driving away, he asked me to deliver a message.”
“What was the message?” Meg asked.
I gave her a funny look. “The message was that he’ll be back.”
“Oh. Well you could’ve just said that instead of making us guess all day,” she said.
I didn’t bother to let her know that I had said it already. She plowed right ahead to her next point.
“He didn’t give any specifics about when he’d be back?” Meg asked. I noticed she’d also had a shower, fresh clothes, and a pillow to sit on. Dr. Gambino had been at the party, and I was willing to bet he’d taken a peek at her butt. Maybe not willingly, but he’d do anything Nora asked.
“No,” I said. “No specifics.”
“What else did he say?” Carlos asked.
I blushed. There was no way I was telling them what he said about Anthony and me. “He said I better have improved manners, next time.”
Meg burst out in a fit of laughter. “Did you play the air trumpet with a certain middle finger?”
I paused and then grinned. “I held a single note for a very long time.”
“Good,” Meg said. “He deserved more than a flip of the bird.”
“Why didn’t you say more of this on the car ride?” I asked Oleg.
“I would have said something if you took the sock out of my mouth,” he said.
“Got a point,” Meg added. “I pride myself on my sock stuffing abilities. He couldn’t have spoken if he’d tried.”
“I did try,” Oleg said.
“Enough,” Carlos said. “The Fish will be back, but not today. Now – I have no more desire to speak of this. We will not ruin the last event because of him.”
“What are you going to do with Oleg?” Horatio asked. “I may not like the guy, but he’s still my brother.”
“We’re not going to do anything, yet,” Carlos said. “We’ll keep him here overnight. We have a – how do you say – escape-proof extra bedroom he shall find quite comfortable. We’ll give him a pair of guards to make sure nobody enters the space. Or leaves.”
“And in the future?” Horatio said. “You’re not going to kill him, are you?”
Carlos stood up. “That depends.”
“On what?” Oleg asked, his eyes fluttering with nerves as Carlos approached.
Carlos crossed his arms in front of Oleg, his stature making him seem as tall as a giant, though the numbers didn’t hold up on paper. “On how useful you can be. I like Anastasia, which makes you lucky. Because I don’t much like you. However, if you can provide a certain amount of trustworthy assistance, maybe I’ll let you keep your head. For your grandmother.”
“She’d be so grateful,” Horatio said. “Really. We owe you everything.”
“Then be ready if I need a favor from you, as well,” Carlos said.
“Anything,” he said. “Horatio – that’s me – at your service.”
“Why Horatio?” I burst in. “I don’t understand. You’re as far from a Horatio as possible.”
“I’m Garik,” he said. “In Russia, they called me Garik. I reinvented myself here.”
“And you thought Horatio was the best option?” I asked.
Horatio crossed his arms. “I wanted to be different.”
“Mission accomplished,” Meg said. “But that’s okay. We like different here.”
I smiled. She had a point. The Luzzi Family thrived on different.
“Anthony, see that your men get this man to his chambers for the evening. The last surprise is about to start, and I need to find my wife.” Carlos exited the room with quick, crisp steps.
I turned to Anthony, who was quietly barking orders into what I’d assumed was a watch. False assumption.
When he finished, I looked up. “Are you sure I’ll enjoy this surprise?”
“Positive,” Anthony said, slinging his arm around my shoulder. “At least, I hope so.”
His half-assed vote of confidence on the subject didn’t do any favors for my nerves. Like I’d said, I was all surprised-out. But as I marched back down the Hallway of Infamy and past the Great Entrance, now completely dark except for the twinkle of the moonlight through the stained glass windows, I felt the smallest glimmer of excitement in my stomach. I really did love surprises. And it was my birthday party.
“Relax,” Anthony said. “We’re all here with you, now. Everything will be okay.”
And as I looked about at my ragtag group of impossibly loyal friends, I knew he was right.
Chapter 16
“What is it?” I asked, my voice taking on a higher pitched squeal than normal. Despite my assurances that I was done with surprises for the day, now that I was surrounded by my closest confidants, I
thought I could handle one or two more. Deep down, I loved the anticipation. I loved the wait. I loved the thrill.
“No peeking,” Anthony said, making sure the blue and red flag bandana remained tightly fastened across my eyes.
“I can’t see!” I laughed as hands reached for my shoulders and spun me in circles. “Stop, I’m going to throw up if you keep twirling me around.”
“I call your bluff,” Meg said, manhandling me until I finished a few more rotations.
Stumbling, I fell straight into thick, muscular arms that could only belong to one person. My breath caught in my throat as Anthony’s lips pressed against the top of my head. “Gotcha,” he whispered, his warm breath tickling my skull.
Part of me wanted to pretend I was so dizzy I couldn’t possibly walk straight without assistance. Having a gorgeous, strong man carry me to the next event would not be the worst thing that’d happened today.
“We’re here,” Clay said. “Shall we un-blindfold her?”
“Not yet,” Anthony said. “Couple last minute preparations.”
I heard the shuffling of several feet, the swish of cloth, and the distinct pop of a champagne bottle.
“Oooh, bubbles,” I said. “I like this kind of surprise.”
“That’s just the start,” Meg said. “Chickadee, when you open your eyes, you’re gonna cry. I know it.”
“I’m not going to cry,” I said. “I haven’t cried all day.”
“I know you, girlfriend,” she said. “Your emotions were suppressed all day. Now they’re all gonna just pop right out of you. Probably out of your eyeballs in the form of tears.”
I clapped my hands. “Let’s just get on with it.”
“Plus, it doesn’t take much to make you cry,” Meg said. “And this surprise is the opposite of ‘not much’.”
“What is it?” A flutter rose in my chest, my fingers trembled, and my body positively shook with excitement. “Tell me!”
“Ready for the reveal?” Meg asked.
Clay muttered a series of names under his breath. “Everyone’s here.”
Firm fingers nimbly undid the knot tied against the back of my scalp.
