Using You 2

by Ariel Arnold

  “Are you really that hungry?” I asked in wonderment, not comprehending how she could want to end this moment for some food.

  She nodded, “Yes, I really am.”

  Sighing, I left one more whisper soft lingering kiss on her lips before pulling away. “Okay then, let me feed you.”

  Nana’s eyes watched me with a far-off expression as I began to unload the groceries out of the bags to prepare our dinner. “Can I help with anything?” she asked nervously, pulling at the sleeves of her shirt. It was always a wonderment when Nana got this way. In anything else, she was so confident and assertive, but when it came to intimacy, she got shy.

  “No, you relax. I promised you dinner. I’ll take care of everything.”

  I turned away from her, but not before I caught her rolling her eyes. “So, what the heck am I supposed to do?” she asked, sounding exasperated. “Just watch you cook?”

  “You could do that. Or watch TV. Or grab a short nap. You’ve been working all day, haven’t you?”

  She nodded. “Yeah, a nap sounds good, but I doubt I’d be able to. I’ll just watch TV if that’s alright?”

  I nodded, “You know the way to the living room, have at it.”

  Nana left the kitchen and I watched her until she disappeared from my line of sight completely.

  The meal was almost done when my phone pinged with a text. As always, without looking, I knew who it would be. Nikolai. It was like I had an incoming annoyance radar or something. Sighing, I touched the screen, bringing up his text.

  Niko: R u still with her?

  Ilya: Yes.

  Niko: Did u confront her?

  Sighing, I put the phone down without answering his text. I felt guilty because Nana was threatening Niko’s and my freedom, but I was annoyed with Nikolai that he was reminding me that what I had right here, right now, wasn’t perfect. Nikolai had every right to inquire about what I was going to do about the Nana situation, not me keeping him in the dark because I wanted to live in denial just a while longer. I shot him another quick text telling him that I had it handled before I hurried out of the kitchen. It had been more than an hour since I’d sent Nana to the living room alone. While I’d been in the kitchen cooking her a dinner like a love-sick fool, she was probably quietly ransacking my house for clues.

  I rushed down the hall and entered the living room. For the first time in a long time, my footfalls weren’t sure, steady, and stealth. I practically thundered down the hall, stomping in my haste. What I intended to do if I caught her going through my apartment, I didn’t even know. I came to an abrupt halt upon entering the living room. Nana was sprawled out on the couch, remote in her hand, cringing at a zombie in the process of eating someone’s face. “You should have rocked with Rick Grimes and this wouldn’t have happened to you,” she said, shaking her head. I was so relieved that I gaffed aloud, making Nana turn to look at me.

  “I get a little into TV shows, so don’t mind me if you hear me talking when there is no one here,” she said sheepishly.

  “That’s cute, that you talk to fictional TV characters,” I teased her.

  She rolled her eyes. “Whatever, where is the fire? Food burning?” she asked.

  “No. It’s almost done, though.”

  She cocked her head to the side and eyed me. “So, why did it sound like you were running a marathon race down the hall?”

  So, she had heard me. I couldn’t tell her that I panicked, that I didn’t trust her, that I had good reason not to trust her because I knew the truth. Smiling, I reached over the back of the couch and grabbed her hand. “Come on, you can help me finish the rest.” She pouted at me and narrowed her eyes.

  “You said I didn’t have to do anything and I would much rather sit here and watch my show,” she said in a huff.

  “Too bad,” I told her firmly as I used my strength to pull her up off the couch. She fell into me, her palms resting across my chest. “You’re helping.” She smiled and shook her head at me.

  “Fine, fine, I’ll help you.”

  I smiled as I led her down the hall, holding her hand, happy that she hadn’t noticed I didn’t answer her question and had distracted her completely from the topic.

  I wanted to erase all the doubts that were in my mind because even though I’d entered the living room and saw Nana on the couch watching TV, there was still a voice in the back of my head questioning everything.

  Are you sure she was there the whole time?

  She had enough unaccounted for time to search.

  She could have heard you coming and quickly made her way back to the living room.

  For the first time in a long time, I was interested in a woman for more than sex. Hell, even in the past few years, I hadn’t been interested in sex that often either. I felt like I was just existing, revolving in and out of the people around me lives, with no real one of my own. Like some type of ghost or ethereal fictional being of legends from the old country. I was living in the moment. At any moment, my life could have ended and I wouldn’t have cared. But then Nana happened and everything just seemed to fall into place, like this was what I was waiting for to really live. She was what I was holding on for.

  “Ilya,” Nana said, breaking me out of my thoughts. “I said, am I supposed to mix this in?” she asked.

  “Sorry, got lost in thought.”

  “Well, don’t get lost again before I ruin our dinner. You’re supposed to be the expert cook here.”

  Wrapping my arm around her neck, I leaned down and smelled her hair content. “I won’t. I promise.”

  Chapter Three: Nana

  I had decided to take matters into my own hands and once again go on a fact-finding mission. It was a bust at Nikolai’s club and it was certainly a bust at Ilya’s apartment, which had more to do with me not having my head in the game. How could I let myself be distracted by his kisses and caresses? The purpose of me being there was wholly erased from my mind as I drowned in his seductive touch. How was little old me, Nana Valencia, supposed to withstand his attacks? Ilya was experienced, more than experienced. He had to be a master. As soon as he touched me, even looked at me, all thoughts of who he really was and why I was there with him flew out of mind. I was just a girl who was letting an insanely hot and attractive man seduce her. It didn’t have anything to do with gangs, drugs, or murder.

  I glanced at the exterior of the warehouse I was standing outside of. It was early afternoon, but I could still see my breath in the air as I watched and waited. I didn’t know if anyone would be inside. The only time I was here, it was night and me and Ilya were the only ones inside. That particular night, Ilya had seemed like he needed to forget something desperately and had come to me. He’d brought me to this warehouse and inside, there was an office, with a computer, that undoubtedly had information on it. Ilya had seemed comfortable inside, so I was assuming it was his office.

  Although it was chilly outside, I was sweating. Every time I planned to do something that would harm Ilya, my body reacted violently. Sweating, stomach aches, heart racing. I was fighting an internal battle between my mind and my body. Logically, I knew what I was doing was right, and that I was doing my job, protecting innocent citizens, but then within, everything in my body was screaming stop.

  I wiped my palms on my black skinny jeans, trying to get rid of all the excessive sweat. This part of town never had that much activity on the streets during the day, so there wasn’t anyone around at the moment. In the hour I had been lurking around outside, only about five people had passed through. Hopefully, the warehouse was just as deserted, the owners choosing to do their business at night. I pulled my hood up over my head and crossed the street towards the warehouse, cautiously looking around just in case someone happened to wonder by then. Once I made it to the building, I used the bolt cutters I’d brought in my backpack and snipped a wide enough hole for my small frame to fit through. Staying low, I jogged across the wide park area to the set of doors that Ilya had brought me through. Even as I’d
entered with him that time, my mind took note of the lock. I couldn’t help it. It was something I always did. I was a pretty good lock picker, if I do say so myself.

  I had the door swinging open within two minutes, a personal best. With a triumphant grin spread across my face, I slid inside and closed the door behind me. I stood absolutely still, fearing to go any further as I listened for any noise that would tell me I wasn’t alone inside. When I didn’t hear any, I began walking, treading lightly, hoping that my low top sneakers wouldn’t make too much noise on the concrete floor. Purely by memory, I found my way back to the door that led to the office Ilya had brought me to. I twisted the door knob and much like Nikolai’s office in the club, the knob turned.

  What was up with these guys and not locking their doors, I thought absently. It didn’t matter anyway, I’d just pick it if they did. I pushed the door all the way open and stepped inside, closing the door behind me.

  Everything looked exactly the same as it had that night. The couch still sat in the far corner, the desk with the computer was still placed in the middle of the room with the single chair sitting behind it. Not wanting to linger, I immediately went to the computer first. I was no computer whiz, so I hoped this thing wasn’t password protected. I didn’t even consider that possibility when I’d come up with this little plan. The desktop appeared to be in sleeping mode, so as soon as I moved the mouse around, the screen lit up.

  Thank God. Lo and behold, it didn’t need a password to access the main page. That didn’t mean that certain files wouldn’t be password protected, though.

  Moving the mouse around, I glanced at the icons on the home screen and bit my lip. “If I was a mob enforcer, in what folder would I hide all my illegal information?” Clicking on documents brought up all the saved contents, but nothing seemed suspicious. I was hoping there would be a word doc titled, ‘names of people I’ve killed’ or something similar. With no luck with that, I browsed through his email, but once again didn’t find anything incriminating. Getting frustrated, I smacked the keyboard and two file folders opened on the screen. I stared, eyes wide, as I read the words before me. What lay before me was a sort of journal. I scoffed in disbelief. He actually left information like this around. The files must have been open in the background without me noticing, and once I’d banged the keyboard, they became maximized. I scanned Ilya detailing how he was thinking more and more about his childhood in Russia. Having this insight into Ilya’s mind was something amazing, and yet it was unnecessary. I wasn’t supposed to be fascinated about how he grew up, who his parents were, or even if there was some girl back home in Russia he truly loved. I was here to find evidence of his crimes and the crimes of his boss.

  I skimmed over the paragraphs that discussed how Ilya felt and stopped when a name jumped out at me.

  Vidor Prakenski.

  That was Nikolai Prakenski’s grandfather, the former leader of the Russian mob, who was recently murdered on American soil.

  Ilya seemed to blame himself for the man’s death because he wasn’t there to protect him, having been off on some other business. Whatever the business was, Ilya hadn’t written down. He also mentioned the local street gang HBD and how he thought they could have been involved in Vidor’s death, despite Nikolai’s skepticism. It looked as if they were trying to figure out who caused Vidor Prakenski’s death so that they could get revenge. A Jason, who was allegedly murdered by HBD, was also mentioned. Who was Jason? I’d have to look through the surveillance files on Nikolai at the station for information. I’d just began to read the next line concerning some woman named Makayla when I could hear footsteps coming down the hall towards the room.

  “Shit,” I whispered.

  ****

  I quickly minimized the tabs and jumped up from the chair. I looked around the room frantically, hoping that a way out would magically appear. I couldn’t be caught in here. There was no plausible excuse I could use for being here. Whoever it was would know I was snooping and then I had no doubt that my life would be over. Heart pounding, I made a mad dash for the couch and slid behind it. It was a tight space with the wall pressing up against me on one side and the couch on the other. Good thing I wasn’t claustrophobic.

  I was hoping that no one decided to sit on it because one glance over their shoulder and they would see me crouched down behind it. The room door opened and I closed my eyes tightly and tried to control my rapid breathing so that it couldn’t be heard.

  “You know Ilya doesn’t like people coming in here when he’s not here,” a male voice said.

  “It’s not even his space, yet he treats it like it is,” another male voice said. “Nikolai lets him get away with too much. He should guard his back more to make sure he doesn’t get stabbed in it.”

  Male voice number one growled lowly, “Watch your mouth, Dimitri. Ilya would never. We all grew up together watching each other’s back and would never commit such a betrayal,” he said angrily. “Nikolai and Ilya are brothers, and if Nikolai ever heard you saying something like that, he’d kill you.”

  It went silent, only the sound of breathing, and then the eventual sounds of feet shuffling.

  “Shit, Gavril, you’re right,” the one called Dimitri said. “Everything is just sit. Vidor is dead. Nikolai doesn’t seem to be doing anything about it…” He trailed off. “We look weak, man.”

  “It’ll take time. You don’t think Nikolai wants to catch his grandfather’s killer more than we do? We have to wait until we get the right information, and the right time, to carry this out properly,” Gavril spoke calmly.

  Dimitri scoffed, “And how long will that take? Our best enforcer, the one everyone speaks of like he’s a fucking God, can’t even figure anything out,” he laughed darkly. “Maybe Ilya Volstolv isn’t what everyone makes him out to be.”

  My back went straight and I fought the urge to defend Ilya against this unknown man. Dimitri seemed to have a lot of pent-up anger towards Ilya.

  As I was preoccupied with stewing, thinking of all the ways I wanted to kick Dimitri’s ass, pressure was put on the couch, squishing me even further against the wall. My heart stuttered and then began beating rapidly. Someone was sitting on the couch.

  “Shit, let me be quiet.” Dimitri’s voice boomed out from right above me. He was the one sitting on the couch. I tried to squish myself into a smaller ball, hoping to escape notice that way. “The man is like a ghost. He’ll appear out of nowhere and hear me talking about him.”

  “Yeah, you better watch yourself. He has to be around here somewhere, his computer is on.”

  I tensed at the mention of the computer. What if they realized that Ilya was in fact not here? They’d wonder who was on his computer and maybe discover my hiding spot. Could I come out alive up against two ruthless Russian mobsters?

  The sound of a cell phone ringing split the silence in the room and I jerked, knocking my elbow against the wall, making a muffled thud sound.

  “What was that?” Dimitri asked.

  Chapter Four: Nana

  Oh God, oh God, I chanted to myself over and over in my head. Dmitri must have stood because the pressure on the couch was removed. “Did you hear that?” he asked again.

  Biting my lip, I prayed that he wouldn’t turn around.

  “It’s my phone, dumb ass,” Gavril said. He answered the phone in Russian and began speaking rapidly.

  Dear God, please let me make it out of this alive. I prayed silently, body tense, waiting for the moment my luck would run out.

  “Let’s go. They need us at the club. Something’s going down,” Gavril said in English to Dimitri.

  I waited stiffly for the sound of the two men leaving the room and even when I heard the door close, I didn’t get up from my hiding spot. I had to wait for enough time that I could reasonably assume they were gone. As I sat there trying to regain my breath, I shook my head in disbelief. When Gavril’s phone had rung, for a split second, I had thought it was my own. That was the reason for my startled jump. I
was extremely lucky that Dimitri didn’t decide to investigate what the mysterious sound was further.

  After a good twenty minutes, I slowly stood, fearing that somehow the two guys were still in the room and just waiting for me to reveal myself. However, the room was empty, and I breathed out a sigh of relief, stretching out my legs. It would do me no good to stay here any longer, not when they could return at any time. I had to take my chances of running into someone and get out of this building.

  I took small, quiet steps until I stood before the closed door. Preparing my heart and my body for a potential fight, I slowly opened it. Once I had it opened enough that I could peek out, I scanned the area. All seemed good. No one was in sight, so this was my moment. I opened the door a little more and slid through. Practically sprinting, I made it out of the building as quick as I could without attracting attention.

  As I walked home, I took big gulps of the cool outside air, trying to calm my nerves and slow down my racing heart. It’s okay, Nana, you made it out without anyone seeing you. You did good, I tried to reassure myself.

  The walk from the warehouse to my apartment was a short one. Along the way, I couldn’t keep the name Jason out of my head. It was nagging me. It seemed familiar, as if I had heard it somewhere. But where? The only thing I was certain of was that he was connected to Nikolai Prakenski and Ilya, so if I looked at the copious amounts of files about them, I should be able to figure it out. The moment I entered the door, I kicked off my shoes. I dropped my bag right on the floor and began leaving a trail of clothes to the bathroom. I needed a quick hot shower. After all that stress, my whole body felt disgusting and saturated with sweat.