The War: Bratva Blood Two : (A dark mafia romance)

by SR Jones

  “Yes, sir.” I smile at him.

  He growls under his breath. “Don’t get me all riled up again, or we won’t be eating until midnight.”

  When we reach the kitchen, we both stop dead in the entranceway. Andrius and Reece are sitting talking, and they are serious as hell.

  “What’s wrong?” Konstantin asks.

  “It’s not especially that anything is wrong,” Andrius says cautiously. “Reece got a call from Marcus, who got a call from the French Police.”

  “Go on.” Konstantin walks into the room, me following.

  “The attack on Cassie wasn’t the Armenians. The intel we had that they weren’t in Paris seems to have been correct.”

  “So…” I trail off. “Who was it? Is there someone else after us?”

  “Nope.” Andrius shakes his head. “It was totally random. Guy was off his head on drugs, unwell, and he’d got into the museum the back way. He thought there were monsters. Apparently, he’d been on a four day drugs and booze binge. Accompanied by nonstop playing of some intense RPGs. Add in existing paranoia, and sprinkle on some fuckers winding him up and making him more paranoid, and it was a perfect storm. He’s in custody now.”

  “So… Not the Armenians? Not a purposeful hit on me or mine?” Konstantin says.

  “No, mate.” Reece supplies.

  Andrius sighs and shifts in his chair. “Does this change things, K?”

  He shakes his head. “No, it doesn’t change things. I want out. You know me. Once I make up my mind, I make up my mind.”

  “Okay.” Andrius grins and nods.

  Reece smiles too. “If someone had told me back in the day, Andrius, when we were in that shithole of a cell together, listening to that poor fucker get tortured, that one day we’d be going into business … I wouldn’t have believed it.”

  These two clearly have more history than I understood.

  “So now we plan and plan and make sure it’s watertight, no?” Andrius says.

  “Yes, water-fucking-tight,” Konstantin agrees.

  “Marcus will be with Aram and his men. We’re going to have to ensure we don’t hit him.” Reece sighs. “This is going to need some precision shooting. We’ve got Andrius and Luka who are shit hot snipers. They can be in the turret. The rest of us? We work out where we will be based on our strengths.”

  “I want two men in the basement with Cassie. One on the inside of the locked room with her, and one on the outside. I’d like it to be one of your guys on the inside, Reece. If one of them will volunteer. I think she’d feel more comfortable.”

  “I think Ethan will do it, if we ask.”

  “I don’t want to take men away from the fight,” I say.

  “Babe, if I believe you’re safe, then I can focus. I can’t if I’m worrying about you.”

  “Okay,” I say, voice small. I feel like a burden not a help. “What can I do to help?” I ask. “There must be something?”

  “You could make us all one of those amazing coffees you do,” Andrius says with a warm smile my way. I swear, if I wasn’t so head over heels with Konstantin, Andrius and his smile would bowl me over. It changes his face so much.

  “Right. Coffees coming up,” I say.

  As I prepare them, the kitchen slowly fills with men. They are talking amongst themselves, some in English, others in Russian. I make the coffees, hand them out, and then head out of the kitchen to give them privacy. I don’t want to hear their plans anyway. It scares me. Instead, I head into the informal living room, flop on the sofa, and turn the TV on.

  I’m almost dozing off, watching a crappy movie, when the door opens and Vasily enters.

  “Hey,” I say nervously. I’m still unsure of the man.

  “Listen,” he says. “You and I are never going to be the best of friends. I don’t like you. Not because of you, but because you’ve taken Konstantin away from what he’s made to do. However, you’re with him now, and that means you’re part of this family of ours. That means, we need to get on. So, with that said, I’m sorry for being a dick. In the future, you won’t get anything but politeness from me.”

  “Thanks. Same. I don’t like you either. But in my case it’s because of who you are. I was brought here an out of my depth, scared, young woman, and you never once gave me a break. Because I love Konstantin, I won’t be anything but polite to you. But you’re right. We’re never going to be the best of friends.”

  “You know. You could get rid of me quite easily. Tell K you want me gone, and I’m pretty sure he’d do it.”

  “Maybe, maybe not. But I do know he’d hate himself for it, so I’d never ask him.”

  “Well, let’s hope our guys win, and then you’ll be heading off to Corfu.”

  “Yep. Not sure when, but that’s the plan.”

  “Leaving me alone to pick up all the pieces and sort out all the shit.” He shakes his head. “It fucking sucks, and I’m not remotely happy about it.”

  “You don’t have to stay in this life either.”

  He sneers at me. “I worked fucking hard for this life, and I’m not walking away.”

  “Then that’s your choice, isn’t it?” I say.

  I get up and leave the room. He can stew in his own juices.

  I get to the bedroom, close the door and sink onto the bed.

  Soon my love will be fighting for his life, and I can only pray he will win.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Konstantin

  Finally, the time has come. As the hours have dragged by, I’ve found myself getting more and more tense. It’s the same feeling I used to get before a battle in the war. It’s the strangest feeling, knowing you’ll have to kill or be killed.

  Dread mixes with adrenaline, and you end up a jangled mess of apprehension. You can’t let it win, though, so you distract yourself. In a war, you don’t have many options. Here, there are more. I’ve had more sex with Cassie in the last few hours than we probably had in the past week. I want her again, but I think she’ll be sore if we do.

  I sit on the sofa and stare out the window, seeing nothing. Once this is all over, this house is going on the market. I don’t want to use it as a base anymore. I’m also selling my home in the US and using the money to gift to Michael and Lucia. They can buy their own place with it. Although, from what I gathered when I last spoke to Michael, Bianchi senior has a plot of land within his home, and he has said they can build there. It would be safest as they will be guarded and will be able to take advantage of all the security Bianchi has in place.

  I’m also going to build them a house on the land Andrius, Reece, and I are buying. The offer has already been put in for the plot, and no one else has put an offer forward, so we’re pretty hopeful we can get it.

  That’s it so far as Michael goes. He’ll get a share of my estate when I’m dead, of course, but until then he’ll have to work to make his own way. He’ll have a home, and a bolt hole on Corfu; anything else he’ll earn for himself. I’ve seen too many rich kids fuck up and become addicts because they were handed everything on a silver platter. Having no direction in life is not a good thing.

  I sigh as my mind focuses on what’s ahead.

  We’ve gone over the plan for this evening about ten times.

  I’ve got a horrible niggling feeling in my gut. I hope to God Marcus isn’t about to double cross us. He works with British Intelligence. Damen did a deep dive into his life and said he looked above board. You never know, though. The kind of money Aram has could turn anyone’s head. Plus, Marcus has been under a good long while. Sometimes it gets harder and harder to remember who you are and keep your morals intact.

  It’s nearing midnight when I get the text. It’s from Damen, who is monitoring Marcus’ phone. We all decided it would be far too risky for Marcus to reach out to us this evening. This way, we see when they’re on the move from tracking his phone.

  “They’re on their way to you.”

  That’s all it says. It’s all it has to say.

  I
head to the kitchen and grab Alexei who is on his way out. “Round everyone up. It’s time.”

  Liam and his men arrived a few hours ago, and they were all in the den last I knew, playing video games.

  Call of Duty. Liam said it helps him stay sharp, which made me laugh.

  Bit by bit the kitchen fills. Soon there are enough ugly, hard men to terrify anyone.

  Amongst us all is Cassie.

  She’s the only woman here.

  I go to her, take her face in my hands, tip her chin up and kiss her. I ignore the whoops and catcalls from the men. When I let her go, she’s red but beaming. She likes me showing her affection in front of others, I realize. I make a note to do it more often.

  “Ethan and Richard are going down to the basement with you now,” I tell her. Richard is one of the men I’ve hired. One of the men, Aram believes has turned against me. “Ethan will be in the panic room with you. You won’t be alone.”

  “What if I need to pee?” she asks.

  “Then you’ll have to use the bucket,” I tell her. “Ethan won’t look. This is about making sure you are safe.”

  She doesn’t like it but nods her acceptance.

  “Come.” I take her hand and lead her out of the room. Once in the hallway, I push her up against the wall and give her a deep, intense kiss. “I love you, Cassie. You’ve got to stay safe, okay?”

  “Okay, but you too.”

  “Oh, I intend to. Don’t you worry.”

  Ethan appears in the doorway and smiles at Cassie. “You ready?”

  She nods and blinks rapidly. She’s trying not to cry.

  “Go on.” I watch as Ethan and Richard lead her to the stairs. They’ll keep her safe, and if it comes to them needing to, things have gone so fucked, we’re likely all dead.

  “Okay.” I go back into the kitchen. “Let’s take our positions.”

  I’m in the turret, along with Luka, Andrius, and Vasily. Vasily because he’s injured. Andrius and Luka because they are amazing shots, and me because I’m manning the M16.

  Andrius and Luka will be using their deadly accuracy whereas I’ll be using the good old spray and pray approach.

  Vasily has an M16 too.

  I wish we had a rocket launcher like Damen claims to own back in Athens. Fuck me, that would be epic. Just blow the fuckers to smithereens. Problem is tonight’s little drama is going to have the police crawling all over us because no way the gunshots won’t be heard.

  We’ve all got suppressors fitted, and the idea is only to use the M16s if absolutely needed. Andrius and Luka will take out as many of their men as possible. Marcus will turn on them from within the car, if he gets the chance, and use his knife. Liam will also most likely use his knife on any of the men who come near the house initially, as he and Alexei will be hiding in the bushes by the side of the house. One on either side.

  I’m hoping the element of surprise, the speed at which we attack, and their vulnerability in relation to us will give us the upper hand. It’s not a dead cert, though. It could all go horribly wrong.

  Either way, we’d better pray that the sway Marcus, myself, and Liam have with the police will mean we don’t all face many years in jail. Marcus has a lot of leeway, he says, with his supervisors in intelligence. They have looked the other way at worse, if certain goals align, or so I am told, because who knows what goes on in that world really. Although that doesn’t automatically mean they will this time. Or that the local plod, or even the courts, will play ball.

  We reach the turret, knowing the rest of the men are in place, and I step up to my weapon. I check the spare magazines and then position myself at the window.

  The plan is to let the men get close to the house, even right up to the door as they believe they have my system taken down, then flip the floodlights on.

  They’ll be sitting ducks. They won’t be able to see a thing, but we’ll see them clearly.

  “Why do you think Aram believes he can do this a second time?” I ask Andrius. He knows the man, after all.

  “Two things. His belief in his men, and with Tigran gone, Marcus is going to have stepped into that void. Secondly, his arrogance.”

  “See, if it were me, no matter what Vasily or Bohdan told me, there’s no way I’d believe someone I’d hit once would be vulnerable in the same way again. This bothers me about this plan. What if it’s a double cross?”

  “Marcus wouldn’t do that,” Luka says.

  I turn and glare at him. “You know him? You never let on.”

  “Couldn’t. I did some off-the-books shit back in the day. I shouldn’t be saying this now. I’m only doing so to make you understand that if anything goes wrong here tonight, it won’t be on Marcus.”

  I’m not sure I believe him.

  Then again, I’m a paranoid fuck.

  “Damen wove a damn convincing trap. Aram already believes he has millions of your money.” Andrius shrugs. “Because he does have millions of your money.” He chuckles. “He also believes he’s hacked into your life. He’s seen the evidence. Now, he’s going to know there are hacks and counter hacks, but Damen is one of the best. The stuff he does? I’ve not seen anyone who can weave a fake life from tech breadcrumbs the same way he can. Aram would have to disbelieve the evidence right before his eyes, as well as disbelieving Marcus.

  “He thinks Marcus is one of his top men now. You can bet your life too that Marcus will have talked to the others in Aram’s organization and worked on convincing them as well. If it is a trap. If they’re prepared, unless they’ve got a fucking rocket launcher, or a helicopter, they’re still going to be the underdog in this situation.”

  I sigh and settle at the window. It’s open a crack, and I stick the long muzzle of the gun out. “I hope you’re right, Andrius. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

  “Me too,” Vasily grouches.

  Fuck.

  Engine sounds have me looking to the perimeter of the property.

  Andrius looks through his night-vision glasses. “Three vehicles, no lights. Three SUVs.”

  Shit, I bet they’ve come armored. It’s what I would do. There’s no easy way to tell, either, if these particular vehicles are or not.

  I take out my phone and dial Damen. “Can you look into Aram’s vehicle fleet for me? See if any of his vehicles are armored?”

  “Yeah, give me five,” he says. He keeps me on the line as he does his thing. After a few minutes, he says, “One is. I’m betting that’s the one he’s in.” He reels off the registration of the armored car.

  “Thanks,” I say, hanging up. “Fuck. One of those vehicles, the one with Aram in it, is armored.”

  “What, you expected them to come running up the lawn like total idiots?” Luka chuckles.

  “I didn’t expect armored vehicles,” I snap. “Marcus said they’d think we were totally unprepared.”

  “Doesn’t mean they were going to be, though, does it?” Luka says, annoyingly logical. “No man, they’re going to use those things for cover.”

  “Well shit.” Andrius laughs. The mad fucker laughs. “Looks like we’re going to have us an old-fashioned gunfight. This just got exciting.”

  “I want to remind you gentleman of the fact that whilst this might be fun and games to you, Cassie is in this house. Try to imagine how you’d all be feeling if it were your women here.”

  That sobers the fuckers up some.

  The vehicles come to a halt. The four of us are barely breathing as we watch and wait. At first, there’s no movement.

  “Give me the glasses,” I demand of Andrius.

  I watch, but nothing.

  “Thing is, they’ve got to come out to shoot at us. I don’t think they plan on sitting in those vehicles all night,” Luka says.

  “Aram might,” Andrius replies. “Which car is the armored one?” he asks.

  I check the number plates. “Middle,” I reply.

  “Fine. If he stays in the vehicle, and Marcus doesn’t get an opportunity to take him out in t
here, we target the car and fuck it up.”

  “How?” Vasily asks.

  “You got anything big and meaty in your garage?” Andrius asks.

  “An older Mitsubishi L200, with bulbar. Why?”

  “Bulbar is good. We’ll see how this plays out, but if Aram is planning on hiding in that second car, we block him in. He’s already blocked in to an extent, by his own men. We use a couple of your cars to make it so they can’t move forward or back. We get someone in that beast of yours to ram the SUV hard. Two or three times. Cause enough structural damage, and it will weaken the glass; then I can get through it with a gun.”

  “The thing about bulletproof glass is it stops a lot of rounds and it buys time.” Luka looks to me. “If you’re working as protection for someone, then you fit a car with bulletproof glass to give you time to react. Time to get them out of the car. Or to fire back. These guys have come to a gunfight in an armored vehicle, which means they need to get out of the fucking thing to shoot at us. If they choose to stay in it, Andrius is correct. Cornered, with nowhere to go, it won’t protect them forever.”

  “Trouble is, Marcus is also in that vehicle, so this risks hurting him,” Andrius says.

  I think about it then decide he’s a big boy. He’ll know what we’re intending to do the minute he sees the Mitsubishi line up with the side of the SUV. At that point, Marcus can bail or attack Aram the minute we ram the car, saving us a job.

  “Vasily, go to the garage. Get the Land Rover and be ready to block these cunts in,” I order. “Tell Bohdan to get in the Mitsubishi, buckle up, and be ready to ram the fuck out of the side of that thing if we need to.”

  “Okay.”

  Vasily leaves, and we all settle back.

  Watching.

  Waiting.

  What the hell are they waiting for?

  Then, finally, fucking finally, the rear door on the third vehicle cracks open, and two men spill out. They crouch low and run to the right side of the house. They round the corner, and a dark figure peels out of the bushes and follows them. Deadly silent.

  Liam, I think from the way he moves. His military training is evident.