Taking all of that into consideration, Dmitry knew that Memphis was close in proximity to Jackson and that Leo’s next visit would be to his doorstep.
It would have been easy to vocalize that, but Dmitry was a man who believed in his son and the other men in his family learning through trial and error, when possible.
So, he opted to stay, wait and deal with the man himself. Plus, someone had to keep an eye on his family and when it came to them, Dmitry didn’t take any chances. Not anymore, especially not after all of the hell that they had been through in the past.
There were also other things on his mind. He had watched the boys, each one, very carefully and noticed the smallest things about them. Without knowing the entire story, he knew that something was wrong with Gabriel and he knew that Vasily was growing out of his job. Both of these issues would need to be addressed before they got out of hand.
To jump the gun, conversely, would be a mistake. So, he’d let it play out and see how it all ended.
Like clockwork, a black E-Class Mercedes pulled up to the front door, and young black man jumped out in a three-piece suit with a leather satchel on his arm. Dmitry looked over at the crystal Tiffany clock on his desk and saw the time, 40 minutes, not an hour. Impressive.
Pouring a small glass of water, he pushed back in his chair as Maxim stirred. The boy’s eyes flashed open and locked on his father for a moment. Cradling him closer, Dmitry began to rock in the chair just enough to put the baby back to sleep. “Shh, little king, get some rest,” he said, kissing the crown of his son’s head. He snuggled him closer, taking in the smell of lotion and baby powder. How he loved that fragrance. There was nothing more important to him than his children, which was why he felt the urgency to call Lawrence.
Within minutes, the phone vibrated on his table. Dmitry picked it up answered in a low baritone, “Da.”
“Boss, your lawyer is here,” Boris said, ignoring his own fatigue. “Do you want me to walk him back to your office?”
“Yeah, send him back,” Dmitry said, hanging up the phone.
His deep voice was just enough to wake his son up again and the boy immediately began to cry. Standing up, he bounced him and walked around his study while he patted his back. “There, there,” Dmitry cooed. “No need to fuss.”
Walking him to the large bay windows that looked out over the grounds, he hit a light switch on the wall and lit up the backyard. “Look at that,” Dmitry said, kissing the boy’s fat cheeks. “Look at that pretty night.”
The boy, as if he understood, stopped crying and looked out of the window and immediately stopped his pout.
Dmitry smiled. “First, you conquer your yard, then you conquer the world,” he whispered to the boy. As playful as his voice was, he was very serious. He had high hopes for his children, Anatoly included, and he wanted most of all for them to know that there was nothing in this world that was unattainable.
Opening the door to the study, Boris led Lawrence inside and pointed to the sofa. “Sit there,” he said, roughly. His clenched jaw gave proof to his growing resentment for the younger man.
Lawrence obediently sat down, although he bristled at the brute Russian’s command. The two had never really cared for each other, for personal and very cosmetic reasons, but considering their boss, they suffered each other. The alternative was much too costly.
Dmitry turned and looked at his lawyer, Lawrence was only 31 years old, a former University of Memphis football player and all around playboy. He liked the man on many levels and saw his potential. And in Dmitry’s eyes, potential was a currency that should never be underestimated.
“How are you tonight, Sir?” Lawrence asked, unbuttoning his suit jacket.
“Good,” Dmitry said, feeling Maxim fret again. “How are you?”
“Life is great,” Lawrence answered honestly. How could it not be with his salary? Dmitry had recruited him right from under the nose of the Department of Justice by making him an offer that he could not refuse. When Lawrence saw the number that Dmitry had written down on a piece of paper and slid across the table to him at Mother Russia during his lunch break one winter afternoon, he had gone in the next day and immediately gave his two week notice to the United States Attorney General for Memphis district. Since then, he had been a loyal worker for Dmitry.
“I brought you here in the middle of the night to handle something critical for me,” Dmitry said as the door opened again.
Royal walked in glancing over at Lawrence before looking at Dmitry and in doing so she knew that he was up to something. She nodded toward the lawyer and then went to get her son. “I’ll take him, baby,” she said, arms already outstretched.
Dmitry reached down and handed his wife the baby carefully. “Are you sure? I know that you are tired.”
Royal smiled at his concern. Even after so many years, he was still very thoughtful. “Kon is asleep with Anya. I’ll be fine, baby.” She rose up her on her tip toes and kissed her husband on his soft lips, lingering on his taste. “See you in just a bit?” Her brown eyes flashed open at him.
He rubbed her cheek. “Of course. I just have a few things to handle and then I’ll be up. I won’t be long,” he said, knowing that she wanted to make up for what happened earlier to him. And he intended to let her.
“I’ll be waiting,” she said, wrapping her arms tightly around their son. She turned, bouncing the baby and headed towards the door. “Good evening, Attorney Massey.”
“Ma’am,” Lawrence said, standing in her presence. He had always admired the mysterious Mrs. Medlov. She never looked him in the eye, and he never dared to do the same. It was almost as though she was royalty, and to some, he knew that she was. Yet, her striking beauty made men want to gawk, always draped in diamonds and so regal in her demeanor – a perfect match for the Czar of the Underworld.
As the door closed quietly behind Royal, Dmitry redirected his attention. He was anxious to get this done now and get back to his wife. “It seems that your experience with the Department of Justice will come in handy again this week.” Walking back to his seat, he sat down. “Come over here and sit by me.” He saw another car pulling up in the driveway. It was the family doctor arriving to swab Dylan’s mouth.
Lawrence was quick to move. “How can I help, Sir?”
Dmitry twisted his lip and knitted his long fingers together. “Two things. Leo Rasputin and the matter of a certain illegitimate child.”
Lawrence’s brow rose. “Leo Rasputin, Sir?”
Dmitry smiled. “Yes. Have you heard of him?”
“Indeed I have. He has been on every channel in the country and every BOLO list that law enforcement agencies have released since his escape from Attica,” Lawrence said, pulling out his laptop. He could tell that he would be there all night.
“So, we’re on the same page,” Dmitry said yawning. “I want you to find out what the price on Leo’s head is, and then I want you to contact the SAC for the FBI in Chicago and Manhattan. We have…” He scratched his stubbly beard, “a somewhat viable relationship with both agencies.”
Lawrence was not surprised at that comment. He opened his Apple Air and put in his password. “And what are we requesting from your contacts?”
“Cooperation,” Dmitry said flatly.
Chapter 20
Vasily was tired of planes. He sat in his seat, looking out of the window, thinking about Lilly, and trying to wrap his mind around why she had chosen to do everything on her own, if she had nothing to hide. Unfortunately, his emotions were showing on his face, something that rarely happened for him, but normally, his life was not his own. It was full of other people’s requests and needs. This time, now that the focus on was on him, he didn’t like it very much. It made him feel vulnerable, open and out of control. The idea made him more sympathetic to the men sitting across from him. He realized how Anatoly’s life must have changed so dramatically with a wife and a child of his own to watch over now. And for Gabriel, he did feel some sort of sympathy with him
being the focus of every conversation about his father and his previous life as an agent.
Vasily liked being invisible. He liked being a fixture in the family without ever feeling or being made to verbalize anything outside of the Vory v Zakone.
Now, he was … human.
Anatoly watched him without a word. Putting down his beer, he sat forward in the seat. “Brat,” he said, with his arms resting on his denim covered.
Vasily looked over, “Da.”
“It will be alright, you know.”
Vasily smirked. “Easy for you to say. Renee has never stabbed you in the back.”
Anatoly laughed. “Once they marry you, they stab you straight in the heart.”
Vasily laughed a little, even though he didn’t feel like it. “I keep…” he paused. Did he really want to open up the wound any farther?
“Go on, purge. You’ll feel better,” Anatoly said, unusually agreeable.
“Dr. Phil, maybe he doesn’t feel like circle jerking at the moment,” Gabriel sneered.
Anatoly turned to his cousin. “What the fuck is up with you?”
“Nothing,” Gabriel said, resting back.
“Nothing my ass. You’ve been a dick the entire flight,” Anatoly said, switching his attention. “What’s going on with you? Briggy find out about another one of your pieces of non-descript ass?”
Gabriel rubbed his temples. “Since when did you become a fucking saint? You mean to tell me that you’ve never cheated on Renee?”
“No,” Anatoly shrugged. “Is that so hard to understand?”
Gabriel sighed. “Whatever.”
“What is it?” Anatoly pushed. “I know it’s something.”
“Briggy is pregnant,” Gabriel finally said. “There…it’s out there. She’s pregnant and she wants out.”
Anatoly and Vasily both looked over at Gabriel with a blank stare.
Vasily was actually glad that focus had turned away from him, but the news was baffling.
Anatoly shook his head. “She knows too much to just get out,” he said sternly. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know,” Gabriel said, rolling his eyes. “Pay for an abortion?”
Vasily looked at Anatoly. He knew that Dmitry would not approve.
“Do you want her?” Anatoly asked.
“No,” Gabriel answered simply. “No, I don’t want her and I don’t want what you and Renee or Dmitry and Royal or Vasily and Lilly have. I don’t fucking want any of it.”
Anatoly picked his beer back up and sat back in the seat. “And that is why I gave up random ass,” he joked.
“I’m not in the mood for you,” Gabriel snapped. “You told me to be honest with her. Well, I was. I told her that I didn’t love her, and that almost started World War III. She was livid with me.”
“I know I told you to be honest with her, but do you really think tonight was the time?” Anatoly asked defensively. “What happened to you? You used to be the sensitive one.”
“What happened to me?” Gabriel asked in a huff. “This life happened to me. I have random women thrown at me every time that I walk out of the door. I’m running guns and making deals in three different time zones daily. I’m stressed out and I’m realizing that if this is the life that I’ve chosen that monogamy is not an option.”
Anatoly had felt that way before, so he could understand, but he really thought that Gabriel had gotten used to things. “Do you feel any sympathy for Briggy? It’s not her fault.”
“You’re right. It’s not her fault,” Gabriel admitted. “But it’s the truth.”
“You can’t just cast her to the side. She knows too much,” Anatoly reiterated. “You should have never fucked with her. Now, she’s rolled into this family, and you can’t just discard her, especially with a baby on the way.”
“I don’t want her to have an abortion. Let me just get set the record straight, but I also don’t want to be connected to that woman for the rest of my life.” Gabriel buried his head in his hands. “Fuck. I’m screwed.”
Vasily shook his head. Gabriel was cracking. He could handle leaving his job, handle facing his family, but he didn’t do well with women at all.
“We’ll talk about it once we get home,” Anatoly said, pulling out his phone.
“What are you going to do, snitch to Dmitry?” Gabriel accused. Great. All he needed was another family meeting. For them to be organized crime leaders, they sure did feel like the Beaver clan.
“Do you really want one more woman running off tonight?” Anatoly asked, throwing up his hands. “Yes, I’m telling Papa to watch her. If you left her in the state that I think that you left her in, then she might already be gone.”
That only made Gabriel feel worse. Suddenly, the attention was slowly moving back to him and his current situation.
Vasily laughed. Life was a bitch. “Women,” he said, motioning for the stewardess. “Bring me a beer, please.”
Anatoly couldn’t help it. He laughed too. He winked at Vasily. “What did I tell you? In the fucking chest is where they stab you.”
Texting his father, Anatoly looked over at Vasily. “Alright, you next, purge.”
“Oh, I don’t have anything to say,” Vasily said, unwilling to be as candid as Gabriel had been.
“You owe us, brat. We’re on a plane chasing your old lady across the night. Now, what is the story?” Anatoly wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“Yeah, you owe us. Join the ranks. Purge,” Gabriel said, oddly feeling better.
“The whole story is short and simple. A little over 10 years ago, I worked for Leo Rasputin. He shot me when I tried to break up a fight between him and Lilly, who at the time was his girlfriend. He married her shortly after that.”
“How shortly,” Gabriel probed.
“About seven months after that, they got married.”
“So seven months after he shot you, Lilly married him?” Gabriel said, flabbergasted.
“Yes, a few months after that, he was arrested and close to a year after I was shot, she testified against him. During that time, my friend, so I thought, called me and asked me to help her get out of Manhattan. I met him in Chicago and took her to Jackson, Mississippi.”
“Why Jackson?” Gabriel asked.
“Yeah, why Jackson?” Anatoly asked also.
“Dmitry had sent me down there to buy up some storage space for guns that were being transported to New Orleans. It looked like a place that she would just blend in. There were plenty of Black people, not a lot of technology and not a lot of people who knew anything about Russian mobsters or their wives.”
Gabriel twisted up his lip. “Yeah, I could see that.”
“I’m glad that you approve,” Vasily said, rolling his eyes.
“So, that accounts for one year. When did you knock her up?” Anatoly asked.
“Remember, I asked for a few days to get her situated?” Vasily said, seeing the Chicago skyline come into view from his window.
“Da, I remember. It was the only time you ever asked for time off.”
“Well, I guess that’s when I got her pregnant,” Vasily said, looking at his watch.
“I can see why you never ask for time off,” Gabriel joked. He raised his hands. “I’m fucking with you. Go on.”
“It takes nine months to have a baby and Dylan is eight years old and three months old.” Vasily nodded. Yep. The math added up.
Anatoly huffed. “So, why don’t you think the kid is yours? If the timeline adds up, then what other possibilities could there be?”
“She didn’t call him my kid in the letter she left me. She called him her kid.” Vasily’s irritation began to show.
Anatoly smirked. “When Renee is mad at me, she calls Alexandria her daughter. It’s a maternal thing. They take over all rights when they are pissed off. What else makes you think he’s not yours?”
“Just a worry down in my gut,” Vasily said, honestly.
“That’s just worry.” Anatoly shook h
is head. “Get used to the feeling. It never goes away. I’m always worried about the two of them. Every day, I’m fucking paranoid. And it was never like that before I got married. After Alexandria was born, my blood pressure shot through the roof.”
“I guess that they are more worry than they are worth,” Gabriel said absently.
Anatoly turned to his cousin. “No, cousin they are worth it. You just have to find the right one. And for the one that is on the way, you have to man up and be there for your child, regardless of how you feel about Briggy.”
Gabriel’s eyes locked on his cousin. “Yeah, I know.” He sat back quietly. “I just … don’t want to be the same let down that my father was. You know.” He frowned. “I can’t handle that shit.”
“Gentlemen, we’ll be landing in just a minute,” the stewardess said, stepping out of the cockpit.
Chapter 21
By the time that Yakov’s red eye plane arrived at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, he was ready to pull his blonde hair right out of his head. Frustration had gripped him through the nerve-wrecking flight. Between his wife constantly worrying him about would they be okay and his son complaining about having to leave unexpectedly, he had all but gone crazy. In a rush, they had packed everything that they could fit in their bags, yanked them out of the trunk at La Guardia, drug them to the counter, checked them, thrown away bottles of his wife’s unneeded lotions and perfumes, lost their son’s ball and been forced to get rid of his flask under her jacket. On top of that, he was without a weapon, on the most dangerous trip that he’d ever taken his family on.
Quite simply, he wanted to scream.
As they exited the plane out into the swarms of busy people, he corralled his small family in front of him, looking around in every direction, trying to make sure that they were not being followed. He could not really be sure, though. There were way too many people and it seemed every other person looked Russian. His paranoia engulfed him.
When his wife accidently let go of his son’s hand, he screamed at her.
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