Kaznachei’s Pain

by Mason, V. F.

  We all were, because he didn’t deserve what happened and all the consequences that had followed. “He is dealing.”

  I shook my head, fed up with the excuses everyone found for him. “No, he is on the path to destruction. Stop him, Vitya, before it’s too late.” He huffed, but I could see by the frown forming on his face he agreed with my words.

  Our loyalty would forever belong to Dominic, and because of that love and loyalty, we had to end this madness. “There is new evidence,” he stated. My body stilled as I shook my head and then lifted my chin for him to elaborate. “I will have more information for you later, but the Rosa case has changed from hopeless to hopeful.”

  Well that was fucking insane and great at the same time; I had no comments on the situation.

  Vitya leaned his elbows on the table and focused his attentive brown eyes on me before he asked the question that both changed the subject abruptly and froze my insides. “Why are you protecting her? Is she yours?”

  “No.” He smirked as if he didn’t believe me, so I added, “She is targeted because of me. It’s my responsibility to make sure she is all right and find those fuckers. Work.”

  “Very well.” He dropped the subject, but I knew I hadn’t heard the end of it.

  Vitya had the tendency to act like the right hand of Dominic, getting into everyone’s business all the fucking time.

  Melissa was not their concern though. The minute I fixed this whole mess, we would go in different directions as if we’d never met and life would go back to normal.

  Where I didn’t inflict revenge for harming a woman who haunted my sleep at night imagining her next to me. Whose smell I wanted forever imprinted in my brain, because it gave me enough peace to sleep a few hours straight without interruption.

  Vitya, who had a meeting with Don, clicked his fingers at the waiters for the bill just as my phone vibrated next to me. Picking it up quickly, I barked, “What?”

  “Wow, moody much?” Gleb joked, and I heard him slap his knee as he laughed. I leaned back from the phone while Vitya grinned, clearly knowing who was on the other end of the line. Sometimes I envied Gleb for still keeping his goofy personality in this fucked-up life.

  He could laugh at anything, but only a few of us knew how lethal he could get if he was threatened with what was his.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Your agent waltzed off to work, cheery as a bird.”

  “What?” I growled, and Gleb chuckled, crunching on something loud. “Yep. I mean, I offered to follow her, and she kicked me in the nuts. FYI, do not piss your woman off. She has a mean hook. Or should I say leg?” He chuckled again while I squeezed the phone tighter, barely restraining myself from breaking the thing. “I told Anton to trail her just in case, but she noticed him and then zigzagged through the streets and the poor boy got lost in this city. So yeah. But the tracker in her car shows she is at FBI headquarters.”

  “Stubborn woman,” I muttered. “Go after her and I’ll meet you there. I have to talk with her before we pay a visit.”

  Gleb grew silent for a moment, and then questioned, “A visit?”

  “Yeah.” Since I didn’t provide any new information, he stayed silent again but then exhaled heavily. “You guys always get me in some kind of trouble,” he whined, and it was my time to chuckle. “Don’t worry. I’m sure someday we will all be the ones to help you out.”

  “You fucking better.” He hung up and I stood, throwing a few hundred-dollar bills on the table, and rushed to the door.

  Vitya shouted behind me, “Work right?” I flipped him off without looking back and could still hear his laugh trailing after me.

  And they said men didn’t like to gossip.

  Melissa

  Dropping into a seat next to Honey in her computer room, I said, “Please tell me you have good news for me.”

  She removed one white earbud from her ear and hooked it around her neck before typing something furiously on her machine. “You know, Melissa, the desperation lacing your voice right now is almost insulting.” She clicked the Enter button and then motioned with her head to the screen. “This is the guy?”

  I followed her gaze and nodded fiercely, because the man with several scars on his face was indeed the one who attacked me in the parking lot. “Yes.”

  She gave me a red folder. “This is all the printed info on him. He used to be part of the Kuzmin Bratva.”

  As in a rival bratva of Konstantinov? I knew they operated in different locations and had separate businesses, but more importantly, they didn’t like each other. But to my knowledge, they never attacked the Konstantinov Bratva openly.

  What did Yuri do to them that they decided to retaliate? And why was I chosen as a target?

  “Used to?” I prompted, and she nodded and finally focused her blue eyes on me. Sometimes they seemed unreal to me. Although she was beautiful, it was hard to see past the thick glasses and tomboy clothes she constantly wore to work.

  But then again, if you had family like hers, you had to be careful and stay low. “Yeah, they kicked him out two days before the attack.” She clicked again and then the picture of Aleksei Kuzmin, the head of the brotherhood, appeared along with some dark-haired woman. “Apparently, he was guardian of Aleksei’s wife but failed, and she almost died.”

  “And they kicked him out?” I asked with disbelief.

  She shared my surprise as she said, “Yep. Weird too. Usually the punishment is death.”

  Unless all this was a carefully placed plan for the attack that had followed. “Is anyone from the Kuzmin brotherhood in town?”

  “Of course. They hang out at their bar, which is at the other end of the city. Shady place.” Right, they wouldn’t be allowed in exclusive establishments, because Don and the other mafia gangs wouldn’t welcome them.

  They dealt only with Dominic.

  “Give me an address and the names of the ones here. It’s time to pay them a visit.” I was not about to stay put and accept their crap.

  Honey’s brows furrowed and worry crossed her face. “Melissa, not after yesterday. You still need to heal and—”

  I waved her worry off with a grin. “Don’t worry, darling. Nothing is going to happen. They won’t kill an FBI agent on US territory.”

  She reluctantly nodded, but when I rose to go, she grabbed my hand and tugged on it, halting my movements. “Be careful. If the Italian mafia doesn’t deal with them, it means they are dangerous.”

  My brows furrowed at her assumption and confidence with which she said it. What did she know about mafia houses? Didn’t the FBI recruit her after finding out she hacked into their system? It was either that or jail; no wonder Honey chose the former.

  “Relax. You’re acting as if you’re sending me off to war.”

  She didn’t comment on that, but her lips thinned. With a sigh, I patted her shoulder and exited the office, darting outside as I had no time to waste.

  With all the cases in my hands, I couldn’t have the Russian mafia chasing after me because they thought my death would upset Yuri. Like what the ever-loving fuck was that?

  Did they kill all his women?

  Let’s not think about other women.

  I stopped at the unfamiliar emotions prickling my skin as bitterness filled my mouth. Was this jealousy? The image of him and other women in my head didn’t sit well with me, and I groaned in frustration.

  Two days! Two freaking days, and you are acting like a lovesick teenager!

  I needed to hook up more often so I wouldn’t have such reactions to men. But just the idea of picking up some random dude….

  Shaking my head from all the stupid thoughts, I blocked them out and focused on the case.

  Running to my car, I hopped inside, typed the address into my GPS, and was about to start the car, when a hand at my open window caught my attention.

  “Going somewhere?” Yuri asked, and our gazes clashed.

  Even his harsh-as-granite face that practically buzzed with fur
y didn’t diminish his handsomeness, and everything female in me responded to it, wanting to soothe the hard edges. He was so perfectly put together—from a suit that hugged his form to his shiny leather shoes—it was hard to believe he interrogated someone the whole night.

  But then again, I imagined he didn’t do all the dirty work himself.

  “Yep. Road trip,” I said in a singsong voice, and if it were possible, his face darkened even more and I dug my back into the seat.

  “Need company?” Although he asked a question, it didn’t sound like it. More like a firm statement that expected no resistance.

  “Nope.” I tapped with my finger on the steering wheel, waiting for him to get out of my way so I could go, but he didn’t move.

  Didn’t even budge.

  Instead, he leaned forward, bringing his face so close our noses almost touched. “You are not going to see the Kuzmin brotherhood.” Nothing but harshness coated his voice, and my brow rose.

  “I’m not?” I didn’t even bother asking how he knew that. He probably assumed it, since he must’ve already known who hunted him or the women he slept with.

  “Yes. I’ll handle them myself.”

  “Oh,” I said all sugary sweet and batted my eyelashes at him. “Really?”

  He nodded, and I wondered if he caught the sarcasm lacing my tone. “I forbid you.”

  This time, I blinked, and when he didn’t add anything else but just stood there as if he was right, I couldn’t help but laugh. And then agreed, “Sure.”

  Surprise flashed in his blue orbs, clearly not expecting such an easy surrender. “You need to step back so I can get out,” I requested softly, and he did just that, waiting for me.

  Instead, I saluted him, chirping, “Have a nice day, Kaznachei. And I advise you to think twice next time before forbidding me to do anything.” I drove off with him cursing loudly behind me, and rolled my window up, still chuckling although everything inside me boiled.

  Hell would freeze over before someone ever again would forbid me to do anything.

  Chapter Seven

  Moscow, Russia

  Yuri, 19 years old

  The man in front of me trembled, his head hanging low. His hands were wrapped in a tight rope at his back and he was on his knees, blood dripping from his forehead and several other wounds that Radmir had inflicted with his beating.

  The smell of sweat and urine was strong in the warehouse, and the silence that filled the place was almost deafening as the pakhan placed a gun in my hands to finish him off.

  The Bratva men surrounded us in a circle, each one of them awaiting my action when the pakhan raised his brow. Radmir closed eyes filled with hatred, because he knew he couldn't stop this.

  Gleb, Vitya, and Dom had already gone through this, so they were in the circle, but their focus didn't move from me as they willed me to get it over with.

  Because any other option was death for me too.

  The ultimate law of the brotherhood’s initiation was to take a life to have a life in the Bratva. Blood would forever bind me to them, making it impossible to ever leave, because they would have it over my head. With this act, I would show them my loyalty, my desire to stay with them and always support any decision they would make.

  But how could I?

  Grisha Papov was his name. He worked for the brotherhood as an informant, delivering town gossip and making sure the Kuzmin brotherhood had no access to our territory. For that, Vasya always gave him money and respect, and no one ever touched his family. Grisha, however, had enough of this life, and worked with the police to catch Vasya, and of course his people found out about it.

  There was no other option for him, because no one betrays the brotherhood and lives.

  Our most absolute law.

  Fuck with whoever you want, but don’t fuck with the Bratva.

  He had three daughters, a loving wife, and based on the information I had in my folder, he was a good son to his parents. His one sin and mistake was trusting Vasya, but then, he had no choice.

  He wanted freedom, but ultimately it cost him his life. He didn't deserve to die, but die he must.

  Gleb, Vitya, and Dom had to kill criminals when it was their turn, yet they still had nightmares sometimes after their first kill. I would take an almost-innocent life.

  What kind of hell awaited me?

  I raised my Beretta 98 to his forehead, and he chose that moment to catch my gaze, his eyes full of desperation but acceptance too as he chanted a low prayer, and then he nodded, as if giving me permission to do it.

  I kept my expression neutral, even though everything inside me clawed against my body’s actions. Nevertheless, I pulled the trigger, and in a second, the bullet reached him, his eyes closed, and he fell to the side, dead as his chest rose for the last time.

  Five seconds, that was how long it had taken me to kill someone.

  A man whose family would cry for him.

  A man who loved his kids.

  A man who just wanted a better life.

  But wasn't that ironic?

  For all his right decisions, he had ended up dead on the cold ground while the Bratva men shot in the air and cheered me for finally joining the members’ ranks. His death was a celebration for a son of a bitch like me.

  Some whistled, and Vasya’s face split into a grin when he walked to me and hugged me close. He patted me on the back and placed a chain with a metal cross around my neck while saying out loud for everyone to hear, “Good job, my son. Good job! Welcome to the brotherhood.” The cross would forever tell everyone that I had earned my place in the Konstantinov Bratva, and no one fucked with me unless they wanted to face their wrath.

  Struggling to control the rage and desperation burning inside me, I stayed silent when everyone came to congratulate me, and then I felt a hand on my arm.

  Gleb pulled me to the side while saying with laughter that didn't reach his eyes. “We have a special gift for our man here.”

  The rest shared his humor, and someone shouted, “Get him a good whore, and let’s throw a fucking party.”

  “Sure,” Gleb replied, dragging me outside to a far corner where no one was present. Dom and Vitya walked behind us, making sure no one followed.

  Finally, we reached a secure corner where I let go and bent in half, throwing up all over the place, as the image of the man wouldn't leave me no matter how much I willed it to go.

  It was like he was permanently stuck in my memory.

  “This will pass, Yuri. It will get better.” Dominic tried to soothe me, but what could possibly make it better in this fucked-up world?

  Now I never had a way out of it.

  New York, New York

  August 2017

  Melissa

  I pulled my car up by the bar that was located in a secluded area and surprisingly had several vehicles nearby, which seemed odd for this time of the day.

  Unless you made illegal deals and the bar served as a cover up.

  Getting out, I looked around and didn’t find anything suspicious, but checked my gun just in case.

  Walking to the door, I froze at the wind blowing in my face and focused my attention on all the small details. Like the concrete path leading to the gate that had several red drops, a disgusting smell although the trash bins were empty, and not another living soul in sight. In fact, even cars didn’t pass by here.

  As if this place wasn’t even created for customers.

  I pushed the door open, entering the place, and immediately the smell of alcohol and cigarettes filled my lungs. Three curious heads turned to greet me, all of them sitting by a round table in the middle of the room.

  I had a few seconds to assess the situation. A small bar was in the far corner with a few drinks and a bartender, who was rubbing the glasses furiously. There was a stage with a stripper pole surrounded by red velvet carpet, and several round, wooden tables with four chairs at each. I noticed the door at the back that probably led to a place for private lap dances.

>   Done, I shifted my attention to a dark-haired man sitting in the middle of the trio, smoking a cigar, his elbows leaning on the table as he drilled his chocolate eyes into me.

  The man on the left, a beefy bald guy, stood up, grinning widely at me, although it reminded me more of a grimace, and addressed me in a heavily accented voice. “What brings such a beautiful lady to this place?” He stepped closer but stopped when I showed him my badge.

  He raised his hands and motioned to the table. “Agent.” The dark-haired man watched me with a completely blank expression, and although the bald guy issued the invitation, I had a feeling he wasn’t the one who called the shots here.

  And indifferent gaze or not, by the harshly etched lines on his face and the ticking of his jaw, I knew he didn’t like my presence there.

  I sat opposite, moving the chair closer, and said, “I don’t think either of us needs an introduction.”

  He chuckled, although it lacked humor, exhaling the smoke between us. It blurred my vision, but I didn’t even blink. No need to give my enemy any advantage, and by the way he watched me, I knew he tried to figure me out.

  “A lot of women in this world think I should remember them,” he finally replied, his deep, husky voice holding an edge of danger lurking at the ends of it. “What brings you here, agent?”

  If he wanted to play this game like that, he could be my guest. “Your obsession with me.” His brow furrowed at my words, and after a close examination, he tapped his knuckles three times and immediately the two other men left the table, moving in the direction of the bar.

  He dipped his cigar in the ashtray and focused his mesmerizing eyes, like a snake’s, on me and cleared his throat. “Could you please elaborate on how you came to this conclusion?” He took out a silver knife and passed it through his fingers back and forth, gauging my reaction, but I gave him none.

  Studying him, I racked my mind for his face, running through various mafia houses, because who knew where he originally was stationed, but I came up blank.

  Even in the file Honey gave me, the person in front of me never showed up, yet he had authority in that place that no one questioned.