Serafin: Social Rejects Syndicate (Kings of Krakow Trilogy Book 1)

by Deja Voss

  “I’ve been telling him to lay off the coke for a long time now. Old man seems to think he can still party like he’s in his twenties,” Rafal says, shaking his head. Jakub is one of the last men standing from our fathers’ era. While all of our dads were taken from us much too soon, Jakub always seemed to get lucky. Looks like that’s the case once again.

  “What’s that got to do with Mia?” I ask.

  “You’ll see.” His tone is grim, and for some reason, I don’t think I want to watch what he’s about to show me.

  I slam my laptop closed and we gather around him as he brings up some security cameras from the hotel last night. There’s a grainy video of Janka running out of a hotel room. Not too long after, a crew of paramedics come through the door with some police officers behind them.

  “What am I looking at?” I ask.

  “Apparently your girl and her best friend are turning tricks.”

  “Mia would never,” I growl, clenching my fist at my side. Mia wouldn’t even let me get past first base. She’s innocent and perfect in every way.

  I watch in horror as she comes running out of the hotel room, her coat draped over her arm, wearing something that looks an outfit one of the girls at Club Taboo would wear. I pound my fist off the desk, replaying last night in my mind. Everything seemed to be going so smooth until she took off. Little did I know it was because she had a dick appointment with one of my clients.

  “I already pulled all the tape,” Fabian says. “The hotel security who were on scene know better than to run their mouths. For the sake of Jakub though we need to find those two and make sure they aren’t gonna talk.”

  “If he so much as touched her I’m gonna fucking kill him myself,” I growl.

  “From what I gathered, she saved his life. When the paramedics came in she was giving him CPR. He said his Rolex is missing and his wallet, but he’s not trying to press charges. He just wants this to go away.”

  “I know a really easy way to make it go away,” I say, grabbing my pistol from the holster on my hip. “I’ll make that motherfucker go away forever for disgracing my woman.”

  “Has he always been such a drama queen?” Rafal asks. “For fucks sake, you haven’t even talked to Mia since we were in high school. For all you know she doesn’t even like men. Maybe her and Janka are lesbian lovers just trying to get some money together so they can move out to the country and open up a pottery business.”

  “That’s oddly specific, dude,” Fabian says, shaking his head.

  “I wouldn’t mind being a fly on that wall.”

  “You’re an asshole,” I shout. I grab my black hoodie off the back of my chair and zip it up. I check my wallet and my keys. “I’m sure this is just a big misunderstanding.”

  It has to be. My Mia wouldn’t sleep with men for money. My Mia wouldn’t be running around the streets of Krakow dressed like a whore. My Mia certainly wouldn’t sleep with Jakub no matter what he offered her. He’s almost eighty years old, for fucks sake.

  “From what I gather, nothing happened,” Fabian says. “At least that’s what Jakub wants us to believe. He says one minute him and Janka were having a couple drinks, and before his Viagra could even kick in, he was going into cardiac arrest.”

  “Are you just telling me that to make me feel better?” I ask.

  “I mean, consider it a late birthday present.” I’m not sure if he’s sugar coating things for me because he’s such a good friend or because he’s worried I’m going to lose my shit and go eliminate Jakub before he has a chance to even get out of the hospital, but I feel a little bit calmer.

  “If that’s the case, these two were up to something a lot more elaborate than high paid escort shit.” Fabian grimaces and follows after me. “Janka’s not a stupid woman, even though she’s sleazy as fuck. I think she’s got some sort of blackmail shakedown going on.”

  I feel better and worse at the same time.

  Petty crime, I can deal with. She needed some cash. She latched on to a con artist. It’s not the most terrible type of shit I’ve ever dealt with.

  “We need to make sure they’re both keeping their mouths shut, Serafin,” he says. “We can keep the hotel security quiet, but if the Policja want to get involved, I have a feeling a bunch of our clients are going to be pissed. I’m sure Jakub isn’t the first rich old man these two took for a ride.”

  “I’ll fix it,” I say. “She’ll tell me everything. She’s my Mia. I’m sure this is just some big misunderstanding.”

  “Her ex husband is a cop,” Fabian says, running his hands through his thick hair. I grab him by the arm, stopping him before he can go any further down the long dark hallway. “I’m sorry, man.”

  That hurts my guts even worse than thinking about her being a sleazy prostitute or a blackmailer or even a fucking lesbian with Janka. Fabian knows it. Our relationship with the Policja is complicated. We might have them in our pocket, but they always want something in return that costs a lot more than what money can buy. I hate the idea of Mia getting tangled up in the middle of that.

  “We need to get to her fast,” I say.

  “We need to be very careful,” Fabian says under his breath. “You don’t know if she’s still tied up with something. What if she’s working with the law?”

  “It’s me,” I say. “She would do anything for me. We’ve been through so much together. I know she’ll do whatever I say.”

  We walk out to my black Jaguar, the engine already purring. I can’t help but think about how gorgeous Mia would look up against that buttery black leather, a cigarette hanging from her perfect pouty lips, her eyes lightning up as I push it over one hundred down the highway. Soon.

  “I don’t want to be the one to do it, but you need a fucking reality check, man,” he says, slamming the door behind him.

  “Excuse me?”

  “You were high school sweethearts. The second shit went sideways she disappeared. She married a cop for fucks’ sake. She’s been back in the city for almost a year now, and you had no idea.”

  “Nobody knows what really happened that night, Fabian. You know how much that woman cared about her dead beat family. Maybe they threatened them. Maybe she had to disappear.” I put my seatbelt on and Fabian eyes me suspiciously from the passenger seat. Rafal pulls up behind me in his Bentley.

  “Don’t drive like an asshole,” he mumbles.

  “Then don’t say asshole stuff.”

  “She’s been my friend on social media for the last eight years. Never once did she ask about you, Serafin. Don’t you think if she was really looking for you she would’ve found you by now?”

  I’ve thought about it a million times over in my head. I’ve beaten myself up over this woman for the last twelve years of my life. I’ve tried to blame it on the fact that I don’t have social media, that I keep a low profile, that I don’t let myself succumb to the tabloid lifestyle that Fabian and Rafal do, but I know in my heart, if she wanted to find me, or if she wanted to be found, she had plenty of opportunity.

  I push my foot down on the gas pedal, barely gripping the steering wheel as I take off down the highway.

  “I just need to talk to her. She’ll remember.”

  “And what if she doesn’t? What if you spent your whole life building up some fantasy of this woman in your head and it turns out to be complete bullshit? What if she wants to blackmail Jakub?”

  “Then I’ll take care of it.” I put my foot to the floor, pushing the speed.

  My little misui would never do anything to purposely hurt me or my men. She’s perfect. Maybe she’s gone down a dark path, but I’ll remind her who she really is, no matter what it takes.

  “Take this exit,” he says. “We’re going to Weilki Gardens.”

  I swallow the lump down in my throat. Mia shouldn’t be living in the slums. She’s a queen. I’m sure I can convince her to come with me today. We can start all over again, start our new life together, and put the last twelve years behind us.

  �
��I’m coming for you little mouse.” I roll up my windows and slow down my pace while Fabian stares at me like I’ve lost my damn mind. Maybe I have. That’s just what she does to me. Always has. Always will.

  7

  Mia:

  I wake up on the couch, my head spinning from a massive hangover, my feet aching from wearing those stupid high heel boots all night, and immediately, my heart starts to race when I realize what went down last night.

  When I got back to the apartment, it was obvious Janka had gotten there first by the way everything was flipped and scattered all over the place. She was in a hurry, but from the looks of things, she didn’t forget a single valuable item, including my rainy day coffee can.

  Left with no cash except whatever is floating around in the bottom of my purse and the sneaking suspicion that Janka is exactly who Serafin said she is, the only thing I have going for me is my paranoia.

  I know there’s security cameras all over that hotel. I know that security guard got a good enough look at me that he could definitely point me out in a lineup. Then there’s the whole potentially dead guy we left back at the hotel. I didn’t even catch his name, but I’m sure he’s someone rich and prominent. I’m sure his family will want to know every last detail of the last few minutes of his life, and without Janka as a witness, everything is going to land on me.

  Drunk Mia must’ve thought she was being followed, because I have the end tables stacked up in front of the door like that’ll stop someone who wants to get in from being able to bust it down.

  Drunk Mia is an idiot. Drunk Mia is the reason why I’m in this fucking position to begin with. I pull the blanket up over my head and squeeze my eyes shut so hard I see stars. I have no idea what my next move is supposed to be, but I wish Janka was here to bring me a bottle of water and some aspirin so I could drag my weary ass up off the couch.

  There’s a pounding on the door, and for a moment, I think it might be her. She’s been my rock through all this, and maybe after the initial fear wore off, she realized we were better off facing this together. Between the deadbolt and the stack of end tables, there’s no way she’s going to be able to get inside.

  I throw off the blanket and quietly tiptoe across the carpet.

  As I look out the peep hole, I immediately slap my hand over my mouth and take off running into the bathroom.

  How the fuck does he know where I live?

  I splash some water on my face, last night’s mascara all caked and clumped. His birthday party must not have been that exciting if he’s already here pounding down my door at this hour.

  My stomach twists in knots, and I gag as I brush my teeth as quickly as possible. I toss on a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, flip my hair up into a bun, and look at my phone. It’s two in the afternoon. Apparently, I slept a little better than I thought, or at the very least drank enough that I blacked out for over twelve hours.

  I take a look at myself in the mirror and am slightly mortified and slightly pleased. Surely if he gets one good look at me like this, he’ll take off running. I don’t know what he wants with me anyway.

  He’s powerful. He’s rich. He’s charming, and he’s still fucking gorgeous after all these years. Even more, now that he’s grown up a little bit. I want him now more than I ever did before, which is all the more reason why I need to stay as far away from him as possible.

  I signed a legal document a long time ago promising his parents I would never come anywhere near him again, and yet, instead of pulling down the blinds and calling it a day, I’ve convinced myself one more bad decision isn’t going to be the death of me.

  “Sorry! Coming!” I shout as I walk toward the doorway, the pounding escalating. I struggle to move the end tables wondering where drunk Mia got this superhuman strength to stack them like that. After a few minutes of fidgeting I unclasp the deadbolt and pull the big heavy steel door open just enough that I can peek out.

  Before I can start my apology for ditching him last night spiel, Serafin, Fabian, and Rafal push through my doorway, knocking the furniture littering the doorway area around. Fabian hasn’t aged a day since we were in high school, other than the fact that his hair and facial hair are a lot longer and he’s covered in tattoos. Rafal looks like he’s spent the last twelve years in the gym, his body nearly as wide as it is tall. They instantly start opening doors and flipping my apartment upside down as Serafin stands in the corner with his arms across his chest.

  “What is this all about?” I shout. I storm over to Serafin, getting right in his face. “What the fuck do you guys think you’re doing?”

  “Where is she?” he asks. His face looks cold and empty, like he’s asking a clerk at the grocery store where the potatoes are. This isn’t the man who falls over his feet for me, or even the man who was so happy to see me last night that he almost convinced me to fall in bed with him.

  I notice there’s something not quite right about his eyes. They’re still dark and gorgeous, just like I remembered, but something seems off.

  “She’s not here,” I say. “I haven’t seen her since last night. Now can you guys stop wrecking my shit? It’s not like I have a lot to my name.”

  “Call her up. Get her over here,” Serafin says.

  “Why?” I ask.

  “Because we need to have a little talk about what happened with Jakub last night.”

  I purse my lips and my eyes grow wide. My palms start to sweat and it feels like the room is spinning.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  He takes my chin in his hand, his fingers stroking down the vein in my neck. I’m sure he can feel my heart pounding. I try not to look in his dark eyes, but his face is right in mine, so close I can smell his aftershave and the mint of his toothpaste.

  “Don’t lie to me, Mia. I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, but you know better than to lie to me.”

  “Did he die?” I ask.

  “Thanks to your efforts, no.”

  I bring my hand to his, hoping he’ll loosen his grip. Something about the control he has over me is both frightening and intoxicating. He’s definitely not a boy anymore. He’s a man, and he’s well aware of the power he has.

  Rafal and Fabian come back into the living room. “She’s not here,” Fabian says.

  “She was gone before I got home last night. I have no idea where she would’ve went. She was mad at me for calling the paramedics. She’s probably not going to answer the phone if I call. I’m sorry.”

  Serafin moves his hand from my neck and starts stroking my hair, like I’m a good dog who just did a trick. Shame floods my body. I don’t know why I like pleasing him, but on some primal level, I do.

  “You’re not in trouble,” he says in a soothing voice, and I breathe out a sigh of relief. “Not yet, at least.”

  I pace over to the couch and sink down on it, hanging my head in my hands. “I’m not a hooker,” I blurt out. “I know what it looks like, but that’s not what was going on in that room last night.”

  “Of course you aren’t. Why turn tricks for money when it’s so much easier to just fucking rob unsuspecting guys?” Fabian shouts.

  “Hey!” Serafin says. “Knock it off. I’m sure there’s a perfectly logical explanation for this.”

  I pinch the bridge of my nose and let out a pained laugh. “You always want to see the good in me, Serafin. You always want to give me the benefit of the doubt. Did you ever think that maybe I’m just a shitty person?”

  “I know you’re a shitty person,” Fabian says. “You left my best friend in the street to die and you ran off while he spent the next year in the hospital. Do you know how hard it was every day trying to explain to him that you weren’t coming back? You didn’t have to sit by his side every day while he fought for his life and listen to him worry about you. You went off to live your life and get married while we stayed here and cleaned up the mess. You might have moved on, but he’s still reliving that night every day. This man is so fucking bl
inded by whatever spell you have him under, he thinks he should swoop in and save you, but I see you, Mia. I know exactly what kind of person you are.”

  “Enough!” Serafin growls, pushing Fabian out of the way.

  I slowly stand up from the couch, my entire body shaking. I can feel my eyes start to flush with tears, but I don’t want to cry. Not in front of them.

  “He’s right,” I mutter, my voice wavering. “You don’t owe me anything. Just tell me what I need to do to make this right, and I’ll be out of your way.”

  Serafin reaches for my hand, but I pull away. It’s easier for me to be the person his friends think I am. It’s easier to be the person Janka made me into, a sleazy con artist, than explain to him what his parents did to me. It’s easier to take the hate than for him to have to realize his mother and father are monsters.

  Plus, I’m the one who signed that contract. Just being within six feet of him is enough to violate it.

  “Get your shit,” Rafal says. “You’re coming with us.”

  “Excuse me?” I ask.

  “If you can’t take us to Janka, we’re going to have to hope she comes to you.”

  “I don’t think she will,” I admit. “I think she’s long gone.”

  “Well then, I guess you’ll finally get to know what it feels like to be abandoned,” Fabian says with a wink. “Now go get your shit, or I’ll pack for you.”

  I gulp, tiptoeing back to my bedroom. I grab a ratty suitcase from underneath my bed and stuff it with what little belongings I have left. Serafin stands in the doorway, his hands shoved in his pockets. I wish he would say something, anything, but he just stares across the room at my painting.

  “Am I going to get arrested?” I ask as I zip up my suitcase. “Is he going to press charges?”

  He just shrugs and walks across the room, grabbing my freshly painted canvas off the floor and tucking it under his arm.

  “What if I say no?” I shout after him. “What if I just refuse to come with you? You guys aren’t in charge of me. What if I scream?”