Boston Underworld: The Collection

by A. Zavarelli

  I shrug. “Fair enough, I suppose.”

  He gives me a sideways glance. “You’ll figure something out. I’m sure of it.”

  During Nikolai’s absence, it has come to my attention that there is a two-hour gap throughout the day in which I’m alone with Nonna. At all other times, there is a Vory appointed guard loitering throughout the house. One who doesn’t speak or dare to look at me.

  Mischa drops in usually every other day, but his visits are unpredictable. My window of opportunity is a small one. Since Nonna has the house locked up tighter than usual, I’m not able to get to the office to use the phone. So I have two options. Either the guard, or Mischa. I’ve been studying their every move, attempting to predict the most opportune moment. But when it finally presents itself, I’m not prepared at all.

  It happens on a Sunday, in the morning, on the happenstance occasion that I cut my time in the gym short because my ankle is bothering me. Nonna always comes to lock up when her timer goes off, so I don’t bother to alert her. But when I leave the room, I bump into the guard as he’s racing toward the bathroom.

  He looks like hell, and it’s apparent that he had no consideration for his duties this morning because he still reeks of alcohol from the night before. The bathroom door slams behind him and the sound of his retching follows me down the hall.

  I’m content to continue on my merry way until I notice that he left his things behind on the sofa. Specifically, his cigarettes, some change, and a phone.

  I glance back at the door down the hall. He could be in there for a while. This could be my only opportunity. Or it could backfire spectacularly. Either way, I know I have to try.

  I scoop up his phone and dart into the closet, huddling into the corner among the coats, hoping I can be quiet enough. My fingers tremble as I dial Gianni, and it seems to ring for an eternity before he picks up.

  “Hello?”

  “It’s me,” I whisper. “I need your help. Can you get me out of here?”

  He’s quiet for a beat, and I hear shuffling on the other line as he moves somewhere so he can talk. “Tanaka?”

  “Yes. Please, Gianni, I don’t have long. I need your help.”

  “I can’t come to his house. I’ve been trying to get to you another way, but you’ll need to get out on your own first.”

  “How?” I hiss. “That’s not going to happen. I’ve already tried.”

  “You have to, Tanaka,” he implores. “I can’t come there. It’s too risky. Too much surveillance. You need to get out first. Just get as far away from the house as you can, and I’ll come for you.”

  I want to scream out my frustration, but down the hall, the toilet flushes. “When, Gianni?”

  “Tomorrow,” he answers. “With Nikolai gone, I don’t trust that you have much longer.”

  I’m not sure how he knows that Nikolai is gone, but he’s right. I don’t trust that I’m safe here any longer, and I know that this is the only way to save both of us.

  “You have to be close by,” I tell him. “It’s the only way.”

  “I’ll be close,” he assures me. “Just get out of the house, and I’ll come for you.”

  Down the hall, the faucet turns off.

  “I have to go,” I whisper. “Tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow,” Gianni agrees.

  I press the end button frantically and race to delete the call but it’s too late to return the phone. The bathroom door opens, and when he walks down the hall, his shadow passes over the crack in the closet door.

  There’s some rustling and a low curse in Russian before he’s walking back down the hall to the bathroom. I bolt from the closet as quietly as I can manage and run toward the sofa, stuffing the phone into the crack between the cushions.

  I won’t have time to make it back up the stairs, so I run back to the gym. I barely have time to swing my leg up onto the barre before the guard pauses at the door, peering in. His eyes are narrowed, full of suspicion, but he doesn’t voice it. I return his gaze, desperately hoping I’m not giving anything away. After two of the longest seconds in my life, he goes back to the sitting room. I wait for five breaths before peeking around the corner to watch him from the door.

  After some digging, he retrieves his phone from the cushions and shakes his head, flopping onto the sofa. I collapse against the wall and gulp my next breath of air.

  Tomorrow.

  I just have to make it to tomorrow.

  38

  TANAKA

  “TASHECHKA.”

  The hand on my arm is persistent, and I’m confused when I wake to find it’s Nonna shaking me. I sit upright in bed, noting from the darkness outside that it’s not yet dawn.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask.

  “Nikolai has asked for you.”

  “He’s here?” I rub the sleep from my eyes and move the blanket aside.

  Nonna doesn’t answer, but she guides me to the closet and instructs me to dress.

  “Where is he?”

  “He’s waiting for you, but you must hurry.”

  I don’t understand what’s happening, but I dress in the clothes Nonna hands me and when I’m finished, she leads me down the stairs and nods to the guard.

  “She’s ready.”

  He opens the front door and gestures me outside, but I hesitate. I’m supposed to leave today. Gianni will be waiting for me, and I won’t be able to meet him because I don’t know where we’re going.

  “Where is Nikolai?” I repeat.

  The guard looks at Nonna, and she shrugs as if to give permission. When I look back, he’s moved closer. I try to step away from him, but he reaches out and grabs my arm.

  “Nonna?” I look at her for reassurance, but there isn’t one to be found.

  “It’s time for you to go,” she says. “Don’t make it harder on yourself. Nikolai wants you gone.”

  “No.” I throw an elbow and the guard grunts, but his grip tightens. The door is open, and if I can just get past it, I’ll be okay. I can run and hide until daylight when Gianni comes to save me.

  It’s the only hope I can grasp onto, and it’s snatched away before it has a chance to grow roots. The guard knocks me onto the floor and pins me down with his knee, forcing my wrists together behind my back. He gestures to Nonna, and she produces some rope and tape that he uses to secure me before propping me upright.

  “Why are you doing this, Nonna?”

  This woman has taken care of me. She has provided my meals and made my bed and showed her concern when I wasn’t eating. I can’t make sense of it.

  “It’s not me,” she says. “It’s Nikolai. I only do what he tells me. He does not want you anymore. If you accept this, it will be easier. Don’t fight.”

  I don’t want to believe her, but how can I not? Nikolai has gone and left me to my fate. The fate he warned me would inevitably end in tragedy. And I know before the guard even places the tape over my mouth that this is it. They are taking me to my death.

  Gravel crunches beneath the tires as the car moves away from the house. Around us, there is nothing but wilderness. Even if I did manage to get out, I doubt I could outrun the guard in my current state. But I know I can’t give up. I can’t give up hope until I’ve exhausted every option. I wiggle my arms back and forth to loosen the rope, but it makes too much noise.

  “Stop,” the guard orders. “Or I will make it worse.”

  I meet his eyes in the rearview mirror. He is little more than a soldier, and his rank within the Vory is insignificant. Yet this is the man who Nikolai sent to bring me to my death.

  Perhaps this is why he opted not to say goodbye. There is no goodbye when it’s forever. He knew I would be gone when he returned, and he would be free to marry Ana and fulfill his duties as a loyal Vor. It’s the only solution for him because he just couldn’t let me go, thinking that I might have a life on my own without him.

  A sob rips from my chest, and I continue to thrash against my restraints regardless of the guard’s threats. If I m
ust die, then I will go out fighting.

  “I told you to stop,” the guard bellows.

  He pulls over, and I slide to the other side of the car, curling my knees into my chest. I’m prepared to kick him with as much force as I can manage when he wrenches the door open and comes at me. My legs heave toward him, clashing into solid flesh. It’s a blind effort, since my hair is a mess, and I can’t see past it. My ears, however, are still intact.

  An explosive sound vibrates through my skull, and something wet sprays across my skin. I jerk backward, but there’s nowhere to go, and now the weight on my legs is too heavy to move.

  “Tanaka.”

  A hushed voice breaks through the chaos, and I shake my head, trying desperately to see through the tangle of hair.

  “Gianni?”

  The door opens behind me and strong arms drag me out. I’m still not sure if it’s the enemy or my savior until the knife cuts through the restraints on my wrists, freeing me.

  I scrub the hair out of my face and sniffle when I see his face.

  Gianni.

  He came for me. He came like he said he would. And I am not going to die today.

  “Quick.” He grabs me by the arm and leads me through the brush to a waiting Jeep.

  Before I can even thank him, he hoists me inside and takes his place in the driver’s seat, firing up the ignition. The ride is a bumpy one, and it’s left up to me to remove the tape from my face, which is also partially tangled in my hair. It hurts, but compared to what could have happened, it’s nothing.

  “How many other guards are at the house?” Gianni asks as he speeds down the dirt road and onto the highway.

  “That was it. Just him.”

  He nods.

  “Is he dead?”

  Gianni glances at me and then back to the road. “Yes.”

  I take a moment to process that. “How did you know?”

  “I came early,” he says. “I’ve been camping out all night, watching the house. The panic in your voice yesterday concerned me, so I didn’t think there was much time left.”

  “There wasn’t.” I swallow and look out the window. “They were going to kill me. Nikolai sent me to die.”

  Gianni looks at me incredulously. “Tell me you didn’t fall for him, Tanaka.”

  “Of course not.”

  It isn’t believable. Gianni shakes his head but makes a point not to argue about it. There are more important things to discuss, like my future.

  “Where are we going?”

  “That depends on you,” he answers. “Your options are limited, Tanaka.”

  “I know.”

  “Does that mean you’re ready?”

  Reality settles over me, and it’s heavy. What he’s asking will change everything. It means letting go of my old life. Letting go of the memories of Nikolai, and any love that lives in my heart.

  I close my eyes and lean back against the seat. The words don’t come easily, but they do come. “I’m ready.”

  39

  NIKOLAI

  “KOL’KA.”

  Viktor gets out of his SUV, and I step out of my car. After this week, this is the last thing I want to do, but I know why he’s waiting here at my home.

  “How is Alexei?” he asks.

  I lean back against the car and cross my legs. “As good as you might expect. He doesn’t want to talk right now.”

  “I don’t imagine,” Viktor says. “This changes everything.”

  The uncertainty weighs heavy on his face. As the pakhan, it is up to him to decide when we go to war. And when a sin like this has been committed, we have no choice but to go to war. Upon our return to the states, we got the news that Alexei’s pregnant wife had been murdered in our absence. It’s a crime too horrific to imagine, and I have no doubt that Alexei will be painting the city with the blood of our enemies in no time at all.

  “Are you certain she’s dead?”

  Viktor sighs. “I don’t know. It could be months before we know for certain. There is nothing left to identify, but it won’t stop Alexei. He will need to be kept in check.”

  He believes me capable of keeping Alexei in check, but he’s wrong. I will not be the one to stand in the way of his vengeance. I will be the one to hand him the gun.

  “I need you to keep an eye on him,” Viktor says. “Just help him come to terms with it. Let him kill who he wants, within reason. I don’t need a war on our hands until we know exactly who’s responsible.”

  “I’ll do what I can.”

  Viktor nods, but he isn’t finished. “About Ana—”

  I am tired of this discussion and, more so, this dark cloud looming over me. I’ve had a very long journey and difficult news, and I’m not in the mood to feed him more lies. If there is anything I learned from Alexei’s pain, it’s that life is too short. It needs to be now or never.

  Viktor wants the truth, and the honorable thing to do is give it to him. I will face whatever consequences he deems necessary, but I will not live another day under this oppression.

  “Viktor, I can’t marry your daughter.”

  His face mottles with red. “What do you mean you can’t marry my daughter?”

  “It wouldn’t be fair to her. She deserves more than I can give her. She deserves a man who loves her.”

  “Are you telling me that my daughter is not worthy of you?” he sneers.

  “Not at all. In fact, I’m telling you that I am unworthy of her. You’ve had your suspicions about the Valentini girl from the start, and I am sorry to admit that you were right. She isn’t Russian, but she’s mine.”

  There’s a moment in which I think that Viktor might put a bullet between my eyes here and now. I wouldn’t be surprised if he did.

  “I should cut out your stars for dishonoring my family this way,” he says.

  “If that is what you must do, then I accept it. I will go to my death willingly, as long as you promise to leave Tanaka untouched.”

  He laughs. “And why would I promise that? The whore seduced you. She blinded you. And now you ask to cast my daughter aside and spare the life of the woman who will take her place?”

  “You accepted Alexei’s choice. Now I am asking you to accept mine.”

  “Ana is in love with you.”

  “Ana knows nothing of me. She is young, Viktor. Too young to marry someone like me. She should be with someone her own age. Someone who can give her everything she needs. I am sorry that I hurt her. I am sorry if I led her on, but I did not want to disappoint you. I did not want to insult the honor you had bestowed upon me.”

  He lights up a cigarette and smokes it in silence. Perhaps it was not the ideal time to bring it up, but I don’t regret that I did. Even if it means I don’t breathe another day on this earth, I won’t regret it.

  “What of Manuel?” he asks. “Have you found the answers you seek?”

  “Yes.” I kick the dirt beneath my shoe. This is the part he will not like. “I was correct. He beat and tortured and killed my mother, and Sergei gave him the honor of doing so.”

  Viktor shakes his head in visible disgust. “And still you ask to spare his daughter’s life? Where is the justice in that? What about your mother? Will she have died in vain so that you may please your dick?”

  “No,” I force out. “I would ask for your blessing to kill Manuel myself, as well as any of the men in his employ who touched her.”

  “And your father,” Viktor adds.

  “And my father,” I agree somberly.

  Viktor tosses the butt of his cigarette on the ground and stubs it out with his shoe. “It would be a reasonable request, if it weren’t for one small matter, Kol’ka.”

  “What is it?”

  “Nonna called to report that some of Manuel’s men broke into the house while you were away.”

  That isn’t possible. That doesn’t even make sense. I glance at the house, but Viktor goes on.

  “They took the Valentini girl, and they destroyed your security system. It’s wh
at I came here to tell you.”

  I abandon Viktor for the stairs, determined to see it for myself, but the pakhan isn’t finished delivering bad news.

  “Before you think about storming into Manuel’s compound, you should know that the feds got him. Everything is cordoned off. You won’t get in there, and you won’t get near him. She is gone, Nika.”

  40

  NIKOLAI

  MANUEL ADJUSTS the phone closer to his mouth, breathing heavy into the other line. “Do you know where my daughter is?”

  What a fucking joke. He is a vile cunt of a man, and if there wasn’t inches of glass between us, I would jam this phone through his skull until his brains decorated the floor.

  He wants to play stupid, so I’ll humor him for now.

  “You tell me, Manuel.”

  He closes his eyes and sighs. “I can’t believe she would do this to me. It’s you. You have turned her against me.”

  I silently pick apart his words, attempting to find logic in them. But I know that it can’t be right. He can’t be implying what I think he is.

  “A fucking rat. My own daughter.” His mood swings from violent to hysterical in the span of two seconds.

  “Are you trying to tell me that Tanaka flipped?”

  He levels me with vacant eyes. “It’s fucking Gianni. My own man. I trusted him, and he was a goddamned fed. He’s been playing me all along. They both have.”

  My fingers turn white around the receiver as Manuel comes unraveled on the other side of the barrier. He’s losing his mind, but there is still some substance to what he’s telling me. I just don’t want to believe it.

  I tap on the glass. “Pull yourself together. I need to know where she is, Manuel. Who took her?”

  “Fucking Gianni,” he roars. “It has to be him.”

  I shake my head. It can’t be right. He’s out of his mind. He’s delusional.

  “You’re next,” he says. “She will flip on you too.”

  “That won’t happen.” Tanaka wouldn’t turn on me. Or maybe it’s only what I want to believe.

  “You know what you have to do,” Manuel tells me. “I can’t pay the debt. The feds took everything, so you have to take it from her. I just beg of you, be merciful.”