Angel loved this.
After getting far enough from the restaurant, she and Nikolai stopped to grab some beer and burgers, then found a quiet spot in Central Park to crash. It was just like old times, they joked and laughed as they caught up, it was as if they’d only been apart since yesterday. She still felt awful about dropping the ball on his secret and had been apologizing profusely for it. Nikolai wasn’t mad, a little afraid maybe, but he couldn’t blame her for snapping, given the circumstances. He even laughed when he saw how contrite her face had become as she told him the full story of how things came to be.
“Stop laughing, you little shit,” she groaned.
“I can’t help it!” Nikolai chuckled. “I’ve never seen you like this. It’s awkward. You’ve never apologized to anyone before and it sounds and looks weird to hear the word ‘sorry’ come out of your face.”
“I still feel horrible about it… I was afraid you’d hate me for it.”
She truly was. It wasn’t her secret to tell and she couldn’t say how she would have felt if she’d been in his shoes. The last few years hadn’t been easy on him either and the last thing she ever wanted to do was make things even harder on him.
“I could never hate you, radnaya. Never. I can’t say I would’ve done any better if I were you. I’ve come close to spilling the beans myself, more times than I’d care to admit.”
“Really?”
“Well, mostly it was from almost getting caught. I didn’t have my wingman anymore, so it got harder to sneak behind dad’s back without you.”
As selfish as it was, part of Angel was glad she hadn’t been so easily replaced as his shield, but it broke her heart to think about how tough things had been while she ran off for new horizons.
“So, what ever happened with you and Sergei?” she asked, taking a puff from the a cigar Nikolai snuck from his father. If anything was going to give them away, it would’ve been trying to get together with him without her there to cover for him.
“We had to cut things off when we left,” he said in a fond tone as he recalled his high school sweetheart. “But we still talk sometimes. You have anyone special here?”
“Unless you count Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum back there, then I’m afraid not.”
She’d spent the better part of an hour explaining how she formed her new gang and Nikolai had a great laugh at her expense. It wasn’t how they pictured their scheme blowing up in their faces, but she was failing to see the humor in it .
“They didn’t seem so bad.”
“Yeah, but that’s only because you don’t know them yet.”
Nikolai finished his beer and laid back on the grass, looking up at Angel as he spoke.
“You know dad wants you to come work with us again, right?”
“Yeah,” Angel sighed. “He basically told me to quit my job yesterday, but I saw that coming. I can only imagine what his face looked like when he found out what I did for a living.”
“Do you like working there that much?”
“The dancing is fun and I like my friends, but overall it wasn’t that great a job. It’s the principle though. He’s only been back in my life for a week and he’s already taking control.”
She thought about keeping her job out of spite, but that would only put her co-workers at risk. She knew Matvey wasn’t above any form of retaliation and she was worried he would try burning the place down if that meant keeping her away. Arson was a speciality of the Kuznetsov family.
“You’re move out here was quiet, I didn’t hear anything about it out in Brighton,” Angel said. “How long has this been going on?”
“Dad did his best to keep quiet about his involvement. He sent his men in to get some territory ready for him for about a year while he set up all the legit businesses. Everyone’s gonna be busy keeping track of building codes, property taxes and union problems, who’d care about any of our business on the street? Now that we’re here, he’s definitely letting everyone know who’s in charge.”
“I got a taste of that myself. He’s taken a lot of premium real-estate and I’m gonna assume it doesn’t end with the new HQ. What happened to the guys you stole the turf from?”
“At first anyone who had a problem with it somehow ‘disappeared’ and people didn’t like what they saw when they washed up again… what was left anyway. Some of the smaller gangs closed up shop for good and we picked a few guys up from whoever was left. Anyone who didn’t join up has left or has been keeping to themselves for now.”
Angel assumed that was why she didn’t hear a lot of chatter about it. She didn’t live in Brooklyn, so anything going on wouldn’t have made it that far to her. Though she also assumed that the takeover would expand past Brighton Beach at some point.
“What happened with the bust back home? I mean, obviously things have gotten better, but why?”
“A few phone calls from dad and suddenly none of the money in the investigation could be traced directly back to any illicit activity. There were some close calls when they began searching our warehouses and going over the books for taxes and shipping manifests, but after a few of the officers involved went missing, the charges were suddenly dropped. Only took him a few months.”
“What a lucky break,” Angel snarked and flopped down next to him. She figured they’d get themselves out of that mess eventually, every second wasted fighting off the feds was a second he wasn’t making any profit, but it happened much faster than she’d anticipated. No one working for him would have spoken a word against him, which meant a lot of his underlings paid the price and took the fall for him. Like her dad.
“I assume I’ll be working with you,” she said, changing the subject before she started thinking about it too hard. “What’s your part now anyway?”
“I go where he wants me to go and do whatever he doesn’t feel like dealing with himself. Says I’m ‘gaining experience’ since I’m technically doing the work of a boss. Mostly it’s been meetings concerning the company, which make me want to blow my brains out. We were still in the hot seat back in Russia, but I’m hoping to catch a little more action here in the states. I’m starting to miss the grunt work Dad had us doing when we were in school.”
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
“Come on, you knew you’d be splitting up your attention between businesses. Don’t dwell on it too much. Now that you’re here, your dad’s gonna want you back on the street soon.”
“It’ll be a lot better with you tagging along. Just like old times. You’re friends’ll be good muscle for us.”
“Us?”
“Come on, don’t play dumb with me,” Nikolai smirked playfully. “You were never going to be just another enforcer. You’re my ‘fiancee’, my confidant, my Angel-”
“Ok, I get the picture,” Angel laughed.
“My point is that you and I are in this together. Partners. As messed up as this…”
“Clusterfuck?”
“Yeah, that. As messed up as it is, I’m glad you’re back. That I’m gonna have you in my corner again, ‘cause I don’t think I can keep doing this on my own.”
It wasn’t the same after Angel left, he could never trust anybody like he trusted her. Sure, he’d thought of bringing someone else in on his secret, finding another girl to play the part and get his father off his back, but he chickened out every time. The odds of being exposed were too great to risk it. Angel’s heart twisted as she thought of how lonely he must have been, just like her.
“Speaking of being together again,” she said, “What’s going on with our relationship status?”
“Ugh…”
“My thoughts exactly.”
Nikolai rolled over onto his stomach and reached for a fresh cigar, chewing on the end as he thought.
“Dad’s not expecting us to truly get back together right away,” he started.
“Really? I thought he’d already picked the wedding date,” Angel snorted, chugging down the last of her beer and opening a fresh can.
“When I told him I wasn’t ready to face you, playing up the regret card and all that, but he kept saying ‘Give it a chance. I’m sure you’ll both heal with time. You two will be able to work things out.’ He won’t wait forever, but if we kiss and make up right away, he might get suspicious.”
Angel nodded. Matvey may have been wrapped up in his own world, but he was no fool. He’d make them get back together if they played stubborn for too long. In hindsight, both friends saw how short sighted they were with the big picture. Angel had thought about lying and saying she’d met someone else in the vain hope her happiness would somehow stop Matvey’s goals, but he would’ve hunted that nonexistent lover down until he caught her in her lie. She stopped that train of thought before she could even begin to contemplate what would happen to her then. In the same vein, Nikolai could stay with his single-and-heartbroken act, but it was already a miracle that rumors hadn’t started spreading about the real reason why. They had no excuses to give now and they weren’t getting any younger.
“So we ‘reconnect’, but say we’re taking things slow,” Angel suggested. “We’ll be a couple again and we can stall from there.”
“We can probably put off the engagement for a few months,” Nikolai agreed. “Not sure about the wedding, though.”
Angel shrugged.
“Trust me, I can think of a dozen reasons to postpone a wedding. As long as your dad thinks it’s going to happen, we should be able to swing some more time.”
She recalled Nikolai’s cousin’s wedding when they were growing up. It had been put off for almost two years to accommodate changing the venue, choosing the cake and flowers and the dress. Hell, the engagement itself had gotten called off more than once before the happy couple made it to the altar. That gave Angel more than enough to work with.
It was settling in how easily they accepted their fates and they couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed in themselves, but for the time being, they would survive. It wouldn’t be easy, but at least they had each other.
“That’ll be good enough for now,” Nikolai said and took her hand. “I’m really sorry you got roped back into this.”
Angel shook her head, holding his hand tighter.
“Can’t change it now. We’ll make this work.”
They stayed that way for a while, laying on the grass and savoring the cool evening air. Grass and dirt stained their clothes, but they couldn’t careless. After the shit storm they’d been through, this moment between them was the most normal they had felt in a long time.
“So,” Angel said, breaking the silence after several long minutes, “when do we start?”
“Come by my place tomorrow morning and I’ll bring you on my rounds. It’ll be a good chance for your fellas to learn the ropes. I understand why you’re looking out for them, but are you sure they’ll be able to handle this?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure. They can be competent when they try. With a little guidance, I think they’ll catch on pretty fast. At the very least I know they can follow orders.”
“If you trust them, then so do I. And if it makes you feel better, I have a little surprise for you when you get there.”
“Oh really? What kind of surprise?”
She was getting sick of surprises by this point, but if it was Nikolai then it couldn’t be completely bad.
“Not telling. But you’re going to love me for it.”
The two friends didn’t waste anymore time talking about the heavy stuff, they wanted to enjoy the rest of their reunion happily. By the time they went their separate ways it was far past midnight, the bright lights of the city buzzing and blurring together as Angel walked home. Nikolai didn’t press when she declined his offer for a ride home, the walk gave her time to go over everything a few more times with herself and ease her nerves. They could make it work.
They had to make it work.
Grateful she had worn comfortable shoes for her long trek back to the apartment, she trudged up the stairs and into the flat where she found Beau and Dima waiting for her, knocking back can after can of beer.
“I see we had the same idea tonight,” she said, dropping her coat at the door and dropping herself onto the couch next to Dima. Neither answered, only looked at her with withered eyes. “Damn, you two look like shit.”
“We had a word with your godfather,” Dima said, gulping down his fourth can, crushing it and tossing it into the pile they had accumulated on the floor.
That was a perfect excuse to binge drink as far as Angel was concerned.
“Oh, and what did you talk about?” she asked, though she already knew the answer.
“Not much,” Beau slurred, sarcastically. “He just wanted to give us a job.”
“Well, don’t keep me in suspense.”
Angel preferred stoned Beau to drunk Beau. Stoned Beau was quiet and fell asleep before he finished his first joint, drunk Beau was just regular Beau with even less inhibitions and his rotten attitude dialed up to an eleven. He was a total lightweight so it didn’t take much to get him that way either.
“You’re lookin’ at your new bodyguards. Congratulations, you’re officially stuck with us.”
“Bodyguards? He thinks I need bodyguards? You’ve gotta be shitting me. Matvey used to have me running solo jobs with Nikolai when we started middle school. We made a sport of stealing and had serial arson down to a fine art. Why would he suddenly give me a protective detail?”
“I think he meant it to be more of a watching position than an order of protection,” Dima hiccuped, snatching the can of beer Beau was starting to open. “He asked us to look after you and report back to him about how you’re doing. He’s worried you’re going to take off again.”
“I figured I wouldn’t have his complete trust yet, but I guess I should be grateful he chose my own squad to do it instead of complete strangers. Or even worse, Vitaly.”
During more dangerous times, like turf wars and feuds between rival bratva, Matvey would have the families’ children followed by any able-bodied man he could spare, in case anything went down. Even then it still wasn’t enough sometimes, but it gave them a sense of security. Though it also creeped the hell out of Angel. She could always tell when she was being tailed and it gave her that sinking stomach feeling despite knowing they were on her side. With Beau and Dima on the other hand, she and Nikolai would be able to move and speak freely without being ratted out.
“Listen to me,” she said, “because I want to make this perfectly clear to you right now; you two don’t work for Matvey, you work for me. You’ll tell him what I say to tell him.”
“But what if-”
“What did I just say. Matvey isn’t going to be the boss forever. Nikolai’s time will come and, unless anything short of divine intervention happens, I’ll be his wife by then. So don’t worry about appeasing the old man. As long as you’re with me, you’ll have a place at the table, but for now I’ll need your to help cover our asses with him. Just report back exactly what I say and that should keep him off our backs.”
“So… is the engagement back on?”
“Not yet. I’m sure his father will want to make a big spectacle out of it when it is, but it won’t happen for a while.”
“What’re we supposed to do now?” Beau asked, sitting himself upright. He was still tipsy but the haze was beginning to clear up with the sobering conversation.
“Whatever I tell you. Starting tomorrow we’ll be rolling with Nikolai and following his schedule. Think you can handle that?”
“And we’re supposed to stick our necks out for you to Kuznetsov?” he sneered. Kuznetsov was the most intimidating man he’d ever crossed paths with and now he was caught in the old man’s crosshairs with Angel. “Why should we listen to you? You’re last plan blew up in your face and now you’re draggin’ us down with your next one.”
“Got something on your mind?” Angel glared. Beau wore his emotions on his sleeve, but he still held so much back. If he had some concerns he was sitting on, she wanted to know. She just wished he’d do it sober.
“You rolled over for him the second you saw him and now you’re gonna act all tough. What authority do you have? Goddaughter or whatever the hell you are, you’re just arm candy. How do you know he’s not gonna sit you on the sidelines after you get hitched? What happens then, huh?”
Rising from the couch, Angel marched over to Beau, grabbed him by the front of his shirt and hauled him to his feet so they were face to face.
“Listen to me, asshole,” she growled, unbothered by the sour scent of beer on his breath as she forced him to look her in the eye. “I’m not arm candy, I’m your fucking boss. If we’re gonna be stuck together like you said, then you better keep your fucking mouth shut and do as I say. I know the Kuznetsovs are much bigger game than some loser PI, but I think I’ve proven that I’m pretty good at getting what I want and the lengths I will go for it. I’m in charge here, so you get that through your thick fucking skull or get the hell out of my way! Got it?”
Out of breath, Angel shoved Beau, now much more sober, back down into the rickety chair with enough force that it knocked him over. Dima stood off to the side ready to pull them off of each other had things gotten worse, but Angel’s impromptu speech had put the fear of God into him and kept his feet planted where they were. Beau didn’t look frightened though, perhaps it was all the alcohol in his system, but he was all smiles, as if she’d told him everything he wanted to hear.
“Yeah,” he said, the grin never leaving his face. “Got it… boss.”