Chapter 46: Chapter 46

Charleigh

My God. Has he been shot? What’s going on? A hundred possibilities fire through my brain in a split second, and I protectively wrap my arms around Evie, screaming in terror.

With the driver shot, the car careens off the road onto the bumpy shoulder before it sideswipes a telephone pole. In spite of the chaos, the car is slowing, so the driver must have been able to get to the brakes.

“Miss…” he says in a weak voice. “Miss Gates…”

“What?” I cry. “What’s going on? What do I do?”

“There’s a pistol under my seat,” he says as the car rolls to a stop. “Get it, Miss Gates. Get the pistol.”

Pushing Evie to the floor, I reach under his seat from behind and feel the familiar shape of the sort of gun I am being trained on. I yank on it and it snaps from whatever’s holding it in place, and I see it is indeed a Glock something or other, and that it’s loaded.

My hands shake violently as I remember how to unlock the gun. “Evie, call the guys, right now,” I scream.

The driver raises his own weapon and gets off a couple shots through the windshield.

It takes a moment for my eyes to focus, but I see Dimitri and some of his men spilling out of the car that forced us off the road. They are walking toward us. The driver fires off one more shot, but he’s too messed-up to really aim, and doesn’t do anything more than scare them all back behind their own vehicle.

Evie’s screaming into the phone for the guys to come. We aren’t that far from the house, so they should be here soon. In the meantime, it looks like it’s up to me to hold Dimitri and his guys back.

“I can do this,” I whisper.

I force myself to relax and blow all the air out of my lungs and aim. Since the driver’s fire has ceased, the guys think we’re left unprotected. This is good. I’ll just wait for them to get a little bit closer…

I fire and someone drops.

Holy shit.

I just shot someone. I am pretty sure I’m going to vomit, but I take a deep breath, exhale again, and get ready to shoot.

I can puke later.

But the guy I shot, whoever he is, is down and while someone is trying to revive him, the group’s return fire is now coming fast and furious. There’s nothing I can do except push Evie to the floor of the car and lie on top of her.

If one of us is hit, I want it to be me.

With all I’ve been through, this how it ends? All the shit I survived these past weeks, including being beaten almost to death, and now I’m going to be murdered like my mother and father? The universe is taking its final shit on me, delivering its parting shot, gracing me with a nice going-away present.

Fuck you very much.

But the firing ceases. It’s followed by a lot of yelling, and then I hear Vadik’s voice. I don’t dare raise my head to see what’s going on, but a car takes off, its wheels screeching as it accelerates. In seconds, I can’t hear it anymore, but I still stay down, on top of my crying sister. I’m not risking getting my head blown off.

If I can help it.

The front door of the car opens, and I unsuccessfully try to stifle a shriek.

“Charleigh, Charleigh, baby, you’re okay. They left.”

It’s Vadik’s voice, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything so comforting.

“Oh my God,” I say, pushing myself off the floor and pulling Evie with me. I see the panic in Vadik’s face and it’s like looking at an angel. My shaking is uncontrollable and then my face crumbles into full-body-wracking sobs.

Vadik pries the pistol from my hand and when Niko opens the back door of the car, I jump into his arms. Either Vadik or Kir retrieves Evie from the other side, and she’s shrieking too.

“Wh… what about the driver?” I stumble.

Is he going to be another Frank, killed in the line of duty for my lame ass?

I’m not sure these sacrifices are worth it.

“He’s still alive,” Vadik says from the front seat. “Our men are coming to take him to the hospital. Niko will take you home.”

I draw a deep breath and my fear gives way to anger, which is a good thing. I need this. It gives me power. Energy. Strength. Resolve

“I’m not going home. We are not going home. Evie and I set out to take care of her education today, and that’s what we are going to do. Niko, will you take us the rest of the way to the high school?” I ask, brushing at the smudges on my light-colored clothes.

I don’t care if I look dirty. Let them see me like this. Let everyone see me like this. I want the world to know it can go fuck itself. It can try as hard as it wants, but I’m not being scared into hiding. I have to live my life.

I’m pissed. Fucking pissed. Pissed at Dimitri for constantly terrorizing me and pissed at the guys for letting him. With a gun in my hand today, I almost took him out. I shot someone, although I don’t know who. It doesn’t matter. I got someone in their group and I hope they now know I am capable of some level of self-defense. Maybe not like the pros are, but I have some smarts and can put them to use.

I’m making it clear I’m not a victim anymore. I won’t roll over for them. They can come for me, but I will fight them all the way with everything I have. Hell, I almost killed Dimitri. That feels fucking awesome.

Next time I won’t miss.

Vadik puts an arm around me, leading me toward Niko’s car. But I shrug him off. I don’t want to be comforted. I don’t want sympathy.

I want revenge.

Haven’t I already suffered enough? Haven’t I already sacrificed enough?

It’s time for the universe to fucking do something for me. It’s my turn. And I’m tired of waiting.

As if Vadik can read my mind, he looks around to make sure Evie’s not too close, and lowers his voice as he leans nearer.

“Things have changed, Charleigh,” he says in a low voice.

I tilt my head at him. “Oh really? How so, Vad?” I ask sarcastically.

Yeah, things have changed. I have changed.

“Instead of waiting for the Pakhan, my brothers and I are taking action. This war over you has got to stop, and if the Pakhan can’t or won’t do anything about it, we will. It’s not a hard problem to remedy, and we’ve been waiting long enough.”

“Wait? What? You guys are taking action?” I ask, incredulous.

He nods.

There are no words to describe the weight lifted from my chest. I breath whole, long breaths, gulping at the air like I’m starving for it, and throw my arms around his neck.

“Oh, thank you, Vadik. Thank you. This is the right thing to do. I know it,” I say.

I glance over at Evie, in the backseat of Niko’s car, where he’s trying to engage her in conversation.

She’s more interested in what Vadik and I are talking about.

“We’re going to destroy the man. It’s been a long time coming, and there’s no reason to drag it out any longer. We’re as sick of this as you are. Maybe even more so.”

I can see that. After all, they’ve been dealing with Dimitri all their lives.

Vadik is right. Enough is enough. For the first time in weeks, I feel like maybe I’m getting the break I deserve, and that the universe is listening to me for once.

Now all I have to do is convince the guys that I be the one to take down Dimitri.

Hear that, universe? I’m back.

*************

Niko

Dimitri Yegorov stores his countless smuggled goods—whether weapons, counterfeit liquor, forged art, or stolen furs—in warehouses around town. These are businesses developed and grown by his father. Not surprisingly, Dimitri’s done little or nothing to cultivate them since the man’s been gone. Lucky for him, his father left good managers in place when he passed, knowing his son would have little to contribute to the empire he built.

Smart thinking, that father of his. About the only thing Dimitri has ever been good for aside from creative havoc, is siphoning money out of these businesses of his father’s.

My brothers and I are about to make it much more difficult for him to do this. If they have no inventory, they have no cash flow. Without cash flow, Dimitri can’t survive. It’s like forcing a cockroach out of hiding.

No offense to cockroaches.

His most recent attack against Charleigh was the absolute last straw. He’s lucky as hell she didn’t shoot his ass—her instructor says her aim is damn good for a newbie. But it’s okay that she missed him, because it gives us more time to toy with him, like a cat batting around a mouse before devouring it.

The first thing we did was pay off his men to reroute his shipments. One might think that long-term employment would secure the loyalty of the men working for him, but when we waved a few hundreds in the guys’ faces, they caved so fast it was hilarious.

Fuckers.

If the people working for us ever pulled this, it would be the last thing they did before being buried six feet under.

But Dimitri has not been successful fostering loyalty among his men, rumor has it, mistreating them and using his businesses as a personal ATM.

So not only is his shit going missing, but we also have some associates who’ve showered a few drive-by shootings on his buildings. Not to hurt anyone—that will come later—but to send a message that the end is near.

The Pakhan has gotten word of this and is not happy. In fact, his second came by the club the other day, his mangled hand still in a cast, to tell us to back off. We denied everything.

Even though everyone knows it’s us. Fact is, there is no one else who would go to the lengths we are, no one who hates him as much as we do, and no one with the resources to fuck him up like we can.

And no one with the balls to defy the Pakhan. As his second tried to threaten, we could get in big trouble, if we already aren’t. But we’re past the point of caring about this shit.

A man can only take so much. We’ve been more than patient. Any further postponing of the inevitable will make us look weak in the region, and that’s not something we’re willing to risk.

Of course, we aren’t sharing any of this with Charleigh. She might hear bits and pieces just by virtue of being around us, but the less she knows, the better. Although she’s itching to get involved. Holding her back has been like trying to cage a hungry tiger. She keeps trying to sneak in on our plans and won’t listen when we say we’ve got everything under control.

Charleigh’s circumstances have created a monster out of her. It’s both a shame and a relief—a shame that her previous innocence has been shattered, but also a relief she’s developed enough street smarts to help herself if she ends up in a bad situation.

The driver from the day Charleigh was taking Evie to school, and they were attacked? He didn’t make it. But, bless him, by getting a few shots off while telling Charleigh where to find a gun, he ended up saving both her and her sister.

It’s a shame when we lose a guy in the line of duty. But that’s what they sign up for.

Our final parting shot is happening tonight, when we are hosting a big party here at the club so we have a solid alibi.

Not that we really need one. It just makes everything more fun.

In a far cry from when she first joined us, Charleigh’s looking forward to tonight’s gathering, in part because not only does she have a role to play that doesn’t include waiting on members or getting her ass pinched, but also because she is tasked with being the hostess to us hosts.

I love that she’s coming for multiple reasons—ranging from the fact that I just plain like to look at her, to a need for everyone in our orbit to see how well she’s doing in spite of the bullshit that’s been going on all around her.

The stronger she is, the stronger we are.

Even the Pakhan is supposed to come tonight, which is a big deal because the man does not typically socialize like some others in our region. He feels it gives the impression he is not impartial when he’s out at parties and such. I call bullshit. The fact is that there are some factions he’d rather hang out with than others, and he doesn’t want to show favorites. But every now and then the man needs to let his hair down and when he does, there is no place he’d rather be than here with the Alekseevs. It was like this when our father was alive, and still is.

It's funny how technology has changed the way the faction operates. Back in my father’s day, if they wanted to keep an eye on, say, one of Dimitri’s buildings, someone would have to camp out in the woods with binoculars for potentially hours on end, no matter what the weather.

These days?

We have drones.

That’s right. Fucking drones.

I don’t know much about this stuff—we hired some twenty-year-old gearhead to manage this for us—but the small surveillance drones we’ve used are pretty fucking amazing. And tonight, they will be putting on a show for us.

While the party is underway, my brothers and I will be checking our phones to see the status of Dimitri’s warehouses.

By morning, there will be nothing left of them.

I’m not one for unnecessary destruction or going overboard. I’m the calm, rational one of my brothers, and it’s usually my job to rein them in. But about this maneuver, I am almost giddy, like a kid on Christmas eve, waiting for Santa to come.

This is way better than Santa, though.

While we haven’t gotten to the final blow we will be dealing Dimitri, the one where he meets his maker, this second to last is the most… explosive.

Yes, we are fucking blowing up all his buildings. And it will be caught on film, memorialized like some kind of Oscar-winning picture.

We’re about an hour out from our strike when Charleigh arrives, and fuck if she doesn’t stun.

How is it this woman gets more beautiful every time I see her? How is it even possible?

Tonight, her hair is styled into a sleek, high ponytail that leaves her long, milky neck exposed. Her shimmery dress leaves nearly all her back exposed, showing off her flawless skin. It drapes over her ass as she walks and is just snug enough that I can see the tiny jiggle of her flesh as she moves.

But it’s the front of the dress that almost knocks me to my knees. While it ties behind her neck, its V center is cut down almost to her navel. The thin fabric barely restrains her small breasts, which are firm and pointed, like always.

“Hey,” she says, nudging me. “Cat got your tongue?” she asks like a wise ass.

I tear my eyes away to greet a guest. The moment he’s gone, I am back to her. “Fuck all, baby. What do you say to someone who looks like you? I can’t even think of a compliment that will do you justice. So I won’t even bother trying. I’ll just stare at you all night long.”

She drops her head back and laughs softly, exposing that neck I am dying to run my lips over. But there will be time for that later, and I need to stop thinking with my little head.

“There’s a guard over there,” I say, discreetly gesturing with my chin. “He will be keeping an eye on you all night, even if you’re just going to the ladies’ room. So, please mingle. My brothers and I have a little business to attend to.”

Her eyes widen. “Really? What? What are you doing so late at night?”

Her face is so eager I hate to shut her down, but there’s no way she needs to know about the operation before it takes place.

“You’ll find out later,” I say, kissing her temple and running my palm over her soft ass.

“Well,” she shrugs. “Off I go.” And she crosses the room toward some of the men she used to serve drinks to. On her way, every head turns to admire her.

She doesn’t even notice.

I glad hand a few more guests when Kir texts me. I make sure no one sees me and meet him in Vadik’s office, where we pull up the surveillance from our drones. And sure enough, Dimitri’s buildings are being leveled one by one, in sequence, like a row of dominoes that falls over until nothing is left standing.

When the last one falls, my brothers and I are quiet.

We could jump up and down, high five each other, and generally act like jackasses. But we don’t. This is our job. This is what we do. We succeeded in this mission because we always succeed.

And we will succeed in ending Dimitri’s life.