Chapter Three

ISAAK

There are two worlds. 

The one which you know, where you wake up every day, go to work and return to a perfect family. You have a shitty boss who doesn’t give a crap ass if your wife just gave birth or if traffic was a bitch. He expects a particular level of professionalism from you.

And then, there’s us. My world.

In this world, there’s always some threat. There is always something that needs immediate attention. It can be a new group trying to start out, thinking if they gun for the big guys then they will be at the top of the food chain in no time. 

They are impatient fools, and all they end up doing is sign their own deaths. It might be morbid, but it is good because in a game like this, there are no spaces for fools who cannot make plans over the long term and stick to it. But not to discredit all of them, there are a few who have come close before. 

I recall one of the groups had almost succeeded in rising but it ended only in a few minutes of fame before I was forced to collect on the debt. They’d clipped my father, a lucky shot but in this world, when you’re at the top of the food chain, a lucky shot is the difference between life and death. 

That shot had opened a worm can of threats from every direction, threats I was tasked with closing again and again. The shit heads keep coming, never mind that those who took the shot were dead and many more who saw it as an opportunity were dead as well.

I toss the bloodied knife onto the table, pulling off the once white apron; now a mixture of white and crimson, from my body. I dump it on the floor and I spot one of the men picking it up out of the corner of my eyes. I signal to him to throw it into the incinerator, as I stare at my work, the beautiful piece of art, the intestines dangling from the blood eagled body.

On the floor, drenched in the blood of the man was his companion. They were both from a small group across the states, looking to make a name for themselves, and had tried to jump me on my way from one of the meetings. 

“Now, see here, kiddo,” I say, crouching in front of the kid, until I was face to face with his trembling self. “You see what happened to your pal here,” I say, jerking my chin to the still dripping body. 

He nods frantically. 

“Good,” I say, patting his head. “Now, you hurry along and tell your boss what just happened. Tell him his territory belongs to us and we will move our shits through wherever we like. If he isn’t okay with that, he can return for round two, but I assure him, he would wish blood eagling is what is done to him.”

The boy listens with rapt attention, and I’m sure he will not forget a single word I said to him. 

Good. 

I rise to my feet again, signaling Kasym to take the fool out of my sight. Kasym is my second in command and my best friend, as much as the word friend can mean to me. We’ve known each other since growing up and if there’s one person, I can always count on to have my back, it’s him.

 Kasym jerks his chin to two of the guys standing watch just as Lucy strides in, her red gown swaying. 

“Isaak,” she calls.

“Tell me it’s some fucking good news already.”

"Good news for us, bad news for Andrei.” 

My gaze shoots straight to her, and I give her my full attention. The Andrei family has been one of the second most popular cartel families in the city, and our one rival. 

Lucy gives me a teasing smile, and I roll my eyes. “Stop fucking around and spill the beans already,”

“The Andrei’s suffered a serious blow from law enforcement and a small rising cartel on their side of town.  They are bleeding. Badly.”

I roll this new information in my head, wondering if it holds some sort of hidden trap to lure us out of our current location and lead them straight to us.

“Heard Andrei’s son went under. Just the man and the last son. You know, the one they nicknamed princess.”

If there was such a thing as the best time to strike, now would be the time.

“The city will be circling like vultures now. Gather the men. Let’s pay old Andrei a visit.” I say as I walk out of the chamber, not bothering to give instructions. 

They know what to do. 

I storm out of the torture room chamber back to the open space of the estate, making my way to the east wing where Father’s office is. The two guards stationed outside greets me with the usual respect but I ignore them as I always do the soldiers. I do not have the time to bring myself to share in their sentimental ass licking, which they do in hoping they will climb through the ranks.

Father stands by the window, staring into the vast farm of our inland cocaine plantation. Even without him turning around, I can already sense a lecture on how the business had started as a small enterprise back when drugs had not yet become popular amongst the people and how his own father had passed it down to him. It was with Father’s ideas that now made it one of the biggest drug enterprises in Moscow. 

“It could be a trap,” he says without turning to me.

I reach for the bottle of whiskey on the table, help myself to a glass before saying, “I know. But I trust Lucy to have verified the details before coming to either of us.”

He doesn’t ask how I know Lucy came to him. It's like a silent agreement between us. I might run the cartel, but there are still people who would answer to him first before they answered me. Lucy is like a sister to me, raised by Father from the dregs, but I don’t kid myself about where her loyalty lies. 

It has always been with my father and will always be with him.

Father nods, still not turning around. “Yes, Lucy. You might as well check it out.”

Chunking down the last of the drink, letting the taste burn through my throat, I rise to my feet, leaving Father alone.

There’s a reason why I want to go for this mission. It is not solely for the purpose of crushing a long time enemy, but also his last son. I have heard rumours, and he has always been off limits because of the fear of starting a clan war.

Not anymore.

By the time I’m out of Father’s personal wing of the house, Kasym has gathered the men, all of them filing into small cars, guns ready. I make my way to the black SUV in front, the door pulling open just before I step in.

“What did the old man say?” Kasym asks, watching my expression. I’ve learnt to keep everything I’m thinking hidden behind a mask of hard jawlines and bored expressions, but inside this car, with Kasym and Lucy, I might as well be naked. 

“He says it might be a trap,” I answer Kasym’s question, but I keep my gaze on Lucy.

She ignores the warning in my eyes and winks at me. 

“Is it?” I push, not in the mood for her bullshit. Lucy knew how to test me and push my buttons, but now was definitely not the time. There was a lot on the line, and she knew it.

Lucy rolls her eyes. “Surely you know I double-checked myself,” 

“Good. Cause a lot depends on this.” Another rolling of her eyes, before the drive starts.

When we get to the gates, Kasym lowers the first car, signaling for the men to breach the gate. The sedan crashes through the gates, but where gunshots are supposed to fill the air, silence radiates through it. 

Confusion rushes through me for half a second, and I lean forward in my seat enough to peer at the mansion. There’s not a single soul outside, just a silent empty mansion. 

No doubt, Andrei must have known we were coming but he never pegged me as the kind of guy who would run from a fight. 

If anything, I think he’s the kind of man to give everything if that means he stays in power longer, even if it’s the illusion of power. 

I step out of the car, ignoring the warning grunt of Kasym as he jumps off to join beside me, pulling his black pistol to his hand. He flanks my left and Lucy takes my right.

“Something is off,” he says, his eyes trained on a spot in the woods. I don’t agree with him, but I don’t bother saying it. Andrei clearly knew we were coming, and Kasym will never agree to it if he feels like Andrei knows I will be here. 

Andrei is like the arch enemy of the cartel, even more so than the probing detectives that come and go in the law enforcement. 

We step into the expanse of the compound, greeted only by the rustling of trees and the silence that is so uncanny it makes dread crawl through my spine, sending every single part of me to be at alert for signs of life.

My men circle the building, taking position in every escape route possible.

As we reach the doors to the mansion, I fling it open. 

Kasym groans at my carelessness but I’m the leader and my instincts are always right. There is a reason why  since I took over, we’ve not been busted on any of the raids the enforcers always carry. It’s because I get information and I know how to act on them.

As I suspected, Andrei sits alone, no weapon in sight on the table, sipping from a glass of whiskey, his back to us. Kasym’s shoulders stiffen and his senses jerk as he scans the surroundings, waiting for some sort of trap.

It’s not. 

If being enemies with this man has taught me anything, it’s to know that he’s always the kind with a trick up his sleeve and when backed against the wall, he picks a singular goal, channels everything into it and prays to all the stars that it works.

“Were you not taught to not point a man a gun in his own home? It’s not only rude but provokes war,” he says coolly.

“Andrei! Какой приятный сюрприз,” I say as I take the seat beside him. 

What a pleasant surprise

He just smiles and I take the seat beside him, turning myself a cup of whiskey. It is a good one, and I’d be damned if I let this opportunity slip past me.

“Tell your goons to wait outside.” He waves a dismissive hand at Lucy and Kasym.

“You don’t give orders anymore, Andrei. As far as I can tell, your house is empty.” I give the house a once over before turning my gaze back to him again. This time, the smile on his face falters as though the empty house was not something we were supposed to know.

“So I will say you start making your peace.”

“Hmm… If you really think so, then maybe I need to reconsider my proposal.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, anger coursing through me. I keep it out of my voice, swirling the whiskey in the glass till it almost spills out.

“You really think a small group of petty criminals will be able to deal me a killing blow?” Andrei lifts his eyes to meet my gaze, and for the first time since the meeting started, I see the cunning man for who he is. 

“Sure a few of my supply lines got exposed to the government and some of my stations got hit, but do you really think that that would bring me down? I merely think it’s time we put our rivalry together and propose a union.” 

“What?” I snatch my gun out of my holster and point it at him. He must be insane if he thinks there is any way we were going to align ourselves with him. The Andrei and us have always been sworn enemies, it’s just the way things are.

“What do you propose?” a familiar voice cooed from the door, causing my attention to snap to him.

I shouldn’t have been surprised. I manage to keep it off my face as I turn in my chair, looking at him. I still keep the corner of my eyes on Andrei, who is smiling at my father with his full teeth. I turn to look at Lucy this time, and she at least has the decency of looking as though she wished the ground would open up and swallow her.

“Great, you’re here. I was getting bored of your son.” 

“He’s still getting a knack for the business.”

“Father. This man here is the reason Lowell is dead,” I spit out but do not say anything further. Every calmness I once had inside me as the leader is now gone, and the only instincts that remain are the ones begging me to pull the trigger.

“And sometimes we make pacts with our demons to get what we want.”

“Take a seat, Isaak and let me deal with this,” he says with a dismissive tone. 

I ground my teeth, giving Lucy a death glare once again, before seating back down. 

This is going to be the longest minutes of my life.