4

Chapter One

Dimitry

   Two weeks later

Nikolai and I stood, silent and unmoving, raindrops hitting the window. It was the only sound breaking the silence. San Francisco in all its glory spread out in front of me. I owned a majority of it, among businesses I had all over the world. Although most of it wasn’t obtained through legal means.

I have been working for months, bribing senators, congressmen, governors, state attorneys, judges, anyone with power within the government, all in the attempt to legalize all of it. Nobody was going to stop me. I was ready for anyone and anything. If someone got in my way, I’d crush them. I might be going legit but I still had my ways to make things happen. We had gone through too much and come too far to stop now. This was what I had always wanted for Nikolai and Sergei, my brothers in every sense of the word except blood. When we left that Russian orphanage, it was to get us a better life.

I had a staff of lawyers working through all my businesses to ensure each business I own gets registered and taxes paid. I needed the senators and governors to accept my offer for the last two casinos in Hawaii and Alaska to become legalized. At least get it on the ballot in the next election process, which was coming up. I only had another three weeks to make it happen before I’d have to wait till the next voting period.

I wasn’t willing to wait. I was ready for life on the legal front. It was what I had wanted since we got involved with Russian organized crime… rússkaya máfiya. I hated that we were involved with it, but it had been our only way out.

The phone buzzed and Nikolai answered in Russian. “Da?”

My brother hid emotions almost as good as I did. There was no telling what was being discussed on the other line. He put whoever was on the other line on hold and lifted his eyes to me.

“State’s Attorney Manciatti wishes to speak to you.”

I raised an eyebrow. Well, that was unexpected. Manciatti and I didn’t have exactly the best relationship. I had a reluctant respect for the man although he almost put me behind the bars with Boris Jovanov ten years ago. He never realized the only reason he was able to put that sick bastard behind bars was because I made it happen.

From the moment I joined Boris’ rússkaya máfiya group, I had set my eyes on taking over. I knew I could manage every aspect of our organized crime better and make it more profitable. Boris raged too much, made too many mistakes that cost lives unnecessarily and he managed it with personal emotions. If you happened to cross his path on a bad day, he’d kill you without any reason. That wasn’t a way to run our operation or any of our businesses successfully. So, I learned every aspect of our organization and slowly took more and more control of our illegal businesses and all the contacts around the world. Till the day he lost it all. He was left with a small group of men that were still willing to stand by him and none of those were a loss to me. His control dissolved into nothing, and I turned into Interpol and CIA every illegal account of his, along with evidence of his illegal dealings. Only my brothers and I knew it was our evidence that ultimately put Boris away for life. It was a win-win for my brothers and me, along with the contacts that stood by us. It was easier doing business and growing it without Boris’ lunatic behavior. He thought he was in a wild, wild west movie.

“Put him on the speakerphone.”

Nikolai pushed the speaker button. “What can I do for you, Mr. Manciatti?”

There was no reason to waste time with pleasantries. The man didn’t like me and would only be calling to let me know my time was up. It had been his life’s mission to put me in prison for the past ten years.

“Dimitry Alexeyev?” the old man sounded tired.

“One and only,” I retorted dryly.

There was a deep exhale on the line. I waited, unwilling to make small talk. I wasn’t any good at it anyhow.

“I need your help.” Of all the words, I didn’t expect those at all. I met Nikolai’s eyes and saw the same surprise in them.

“Hmmm.” Let the man sweat. It could be a trap, for all I knew.

“My daughter, Anastasia, is missing,” the old man sounded pathetic, like he was ready to start crying.

“And?” I spat out. It struck me odd that the background check I had obtained on Manciatti did not mention a daughter, only a deceased wife. It was the first flag. “I don’t have your daughter. I’m not in the habit of kidnapping people. Especially not women and children.”

Another deep exhale on the line.

“I want your help in finding her,” his voice shook.

In all my years of dealing with the man, he'd been as hard as steel, merciless and unforgiving, but this wasn't the voice of that man. His voice held exhaustion and desperation, a dangerous combination when dealing with a man like me. It was a desperate man that would resort to desperate means to get what he wanted or needed.

“In exchange, I’ll stop the pursuit of your dealings. And I’ll get you Governor Jameson and Senator Jackson’s votes in legalizing your businesses.”

I scoffed. “Really?” He must have really considered me an idiot.

“Yes.”

“And how are you going to do that?” Those two had been the toughest nuts to crack. We had absolutely no dirt on them and nothing in their whole boring past was something I could use against them to secure their votes. Governor Jameson ruled Alaska and Senator Jackson had connections in Hawaii.

“Senator Jackson is Anastasia’s grandfather, and Governor Jameson is her uncle.”

How in the fucking hell did we miss that piece of intel?

The state’s attorney’s daughter wasn’t mentioned in any of the background investigations and now this. Nikolai must have had the same thought because a few Russian silent curses left his lips. We both knew what that meant. We had a traitor amongst our men. That detail was too big to be missed. Too much of a coincidence. I had been after those two for months, trying to get their vote.

Manciatti took my silence as refusal because he continued in a desperate voice. “Please, I am begging you. I will give you anything you want.”

“Do you have any idea who took her?” What the heck, it didn’t hurt to get all the details.

“Boris Jovanov’s men took her.” There wasn’t an ounce of doubt in the old man’s voice.

“Is this a joke?” I asked him. “In case you forgot, you put him behind bars ten years ago. Same time you tried to pin me as his accomplice.”

“I remember,” his voice was somber.

“Why me?” I asked him. After all, Manciatti knew a lot of people. And if he had connections to the senator and government, he surely knew more powerful people than me.

“You know Boris better than anyone,” he replied back. “And Russia is your home country. Nobody knows that country better than a born Russian… even if it’s a Russian Sinner,” he muttered exasperated, referring to the nickname people had given me, Nikolai, and Sergei. “I don’t care if you are guilty or not; I just want my daughter back.”

“For your information, I wasn’t his accomplice,” I told him. I was the one that brought him down and took all his business. I made the bastard pay for dragging my brothers and me through his sick murderous rampage. We would have to pay penance for the rest of our lives. Some of the men we killed weren’t exactly innocent, but they didn’t deserve to die either. The moment he cut Nikolai’s face, he was a dead man to me. I should have murdered him but seeing him rot in prison seemed so much sweeter.