OPENING THE WINDOWS after cleaning up the vomit, I’m ready for this mission to end. I’m aware of the time that is passing. I have twenty-four hours to get Dimitri. Glancing at my phone tells me I have sixteen hours left. I open my tracking app and have a sense of satisfaction when Mila’s red dot blinks to life in the upstairs bedroom. She hasn’t moved off the bed. After I stitched her head, I placed a tracking device into her neck. It’s the only way I could leave her alone and make sure she stayed where I left her.
I shower and change into a fresh black suit, then leave the house again.
The neighborhood I pull up in has too many unemployed people loitering on their porches. All eyes swing to my Audi. Drugs, poverty, and violence have taken away any form of civilization from these people. I could understand how Dimitri wanted to live amongst them. It reminded him of the Bratva. It was a unit, a law upon itself. It was belonging. No one sits on his porch. I hadn’t exactly expected a welcoming committee. After checking both guns, I place one in the holster around my ankle, and the other I stick in the band of my trousers as I exit the car.
The shift in the air is so brief; it’s like the rattle before the crack of thunder. These people recognize me and slowly they make their way into their homes. Locks are turned and soon the street is devoid of life. I move along the white paneling of Dimitri’s home as I make my way around back. The back door is unlocked. I pause for a heartbeat and remove the gun from my waistband. He knew I would come; he isn’t stupid. I lower the gun and step into a tidy kitchen. My gaze bounces across the washed-down counters before jumping to Dimitri, who stands in the doorway that leads to the hall.
“You could always say you didn’t find me.”
I grin. I don’t put my gun away but lower it to the ground. “I find everyone.”
Dimitri doesn’t return my smile. “I have a daughter.” His admission adds a layer to him I don’t want to see.
“You can come with me without a struggle, or I can drag you to Victor.”
His laugh fills the small kitchen. “Have you ever met Victor?”
His question has me raising my gun. I don’t do this. I don’t talk and debate. Debating means there’s room for a negotiation, and there isn’t.
I don’t want to shoot him, and he is unarmed. Placing the gun in the band of my trousers, I clear the space between us.
“Move,” I order.
His lips curl up. “You don’t have to do this.” He raises both hands like I have a choice.
“Move.” I give the final order and curse him as he pulls a knife from his sleeve. I lean back as the silver dagger swipes the air. It’s a kill shot—he tried to cut my throat. He swings quickly, not giving me much time to recover. I met his arm with my own. The knife vibrates in his fingers before he loses his hold and it sails across the room. His eyes widen but flicker toward the back door. The creak of the hinges has me diving to the ground. I remove both guns and point them at my targets. The guy pauses in the door, and he hasn’t a chance. I pull both triggers, and two bodies hit the ground.
I get off the ground and holster my guns before wiping down my suit. The guy who’s face down at the back door bleeds out on the tiled floor. I kick him onto his back. He looks like one of the porch occupants. Maybe a friend of Dimitri’s. I check his pocket for a wallet but find none. I’m ready to dismiss him as a neighbor when a tattoo behind his ear catches my attention. A small picture of an octopus.
I grab him by the arms and drag him away from the back door, then get into my car and reverse it up the driveway and pop the trunk. After rolling out some plastic, I grab two gallons of petrol and take them inside the small house. Dimitri is heavy, but I carry him out and place him on the plastic in the truck of my car. The wound between his eyes leaks, and I wrap the plastic around him before returning to the house. I douse each room in petrol and lead a trail out to the driveway, then drop a match and watch the line of petrol burn as it makes its way into Dimitri’s house.
I pull out and see curtains shift as I drive through the small neighborhood. Dimitri’s house blazes behind me, but no one comes out of their homes to investigate.
I leave Dimitri’s body in the can and drive back to Gail’s. She’s there when I arrive, and I see the disappointment at seeing me.
“You tried to have me killed by one of your goons.”
She stands tall and wraps one hand around the other that hangs in front of her. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
I smile at her as I move closer. “No worries, he’s dead. Both of them are.”
It’s there, in the depths of her dark eyes. She had a thing with Dimitri.
“I didn’t think you would get attached to someone. You know, in this game, we all have to be lone wolves.”
Her laughter is forced. “He kept my bed warm. That was it.”
I move closer so I’m towering over her. “If that’s all it was, why did you send one of your men to kill me?”
It’s the first time I see the indecision in her eyes. “I didn’t send him to kill you. I only sent him to warn Dimitri.”
I don’t believe a word she’s saying. She’s lying through her pearly whites.
“You inconvenienced me.”
Gail holds my stare before raising her hand and clicking her fingers. A young boy comes forward.
“Nicholai would like to be entertained. Give him whatever he wants.”
I grin at Gail. “I’ll take the offer, but it doesn’t erase what you did.” I leave the threat hanging and follow the boy to the back rooms.
“What would you like, Mr. Nicholai?”
I want a blonde with big boobs, but only a small blonde with blue eyes and small breasts fills my mind.
“Brunette,” I say as I sit down in the chair. The lights dim and the boy leaves. The box lights up and I wait. I’m kept waiting for a brunette wearing a white thong and nothing else to step into the box. Her gaze meets mine, but I know she can’t see me. She’s meeting her own eyes in the mirror. She smiles before a slow beat fills the space and she starts to move.
I exhale and command my body to relax as the brunette turns around and bends down, showing me her ass. Her hands run across her cheeks before she slaps them hard, and my cock twitches. She turns and runs her hands across her chest. I press the button and the glass box rises into the air. She’s startled for a moment, but she descends the steps and walks over to me.
I rise and push my boxers and trousers down before sitting back down on the chair. The brunette smiles at me before she falls to her knees and takes my cock into her mouth. I let my head fall back as her warm mouth encircles my cock. She rides it up and down with her mouth. When she removes herself and replaces her lips with her hands, I don’t like it.
“Suck it,” I say.
Her warm breath rushes across my cock before she takes in as much as she can. It’s not deep enough. Grabbing her hair, I help her move up and down. I need this release, especially after a kill. Dimitri’s dead body flashes in my mind, and I push the brunette’s head down on my cock and pull her up quickly; the pleasure has me moving her faster.
My balls ache for release. The sac’s full and coated in the girl’s saliva as I keep her head moving fast up and down on my cock. She gags, but I want more; I want my release. I grab her face with both hands and fuck her mouth hard. I pound into her and can feel the release build up until I jerk into her mouth. Three more slams empties me, and I release her.
She coughs but swallows and wipes her mouth. She doesn’t speak but stands and walks back to the box. Once she’s inside, I press the button and the glass moves back down. She looks startled as she leaves the box through the door, and I pull up my trousers expecting to feel satisfied, but I don’t.