Chapter 21

21

Lyric

A s evening settles in and the city becomes shrouded in darkness and twinkling lights, I open the door to my apartment for Max, Ivan, and Artur. It’s been a while since we last saw each other, and the atmosphere is noticeably tense and awkward between us.

They get settled on the sofa and I bring out some sodas along with cheese and crackers, mostly out of courtesy.

No one here has an appetite. Not even me.

“Are you okay?” Max asks, giving me a long and curious look as I sit in the armchair closest to the window. It seems to be my go-to spot the last few times they’ve been here.

“I’m fine, just really tired. You?”

They look great. Sharp as always. Seeing them now makes me realize how badly I’ve missed them.

Heat is already pooling between my legs. My heart feels like it’s beating a million beats per minute. This is going to be the most difficult platonic sit-down of my entire life.

“We’re taking it one day at a time,” Max says. “The Feds won’t leave us alone. They’re opening one investigation after another, but they haven’t raided any of our places of business lately.”

“There’s a rumor going around that they’re putting together a massive joint RICO task force,” Artur adds. “Some kind of interagency alliance, led by the Chicago field office and aimed at us in particular.”

“Oh God,” I mumble, my blood running cold.

Max chuckles softly. “It’s okay. We’ve had RICO crosshairs pointed at us before, and they had more evidence then as opposed to what they’re trying to pull now. They can’t touch us.”

“What about the other Bratva families?” I ask. “Aren’t they your allies?”

“Most of them, yes, and they know to close ranks when they start recognizing surveillance drones and vans,” Max says.

“And the ones that aren’t allies?” I inquire, crossing my arms. My breasts feel a bit more tender, a sign that my body continues to adapt to its new, secret little tenant.

Ivan leans forward, his eyes drilling holes into my soul. “They are stupid and they will pay. Right now, they’re feeding the Feds all kinds of false intel. We made sure to plant some bad seeds in the garden so it’ll be easier to weed them out later.”

“Good grief.”

“You said you wanted to talk about your father,” Max says. “I suppose it’s related to our current issue, yes?”

I nod slowly and point to the tablet on the coffee table. “I loaded everything there. My algorithm yielded some pretty interesting, albeit unsavory, results,” I say. “It’s all accounted for. Every scenario, every conclusion, every statement. I’ve got receipts for everything.”

They exchange brief glances, then Artur picks the tablet up and starts going through the main file. The more he reads, the darker his grey eyes become as he, too, goes through the motions of discovery, shock, outrage, and determination.

“Matthew Phelps is as dangerous as Jack Bowman himself, except Phelps has more to lose and is likely easier to indict,” Artur says, passing the tablet to Max and Artur next. “He and Bowman are tighter than I had suspected.”

“Fucking hell,” Ivan mutters. “It’s not just campaign contributions either.”

I shake my head. “No, no, it’s way more. Squashed investigations, witnesses strong-armed into recanting their complaints or testimonies altogether. Over the years, Bowman and the local field office have been actively shielding my father from a grand jury, while my father has been actively lobbying for all of Bowman’s businesses. Most recently, he went hard and all in at every major political meeting to get Smith appointed as director for Chicago.”

“I’m sorry you had to find out this way,” Max mutters, warmth in his gaze.

All I can do is shrug. “It’s okay. I mean, I always suspected that he had a dark side of sorts. You know my general opinion of politicians. It stems from him, from the way he conducts himself. This, on the other hand, is something else entirely. Worse. Darker than anything I imagined. I don’t know how he will ever recover when the truth comes out.”

“See, that’s where the trick is,” Artur smirks. “ If the truth comes out. This is why they’re so hellbent on keeping our organization tethered to theirs. Once they lose the Bratva, the other mob families might want to follow suit. Next thing you know, nobody is afraid of the local Feds anymore, leaving their precious illicit network weak and unprotected. Vulnerable to complaints and IA investigations. Right now, they’re untouchable, and your father seems to have played quite the role in creating this environment.”

“How do we undo this?” I ask.

Max shakes his head. “We can’t undo anything. You shouldn’t be anywhere near us for what’s going to happen next.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’ve gathered some intel of our own. This right here,” he says, pointing at the tablet, “this is exceptionally useful to narrow down some leads. We’ll know what to look for when the time comes.”

“What intel?” I ask, growing increasingly anxious and confused.

Ivan exhales sharply. “We found one of your father’s former staffers. It wasn’t easy or cheap, but we managed to get a lead on where we might be able to scoop out actual proof of your father’s crimes. It’s clear that he has committed his share of misdeeds, and that he will continue unabashed well into the state senate. He must be stopped.”

“I agree,” I say with a heavy, painful sigh.

“We know this isn’t easy for you,” Max says. “He’s still your dad, he’s still family. There’s love there, no matter how strained the relationship is. It lands an even harder blow because he’s pretty much all the family you’ve got left.”

My eyes sting a little. Tears keep testing me, but I manage to hold them back, determined not to let any of this get to me again. There’s been enough crying. I can’t save my father, not without hurting the men I love, and that is what pains me the most. Making such a decision and having the power to implement it in the first place.

“I will do what needs to be done, which is why you have that,” I point at the tablet. “I uploaded every piece of relevant evidence on there. Make sure it stays safe. The District Attorney will need it. My guess is you’ll have to convene a secret grand jury to indict my father, and I think that what you have so far will sway a reputable judge in your favor.”

“We just need to find one, a good judge, that is,” Artur says. “It’s not just the law enforcement that’s crooked. The Justice Department has worms of its own.”

A thought crosses my mind. “I think I can help with that as well.”

“How so?” Ivan asks, his brow furrowing slightly as his gaze drops onto my lips. It thickens the tension between us, making it harder for me to breathe. Without even realizing, I lick my lips to quell the growing sensation of thirst that’s turning my mouth into a dry cotton pit. It is enough to cause Ivan’s gaze to darken and his nostrils to flare. “The algorithm, you mean?” he asks, clearly eager to cool his heels.

“Yes. I can have it scan the justice system, the circuits as a whole,” I reply. “I can have it analyze court rulings, political affiliations where known or declared, that kind of stuff. I can even have the algorithm produce reports based on each ruling to tell you which judges might be better suited to see this through to the end.”

“It’s not just the judge,” Max says. “The District Attorney needs to be brought on board first and foremost. He’s the one who convenes the grand jury.”

I nod. “Can you trust him?”

“We’re not sure. But we haven’t found any dirt on the guy either. He might be squeaky clean and genuinely righteous.”

“Or he could be really good at hiding his true face,” Artur points out. “We will need to do more research of our own on the matter. Thank you for doing this, Lyric. I know it’s not how you wanted things to turn out.”

I smile softly and get up. Big mistake.

The world starts spinning all of a sudden, the view before me dissolving into a puddle of milky colors as my consciousness slips away from me. I feel Max’s strong arms close around me as he helps me remain upright. I didn’t even register the moment he jumped from the sofa to reach me in time.

“Are you alright?” he asks, his voice low and gentle.

“I’m sorry. Yeah, I’m tired and overwhelmed.”

“And worn out,” Artur sighs as he, too, comes over and stands behind me. “You look a little stressed, Lyric.”

My vision begins to clear as the blood flow intensifies. His touch is all it takes to get my engines roaring as he proceeds to squeeze my shoulders, a tentative massage designed to loosen me up.

It’s loosening me a bit too much.

I’m soaking wet, my cheeks burning pink with reckless desire.

“God, Lyric, I can read you like an open book,” Artur chuckles and plants a kiss on the side of my neck. All I can do is suck in a deep breath as I struggle to find my words.

“We can’t do this,” I manage, already putty in his hands.

Ivan gets up and captures my mouth in a devouring kiss, while Max’s hands explore my body, registering each curve with his curious, probing fingertips.

“We’ve been telling ourselves the same thing but to no avail,” Ivan purrs in my ear, then nibbles on the lobe until I whimper helplessly in their arms.

I take a deep breath and tilt my head back while Max kisses me deeply.

He kneads my breasts through my sweater, massaging my flesh until I melt in Artur’s arms. It quickly gets to a point where my temperature spikes and I lose control.

“Take me,” I whisper.

“You don’t have to ask twice,” Artur replies.

“We’ll regret it in the morning,” I say.

“Morning is still far away,” Ivan points out. But he’s already out of his jacket and loosening his tie. I hear Artur’s clothes falling to the floor, one item at a time, while I watch Max take off his shirt.

“It doesn’t mean we’re back together,” I feel the need to reiterate.

Ivan hooks his fingers through the waist of my pants and pulls them down. “It doesn’t mean anything unless we decide to give it meaning.”

A moment later, I’m naked and wanting, trembling with desire as my men gather around me. Their hard bodies respond to my touch, cocks thick and twitching and ready to dismantle me down to my very core.

“Come here,” Max beckons me toward the armchair, then has me sit down. “Spread your legs for me, baby.”

I gladly oblige as Ivan and Artur watch with dark delight. Max eats my pussy, his tongue sliding between my wet folds, flicking my swollen clit faster and faster. My hips tilt up and down, responding to his laps, while whimpers escape from my throat. He suckles on my tender nub, causing an eruption to blow through me before sliding his fingers inside of me.

By the time I register what’s happening, the world’s entire axis has shifted under me. I’m trembling, crying out in sweet ecstasy as Max finger-fucks me out of my mind. I grip Ivan and Artur’s cocks and take turns pleasing each of them with my mouth.

My breasts bounce gleefully with every thrust, prompting Max to wrap his lips around each nipple to tease, lick and suckle, just the way I like it. My core tightens, pressure quick to gather again. I lose my mind and body at once, and when Ivan and Artur fill me with their cocks I realize this never should’ve ended in the first place.

I come again, shaking and screaming, unraveling in every which way, forgetting that there’s a whole world out there that’s dying to see us part ways. To destroy us.

“I’ve missed you so much,” Max leans down and whispers in my ear.

“Me, too. I… I…”

“It’s okay,” he says.

Artur gives me a lazy, sweet smile. “We’ll figure something out.”

“But we’re better off staying apart for now,” Ivan adds.

It’s a bitter moment, despite its sweetness. As we all come down from the clouds, basking in the afterglow of what is likely only the first of many lovemaking sessions tonight, reality creeps up to remind us that we are still at war.

That the odds are still stacked up against us.