13. CiCi

The caravan of armored SUVs stops in a single line across the street from Spinners. I always thought this place was a hole in the wall bar; I didn’t realize it was a front for Daniil’s family casino. Gambling in Massachusetts isn’t illegal, but using the casino as a front to launder money is. Spinners has been in operation for as long as I can remember, at least since I was a young child.

After we parked, Drake abandoned his car and came to sit with me in the back passenger seat while we waited for the signal. Leaning over the passenger seat, I can see the worried expression on Drake’s face. There is a deep wrinkle between his eyebrows as he rechecks the wire they placed in my ear, moving my hair to conceal it.

“You’ve checked it like fifteen times since we left Vanguard, and it’s like two blocks away,” I say as I gently grab his hand and give him a comforting squeeze. “I promise we will be fine.”

He lets out a large exhale and shakes his head, “I can’t believe you talked me into using you as bait.”

“Bait?” I giggle, poking his side. “I’m just going to play poker, babe.” I wink.

“This isn’t a game, CiCi.” He snarls, “Those men in there are dangerous.”

I snap my head in his direction. “And you will come running in to save the day if anything goes wrong. I’m not scared, Drake.”

“That makes one of us,” he whispers.

My heart thrums inside the walls of my chest at his admission. I lean over, giving him a quick peck on the cheek, before I hear Miranda in my ear.

“Time to move, sweet cheeks.”

Opening the passenger door, I cautiously slide out of the car just as Miranda approaches. Following behind her are Daniil’s bodyguards.

Smoothing out the wrinkles of my dress, I hold my arm out to her, “Ready?”

“As good as ever.” She links her arm with mine as the cars drive off. I can see them take a right turn down the street leading to the back alley entrance of the club.

A chill runs down my spine as the caravan of cars disappears behind the building.

Letting out a deep breath,I look at the massive bodyguard standing closest to Miranda. “Let us do the talking inside, ponimat’? Understand?”

He just huffs in response.

Miranda leans over to whisper in my ear, “Since when do you know Russian?”

I shrug, “I’ve picked up a few things working at the club.”

We cross the street and approach the front entry, which is guarded by three armed men dressed in all black.

“Password?” His thick Russian accent spits out as he looks us up and down suspiciously.

I stare at him blankly for a beat until the huffy bodyguard begins quickly speaking in Russian before saying, “banshee”. The men standing in front of us smirk then nod and undo the rope, allowing us access.

“Next time, do your homework before you boss me around, sweetheart,” he whispers gruffly in my ear as he guides me by the elbow into the dimly lit room.

“What did you tell him?”

“That you’re my prostitute.” He sneers, “Now be a good girl and go win me some money.”

I snap my head toward him. “You realize Drake is listening?” I quip, as I rip my arm from his grasp, noting the evil smirk that is playing across his face.

We walk to the back corner of the room where there is a table of eight chairs, two of which are vacant.

“Da. Yes, and I suggest you respect me in front of the men in this room.” He motions to the empty chairs at the table for me to sit down.

Miranda sits across from me and I sit to the left of the dealer, placing my bet before our cards are dealt.

The night before, we had coordinated how we were going to work together to intentionally get caught cheating so that we would be forcefully removed from the table. She nods at me as she raises my bets, or wrinkles her nose when she isn’t.

As the game drags on, I start to lose faith that our plan is going to work, until I see the dealer motion to someone behind me. I know better than to look in that direction, so I keep my eyes on Miranda, who is clutching her cards tightly in her hands.

The scent of amber and leather invades my senses and a husky voice whispers in my ears, “You two need to come with us.”

Choking down the nerves in my stomach, I manage to croak out, “Is there a problem, sir?”

“There will be if you do not get up from this table.” He growls in my ear.

I set my hand of cards down on the tabletop. “Excuse me, gentlemen.”

Nodding at Miranda, we both quickly rise from the table and follow behind the two men.

I catch Daniil’s men side-eyeing each other as they trail behind us.

Two muscular Bratva members walk Miranda and me down a long, dimly lit hallway. The butterflies in my stomach are flitting around up to my throat and the only reason I feel somewhat relieved since I can still hear the footsteps of Daniil’s guards behind us. I’m almost certain the only reason they haven’t put bullets in our heads is because members of their brotherhood accompany us.

We come to a stop at a door with a crooked sign that reads management. Opening it, they usher us inside where we come face to face with Dimitri. Surprisingly, he is alone.

His hands are clasped together in front of him.

He smiles as he says, “Well, ladies. Have a seat.”

“I’d rather stand,” I say defiantly as I cross my arms across my chest.

Dismissing my comment, Dimitri motions toward the chairs in front of his desk, and I can feel a firm hand on my shoulder pressing me down into the chair.

Reluctantly, I sit down.

“Funny. My men have never seen you in my casino until tonight. First timers and caught cheating?”

“Rookie mistake.” I smirk as I lean over, flaunting my breasts, that are fighting the fabric of the dress. I lay my clutch down on the desk while waiting for him to respond, hoping the packet sniffer is close enough to Dimitri’s laptop to retrieve the information we need.

“Yes, well, we do not tolerate cheating here. I don’t care how beautiful the clientele is.” He grins.

Looking past us, he speaks in Russian to Daniil’s men behind us.

After a moment, Dimitri nods. “My men don’t have the best judgment when they’re not thinking with their brains.”

He stands up, motioning for us to follow suit. I grab my clutch off the wooden desk as he rounds the corner. Placing his hand under my elbow, he grips it tightly, guiding me back out the door.

Before he lets me go, he yanks me closer to him and whispers in the ear with the bug in it, his tone sinister. “I remember you from Raven’s. I never forget a pretty face. Tell Draco ‘Hi’ for me.” He pauses. “We will see each other again, and this time, he won’t stop me.”

***

Exiting the back of the building, we hurriedly make our way to the cars parked in a line down the dark alley. Daniil’s men swiftly get us into our respective cars, shutting the doors behind us.

“I won’t know if we have what we need until we get back to Vanguard, but at least I’m not dead.” I shrug, trying to chuckle. Drake’s face is a mix of anger and worry.

“I wouldn’t be so confident just yet. Dimitri isn’t stupid and he will not react well to us trying to pull one over on him.”

The words barely escape his lips when gunfire erupts outside the car. Drake lunges forward to shield me with his body as bullets rain down against the side of the armored vehicle.

“Climb to the backseat and get down!” He shouts as he grabs his gun from his holster. “Do NOT leave this car until I come back, do you understand?!”

Growing impatient at my hesitance, he practically throws me over the center console into the backseat. I have to catch myself with my hands or else I’d land face first into the leather seat.

Anywhere else, being manhandled like that would’ve been hot.

“Drake! You can’t leave me here!” I scream, scrambling to reach him, gripping at his suit jacket as he goes to exit the driver’s side door.

My mind races and my heart beats frantically at the thought of being trapped inside this car with gunfire surrounding me outside.

As Drake slams the door shut, I can hear Miranda screaming in my earpiece in the other car. Ripping the wire out of my ear, I clasp my hands over my head to drown out the surrounding noise. I can hear the cracking of different guns, the groans and thuds from bodies as they drop to the ground, and smell the gunpowder infiltrating the cabin of the car.

What feels like eternity is really only ten minutes at most. The gunfire ceases and I hear the sounds of cars peeling out and driving off. Then a heavy deafening silence rains down around the car until I hear the crunching of the gravel as footsteps slowly approach the door.

A wave of anxiety washes over me. My body shakes uncontrollably from the nerves and adrenaline.

As if it will protect me, I keep my arms folded over my head as the footsteps grow closer.

The door rips open, and I hear his voice.

“CiCi,” he grunts out through ragged breaths.

Looking up, it takes my eyes a moment to adjust. I can see the shadow of Drake’s figure with the streetlight beaming down behind him. His hair is a tousled mess and I notice his jacket has been torn off.

Scrambling to my feet, I step out of the car, taking notice of the street littered with dead bodies from the previous attack.

“Oh thank fuck!” I wrap my arms around his neck as his hands frantically try to find my face.

He clutches my face in his hands. I notice his pupils are dilated as his eyes rake over my body in a frenzy.

He continues looking me up and down, searching and muttering, “Please, tell me you’re okay.”

His body is trembling in my arms, and I recognize the fear in his eyes.

“Hey. Hey…Shhh.” I grab his hand and place it on my chest over my heart. “I’m right here baby. Feel my heartbeat, Drake. Breathe.”

One of his hands falls from my face and clutches my hand.

Underneath my own quivering palm, I can feel his heart thudding against his chest.

“Drake, look me in the eyes.” I whisper, trying to calm him.

He leans his forehead against mine, sharply exhaling, before his dark eyes meet my gaze.

“If anything would have happened to you-...” His voice is shaking as he struggles to finish his thought.

“Nothing happened to me. I’m not going anywhere. I’m never leaving you.”

“You should. I’m not who you think I am. I’m the cause of your pain.”

Since the night I met Drake, I knew there was more to him. Even when I found out he was The Dragon, I knew there was something he wasn’t telling me. Now, standing in the middle of the street littered with dead bodies, I feel a sense of dread, as though my world is about to crumble beneath my feet.

“Talk to me, Drake. No more secrets,” I say, as I gently rub my free hand across his cheek.

The silence in the air between us feels heavy and thick as I wait for him to speak.

“For thirteen years, everything I’ve done is for you. Every criminal I’ve taken down, I told myself I was doing it in your name. I couldn’t save them that night, CiCi. I’m so sorry.”

“W-what do you mean?” I stammer, knowing the night he is recalling. The night Raventown fell and my parents died, along with so many other innocent lives.

He closes his eyes and I can almost see the wheels turning in his mind, as if he is replaying the events. His face twists into this tortured expression before he looks at me and continues.

“My father. He initiated the attack on Raventown. Daniil and I were able to stop Enzo and Dimitri. We couldn’t stop Demassi and my father…so I killed him.” He pauses, grazing his rough thumb against my cheek, “Then I saw you on television, the broadcast. Your eyes. You were so lost.”

I remember seeing the replay of the broadcast days later. I was standing over my parents as they died.

We had eaten dinner at our favorite restaurant that evening, and within hours after dinner, walking through the city park like we had done hundreds of times before, both of them collapsed. I remember their agonizing groans as they clutched their stomachs, and then both of them began seizing uncontrollably. The deaths were not all immediate. Some were days later, but immensely painful nonetheless.

The toxicity report of all the victims read the same: high levels of arsenic, thallium, and a synthetic component of the botulinum toxin. That night, however, city officials immediately issued safety notices to boil our water, and to ensure safe preparation of foods while the incident was investigated. These safety measures remained in place for weeks.

The mayor at the time issued a statement within hours, stating that they were taking all measures to keep citizens safe. The investigation felt like it went on for years, but months later it was revealed that the water in Raventown had been compromised.

I found out that by keeping us safe; they meant they were filtering the water through an even more complex water system and taking extra measures to prevent water contamination.

A news report was broadcast sometime later stating there were three hundred and eighty-three casualties as a result of that night. Toxicology reports were run for months on people who died of the same symptoms. Anyone whose report read the same was grouped in with the Raventown attack.

No one was ever named or held responsible that night, but I knew in my heart this was not some random fluke; that someone had the information I needed about who carried out the attack.

That someone is the man standing right in front of me.