64. Alexei

64

ALEXEI

I was stretched out on my back in the kitchen with my head and shoulders in the cupboard under the sink. A flashlight clamped between my teeth was shining up at a leaking U-bend. The apartment was almost silent, only the quiet little skitters and pecks of Gabriella’s fingers on her keyboard, down the hall and the splatting of drips on my forehead. So, when my phone rang, a few feet from my head, it was loud. Anyone else would have banged their head but years of lying in wait for my targets, sometimes for hours or days, have given me superb self control. I groped for the phone and brought it to my ear, feeling smug. “Yes?”

Two shaky breaths. Then, “Alexei, it’s Radimir.”

I sat bolt upright. My forehead slammed into the U-bend, and I fell back down again, the world spinning. Suddenly, it was seventeen years ago, and I was a green young thing, not long out of the Russian army and still finding my feet in the Bratva. And he’d been green, too, him and his brothers, brand new to Luka’s organization. They’d clearly been through hell. But they had a sophistication I never did: it was Radimir who got me into wearing suits. He’d always been cold but, when we got close, I’d found he had a softer side. Between jobs for Luka, Radimir and I used to go see movies, or go to upmarket bars where he’d coach me on how to talk to women. I remembered helping them all move into their first, tiny apartment, trying to maneuver a mattress for the youngest, Valentin, up four flights of stairs.

And I remembered how he’d changed. I’d always been happy to be a soldier, killing who they told me to kill and not asking questions. But Radimir was always ambitious and the higher he climbed, the colder he became. He laughed less, scowled more. When he and his brothers broke off from Luka to go and make their way in Chicago, we’d almost lost touch. But there’d been one more chance: after I saved Gabriella. I’d called Radimir to tell him I was out of the Bratva and...he’d been angry. Like I’d betrayed him, somehow, by getting out...or by falling in love. At the time, I’d been shaky and uncertain: I was high on love but I was also lost: I’d walked away from the Bratva and that meant leaving everyone I knew. I’d reached out to my one friend and his rejection had hurt...more than I wanted to admit. That had been ten years ago, and we hadn’t spoken since.

My head was throbbing. I closed my eyes. “What do you—” I didn’t even know what to say. And then it bubbled up from inside. “Are you okay?” I still cared.

A pause. “No,” he croaked.

My eyes opened. Radimir admitting weakness? That never happened, not when I knew him. But I could hear the pain, even in that one syllable. The man was hurting. “What’s wrong?”

A deep, shuddering breath, like he was fighting to control himself. “He took her.”

I snaked my body out of the cupboard and slowly stood up. Radimir...fell in love? “Your girlfriend?”

“My wife.”

His wife?! I frowned at the floor as I carefully picked my way through all the junk I’d had to clear out of the cupboard.

“I was wrong, Alexei,” said Radimir. “I’m sorry.”

I stopped. Sorry? Radimir would never be this...open. Not the Radimir who’d left for Chicago, coldly ambitious. But not even the Radimir I’d first met, when he’d come to work for Luka. He sounded more vulnerable, more humble. And I felt the apology slide down deep and lock into place, healing something I hadn’t realized had still hurt, after all these years.

“Is okay,” I grunted.

“I need your help to get her back,” said Radimir. “You’re the only one I trust.” And he told me about meeting Bronwyn, about Spartak’s nightclub and the exchange at midnight. “I’d need you on the next plane,” he said, then took a deep breath. “Will you help?”

Back in with the Bratva. Walking into a trap. A good chance I’d be killed. Of course I wouldn’t do it.

Except for a friend. “Yes,” I told him.

I’d wandered down the hall to Gabriella’s study. She was sitting in the dark, as she always did, but her keyboard and mouse pulsed scarlet and she had the text on the bank of monitors in front of her set to amber so she looked like some sorceress, bathed in light from a river of lava and fire. I leaned against the wall for a second and just gazed at her. She’d never looked more beautiful. Then she saw me out of the corner of her eye and looked curiously at my phone. Who is it? She mouthed.

“And your hacker girlfriend, Gabriella,” asked Radimir. “We could use her help. Could she come along, too?”

“She’s my wife, now,” I told him, gazing into Gabriella’s eyes. “And if I know Gabriella, she’ll insist.”