Chapter Twenty-Eight

Vladmir

Watching Aksana storm back into the kitchen, laughter caught my attention, and I slowly turned toward our guests and narrowed my eyes.

“What the hell did you say to her?”

Cesar Vitale grinned. “Wasn’t me. I just said hello.”

“Damn, Vladmir.” Luca Vitale chuckled. “What the hell did you do to piss off that beauty?”

“He married her.” Maxim smirked while he shook hands with Cesar.

“That will do it.” Guilio Vitale quipped as I ignored all of them, ushering everyone back to Maxim’s office.

I wasn’t in the mood for games and would deal with Aksana later.

“Well, Maxim, I’m here. What is so important that it couldn’t wait until our meeting?” Cesar asked, getting straight to the point. “I have other business to tend to.”

That was the one thing I liked about Cesar Vitale.

He didn’t have time for idle chitchat.

The Vitale Brothers were nothing more than hired thugs. Violent and dangerous thugs. Cesar and his brothers had worked for Giovanni Valentinetti occasionally before Cesar took over running the City of Chicago. The Vitale Brothers fled Italy in a hail of gunfire, making them the only remaining descendants of the Vitale family. Bianchi decimated and eradicated their entire family due to a deal gone wrong. The brothers only survived because their father snuck them out of Italy in the dead of night. Left to their own devices, the Vitale Brothers made a name for themselves in the criminal underground by offering their assistance to anyone who could pay handsomely. It didn’t take long before everyone knew them as the Mafia Manhunters.

They didn’t care who they worked for.

Only that they were paid handsomely for their services.

They were only loyal to each other and the money on the table.

No one knew for sure how many brothers there actually were, but it was rumored to be seven of them.

Each more deadly than the other.

With Cesar Vitale as the oldest, he ran his family like a business, and that business was protecting his family.

Oh, he dabbled in a lot of other things, but his family came first.

“Before I begin, let me ask you this.” Maxim quickly sobered, getting down to business. “Have you heard from the Italian Council yet? Have they picked a successor to sit at the table?”

“Why are you asking me that?” Cesar asked, point blank. “Your beautiful wife would know better than I.”

Maxim narrowed his eyes when the Vitale Brothers grinned.

Another thing about the Vitale Brothers, they enjoyed beautiful women. More importantly, beautiful women that were unattainable. Even better if they were happily married.

“We don’t have time for this,” I sneered. “Have you received an email from an unknown sender?”

Cesar just stared at Maxim.

In fact, all four Vitale Brothers never blinked.

They were completely unreadable as they continued to look at Maxim, waiting for us to say more.

Knowing Cesar wouldn’t say a word, Maxim added, “Several organizations have received a file. A ghost file containing information and images of our organization’s dealings and such. Have you received a file?”

Still nothing.

“Are you familiar with the name Devlin Scott?”

Cesar’s jaw clinched.

Bingo.

“He’s dead.”

“Yes, and what he left behind is worrying,” Maxim stated. “I’m sure you know that Devlin Scott ran the Trick Pony.”

“My brothers and I have nothing to do with him or his organization.”

“Organization?” I frowned, looking at the man who turned to look at one of his brothers.

Luca Vitale stepped forward and spoke, “Devlin Scott. Part owner and operator of the Trick Pony, a BDSM club in South Miami, Florida. Father to Gideon Scott and Ivy Scott.”

“You said organization?” Maxim interrupted, looking at Cesar.

The man sighed. “The Trick Pony wasn’t just a BDSM club. It was a brokerage house, Fedorov. Anything anyone wanted, desired, craved, coveted could be found and purchased at the Trick Pony, for the right price, of course. That was until the FEDs raided the place and shut it down. Now, I know you didn’t ask me to come all this way for information you already knew, so get to the point, Bloodletter.”

“Did you receive a ghost file?”

“Yes. I received one three weeks ago.”

“Have you been able to identify the sender?” I asked.

“Don’t need to.”

“Why is that?”

Cesar simply stated, “Because it doesn’t interest me. You seem to be forgetting one thing about me and my brothers, Bloodletter. We live by our own set of rules. We don’t follow the diktat of the table. We don’t take orders from the Italian families and we sure as hell don’t get involved with matters that don’t benefit us. So, unless there is something pertinent that you need from us, we will take our leave.”

“You’re not asking the right question.”

All of us turned to find Aksana standing near the door with Katiya in her arms. “Sorry for interrupting, but I came to tell you I laid out refreshments in the dining room for your guests and I wanted to apologize for my rudeness earlier, Pakhan.”

“And what question should they have asked, Mrs. Ivenok?” Cesar inquired when I walked over to her, wrapping my arm around her protectively.

“Aksana?” Maxim frowned.

My woman looked up at me and I nodded. “Go ahead.”

Looking back to Cesar, my woman said, “The question they should have asked, Mr. Vitale, is how long have you been working with Mr. Ess?”

I stiffened, moving to stand in front of my wife and daughter as Maxim and Dmitry both glared at Cesar and his brothers.

“Not only beautiful, but smart.” Cesar smiled. “I wasn’t sure you would remember me?”

“I remember everyone Konstantin hated, Mr. Vitale. My father hated you because you cost him several of his trusted men, but he hated Mr. Ess the most.”

“That is true.” Cesar nodded. “Baranov hated the Ess’ the most.”

“ The Ess’?” I asked, confused. “There are more than one?”

“Yes,” Cesar admitted. “There are three of them.”

Stepping around me, Aksana asked, “Do you know which one impregnated me with Vladmir’s sperm?”

“That, I do not know.” Cesar sighed.

“Aksana, please take Katiya upstairs,” I instructed, never taking my eyes off Cesar as my woman said nothing more. She left the office.

The second she was gone, I demanded, “Start talking.”

“What are you going to do?” I asked, sitting alone in Maxim’s office while we both digested the information Cesar Vitale had dropped into our laps before he left.

“Because you are damned if you do and damned if you don’t, boss.”

Maxim sighed. “What would you do, Vladmir?”

“The decision isn’t mine, boss. Whatever decision you make will sever a friendship. So, choose wisely. Then again, you may not need to decide right now. Maybe wait and see how things play out?”

“It’s risky,” he admitted, leaning back in his chair. “But it would give him time to do the right thing.”

I nodded. “And if he doesn’t?”

“If he doesn’t, there is nothing I can do to save him. This has to be his decision.”

“I only foresee one slight problem,” I advised.

“What is that?”

“Vicious.”

Maxim shook his head. “The rules of the table are clear. I can’t interfere, Vladmir. You know that.”

“But I can. I am under no such obligation.”

Shaking his head, Maxim sighed. “No. We will wait and see how this plays out. Have you heard from Aleksandr?”

“He is enjoying his time with his brother and new family. He has asked for more time.”

“At least one of us is happy. Tell him to take all the time he needs,” Maxim said then frowned. “What’s wrong? You have that look again.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Something is bugging you. What is it?”

“Cesar said Baranov hated the Ess’ the most.”

“That’s right.”

Confused, I looked at my boss and asked, “How would he know what Baranov was thinking? Cesar and his brothers were low-level thugs before Giovanni handed over Chicago to them. Nothing more than hired hitmen. They were not in the war. Yet, he knew how Baranov felt?”

“Maybe it was a slip of the tongue.”

Glaring at my boss, I snarked, “Have you ever known Cesar to say anything he didn’t mean?”

When Maxim stayed quiet, I continued, “Think about it, boss. With everything Cesar told us, there has to be more to his story. He left something out. Something he doesn’t want us to know.”

“Or not ready to reveal. Cesar doesn’t share information, Vladmir. We knew that before inviting him over. He’s worse than Reaper in that regard.”

I nodded. “That’s true.”

Everyone knew that Reaper kept shit close to the vest, only dishing out information when he absolutely needed to, but this was different. The Vitale Brothers were inconsequential to Baranov. That bastard would never associate with low-level thugs. They had nothing he wanted. Yet, Aksana stated Baranov hated Cesar because he cost him several of his trusted men. Why would Cesar go after Baranov’s men? Unless Baranov considered him a threat and tried to take him out. But why? Why would Baranov want Cesar and his brother’s dead?

I hated this.

There were too many players and none of them made sense.

“The war was long, Vladmir.” Maxim sighed, leaning back in his chair. “No one really knew anything. The in-fighting was worse than the war itself. A lot of good men died because of it.”

Shaking my head, I got to my feet and started pacing.

Nothing was adding up.

The ghost files, the Trick Pony, Devlin Scott and his offspring.

Now Cesar’s association with the Ess’.

What was the common denominator?

Looking at Maxim, I said, “What if Reaper got it wrong?”

Max chuckled. “It would be a first.”

“I’m serious, boss. The underworld is a small community. Deals and alliances are made every day to ensure power. There will always be someone new popping up, forging their way to the front. However, this whole mess doesn’t feel like a power play to me. Not in the traditional sense. It feels more like revenge.”

Sitting up, Maxim frowned. “Revenge for what?”

“Consider the players,” I said, resting my hands on the back of a chair. “Konstantin Baranov, George Stone, Steele, and Devlin Scott. All major players in the war with the Society and all members of the Trick Pony. We know Ace disappeared with the files from the Trick Pony around the same time everyone received ghost files. Files that, if in the wrong hands, would be detrimental to their organizations. Yet, instead of delivering those files into the hands of the police, they give them to us. Why?”

“Blackmail?”

Shaking my head, I muttered, “I don’t think so because none of us have received any demands. And now we learn that Cesar Vitale is working with the Ess’. Cesar and his brothers aren’t like all of us, boss. They have no aspirations of power. They make their money by killing people.”

Maxim sat up straighter. “Only killing specific people.”

“Exactly.” I grinned. “So why would Cesar align himself with the Ess’?”

“He wouldn’t. They hired them to take out any threat to their plan.”

“And who do we know that would have any information on what that plan might be?”

Maxim sighed. “Aksana.”