Chapter Four

343 Merirahu V?rgud Oü, Private Residence Estate, Tallinn, Estonia...

“I’m done for the day, sir.” Svetlana Rebane, a born and raised Estonian woman, neatly folded the dust cloth and placed it in the trolley that housed all her cleaning materials. “Do you need my services the rest of the week?”

“Ei, Svetlana. But you can come clean and do my washing again on Monday.”

“Muidugi, sir. I will return on Monday.”

Not bothering to respond or walk her to the door, Andrus Klavan returned his steadfast gaze over Tallin Bay. The calmness of the water was in contradiction to the volatile emotions swirling inside him. Life had totally fucked him over. All his dreams of success and grandeur were gone... destroyed by the Guzuns and Andrei Balan or Smirnoff... or whatever the fuck he called himself nowadays.

He”d had a positive outlook his entire adult life. Whatever he wanted, he got. Not because it was given to him but because he refused to let anything, or anyone, stand in his way of getting it—until a year ago... when his entire existence came crashing down on him.

“Have a backup plan, Son, for every backup plan you have.”

The voice of his father echoed inside his mind, reminding him that he was better than acting like a broken man crying over spilled milk.

“Except, my fucking backup, backup, backup plan didn’t take into account just how far Zafira Guzun’s power stretched. I never realized how much control she now had in the criminal world, which surpassed even Andrei’s and Arian’s combined. Yes, Padre. I fucked up. I made one miscalculation, and this is where I ended up.”

Andrus, aka Luciano Maranzano, swept a wide arm through the air, indicating, in his opinion, the dismal two-bedroom house he lived in. Gone were the luxury he had basked in his entire life, the money and the strings of people honoring him for the powerful man he was.

Since the Sardinian government had lodged a countrywide manhunt for him, he had been forced to flee Italy. At first, he had laid low and moved between the vast number of properties he owned under the guise of shell companies all across the EU, but the Guzuns had tracked him down every time. They, more than the law, wanted his head. All his allies knew he was being hunted and therefore, refused to offer him a safe haven. The Guzuns were too much of a force to be reckoned with. No one was prepared to anger them by hiding their biggest foe.

“But there is light at the end of the tunnel,” he smirked as he lit the one indulgence he still allowed himself, a cigar, the cheap kind, but beggars can’t be choosers.

His salvation had come at a time he hadn’t expected, nor from a person he could predict would offer him a helping hand.

“Money and power always have the upper hand,” he murmured as he dragged the smoke deep into his lungs. “I might not have access to my billions at the moment, but with my new partner’s assistance and the cash I stashed away exactly for this kind of unexpected incident, my lifestyle will soon be restored.” A low cackle split the air in the room. “As soon as Zafira Guzun is found guilty and put behind bars, the real fun will begin. Then, the odds will once again turn in my favor. I’ll be able to leave this shithole country and finally get rid of the rest of the bastard Guzuns... for good this time.”

346 Merirahu V?rgud Oü, Private Residence Estate...

“Well, Svetlana? How is he doing? Anything to report?”

Svetlana Rebane, Luciano’s cleaning lady, clamped the phone between her shoulder and chin as she pushed the trolley into the hall closet before walking to the floor-to-ceiling windows of the small great hall area. Changing the call to speakerphone, she removed the gray wig and thick, black-rimmed glasses. She shook loose her long red tresses with the platinum white streaks that made her stand out in a crowd—not only because of the stark contrast but also because she had the clearest azure eyes. It was a rare combination that identified her as someone different since she seemed to have the ability to look right into your soul.

“Díky bohu,” she sighed with relief as she stretched the kinks out of her back. “I hate that wig and walking hunched over like a limp dick all day long.”

Lithe but strong, she didn’t look anything like the middle-aged, crouching woman who went about cleaning houses, well, two houses—the one she resided in and the one Andrus Klavan occupied. She was sent to Estonia with one goal—to keep an eye on him. Make sure he concentrated on achieving the mandate her adopted brother had given him—to assist in ending Zafira Guzun’s miserable life.

“Stop complaining, Svetlana. You know as well as I do this needs to be done. We’ve procrastinated long enough. Now, with Luciano Maranzano desperate for money and the reclaiming of power, we have the perfect tool to get that Guzun bitch out of the way. The gall of the woman to believe strong men, with more money and power than she and all the Guzuns combined, would ever yield to her rule. No, I’ll show her how naive she truly is.”

“You’re a fucking bastard. Don’t forget I am also a woman, dear brother. A strong, capable killer who many men fear.” Svetlana hated how chauvinistic her brother, all the men in the criminal world really, were.

“No one disputes that, my dear sister, but you at least know your limitations and will never overstep that line. Zafira Guzun is an arrogant, entitled bitch, and I won’t stand for it.” The sound of a lighter snapping open and closed invited a picture of her brother pacing his study, flicking his priced gold lighter like a scepter. “So, what’s Maranzano up to?”

“That’s just it. Nothing!” she snapped, not bothering to hide her frustration. “He’s still the same. Broods around the house all day long. He hardly goes out for a walk. I’m afraid we might have chosen the wrong assassin for this job. Nothing seems to interest him but wallowing in his own self-pity.”

“Then it’s high time he snaps out of it. His brilliant plan to have Zafira Guzun locked up during the raid at the U Holub? restaurant failed.”

“What do you mean? You confirmed she had arrived in Czechia the day of the party.”

“Indeed. So did she at the party, but within minutes, she left with her bodyguard after a heated discussion at the bar. No one overheard what they were talking about, but she didn’t return. My sources informed me that they were already in the air, flying back to Moldova, when the armed forces arrived at the restaurant. All the time, effort, and money I put into executing Maranzano’s plan was for nothing.”

“Not for nothing. Wasn’t it there that Artem Melnyk was locked up?”

“Proboha, Svetlana! Don’t you know anything? Melnyk, as the head of the Solntvesoka Bratva, is invaluable to our plan to have the Guzun, the Red, and the Kolva Bratvas kicked out of the EU Dark Rage Association.”

“I know the plan, brother, and I don’t appreciate you belittling me. I’ve said this before, and I will say it again... you are naive if you for one moment believe all the Bratva groups and crime syndicates are going to turn against those three families. They are each a force to be reckoned with on their own. Now that they have combined forces... it’s going to take more than Artem Melnyk and the Solntvesoka Bratva to kick them out of the round circle. Arian Guzun has been the chairman for over ten years, and now with Andrei Rusu, the leader of the mightiest Bratva group from Russia, siding with him... it’s not going to be easy to sway individual families to turn against them. They fear them too much.”

“They will come to fear my power more.”

“I have always respected your decisions without asking questions. Now, I believe I need to know. Why do you hate Zafira Guzun so much?”

“Zafira Guzun interfered in our lives at a time when I was ready to take a leap into greatness. Because of her, I was forced to retreat. Yes, I live a life of luxury and am idolized by all in our country, but I wanted more... more money, more power, and she alone is responsible for changing the course of my life.”

“You’ve said a lot without answering my question, brother.”

“That’s all you need to know... until such a time that she is no longer a threat to once again disrupt my life and plans of greatness. When she’s dead, that’s the day I will tell you all.”

“I thought you wanted her put in jail? Wasn’t that the reason for the raid on the restaurant?”

“Yes, so that she could suffer the most degrading atrocities first. Then I would visit her and watch her face when she realized I was the one who orchestrated the torture she would endure in one of the worst Russian prisons. Then, and only then, would she die.”

“Forgive me, brother, but how exactly are you going to achieve that with your master brain assassin wallowing all the way here in Estonia? I don’t see any progress being made. To the contrary, it seems destined to fail.”

“I agree. Maranzano needs to man up. If he had been present at the restaurant, he could’ve put a preventive measure in place to keep Zafira there. I’ll talk to him. From this point forward, he has to lead every action. I don’t need a paper planner. I need action.”

“Good. At least that means I’ll be able to stop cleaning his fucking toilets.”

“Ah, my dear sister, it’s good for people in our position to become humble now and then and live the life of the other half.”

“Don’t let your followers hear you say that.”

“I am not an idiot, Svetlana. Now, get ready to move. Find a way to get Maranzano into Moldova without being detected. You leave in the morning.”

“Why me? I don’t—” But she was talking to herself as her brother had cut the connection. “Fucking asshole,” she swore under her breath as she walked toward the ensuite to run a bath. “Always the high and mighty, expecting everyone to bow to his command. I’m so fucking tired of playing second fiddle to him. I am just as capable of running the Chez Bratva, actually more so, than him. I can shoot a feather off a bird in flight. I doubt he can even punch someone in the face, let alone kill another human being.”

Between Svetlana and her brother, she was the least emphatic and the most likely to shoot to kill before asking questions. She didn’t have a bone of regret in her body for the kills she had under her belt. Some deserved what they got, others... well, they should’ve known better than to oppose her and interfere with her brother’s demands.

“B?h zatraceně! I don’t want to be the one babysitting Luciano Maranzano,” she bleated to the reflection in the mirror. The woman staring back at her could have been beautiful but the harshness of her eyes and her lips permanently pressed into a straight line, she presented a sour and cold expression to the world. If not for the stark contrast of her hair and eyes, no one would bother giving her a second glance.

“That bastard on a bad day is the devil; depressed, he’s even more dangerous,” she mumbled as she got into the tub. Evil, treacherous, and merciless came to mind. Her brother had no idea what that man was capable of. If he did, he would never expect her to attach herself to him like a proverbial leech.

“How would he? He sits in that luxurious, cozy office of his. He has no idea what goes on in the world out here. But I do... I’ve seen what he’s capable of.”

Svetlana shuddered as the vision of the guard, with half his face ripped off by a chain, flashed through her mind. That was when she had first come face to face with Luciano Maranzano... the day he had escaped en route to the prison. When the back doors of the prison van had opened, he had stood there, like a devil on the rampage, holding the bloodied chain, his chest expanding as he watched the man doing the final tango ritual before his body became still. As he lifted his gaze, the pleasure and glee of the kill had shone from his eyes like a beacon on the darkest night.

At that moment, Svetlana knew she was staring Satan in the eye. The evil Lucifer on a rampage to destroy not only those who opposed him but to rip their souls from the depths of their beings.

Svetlana Rebane feared no man... but Luciano Maranzano had become more than a mere human being. He was the devil himself.