to
her mouth, tapping gently and giving me an opportunity to refocus - on her
full, slightly glistening lips. “Mm, maybe not. You could always come with me
and defend your case?”
I snorted as I unwrapped
my own bun one-handed, keeping my eyes on the quickly growing traffic around
us. I wasn’t sure what had changed her mood, but if she could deal with
everything that had happened with this sort of lightness, the woman was
stronger than I’d thought. Or maybe she just needed a little relief from the
tension and stress, and joking about it made it less threatening. Either way, I
found myself smiling as I drove the last few miles and we finished our
breakfast without further comment.
It was only when we
turned in towards Brighton Beach that I realized Alessa’s comments had
distracted me from some of my anticipatory tension at seeing my old mentor
again, and my mood sobered as I glanced around. The Bratva’s influence
here was obvious, from the Russian signs on cafes and shops to the groups of
rough-looking Eastern European men hanging around. Jay wasn’t a member of any
of the New York City mafia groups - which was the only thing I was counting on
to stop him from turning me over immediately - but he was working closely
enough with the Russians these days that he kept an old house here.
Alessa glanced around an
uneasy caution, and I decided to seize on it to make this trip a little easier.
“You know where we are, Alessa?”
She looked back at me,
trying to cover the anxiety there with a sarcastic response. “I’ve lived in New
York City my whole life - I think I know Brighton Beach. Especially since—” She
cut herself off, clearly thinking better of whatever she was going to say.
“It’s the base of your
family’s rivals.” I finished for her, and she looked away, the discomfort there
obvious. I could tell how much she wanted to know what we were doing here - and
get some reassurance that I wasn’t intending to hand her over to her father’s
potential enemies. She might have been at the center of building an alliance
with them, but after the way that had gone, she probably knew as well as me
that the chances of her having friends around here was low.
I let her sit on it for a
few minutes, navigating the streets easily enough and turning us towards the
rougher parts before I continued. “So, we’re going to visit a friend of mine. I
reckon he’s okay, but the area he lives in…it’s not so nice. Most of the folks
‘round there probably don’t know how to treat a pretty girl right - and
counting on your daddy’s protection might not work so well around these parts,
either.”
Silence met my words for
a good minute, and I could feel Alessa’s cool gaze on my skin, even as I
refused to look over at her.
“So what you’re trying to
say is don’t run off, right?” Her sharp comment finally broke the
uncomfortable silence.
“Yeah, pretty much.” I
gave her a casual shrug.
“Fine. Message received.”
It was muttered and resentful, but I refused to feel apologetic for it. I had
enough to worry about, and if we could get through this without an escape
attempt, it was worth frightening her a little.
The last few minutes of
the journey passed in silence, and for once her irritation slid off me easily
as I focused on parking just opposite the old house and shutting off the car. I
gave her a pointed look before I got out, but just received a stony glare in
response.
“I said I got it. I’ll
stick with you.” She pushed open the door abruptly, making my body tense
instinctively, but she just stood waiting for me. With a quick breath to relax,
I let myself start believing her a little.
I hated situations like
this, where I wasn’t in full control. That was why I only did jobs alone, and
kept to myself. I could trust myself, and I’d never met anyone else worthy of
that. Even willing accomplices were unpredictable at best - and having a hostage seemed to make everything impossible.
Too
her mouth, tapping gently and giving me an opportunity to refocus - on her
full, slightly glistening lips. “Mm, maybe not. You could always come with me
and defend your case?”
I snorted as I unwrapped
my own bun one-handed, keeping my eyes on the quickly growing traffic around
us. I wasn’t sure what had changed her mood, but if she could deal with
everything that had happened with this sort of lightness, the woman was
stronger than I’d thought. Or maybe she just needed a little relief from the
tension and stress, and joking about it made it less threatening. Either way, I
found myself smiling as I drove the last few miles and we finished our
breakfast without further comment.
It was only when we
turned in towards Brighton Beach that I realized Alessa’s comments had
distracted me from some of my anticipatory tension at seeing my old mentor
again, and my mood sobered as I glanced around. The Bratva’s influence
here was obvious, from the Russian signs on cafes and shops to the groups of
rough-looking Eastern European men hanging around. Jay wasn’t a member of any
of the New York City mafia groups - which was the only thing I was counting on
to stop him from turning me over immediately - but he was working closely
enough with the Russians these days that he kept an old house here.
Alessa glanced around an
uneasy caution, and I decided to seize on it to make this trip a little easier.
“You know where we are, Alessa?”
She looked back at me,
trying to cover the anxiety there with a sarcastic response. “I’ve lived in New
York City my whole life - I think I know Brighton Beach. Especially since—” She
cut herself off, clearly thinking better of whatever she was going to say.
“It’s the base of your
family’s rivals.” I finished for her, and she looked away, the discomfort there
obvious. I could tell how much she wanted to know what we were doing here - and
get some reassurance that I wasn’t intending to hand her over to her father’s
potential enemies. She might have been at the center of building an alliance
with them, but after the way that had gone, she probably knew as well as me
that the chances of her having friends around here was low.
I let her sit on it for a
few minutes, navigating the streets easily enough and turning us towards the
rougher parts before I continued. “So, we’re going to visit a friend of mine. I
reckon he’s okay, but the area he lives in…it’s not so nice. Most of the folks
‘round there probably don’t know how to treat a pretty girl right - and
counting on your daddy’s protection might not work so well around these parts,
either.”
Silence met my words for
a good minute, and I could feel Alessa’s cool gaze on my skin, even as I
refused to look over at her.
“So what you’re trying to
say is don’t run off, right?” Her sharp comment finally broke the
uncomfortable silence.
“Yeah, pretty much.” I
gave her a casual shrug.
“Fine. Message received.”
It was muttered and resentful, but I refused to feel apologetic for it. I had
enough to worry about, and if we could get through this without an escape
attempt, it was worth frightening her a little.
The last few minutes of
the journey passed in silence, and for once her irritation slid off me easily
as I focused on parking just opposite the old house and shutting off the car. I
gave her a pointed look before I got out, but just received a stony glare in
response.
“I said I got it. I’ll
stick with you.” She pushed open the door abruptly, making my body tense
instinctively, but she just stood waiting for me. With a quick breath to relax,
I let myself start believing her a little.
I hated situations like
this, where I wasn’t in full control. That was why I only did jobs alone, and
kept to myself. I could trust myself, and I’d never met anyone else worthy of
that. Even willing accomplices were unpredictable at best - and having a hostage seemed to make everything impossible.
Too
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