head thrown back. Then he looked at me and scowled. “What the fuck’s the matter with you?”
I was sitting there stony-faced, staring at him like a dog that’s about to go for his master’s throat.
“You ain’t gone soft on the Russians have you, Angelo?” Nicky asked, his smile disappearing. “Your old man was never soft on them.”
I was already mad. Now the rage boiled over. I jumped to my feet, slammed my palms down on the edge of the table and glared at them. “I’ll deal with the fucking Russians, okay? The fake goods and the territory! They want a war, I’ll give them a war!” The Saints went quiet and I strode from the room, Rico falling in behind me.
As I left, I heard Vincenzo mutter, “A war? Come on, no one wants a war.” And then Nicky told him not to be a pussy.
“You knew about that, the handbag thing?” I asked as I got into the car. Rico’s guilty expression told me he had. “Why the fuck didn’t you warn me? You got my back or not?” I slammed my door.
Rico shook his head. “Sorry. It came up yesterday morning, while you were out on your...errand.”
Shit. I missed it because I was outside Fenbrook Academy with Irina’s breast in my hand. What’s the matter with me? This isn’t a job you can do half-assed. This is a job you give your life to. I sighed. “Don’t worry about it,” I muttered.
Rico put his foot down and Nicky’s mansion quickly fell away behind us. But the problems remained: I stared at the handbag on my lap, turning it over and over in my hands.
“I could get some guys together,” said Rico. “Go to some markets where they’re selling that stuff and smash them up.”
I shook my head. “That’d be like stamping on roaches. We gotta hit them at source.” I examined the seams. The thing really was well made, far better than the crap our guys sold. “Vasiliy and Mikhail have to be getting this stuff into the country somehow. Probably through the docks. We’re going to find out when the next shipment’s coming in.” I pulled out my phone and dialed Peterson, the little prick I’d threatened to push through a window.
“And then what?” asked Rico.
“And then we’re going to steal it.”
* * *
W e were in luck : there was a container coming in at nine that night. Peterson, his voice high and tight with fear, was only too happy to give us all the details. At eight-thirty, Rico and I pulled into the docks in a rental car, followed by another car carrying five of my best men. It was a moonless night and it was snowing again, the big flakes only visible when they passed through the beams of the security lights. We parked in the thick, black shadows between two shipping containers. The Russians wouldn’t even know we were there.
Rico took the men to prepare the ambush. That left me sitting alone in the car with the heater on and the snow falling all around me. It was completely silent, a warm little cocoon.
I hadn’t stopped thinking about her all day. Now, I couldn’t think of anything else. Fuck it. I had thirty minutes to kill.
I called Irina.
15
Irina
I was lying on my bed, staring at a book but not seeing the words. What am I doing? Why had I given in to Angelo and kept this thing going when it was impossible and horrifically dangerous? If Vasiliy found out….
But I already knew the truth. I hadn’t given in to him. I’d given in to it, this magnetic draw that was pulling us together, that wouldn’t be blocked by family or loyalty, that had no time for sense or reason. I remembered how confused Angelo looked, sometimes, before he kissed me, how he’d asked how do you do this to me?
He was as powerless as I was.
My phone rang. I had it to my ear before the end of the first ring. “Hello?”
I heard his intake of breath, as if just the way I said hello was an immense turn-on for him. “Irina,” he breathed, savoring my name. “What are you doing?”
“Reading. What are you doing?”
“Business.” Wherever he was, it
I was sitting there stony-faced, staring at him like a dog that’s about to go for his master’s throat.
“You ain’t gone soft on the Russians have you, Angelo?” Nicky asked, his smile disappearing. “Your old man was never soft on them.”
I was already mad. Now the rage boiled over. I jumped to my feet, slammed my palms down on the edge of the table and glared at them. “I’ll deal with the fucking Russians, okay? The fake goods and the territory! They want a war, I’ll give them a war!” The Saints went quiet and I strode from the room, Rico falling in behind me.
As I left, I heard Vincenzo mutter, “A war? Come on, no one wants a war.” And then Nicky told him not to be a pussy.
“You knew about that, the handbag thing?” I asked as I got into the car. Rico’s guilty expression told me he had. “Why the fuck didn’t you warn me? You got my back or not?” I slammed my door.
Rico shook his head. “Sorry. It came up yesterday morning, while you were out on your...errand.”
Shit. I missed it because I was outside Fenbrook Academy with Irina’s breast in my hand. What’s the matter with me? This isn’t a job you can do half-assed. This is a job you give your life to. I sighed. “Don’t worry about it,” I muttered.
Rico put his foot down and Nicky’s mansion quickly fell away behind us. But the problems remained: I stared at the handbag on my lap, turning it over and over in my hands.
“I could get some guys together,” said Rico. “Go to some markets where they’re selling that stuff and smash them up.”
I shook my head. “That’d be like stamping on roaches. We gotta hit them at source.” I examined the seams. The thing really was well made, far better than the crap our guys sold. “Vasiliy and Mikhail have to be getting this stuff into the country somehow. Probably through the docks. We’re going to find out when the next shipment’s coming in.” I pulled out my phone and dialed Peterson, the little prick I’d threatened to push through a window.
“And then what?” asked Rico.
“And then we’re going to steal it.”
* * *
W e were in luck : there was a container coming in at nine that night. Peterson, his voice high and tight with fear, was only too happy to give us all the details. At eight-thirty, Rico and I pulled into the docks in a rental car, followed by another car carrying five of my best men. It was a moonless night and it was snowing again, the big flakes only visible when they passed through the beams of the security lights. We parked in the thick, black shadows between two shipping containers. The Russians wouldn’t even know we were there.
Rico took the men to prepare the ambush. That left me sitting alone in the car with the heater on and the snow falling all around me. It was completely silent, a warm little cocoon.
I hadn’t stopped thinking about her all day. Now, I couldn’t think of anything else. Fuck it. I had thirty minutes to kill.
I called Irina.
15
Irina
I was lying on my bed, staring at a book but not seeing the words. What am I doing? Why had I given in to Angelo and kept this thing going when it was impossible and horrifically dangerous? If Vasiliy found out….
But I already knew the truth. I hadn’t given in to him. I’d given in to it, this magnetic draw that was pulling us together, that wouldn’t be blocked by family or loyalty, that had no time for sense or reason. I remembered how confused Angelo looked, sometimes, before he kissed me, how he’d asked how do you do this to me?
He was as powerless as I was.
My phone rang. I had it to my ear before the end of the first ring. “Hello?”
I heard his intake of breath, as if just the way I said hello was an immense turn-on for him. “Irina,” he breathed, savoring my name. “What are you doing?”
“Reading. What are you doing?”
“Business.” Wherever he was, it
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