Bend For Him (Volkov Crime Family 1)

“Enrico?” He shrugged. “I’ve been meaning to do that to him for a long time. He just gave me a good excuse.”

I smiled a little. “Thanks all the same. Will that cost you anything?”

“Oh, sure. Hedeon likes and trusts me, but the other core members mostly think I’m a hot-headed asshole.”

“I wonder why.”

He laughed. “The other two you saw in there? Aldman and Reid? They’re both original members too. It’s uncommon to get four original members in one room these days, but I think they’re pretty shaken up over Pavel.”

“I’m surprised Pavel was an original guy. He seemed so…”

“Stupid? Impulsive? Disgusting?”

“Pretty much.”

“They’re not all saints. Pavel was probably the weakest, but he wasn’t always like that. I think the years have been hard on him and he couldn’t quite hack it in the end.”

“I can understand that.”

He looked at me out of the corner of his eye as we lingered at a stop sign. “So, where should I go?”

I blinked. “You’re asking me? I thought you knew. We’ve been diving around for like a half hour.”

“I’ve been waiting for you to come out of your little silent spell. But I guess I got impatient.”

“Yeah, sorry.” I looked out the window.

“Hearing your cousin’s name tripped you up. I don’t understand why.”

“I like Rolan. He was nice to me.”

“Ah.” He let out a breath. “Sorry to hear that then. If it makes you feel better, I doubt Hedeon will have him killed. Unless we find out that he set us up, then we’ll have to end him.”

“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.”

Leo made a dismissive gesture. “Might not come to that. But either way, we need to make a play here, and I set you up back in that cafeteria.”

“What do you mean?”

“You need to give me a spot to hit. Otherwise, Hedeon’s not going to trust you.”

“Oh, right.”

He started driving again. “They think you’re the one that betrayed us,” he said. “Only Enrico’s dumb enough to outright say that, but they all think it, including Hedeon. So we need to prove them wrong.”

“Which means you need something good from me.”

“Exactly. Time to pay up, little birdie.”

I shook my head. “I’m not sure I can do that.”

“You’ll have to try.”

“What do you want? I mean, what’s a good place to hit?”

“Strip clubs. Parks. Houses. Anyplace your family congregates.”

“There’s the diner. But I don’t want to hurt anyone there. The girls don’t deserve it.”

He nodded. “I hear you. Somewhere else then. Your uncle’s got to own a house in the city.”

“He does, but he moves a lot. I’ve only ever seen the one and I don’t think he’s there much.”

“Somewhere else then. Bar, restaurant, hell, even some retail store.”

I frowned a little. “Retail store…” I trailed off. “There’s a place, actually.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“It’s a flower shop. Over in Old City. My uncle goes there all the time, and I’ve heard my cousins talk about it. I think it’s a front, but I’ve never actually been.”

“Sounds promising. Give me directions.”

I nodded slowly, heart beating fast. I didn’t want to do this. I didn’t want to be the reason that people in my family got killed.

But then again, I was forgetting the attack. I was forgetting the man that tried to strangle me to death, and would’ve finished me off if it weren’t for Leo.

I took him along the back streets up toward Third and Market. The flower shop was just north of Market on the left, tucked in between a small park with a fountain in the middle and an art gallery. A tight alley cut down along the side of the park.

Leo slowed and parked on the right across from the shop front. He put on his flashers and we stared at the storefront.

“You sure this is it?” he asked.

“Positive. I remember it because I always thought it looked too nice to be a mob front, you know?”

He grunted. “Exactly what I was thinking.”

“We can go inside. I bet there’s guys in there right now.”

“Then we definitely don’t want to go in. They’ll recognize you, remember?”

I blushed a little. “Right, yeah. Sorry.”

He waved a hand. “Let’s hang here and watch a bit. Maybe something interesting will happen.”

We sat and watched the building. I’m bored out of my mind in approximately five minutes. Sitting on a stakeout is like watching paint dry.

Except when paint dries, something’s happening.

“So, uh, where did you grow up?”

He glanced at me. “Why, you want to meet my family?”

“Uh, no. Just trying to make small talk.”

“Good. They’re dead anyway.”

I grimaced. “Shit. Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. I’m just fucking with you.” He half turned to me. “I mean, they are dead, but it’s not a big deal.”

“What happened?”

“The usual sob story. Mom was a drunk, dad was an addict. He got her hooked on smack around the time I turned three and they were both dead before I turned five.”