Prima

Pulling away, he gave me a final long look before reaching into the trunk and handing me my bag. Taking it, I didn’t say another word, simply turned and began walking down the block toward the hotel… toward my future, whatever that might be.31AlekIt was surreal and yet everything seemed in sharper focus, every sound amplified, each minute drawn out until I’d swear I could actually see the individual seconds passing until finally I said, “It’s time.”

Yuri adjusted the suit jacket he’d donned to better cover the holster he’d also added to his attire. I’d done the same, tucking the Glock 19 into the holster and adding a Glock 43 into the holster wrapped around my ankle.

“Remember, he’s mine,” Grigori said as he watched us.

“We remember,” I assured him. “That doesn’t mean we’re going in unprepared. Clara can only hope Nikolai continues to keep their activities private. There is no guarantee he will be the only one in the room.”

“I understand,” Grigori said. The muscle in his jaw jumping, spoke of how learning it was his own nephew who’d been responsible for the murder of his son affected him in a way I knew I’d never truly understand.

I might often want to knock Yuri’s head off his shoulders, but I knew he’d give his life for me if he had to, just as I’d die to protect him. I could only pray that the only person dying today would be Nikolai Kosloff.

We timed our arrivals at the hotel to be separate, the better not to draw attention to ourselves. The time had been chosen with the hopes that staff at the end of their shifts would be tired and a bit less attentive. Yuri went first, his steps sure and steady as he nodded at the doorman and entered as if he’d done so a thousand times before.

After five minutes, I turned to Grigori. “I’ll respect your wishes, but ask that you respect mine as well. Wait for me.”

“I will,” he said, accepting the cane I’d added as a prop. An elderly man of his size would draw attention, but being hunched over and hobbling along with the use of a cane, would cause most people to dismiss him. At least that was my hope. “Don’t be late,” he warned before turning and falling into character, his feet shuffling along the sidewalk.

When ten minutes had dragged by as if in slow motion, I took a last look around, not taking the concealment of the darkness for granted. Evil tended to lurk in the shadows. Relieved to notice absolutely nothing out of the ordinary, I made my own approach, every sense on hyperalert.

Once inside the hotel, I didn’t look around. We’d all studied the floorplan, even taken a virtual tour offered on the Internet. I avoided the foyer and the bank of elevators, opening a door and climbing the stairs. Reaching the landing of the fifth floor, I was surprised to discover I wasn’t alone in the stairwell.

“What are you doing here?” I demanded as quietly as I could.

Yuri stepped aside and gestured to the glass in the door. Moving forward, I looked out to see we weren’t the only ones awake. One of Nikolai’s goons was standing in front of the doors that led to the presidential suite. If that wasn’t bad enough, Grigori was moving down the hallway toward him, drawing the attention I’d so wanted to avoid. Nikolai’s lackey stepped forward, his hand moving to slide under the lapel of his coat.

Grigori’s advance never even faltered. Gone was the hunched posture, the deprecating attitude. The older man appeared as fit and strong as someone half his age, his back ramrod straight as he stepped to stand toe to toe with Kosloff’s goon.

Within a matter of moments, the guard dog dropped his hand from the butt of his gun to take Grigori’s, giving it a shake even as he gave a bow of his head, accepted and then walked away without a single glance behind him. While I attempted to assimilate what I had witnessed, I saw Grigori turn toward the stairwell and watched his eyebrow arch as he used the cane to motion toward the door of the suite.

“I believe that’s our invitation,” Yuri said, grabbing the doorknob. “Are you going to stand there and gape, or are you going to join our little party?” Yuri asked with a chuckle.

Questions could wait though as I watched a steel determination come over Grigori’s face, I had a feeling I already knew the answer. While Nikolai might have been given the honor of representing the bratva’s interests in New York, that was all he was… a representative.

Grigori, on the other hand, was the bratva.

He was the one in command of the Russian mafia and all its branches. Kosloff’s minion had obviously understood that and determined it to be in his best interests to give way to Grigori… most likely earning himself a place in whatever hierarchy would replace Nikolai.