Still, I was curious and liked to know what was going on. I started down the hallway to Dad’s office at the same time Evan Arden came in carrying a large duffel bag over one shoulder. He gave me a nod, and we both entered through the mahogany doors into the large, plush office.
The room was decked out as you can imagine – all leather and dark wood and one of those bars inside a giant, old-fashioned-looking globe. You just tip the northern hemisphere of the world back and grab yourself a scotch. There were original works of art on the walls that you’d swear once hung over at the Chicago Art Institute but somehow had made their ways into private hands. There were bookshelves with books no one ever read, expensive knick-knacks no one gave a shit about, and a Persian rug of some ridiculous quality to wipe your shoes on as you made your way to the bar.
“You better have something,” Dad growled at his favorite non-son.
Thankfully, Evan did.
“Yurig Boyarov,” Evan said as he lay down what looked to be an actual Polaroid picture – do those really still exist? – of a man lying on the ground near the airport shipping yards with a portion of his head blown off. Another picture followed with a similar scene, but the body was propped up against an ocean container. “Ustin Dytalov.”
My father’s demeanor shifted immediately. He sighed and dropped down into one of the over-stuffed chairs before putting his face in his hands.
“Is this all of them?”
“No, sir.”
“Who else?”
“Tasha Zorin.”
“She’s with Greco,” Dad’s bodyguard, Mario, said. “I know her.”
“I haven’t touched her,” Evan said with a nod towards Mario. “Considering her connection with Gavino Greco’s organization, I wanted to let you know first.”
“Kill her.”
“Yes, sir.”
There really wasn’t a lot of discussion or debate about anything in that office. It was a matter of loyalty and making sure anyone who fucked with you didn’t have a chance to do it again. Sending anyone else in the general vicinity a message at the same time was always worth the price of the bullet.
It made my stomach turn a bit, but I didn’t let on. I was my father’s son even if the relationship was never acknowledged. It’s not like no one knew who I was, or we pretended I was someone else. I didn’t do much actual work for Dad, though I’d been known to deliver weed around to the suburbs in my high school days, and preferred to just kind of sit back and take it all in.
Jonathan said I was a professional bum, and I was kinda okay with that.
Bum was somewhat preferable to a lot of the other options in front of me. As I watched Evan Arden cinch up his duffel bag full of weaponry and leave the room, I was really quite sure I didn’t want to be a part of that at all. The problem was, I didn’t really know where I fit in, either.
“Evan!” my father called out.
Evan stopped and turned around in the hallway.
“Sir?”
“Send a message.” He eyed his hit man meaningfully, and Evan gave a slight nod before he left the house completely.
That’s the kind of talk that made me cringe and figure it was time to go find some people to hang out with and maybe smoke a little weed. Luisa was totally absorbed with the whole issue of appropriate accessories, so I decided it was probably time to head out to Sweetwater and see what was going on there.
No doubt – I’d had enough family business for one day.
Most certainly.
Chapter 3
On occasion, infamy calls you out of the blue.
I had been hanging around Navy Pier with a few buds in the uncharacteristically nice weather, just walking along, smoking, and joking. We were debating the whole Ferris wheel thing when my pocket started to buzz. I knew the number as soon as it appeared on my phone – but I had to do a double take just to believe I was really seeing what the screen displayed.
I swiped the phone and held it up to my ear as I turned against the wind from the lake.
“Hi, Evan.” Of all the people in the world who had never called me, Evan had never called me the most. Actually, I wasn’t even sure how his number ended up in my phone, just that it had been there for a while. It occurred to me that Dad probably put it in there just to make sure I could reach him if I ever needed him.