“There has to be a way we can find out.”
“There is, but there is also a risk of dying by doing it.”
****
They were able to leavethe casino without a single interaction with a guard, or security.Anastasia even saw one of the men nod in Dmitriy’s direction.
She was just going with ideas on how the Gambinos had taken control of Gnesin.There was a chance the order to kill her family didn’t even come from Gnesin, but from their enemy.
Dmitriy had a car, parked in the underground parking facility, and she climbed into the front seat.He pulled the car out of the parking space, and they made their way out and left the city behind.
Anastasia didn’t look back.
The only way to save the Gnesin Bratva was to potentially die trying to save it.The odds were not good.They didn’t know how strong a hold the Gambinos had on the Gnesin household.She didn’t even know where Nikolai Gnesin lived.
If they ran, they were always going to be hunted.The Gambinos would succeed in wiping out the Gnesin Bratva, and although she walked away from the life, there were people that had been her friends.Her parents deserved to have their names cleared.
“Pull up,” Anastasia said.
“We need to get to a safe location.”
“There is no one around, and we don’t know for sure if they are even going to spare the manpower to come after us.Pull over, we need to talk.”
She expected him to argue, but he pulled up just a few feet from where she had asked.It was dark now.
Rubbing her nose, she took a deep breath and turned to look at him.“Regardless of the risks, we need to figure this out.”
“I need to get you to safety.”
“Don’t,” she said.“You are not going to be able to do this without me.”
“Anastasia, I have been doing shit like this for a long time.I can do this without you.”
“But you don’t need to.”
“I’m not going to put you in danger.”
She growled.“You put me in danger the moment you kept me alive.If that order came from Gnesin, and we’re wrong about this, then I am going to die.He is going to make sure I am hunted until I am dead.Both of us.I don’t want to live my life constantly looking over my shoulder.My father did not raise a coward.He raised a fighter, and I do not run away.”
“You left.”
“With my head held high and my dignity intact.I did not run away.I made a choice.”She glared at him.“And we have a choice right now.”
“What if we’re wrong?What if Gnesin is working with the Gambinos, and it’s his intention to change the Bratva?”he asked.
“Do you believe with your whole heart that Nikolai Gnesin would give up the Bratva, have it turn and make an enemy within itself?”she asked.It seemed like quite a stretch to her.
“People change.”
“Yeah, they do, and then some people don’t change.Not like this.If we’re wrong, then we die, knowing Gnesin ...changed,” she said.“If we don’t do this, and all along the Gambinos were there, then we potentially allow the Bratva to die.”The very thought of it didn’t sit well with her.In fact, it was terrifying.
“It comes with risks.”
“Everything comes with risks,” she said.“When I told my parents I wouldn’t marry that fucking pig, they could have killed me for being a disrespectful daughter.I know I upset my dad, but I also think I made him proud that day.”She shrugged.“Life is not certain.Everything we have seen and experienced tells us that.I would never for a million years believe that Gnesin would send a group of soldiers to kill his ghost devil, yet that is what he did.”
She pressed her lips together.
“We can’t leave.”
