“Update,” I say in English as I stand from my chair, unable to sit still as the anticipation grips me.
“I tracked down an old contact who does business with just about everyone around town,” Matvei reports to me. “I had to apply some pressure since he wasn’t willing to talk for free, but I got an interesting piece of information from him.”
I pace around the room as Valentin and Eduard stand on either side of the door. “Tell me.”
“There’s a small but organized group who have recently moved into the city,” Matvei replies. “He didn’t know a name or an origin for them, but he has heard from other contacts that there’s a group scouting for territory to take over so that they can set up shop here.”
“And they’ve decided to try to push us out?” I question him.
“He said they’re small, but they seem very organized and driven. They must’ve found out that we’re being targeted by the Irish and saw an opportunity to make a deal with them for a portion of our territory,” Matvei says.
I grind my teeth as I walk past Alina, our eyes meeting for a second while she sits there quietly. The memory of our kiss crackles through my thoughts like lightning, disrupting my focus as Matvei keeps speaking.
She kissed me back until she tasted the vodka that I drowned myself in. If she hadn’t noticed, would she have kept going? How far would we have gone?
“Sir?” Matvei’s voice pulls me out of my own head.
My face heats with frustration as I put my back to Alina and walk the other way. “What was the last thing that you said?”
“I was saying that I’m unsure if they’re behind any of the attacks or not,” Matvei says. “Their capabilities are unknown so far.”
I fidget with the collar of my shirt, feeling like it’s uncomfortably tight for some reason despite it being buttoned as usual. “Did your contact have any other information?”
“No, I got what I could out of him,” Matvei replies. “But I do have him tied up in the basement of the house on Fuller. Maybe we can convince him to sniff out some more information for us.”
We own a few houses throughout our territory that we use for a range of purposes. Storage. Events. Interrogation.
“Keep him on standby,” I tell him. “Go, Pyotr.”
“My recon mission was successful,” Pyotr reports. “I tracked down a man who visited three different known Irish-owned establishments over a period of two days. He was caught and interrogated, and I can confirm that the Irish are working with the Armenians and the unknown organization Matvei mentioned.”
“Fucking Armenians,” I breathe out as I pause, my eyes automatically flickering to Alina. She steadies me, even if she looks perplexed. “You’re certain?”
“The man I tracked down is part of the Armenian crew. Well, was,” Pyotr replies.
“Did he give up any more information?” I question him as I rub my right temple, trying to alleviate the frustrated ache pulsing through my head.
“He did. They’re coordinating an assault on our strongholds.”
My heart forgets how to beat for a second as I remain frozen in place, processing his words. Not businesses or warehouses. Strongholds.
Like these grounds. This house.
“What’s in it for them?” I ask Pyotr once I find my voice and resume pacing, my mind racing all over the place.
Three different organizations want our territory for themselves and our bodies in the ground. The Irish are huge on their own but adding the fighting power of the Armenians and the other group into the mix makes them an even bigger threat.
How can we fight them off alone? How can I begin to plan a defensive measure effective enough to fend them off?
“Territory. A mutual enemy wiped off the map.”
My heartbeat picks up as a flicker of panic ignites in my chest. If I don’t figure something out, we’ll lose everything. Our businesses. Our products. Our lives.
And that’ll be on me and me only.
“They don’t typically accept allies,” I say. “And we haven’t clashed with the Armenians in over a year.”
“They’ve been quietly waiting for an opportunity,” Matvei replies.
