He rolls his eyes. “Ugh. You are no fun. You know, there’s no dishonor in sharing the dirty details. It’s not like your marriage is real, anyway.”
“And that’s just the type of thing that we don’t need in the brotherhood right now.” My father’s voice fills the room suddenly. We both turn to see him standing in the doorway. He’s still wearing the suit he wore yesterday. It smells faintly of his body odor, tinged with the metallic scent of the jail walls. He walks past us, a distasteful look on his face.
“If your brother doesn’t want to discuss what goes on in his bedroom, he doesn’t have to,” he says as he takes his suit jacket off and tosses it onto the coat rack in the corner of the room. “Grow up, Pavel.”
Pavel’s face changes. His cheeks flush with embarrassment and he starts looking down at his shoes. “I was just joking around, Pop,” he said. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”
Father glares at him as he walks over to his desk, rolling up his shirt sleeves. He sits on the edge of the desk and crosses his arms. His muscular forearms are like tree trunks against his chest. “Let’s get to the business at hand.”
I glance at Pavel as we both turn to face our father. The time for jokes has passed. It probably never even had a place here.
“This matter of the raid,” he says. “My attorney tells me that he will get the whole thing thrown out. They found nothing of consequence and they’re going to have to try to get me on a bigger charge if they want to put me behind bars.”
I’m suddenly reminded of something he had once told me. Some phrase from some book somewhere.If you’re going to take a shot at the king, you’d better not miss.
“For all intents and purposes,” Father goes on, “that part of it all is done and over with. We must now direct our attention to more important matters… such as who was responsible in the first place.”
I’m taken aback slightly. I guess I haven’t considered the fact of Father blaming even the raid on Pecora. “Pop,” I say, “you don’t think Pecora had anything to do with this?”
“Of course, he did,” he says. “It’s classic divide and conquer. While I’m pushed aside, cooling my heels in jail, he takes advantage of the momentary weakness. What the fool didn’t count on is my getting out a day later.”
I want to argue with him. Especially given the fact that absolutely nothing has happened to anyone in the twenty-four hours since Father was arrested. If that was the plan, then something should have happened in that time.
Debate is allowed. Opposition is not, however.
“Pecora thinks that we will not strike back at him because we are allies. He thinks that we will be diplomatic with him. That we will sit down with him and his men and negotiate while he does his best to strike fear into our hearts. He is sadly mistaken.”
“What do we do?” asks Pavel. “Alexei is married to his daughter. Surely, he understands that he can’t do anything that might bring harm to her.”
“He understands that she is no longer his,” Father says. “And even if he doesn’t, I doubt he cares either way. His love for his daughters is transactional.”
I hate it that I agree with him, at least partially. Pecora basically sold his daughters to us for this alliance. An alliance that my father is certain he’s broken. Father turns his eyes to me and asks, “What are you thinking, Alexei?”
For once, I’d rather just nod and smile, go along with this line of thought. But there is a chance that it might lead to something worse. I do not relish the idea of a war with Isabella’s father.
“I am wondering,” I say, placing my words carefully, “what the motive is. A man doesn’t destroy a powerful alliance for no reason, especially one that nets nothing but benefits for him.”
“Does he need a reason?” Pavel asks with a little bit of a scoff. “Perhaps he just woke up on morning and decided that you aren’t good enough for his daughter.”
“Father just said that his love for them is transactional. Does any of what’s happened sound like transactional moves to you?”
Pavel scowls but says, “All right. But should we discover the reason, will it make a difference in what has already been done? It won’t change anything.”
“Agreed,” my father says. “The reason matters little. You were shot and one of my clubs was raided… and we know he’s behind both. We have to take action, Alexei.”
I nod. I guess that’s that.
“I want him eliminated.” Father says this directly to me. “I don’t care about how or what method is used, but I want him wiped from the face of the earth. No man takes a shot at my sons and can expect to live.”
“Yes, sir,” Pavel and I say in unison.
“Good. Now, leave me. I will contact you with further instructions.”
Without another word, we walk out of our father’s office and then out of his house. As we both walk across the circular drive, I say to Pavel, “We should discuss this thing with Father and Pecora.”
He glances at me. “What’s there to discuss? Pecora is out for Papa’s head.”
I stop, and Pavel takes a few steps before turning around to me expectantly.
