30. NICK

I glance at my watch. I told Storm to take her time in the city, but I want to wrap this up soon just in case. I don’t want her to be on her own at the house right now.

“Oy,” Pam sighs, pushing away her empty plate. “I’m not going to need supper after that.”

“It was an amazing meal,” I say. “And wonderful company.”

She raises her glass and elbows Josef, who does the same. I raise mine in return.

“To the old days,” she says. We drink.

“Funny you should say that, Pam,” I say. “Like I said, I’ve had reason to think about those days lately, and about you two. Some of the others. How we used to be.”

“You sound wistful,” Josef says. He’s gotten a little braver over a few drinks. “You don’t regret anything, do you?”

“No,” I say. “Except losing touch. That’s why I came here today – to reconnect. And to give you something. A token of my affection.”

Pan grins and wiggles in her seat. “Ooh, I love presents!”

“This one is from the heart,” I say as I reach into my pocket and hand something to Josef.

He looks at the key ring in his hand, the black leather tag with a silver horse and a red, white and blue stripe running behind it.

Pam’s eyes go wide. “Whoa. You’re not actually…”

Beside her, Josef probably wouldn’t have looked this shocked if I had pulled a gun on him.

“Nikolai…” he breathes. “This is… you can’t…”

I nod. “She’s yours now. I insist. A symbol of our friendship, still beautiful and undamaged after all these years.”

Josef looks me in the eye, and I catch the shimmer of wetness in his. It’s what I was hoping for – a sign that our relationship isn’t broken. That we can move beyond this nonsense with Arkady. He clutches the keyring so hard his knuckles turn white.

“I’ve never been more grateful for a gift,” he says, his voice thick. “And not just the gift, but what it represents.”

He extricates himself from the table and so do I. We meet in the middle, and Josef pulls me into a crushing hug. Around us, people in the know clap and cheer. When we part, I look over to see tears trickling from the corners of Pam’s eyes.

I make a point of glancing at my watch again, then make a face.

“I’m so sorry, but I really have to run.”

“Aww,” moans Pam. “I wish you could stay.”

“Another time, for sure,” I say as I take her hand and kiss it. “It was wonderful to see you, Pam.”

She squeezes my hand. “You too, Nicky. Come back soon, okay? I mean it.”

“I will.”

I just hope it’s under the right circumstances.

“I’ll walk you out,” Josef says as he drops a hand on my shoulder.

“You better,” I chuckle. “I have to show you where the Mach 1 is parked.”

We laugh together as we leave the dining room and reach the lobby. Mookie smiles as we arrive, but Josef shoos him away and he reluctantly leaves us alone.

“This means so much to me,” Josef says earnestly. “I want you to know I’ve taken care of things with Arkady. And for you to return the gesture with this – I just can’t put it into words.”

I lean in close and drape an arm around his shoulders.

“That’s good,” I whisper. “Because I need you to listen to me and not talk. The only reason your son isn’t cooling on a slab in the morgue right now is because of our shared past.”

I hear his breath hitch in his throat. Good.

“And because she wouldn’t want me to,” I add. “You know who I’m talking about.”

Josef nods silently.

“Arkady came looking for her,” I say. “I get that. I don’t agree, but I get it. He disrespected me in my home, but he didn’t know who I am. I get that, too. I responded to that attack exactly the way I would be expected to by anyone in this restaurant. In fact, I think I was quite lenient.”

Another nod.

“I told him to ask you about me,” I hiss. “That should have been the end of it. But it wasn’t.”

My fingers dig into the meat of his shoulder and I see him wince as I lean even closer to his ear.

“Either Arkady or his people have been spying on my house. They trespassed on my property after they were specifically told to stay away. I know this to be true.”

“Nick – ” he begins, but I silence him by digging my fingertips even deeper into his deltoid muscle.

“I’m not finished. Yesterday I saw a flash in the hills above the estate. I’ve seen that before, Josef. It’s light reflecting off the lens of a scope. Someone was pointing a weapon at me. At her.”

“Oh, Jesus,” he moans.

I keep the worst of it to myself – that whoever was eyeing us through that scope watched us make love in the gardens.

“Now,” I say. “This is what’s going to happen. You’re going to accept the Mustang and drive it, publicly, to show how close we still are. That everything is fine between us. Yes?”

He nods.

“Meanwhile, you’re going to have another conversation with Arkady. Only this time, you’re going to stress to him in no uncertain terms that he is on a path that will lead him straight to hell if he doesn’t walk away right now.

“You’re not going to tell him that I’m your friend and that he should respect me because of that. You’re going to tell him, in detail, what I’ve done to people who’ve hurt me or threatened people under my protection in the past. Do you understand?”

Another nod, quicker this time.

“Finally, tovarisch, you’re going to tell him that if he comes within ten miles of my property again, or if he watches me or the girl again, from anywhere, I will hurt him in a way that’s permanent and impossible to hide.”

Josef swallows hard. He of all people knows I don’t make idle threats. So I hope very much that he takes what I say next to heart.

“And if your son threatens the girl again – if he even so much as looks in her general direction – I will kill him.”

His shoulders tremble under the weight of my arm, but he says nothing. I finally release my grip and pat him on the back as if our conversation never happened.

“Drive her in good health,” I say with a smile as I open the big wooden door onto the street. “And think of me whenever you do.”