Aras

“I hate this fucking city,” I muttered.

“You would, stick-in-the-mud that you are,” Ezekiel said.

I didn’t argue with him.

My disdain for big cities Los Angeles in particular, was a conversation we had shared probably thousands of times over the years.

He always found the flash, the action entertaining. He thrived on the energy.

I found it grimy, wearing.

I wasn’t one for reflection, but if I somehow made it out of this life, something that I was certain would never happen, I was going to buy a place in the country with no one around for miles.

After landing, we had gone directly to the waiting car without a word.

The driver hadn’t even acknowledged us.

I didn’t take it personally, and I knew Ezekiel didn’t either. This was a game where questions weren’t encouraged, and we would find out what the boss wanted soon enough.

I had pledged my life to the family, had promised to die in defense of it and of the code that we all supposedly lived by.

And so far, I had mostly held up my end of the bargain.

I’d always known I was a bit of an oddball, mostly because I didn’t go out of my way to suck up to the boss and didn’t show any particular ambition.

I simply did my job, did it well, and used the freedom that it bought me to pursue other ends.

Except now, things were getting complicated.

The boss might have found out something he didn’t need to know.

If he had, I would have expected him to kill me and Ezekiel without a second thought.

So the fact that he had summoned us instead of sending a hit squad said something.

I didn’t read into anything, just left myself open, always careful but waiting for whatever would come.

I glanced over at Ezekiel, and he returned the look but then began staring out of the window again.

Headquarters had apparently been moved since the last time we had met the boss.

Somewhat of a surprise.

The boss was fond of his Manhattan penthouse, and getting him out of it had probably taken a great deal of effort.

I hadn’t heard of anything out of the ordinary going on, but it was impossible to know what he might be thinking or why he’d relocated to the West Coast.

The driver pulled into one of the garages in a skyscraper in the downtown financial district.

“Forty-eighth floor,” he said.

He didn’t speak again, and Ezekiel and I wasted no time getting out of the car.

We walked through the garage, the tap of my shoes against the concrete an uncommon sound.

I had dressed in a suit and tie and loafers, attire that was befitting a meeting with the boss.

I hated it.

I’d had the tailor build in flexibility, and I could feel the comforting weight of the knife that I would never be without at my waist.

Still, the clothes made me feel confined, and I couldn’t wait to be out of them.

We reached the forty-eighth floor without incident, and were greeted by a tall, thin blonde dressed in an off-white dress that was just short enough to make it clear that hostessing was not her only duty.

“Ezekiel, Aras. May I offer you something?”

“No,” Ezekiel said.

I shook my head.

“Right this way,” she said.

We followed behind her down a long hall and into a conference room.

“Ezekiel. Aras. Prompt as always,” the boss said.

His back was to us, his massive shoulders encased in a black suit.

But he looked as out of place in the garment as I felt.

I knew Yuri, and I had no doubt that he would be more comfortable in anything else, especially a prison uniform.

I didn’t really understand why we put on the show, tried to don a veneer of respectability.

But he insisted, and he got to make the rules.

“How do you like the new building?” he asked, his deep, heavily accented voice lifting with excitement.

“Interesting location,” Ezekiel said.

“Yeah. I got it for pennies. It’s going to make me billions,” he said.

The boss turned, his pockmarked face impassive but his eyes assessing.

I felt no particular loyalty toward the man, but I did appreciate that he had certain talents.

He was overly concerned with formality, took the family far too seriously, but he was cunning, and watching him had taught me a lot.

“You boys have been under the radar recently,” he said.

“Yes. But things have been going smoothly,” Ezekiel said.

He and I were responsible for the East Coast operations and made sure they ran without a hitch.

“Yes, they have been. You would not believe the fucking headaches I’ve been dealing with here on the West Coast and in Europe. But you boys, you just make my money, keep everything quiet. Just as it should be,” he said.

“Thank you,” Ezekiel responded.

I still stayed quiet, knowing that small talk wasn’t my department.

“Your work has been so excellent, I thought I should reward you,” he said.

“That’s not necessary,” Ezekiel responded.

“No. But I want to. I’m entrusting you with a very special task,” Yuri said.

It was all I could do not to roll my eyes.

He was going to reward us with a special task, one that I knew intuitively would be difficult, and one that would be for his benefit. And of course Yuri would try to make it seem like a great favor for us.

What bullshit.

“Whatever you need, Yuri,” Ezekiel said.

“Natalia, bring in our guest,” he said into the intercom.

It must have been a closed system. Otherwise, the boss wouldn’t touch it.

As far as I knew, he didn’t even own a cell phone.

Which was smart.

“Yes, sir,” Natalia, who I assumed was the one who had greeted us, responded.

“Sit,” the boss said, gesturing toward two white leather and chrome chairs.

“Thank you,” Ezekiel said.

I would rather have stood, and I was sure he would have too, but we didn’t push the point.

I sat in the chair, wondering how many thousands of his ill-gotten gains it had cost him, and proud of the person who had gotten him to pay for them. They were fucking hideous, and whoever had convinced the boss to buy them were better criminals than we were.

“You two, you’re very good at what you do,” Yuri said.

“Thank you,” Ezekiel responded.

Two compliments in as many minutes. I was on high alert. Flattery wasn’t usually in the boss’s repartee, so I had to wonder why he was pulling it out now.

“I have a situation that we’re going to discuss. You boys need to handle it for me. It is very important to us,” the boss said.

“Whatever you need,” Ezekiel responded.

“Good. Because I have a friend, Vlad Chernakov. He has a problem that he needs your help with.”