Konstantin Ivanov

I set a polished black oxford into the lavish, leathery private room at Lapochka to be greeted by the scent of cigars and cheap perfume as Nika pushes a buxom blonde from his lap to rise to his feet with that same fiendish smirk on his face that he'd worn the last time I saw him at my apartment.. "Reaper! I waz beginning to wonder about you.. I waz considering if perhapz the rumours were true.. I am surprized you have 'ze balls to show your face.."

"I am tired ov' hearing thiz talk ov' rumours, Nika.. Why do you not just tell me what it iz.. What must I do to prove my loyalty?" I fold my arms and watch as he waves a dismissive hand to rid the women from the room, sending them scurrying away in their stilettos..

"You did have evury opportunity already, Reaper.. All you have proven iz that you are 'ze same volatile and untrustworthy cur 'zat Moscow denounced.." He circles the sofa to the gilded bar cart where he lifts a bottle of beluga with a golden seal and cracks the top.. My eyes travel over the shapley glass bottle and linger on the way his greedy fingers clasp at the expensive label.. A man of predictable behaviour makes himself vulnerable and that is exactly what Nika is, a creature of habit.. Always treating women as disposable playthings, always underestimating the limits and boundaries of others, always drinking the same brand of vodka.. Always acting like a fucking asshole..

He pours out two glasses, offering me the second to which I shake my head in unheard of refusal.. He scoffs and arches a surprised brow at me as he sets the bottle back down and sloshes the liquid in his glass before downing it's contents in one single gulp.."I think it iz time your usefulness has run it's course.."

I watch him lick his greedy lips as he reaches for a second pour.. One really was enough, but in typical Russian flair he just can't resist another..

"Tsk tsk.. I suppoze Timur iz just as capable az any ov' the other mudaks you employ.." I shake my head with the click of my tongue.. "You must miss prison, Nika, if you are desperate to go back.."

He will never see the inside of a cell again, in fact he will not see tomorrow, but he is still to discover that I have already taken the upper hand..

His dark eyes narrow on me.. "You are so vury sure ov' yourself, Ivanov.. Thiz iz the same hubris you did use to refuse my orders and I grow sick of thiz insubordination.. I have opened my home to you, I make you rich, you drink my vodka, you fuck my women and still you have the audacity to withhold from me a simple favour.. You must have known that I could not allow you to keep a blossom as beautiful as Miss O'Clereigh for yourself.. This arrogance can not continue-"

"You have alwayz had my loyalty Nika.. But I have already told you, you can not have my woman.. This iz not negotiable.. I have done nothing to earn such distrust.."

The smug smirk of satisfaction on his face makes my stomach turn and I find it increasingly difficult to bite my bitter tongue.. "We will see about that.. I have for you a job.. If you complete thiz order, I will consider allowing you to return to my good graces.."

I nod.. "Tell me who and I will make it happen.."

"There iz an Irishman, a detective who pokes around my businezz and interferes with my profits.. You will ride with me and make sure he iz no longer a problem for 'ze Bratva.. I will see thiz body drop and you will be absolved.."

He must think I am a fucking idiot.. As if I hadn't figured out his intentions by now.. He really thinks he can walk me down death row like some unsuspecting sacrificial lamb to the slaughter..

Nyet.. I am too well versed in this business and too well respected amongst the brotherhood to be crept upon like that.. I am no fool.. And I am no lamb..

I am the wolf.. And Nika, without realising, has become my prey..

The last time I had been in this position there had been blood and guts, bullets and blades.. Oksa's death had been gory and glorified by his followers.. I had made a martyr of the man.. A mistake I did learn from.. This time will not be the same, there is nothing but a conversation and a bottle of vodka.. I have no weapon.. I holster no gun and carry no knife.. I wish for Nika's death to be as undignified as his existence.. A fall symbolic of his toxic reign..

When I say nothing his jaw ticks with frustration.. The Pakhan narrows his suspicious black eyes on me.. "Will thiz be a problem for you, Reaper?"

I shake my head patiently.. "Nyet.. It will be done.. But I will need a payment.. Loyalty doez go both ways, Nika.."

Nika waves a hand as he leans casually against the armrest of the sofa.. "Name your price, Comrade.."

I glance at my watch for a brief second as though considering my options.. "You will tell to me who iz the Shadow Loop collector 'zey call 'Big Digs'.."

Nika sips the last of his vodka slowly before setting his glass aside.. "Ah the man you seek iz the same az the one I wish to see dead.."

"Tell me who.. Say hiz name.." I growl.. I already know the answer.. It's been clear to me for days that there is only one profile that suits the title.. Honestly I should have thought of it sooner since down in the 818 'digs' is a commonly used slang term for 'detective'.. And there is only one big, dumb Irish bastard who stands out in lineup..

"Brody Donovan iz your Big Digs.."

Nika rubs his watery red eyes and mutters distractedly before he sniffs, wiping his nose on the back of his hand.. "I have been told he takes cartel money from the hand of Carrera.."

All my suspicions are confirmed and all the pieces fall perfectly into place.. Now I know for sure that I have made the right decisions.. "You are certain ov' this?" I frown as Nika shrugs out of his jacket and runs a hand through his hair, brushing the sweaty strands back from his face as his cheeks becomes flushed red..

"Da.." He pulls uncomfortably at the collar of his shirt with a dry chesty cough, trying to clear his throat.. "I am informed he has procured a virgin bride -uhem- and he intends to trade her- uhem- tonight.. I believe you do know her.."

I have never felt more unbridled satisfaction than I do when Nika admits the truth.. Everything I had suspected has been confirmed as fact tonight and I can absolve myself of any guilt that may have come from my underhanded actions..

Nika had intended to steal my bride for himself.. He would have me become a cuck and a fucking puppet through the manipulation of my affection.. He would have abused Lucky in ways so depraved it makes me sick just thinking about it and he would have ensured I was there to witness every ounce of her suffering..

When this is all over, I will go to my grave knowing I did right by the woman I love, and that Lucky would never be subject to torment because of the man that I am..

If I have failed at everything else in this life, protecting her from The Red Devil is and will always be my greatest achievement..

"Nyet.. You are misinformed, Nika.." I disagree with his prediction of what tonight will bring..

Be blinks at me through reddening bleary eyes with foggy confusion as his body begins to shut down on him, rotting from the inside out as his skin turns more redder by the second.. The massive dose of liquid Sarin I had laced his vodka with is quickly taking effect and in only a few moments it will claim the very life from his lungs.. "Your devushka- ACK ACK- will become my trophy.."

Nika sputters now, choking on a violent coughing fit that he can't control and he staggers back, knocking over the bar cart as he gropes around for something to cling to for support..

Anastasia had been speaking plain truth when she swore to me that she had followed my instructions.. She had placed the spiked Beluga bottle exactly where I told her to and in doing so she had chosen her side.. She had chosen correctly.. I will be sure to see her greatly rewarded for her loyalty in the future.. After all, one wins more butterflies with honey and women like Ana are not without their purpose..

"Perhapz you would like to use your lazt words to tell me where Lucky iz?" I turn around to lock the door behind me as his breath shallows to short and sharp gasps.. The dying sounds of lungs collapsing and organs failing greets my ears.. "Ah, never-you-mind, Brat.. I will find her anyway.."

Nika clutches his chest, dropping to his knees on the semen-stained carpet and I take two paces forward and he gapes up at me in shocked horror as I lean down to reach into his pocket, retrieving his phone.. "Y-You d-did t-this?"

"Bazara nyet, Nikolaj.. Nyet pokayaniya posle smerti.." Offering him the old Russian proverb in foreboding, 'There is no repentance after death', I use the sole of my shoe to topple him over with a kick to the chest and his body begins to seize and shake.. A foam of saliva and vomit spews from his open mouth as he convulses in cardiac arrest, pissing himself on the floor at my feet..

Undignified..

"Ya poshlyu tsvety tvoyey mame.." 'I will send flowers to your mother' I tell him, offering him the final rights of a dying man.. My promise, the last words he will ever hear, the final thought he will take to his grave, is one of defeat and a reminder of the life he will leave behind..

The matriarch Kalashnik will know of her son's death before the sun rises tomorrow, perhaps she is the only person who will care that he no longer walks this world and Nika must die knowing he has placed that burden of suffering upon her..

The terror in his bloodshot eyes is vivid as the vitality dims in his irises and he struggles for breath with purple cheeks, suffering through a complete respiratory failure.. With the patience to watch his fate play out, I sink down to sit on the sofa and watch as he dies..

After a few long minutes, Nika becomes still and the room is silent.. An eeriness envelops the now haunted space and the air is sedated to an eerie calm..

Nikolaj is dead and I am Pakhan of Darkport..

It is a strange feeling to hold the keys to a kingdom that doesn't belong to me..

Who have I become?

I never wanted this..

All I ever wanted in this life was some peace.. A reprieve from the constant fighting to survive.. A slice of something that was mine and mine alone.. A home to belong in.. A woman to love.. A child to nurture..

I am not a man of complex desire or extravagant needs.. I am not material or even greedy.. I would give up every ruble ever earned to return to the man I had been before shadows claimed my soul.. I would spend every dollar to have just a taste of that future Lucky had envisioned for us.. I would trade anything to be free of this life..

And yet here I sit.. Even more embroiled in the darkness than ever before..

I close my eyes for the briefest of moments and attempt to collect my presence of mind after what had felt like yet another fateful force of destiny sucking me back into the mafia syndicate but seconds later my thoughts are sliced short by the sound of my phone buzzing in my pocket.. I pluck the cell out of my jacket to answer with a gruff grunt.. "Da?"

"We found her, Koba!" Luka's excitement gushes out in hurried concern.. "Stori doez have her location and 'ze dickhead detective has turned hiz phone back on.. You must move now or she will be sold to the Cartel.."