Chapter Text
September 21, 2018 - Montreal
Shane walked out of the Armstrong building where his last class of the day had been held. It was a mild day, cool for September and he shivered when the wind whipped around him as he walked to McGill Station, waiting a few minutes before stepping on the metro as he looked at his messages. He ignored the one from his security, they would live. He shot one off to his father and received a negative response and he grumbled under his breath. He read an article about a guy getting shot in front of his house that morning. When he saw the name, he nodded slowly, talking to himself, “Good riddance. Shoulda paid up I guess.”
His stop was next and he grinned as he saw the next message. He answered and looked up as the metro slowed. Fuck. He sent the last message and muttered to himself.
He shoved the phone in his pocket as he got off at Lionel-Groulx, where he would have switched to the Orange Line, but instead he let himself shrink down smaller as he walked towards a man in a dark suit that was waiting at the entrance to the Orange Line. There was another similarly dressed man at the top of the stairs. They fell in behind him without a word and he exited the station to the waiting car.
Sinking back into the plush leather seat, he stared out the window as he spoke, “I was going home. Didn’t need babysitters.”
“Mr. Hollander, you know there are extra variables in play this weekend. You cannot be without an escort.”
“Whatever. I’m going out tonight. I need you to stay the fuck away from me.”
“We will be as unobtrusive as possible, Mr. Hollander.”
He didn’t bother with a reply, knowing there was no point. He could sneak out, but what was the point? He was fucking twenty-three and about to have a fucking Master of Management in Finance. And he had babysitters. BABYSITTERS. They would manage to find him. He swore they had moles in every fucking bar in Montreal. It was better to just let them come and make them stand all night against the wall while he had fun with his friends. Plus, bonus, he didn’t have to stay sober to drive home. Not that he would have anyway.
“Mr. Hollander, are you going to your home or to your father’s?”
“Father’s. Then I’m going home, then I’m going out. Leaving at 10:00pm. Picking up Luca. Going to the Tokyo Bar. Now you know my whole schedule, aren’t you so excited? See how agreeable I’m being?”
The driver sounded amused, “Thank you, Mr. Hollander. It’s so much easier when we don’t have to chase you around. Home to your house or your condo?”
Shane just rolled his eyes as he answered, “House. Probably condo after the club.” He chewed on his thumbnail while he watched out the window the rest of the ride. They pulled up to his parent’s home and he grabbed his backpack and got out of the car without waiting for them, glancing up at the custom built stone, Tudor style home that his grandfather had been building when he died. Walking in and leaving the door open behind him, knowing they would be coming, he dumped his bag on the large oversized side table in the granite foyer.
“Mom?”
“In the kitchen, sweetheart.”
He walked in and kissed her on the cheek, waving off the plate of warm cookies she pushed at him. Walking through a small doorway, he opened the fridge in the butler’s pantry, grabbed a yogurt and picked up a small container of granola from the counter. Bringing them back into the kitchen, he opened the yogurt and dumped some of the granola in before grabbing a spoon and perching on a high stool on the far side of the island.
Taking a bite, he watched her as she wiped off the already spotless Italian marble island. Pulling the spoon from his mouth, his tongue swiping off the remnants of the Greek yogurt from it. “Where’s Dad? He still says I can’t go tonight. It’s fucking ridiculous.”
“Language please, Shane.”
“Mom. You know what our family does for a living right? And you’re worried about me saying fuck?”
“Just because we have a violent past, Shane, does not mean we have to be uncouth.”
“Right. My bad Mom. Let me just go shoot someone because they didn’t pay their tax this month, but please don’t say fuck while I do it.”
She was trying not to laugh, but having a hard time and he just rolled his eyes as he took another bite. “Your father is just looking out for you. When you finish your classes this winter, then you’ll be ready to start taking more responsibility. Not that you’re showing you’re ready for it. You ditched your security again today.”
“I was coming straight here. I took the metro. Like normal people.”
“We are not normal people, Shane. You know that. Especially this weekend with the Kents in town for this sit-down. Your father doesn’t trust them and we’re not taking any chances. With any of us. I had to take Adam to the grocery store this morning.”
“Why didn’t you do a delivery?”
“Because I like to go out. Just like you like to take the metro. But sometimes, we have to temper our wants to the reality around us. And the reality this weekend is that we have extra security.”
“Fine. I’m going out tonight though since Dad won’t let me go.”
“I think that is a poor decision.”
He shrugged, “Sorry. Nobody’s gonna be looking at me, everybody big will be at the sit-down. Except me. Do you know how fucking weak that makes me look? Dad wants me to take over, but won’t even let me come to a peaceful sit-down? He remembers I did this shit years ago right?”
“Shane. He wants you to finish your degree. The one that you wanted. That we said you didn’t have to do. So finish. Then you can follow him around again.” She took his yogurt container that he had finished with and threw it away, holding her hand out for the spoon which he’d just been fidgeting with. Handing it to her he sighed. Looking at him with a smile, “He wants you to do some collection this weekend. He trusts you. He just doesn’t want you at the meeting tonight. I’m not sure why. But you and Cliff can go down his list and go take care of some business. Everyone knows you’re in line. You don’t have to be at a stupid meeting for that.”
“I guess. Just seems dumb. Is Jin going to be there? Dad said he was in town.”
“Yes, your Uncle Jin will be there.”
Shane made an exaggerated wounded noise, “He’s not even part of the business family, mom. Why is he going?”
“Because he is our actual family. He is my brother and no, he has no say in our business, but he likes to keep apprised of what’s going on here. It’s better he go and see that we do not need my family's help. Trust me, you do not want them coming in and trying to take over.”
“As if they could.”
“Probably not. We are well positioned, but it would be an annoyance we do not want to deal with. So your father indulges him. He will see things are running smoothly and go home to Tokyo and report that. Your Uncle Thomas will be there as well, maybe Rob.”
His mouth dropped open. “You’re kidding me? Rob is going? Rob. Rob who shot his own fucking toe because he forgot to put the safety back on?”
His mother bit back a smile as she nodded, “That very one.”
“I give up. Where did you say Dad was?”
“Why? So you can yell at him about his decision? He does not need that stress today Shane. This is a friendly meeting, but there are a lot of high level players here and that is always a danger.”
“I just want to say thanks for leaving me out of it. I’d hate to have to sit next to bumbling Rob. I might get shot on accident.”
“He’s in the study. Be nice.”
“I’m always nice, Mom.”
He hopped off the barstool and went up a curving set of stairs back in the foyer, calling out as he went, “Dad?”
“Study, Shane.”
He went in to see his father sitting at his huge oak desk, a few papers scattered in front of him. Putting the one he was holding in his hand down, he smiled at Shane.
“What’s up? How was class?”
“Stupid. He should just let me test out. It’s a waste of time going at this point, but I’m almost done, so I sit there and pretend to listen.”
David smiled at him and he shrugged, before asking, “Why can’t I go tonight?”
“Shane. We’ve talked about this. I’m not doing it again. Tensions are high right now. The next meeting in February, you can attend. You can run it if you want while I watch. But not today.”
“Uncle Thomas is taking Rob. ROB.”
“I know. I don’t like that either. But I am not responsible for Rob, he is. I am responsible for you, and you are far more important than Rob will ever be. You know that.”
Shane’s head went back on the chair before he stood up, still annoyed. “I guess. Makes me look like you don’t trust me.”
“You know that isn’t true. You’re already in charge of a huge part of our financial operations.”
“That no one knows about.”
“Shane. I know you are angry with me. I’m sorry. For what it’s worth, I announced you already.”
His head tilted and his eyes narrowed a little, “Really? Why?”
“Yes. I wanted no confusion. I wanted the Kents to know that if something were to happen, there would be no succession confusion.”
“Well, it’s a good thing you’re not going anywhere. I don’t wanna do it all Dad, I just want you to let me go to the meetings. So people get used to seeing me.”
“After December, you’ll be done with school, you can go everywhere with me. Get ready to take over so your Mom and I can go to Europe and take that long trip she’s been wanting.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m still pissed at you. What’s up with the Vetrov's? I heard they’re having some in-fighting.”
“Something to do with Rozanov.”
“Alexei? He’s a dick.”
“He is. But we are aligned with the Vetrov’s and have been for a long time, so we deal with it. Thankfully he is not the one in charge. In any case, I’m not sure. There’s some sort of problem. He’s fighting with the younger brother. He should probably be careful, I wouldn’t put it past Alexei to take out his own kin. Keep that in mind for the future. Only deal with Vetrov, not Rozanov. Alexei I mean. The younger one they farm out as a bodyguard. Probably just to keep him out of Alexei’s way. He’s good from what I hear. Very perceptive.”
“I see. So nothing to worry about for now?”
“I don’t think so. I’ll keep an eye on it. If it becomes a problem, we can step in.”
“You can step in, I’m not dealing with them.”
“You just said you wanted to be more involved.”
Shane shook his head, “Not with them. They’re way too serious.”
David shook his head and chuckled, “Get out. I have work to do.”
“Ok. You win. I’m going out with Cliff and Rose. We’re taking Luca also.”
“I’d rather you stay in tonight.”
“I’d rather you take me to the meeting, but I guess we don’t always get what we want, do we, Dad.”
“Shane.”
“I’m out. See you later. Enjoy your meeting.”
“Shane.”
“Whatever. It’s fine. You made your decision. I think it sucks. It is what it is.”
He turned to go but felt bad about being an ass so he sighed and looked back and gave his dad a smirk over his shoulder, “But I’ll forgive you if you buy me a pony.”
“Fuck off. You’re an idiot.”
“Yeah, but you love me.”
“I do. Get out. Stay out of trouble tonight. I don’t want to have to kill anyone tomorrow.”
“I will. See you tomorrow.”
“Shane. Do not carry to a club.”
“I’m not stupid, Dad. See ya.”
He called out as he walked towards the door, “Bye Mom, see you tomorrow sometime.”
“Did your dad give you the collection list?”
“Fuck. No. I’ll get it tomorrow.” He grabbed his backpack and walked out the door, waving off the security. “I’m literally walking down the block. To my house. Relax. Pick me up at ten please.”
While the Men in Black as he jokingly called them, usually to their faces, agreed, they still walked behind him to his house, which was literally two houses over. He didn’t stay here much, he preferred his modern condominium downtown, but he did keep some things here.
He sat in his kitchen alone, working on a paper that he should have done already, but had put off. Once he was finished, he shut the laptop and picked up his phone, opening the app that he always looked at and never used. There were several matches not horribly far from him, but he ended up closing it and deleting it. Again.
After he showered, he stood looking through his clothes deciding on all black. Black slacks, a three quarter sleeve black button-up with silver jewelry. He ran some product through his hair and took a single pill out of the bottle in his bathroom. A tiny ziploc came out of a stash in the drawer and the pill was tossed in it before putting the bag in his wallet.
Sitting in the back of the car again, he was teasing Luca on their way to the bar. “Your hair is getting so long, Luca. What’s your plan there? Trying to look like the hammer guy?”
“The hammer guy. That’s all you got? Can’t do better than that? It’s like you’re not even trying Shane.”
He grinned and laughed, “You know who I mean, Mr. I Draw Every Super Hero I Can Think Of.”
“Yes, and yes, don’t I totally look like Thor to you?”
“If I squint?”
“Shut up. Such a dick.”
Shane smiled again, “Did you remember your ID this time?”
“Never gonna let me forget that are you?”
“Nah, what’s the fun in that. Did you go to class today?”
Luca made a face at him, “What’re you, my mother? Yes, I went to fucking class. Did you?”
“Yeah, unfortunately. I’m so ready to be done. I’d quit, but would be stupid, only have 3 months left.”
“What’d you do for your applied finance project?”
Shane groaned, “You want the whole name? Here you go. How’s this for a project? The Evolution of Sustainable Finance in Private Markets: A Focus on Private Equity.”
“I don’t even know what that means, Shane.” Luca grinned at him. “I’m sticking with business. No finance for me.”
“Good. That’s what I need. When you’re done in a couple years, you’ll be my right hand man.”
“Liar. That’s Cliff.”
He shrugged, “My left hand man. My extra right hand man? Can I have two right hand man’s?”
“You’re the boss, you can have whatever you want.”
“So true Luca, so true. You ready to get drunk? I want to see drunk Luca dancing.”
“No. Maybe. Cliff makes fun of me.”
“So smack him.”
“Yeah right.”
He looked at him, his grin dropping a little, “Is he giving you too much shit? Do you need me to talk to him?”
“Nah. He’s alright, most of the time. He just teases a lot when I don’t wanna go pick up girls. You know I’m shy around other people.”
Shaking his head, he gave off a genuine smile, “I know. Nothing wrong with that. Don’t let him make you feel bad. You do what you want to do. He doesn’t need a wingman. He’s a big boy.”
They walked up to the bar entrance and ignored the short line that had formed already. Walking up to the bouncer at the door, Shane nodded at him as he was about to let them in, but someone a few people back in the line yelled something about rude rich kids. Shane turned and Luca put a hand on his arm, but he just moved it gently and walked back to the person who spoke.
“Did you have something you wanted to say to me, Sir?”
Looking at Shane a little closer, he went a little pale, “No. Sorry. I didn’t mean it. I was just being stupid.”
“That’s what I thought. What’s your name?”
“I don’t want any trouble. I apologize. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
Shane smiled, “What’s your name?”
“Xavier.”
“Be nicer to people Xavier. I could have been an asshole.”
He walked off and spoke quietly to the bouncer as he let Shane, Luca and the Men in Black in. Luca looked back at the guy who was looking positively sick in line. “Fuck, Shane. I didn’t know you were that scary.”
He chuckled, “I’m not, I dunno what his problem is. I told Larry to let them in next.”
“I knew you were a big softie.”
“Shhh, don’t tell anyone. I need my reputation as a dickhead rich brat to stay intact.”
“You are a rich brat. But a big softie one.”
Despite talking about the patio, they were ushered to the VIP section where he ordered a few things and slid into the booth. It didn’t take long before Cliff and Rose walked up and slid into the large circular booth as well. Rose was dressed in a black, glittering mini dress with spaghetti straps and a flared skirt. He looked down and smirked. “Rose. You’re wearing the cutest, sexiest dress and then you put fishnets and knee high lace-up almost combat boots with it?”
“Yeah, hot right?”
He gave her a lop-sided grin, “So fucking hot. I want to see somebody licking that boot before the night is over ma’am”
“Anything for you Shaney.”
He glared at her and shook his head, “No.”
She laughed and pointed at the champagne, “Pour please.”
Making a face, he glanced at the bar and nodded. Immediately a woman was next to him and he pointed at the champagne. The woman worked the cork out with a pop and Rose laughed with delight as a little fizzed over before a flute was filled and handed to her.
“Anyone else?” When no one else said anything, she put it back in the ice bucket and looked at Shane. “Another drink Mr. Hollander?”
“Not yet, I’ll let you know. Thank you.”
Rose picked up his flute of what appeared to be pale champagne already poured even though the bottle wasn’t open. She sniffed it and set it back down, saying nothing. He looked at her and took a drink, but she just smiled and looked out at the dance floor.
“I wanna dance.”
He nodded at Cliff, “Dance with Rose.”
“Fuck, bossy tonight aren’t you.”
Shane gave him a flat stare that he couldn’t hold and his lips quirked up into a grin, “Yes, go fucking dance.” Watching them go hand in hand to the dance floor, he smiled again and relaxed, letting the music work into him. He wasn’t a big dancer, but maybe he’d go dance with her later, keep up appearances.
“What would you be doing right now if you weren’t here Luca?”
“Drawing. You know that.”
“What’re you working on?”
“Spiderman fighting Doc Ock while MJ is tied up on the side of a bridge.”
Shane smiled, “Of course you are. You gonna show me when you’re done?”
“Maybe.”
“You know, you don’t have to come out with us.”
“I like hanging out with you guys. I need to be more outgoing.”
He nodded, his voice soft, “Yeah, me too.”
Picking his flute up, he drank it all and then poured himself some of Rose’s champagne, drinking it all also. Luca was watching him and took a sip of his own drink, some sort of colorful fruity thing. He took pity on the younger man and stood up, pulling him up.
“Let’s dance.”
“Together? What?”
“Come on goof. We’ll dance with Rose. Both of us. Cliff can go find his own woman. On the dance floor, doesn’t matter who you’re dancing with, nobody is going to think anything about it. You know I don’t care who you dance with right?”
Luca wouldn’t quite meet his eyes, but he nodded and followed him to the floor. Shane really was not a huge dancer, but he good naturedly shoved Cliff away and took up with Rose and Luca in a little group. He looked up at Cliff and yelled at him over the music, “I’m taking my girl, sorry.”
Cliff gave him a look and he just shrugged and put a hand on Rose’s hip while she laughed and danced. She didn’t care one way or the other. She was one of the few who knew. Cliff, Luca, JJ and Hayden. That was it. Nobody else he trusted enough to know. Nobody else needed to know.
They danced and drank and had fun, acquaintances and other friends coming and going from their booth, enjoying the notoriety of being seen with his group. He didn’t mind, usually at least. The only tense moment came towards the middle of the evening when alcohol had been flowing freely for quite some time. He was sitting back at their booth, Luca with him again when a tall drunk man with copper colored hair walked up and slammed a beer down on the table, letting his alcohol daze make him braver than he should have been.
Shane looked up at him with a stony expression, knowing who he was. “Can I help you Jimmy?”
“Asshole. You killed my Uncle.”
Shane pretended to have to think about it, scratching his head and looking up at the ceiling. Luca kept his eyes down and scooted closer to the edge of the booth so he could get up quickly if he needed. Shane tapped his finger on the table once and Luca stopped moving.
Looking up at the foolish man, “Your Uncle. Oh right. That’d be Eli, yeah?”
“You know his fucking name asshole.”
He nodded slowly, “I do. He didn’t pay his tax, Jimmy. You know the rules. Everyone in Montreal knows the rules. I didn’t make them, but you WILL follow them or you pay the price. Your Uncle knew the consequences. He was late. Very late.”
His gaze went behind Jimmy to the wall near the bar where one of the Men in Black was watching carefully, a hand under his jacket on his hip. Shane just shook his head at them before his attention came back to the angry face that was glaring at him. “Sit down and have a drink Jimmy. Then you can be on your way and I’ll pretend this didn’t happen.”
The glare hardened and fists were clenched. Shane stretched his leg out on the booth, his foot stretching to the end as he hiked up his pants leg just enough. Jimmy looked down and saw the holster and weapon and he just stared for a few seconds before meeting Shane’s serious gaze. Putting his foot back to the floor, he motioned where it had been resting on the booth. His voice was a little softer, “Sit down. Share a drink with me. We can put this behind us. Then you can go home and think about what you almost did here. Do you want your family to lose two of you so close together?”
He poured two fingers of whiskey into a tumbler and pushed it towards Jimmy as he slowly sat down, his body stiff still, his eyes glazed as he mumbled. “My father is broken. It was his only brother.”
“Drink.”
Watching as the tumbler was picked up and the whiskey downed, Shane moved a little closer and clapped a hand on the back of Jimmy’s neck, ignoring the flinch he got. Pulling him closer, he spoke quietly, “I like your family. I’m sorry about your Uncle. He was a nice man, but he broke the rules. Do not be like him, Jimmy. We’ve shared a drink now, so we’re like friends. Because of that, I will give you a month of bereavement deferment. Then your family owes four months, plus, we’ll say an extra 25% for the trouble you’ve caused. Sounds fair?”
Eyes came to him as fingers tightened on Jimmy’s neck. “But…”
“But what Jimmy? That’s the deal. Or you can pay the normal amount plus arrears tomorrow when I make rounds. Pick.”
The voice that came out was mumbled and soft, “We’ll take the deferment.”
Shane smiled and his hand loosened and clapped him on the back. “Excellent choice, Jimmy. Now get out before I change my mind.”
Once he was gone, Luca’s demeanor relaxed and Shane smiled at him. “Were you gonna take him out before the Men in Black could?”
“Yeah. All those classes you sent me to have paid off, I’m pretty good now.”
“I don’t doubt it. Thank you.”
He sighed and rolled his neck before looking at his empty flute. He thought about calling the woman from the bar, but muttered under his breath and just poured another glass of Rose’s champagne, downing the whole thing again before pulling Luca back out to the dance floor with him, unwilling to leave him alone at the table.
It was past two when he glanced at the time and sank back into the booth, sweaty and buzzed. He was laughing as he sat, having just watched Rose get some poor schlub to actually kiss her boot. The stranger had been dancing with her when Shane came up and he immediately panicked, much to his amusement. Rose had whispered in his ear and he dropped to the ground and kissed the laces on top of her foot. Shane had managed to keep a straight face as he straightened and was gone in a flash, blending into the crowd. He leaned close so they could hear each other speak.
“What was that?”
She laughed, “You said you wanted to see someone lick my boot before the night was over. I thought kissing would work just as well.”
“You just said, kiss my fucking boot?”
“Sort of. I told him that my boyfriend, Mr. Hollander was coming and he better grovel if he didn’t want to get killed for coming onto me.”
“Rose.” She giggled and shrugged, taking his hand and spinning around underneath it, her skirt flaring wide as he shook his head and told her. “You are insane.”
“Maybe, but it’s fun. Shut up and dance.”
He’d danced for a bit, but now sat in the booth, looking at his phone. He didn’t see any messages from his Dad, which was unusual. The meeting must be going late. Normally if he was doing something big, he gave Shane some sort of all clear message after just to let him know things were good.
His lip was in his mouth being chewed on when Luca slid back in the booth with another drink, his cheeks flushed. He took one look at Shane, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Just expected meeting to be over by now.”
“Mmm, you know Kent is probably being a dick and haggling over something stupid.”
“Most likely.”
“How’s Hayden?”
“Good. We had dinner last week. He came over to the condo.”
“Sucks you guys can’t go out anymore.”
“It does. But we knew that when he chose. No more hanging out in public. At least, not fun hanging out. It’s alright, we still talk a lot.”
“I’m glad I’m not doing that.”
“I didn’t force him to do it, Luca. He chose to help in that way. It sucks. But we will always be good friends. And if something ever happens where he’s compromised, he’ll be back here with us. In the meantime, he’s in a position to help me when I need it. Just like you will be. You’ll just be here with me. I need both of you. And Cliff. And Rose. When I take over someday, you will all be invaluable to me. No man is a failure who has friends.”
“What’s that from? One of those literature books you think you keep hidden?”
He smiled and shook his head, “No. Don’t spread that rumor. It’s from a movie. It’s a Wonderful Life.”
“Never seen it.”
“Uncultured swine. That’s what you are.”
“Shut up.”
They grinned at each other as Shane poured more champagne and raised it in Luca’s direction before drinking it.
One Month Earlier - August 20, 2018 - Hamilton, Ontario
Ilya stood at attention, his hands behind his back, his face hard and flushed. His head snapped to the side as his brother slapped him across the face for the second time. He inhaled slowly, his nostrils flaring, but otherwise made no move other than to turn his head back to the front and blink once.
“Alexei, enough.”
The sharp voice had his brother whirling around in outrage. “It is not enough. He embarrassed us.”
Sergei Vetrov walked forward, his hands clasped behind him similarly to Ilya who continued staring forward, not looking at anyone. He was mainly focused on trying not to attack his brother, which would, in all likelihood, get him killed. Not by his brother, fucking coward, but in retaliation from the others that were standing around watching the spectacle unfolding at their morning meeting.
“He embarrassed you. Not me.”
“Sergei.”
“Alexei, I said enough. Do you argue with me?”
Ilya watched as his brother glared at him and stepped back, a hand formed into a fist. If he swung at Ilya with a closed fist, they were both dead because Ilya wasn’t sure he would be able to stand there and take it without attacking back. Alexei seemed to think better of it and just spit at Ilya, but was too far away for it to hit. He allowed the smallest hint of a smirk to curve his lips, but continued to look forward.
Still trying to argue, Alexei stalked away from him, “He allowed Diaz to escape.”
Sergei shook his head, “Your brother was not on duty as an enforcer. He was assigned to protect Vitali. Which he did. Admirably. Your man that was with them, Viktor. He should have taken care of Diaz while Ilya stayed to be sure Vitali came to no harm. His job was to take a bullet if he had to and make sure that my brother was alive at the end of the night, which he was.”
“He should have taken out Diaz when he got close.”
“Alexei. You push me. He took a knife wound to the arm and nearly disabled him with a blow to the neck. He turned back to be sure that there were no others with Diaz.” Sergei walked closer to Alexei, circling him and speaking from behind him. “Does it displease you that my brother lives?”
“Of course not, I apologize if it seems that way. I just feel as if Ilya could have done more.”
“He is your family. You are in charge of your people since Grigori is not here. You are allowed to be displeased if you choose. You have made it clear to all that you believe he made an error in judgement. You have humiliated him by striking him in public. I am telling you, that it is enough. He kept my brother alive. I am inclined to forgive anything further. You do still work for me the last time I checked.”
“Of course, Sergei. You are right. Please forgive me.” He gave a small nod of his head in deference.
“Your man on the other hand. He made a mistake.”
“He gave chase. He was unable to catch him, but Viktor is my best man, Sergei. I will punish him myself later.”
Sergei shrugged and held his hand out. His guard from behind him placed a gun in it. He checked it and held it out in his palm. “I prefer to see it. Take care of it.”
Alexei glanced over at a shorter man with light brown hair who stood calmly between two larger men who were each holding an arm lightly. His eyes were pleading with Alexei for help, but he did not speak. Alexei looked back to Sergei, “Sergei, I ask for leniency. I will punish him and if any further incident were to happen, I will take responsibility.”
Ilya’s tongue came out and swept his lower lip as he thought about it. Before he could talk himself out of it, he moved. His eyes met Sergei’s as he took the long three steps it took to reach him and pick up the gun. In one smooth motion, he made sure a round was chambered and turned to the side, his arm coming up and firing. A small red circle appeared on Viktor’s forehead as his mouth opened slightly. Gore sprayed from the back of his skull as the two men next to him simply let go of his arms as he fell.
He gave a small nod and placed the gun back on Sergei’s hand, taking a step back before his brother roared and tackled him. He didn’t fight back, knowing he didn’t need to. Hearing Sergei’s barked order, he let his brother get one punch in before he was hauled up by the same two men that had been holding Viktor.
When Alexei was pulled backwards away from him, he stood and went to his original spot he’d been standing in. Glancing at the white gauze wrapped around his forearm, he took note of the red seeping through before he clasped his hands behind him again, not bothering to wipe the small trickle of blood from his lower lip where Alexei’s ring had caught him.
Sergei was staring at him with amusement sparkling in his eyes. He turned to Alexei, “Calm yourself. Now.”
His brother shook the hands of the men off of him and smoothed his suit jacket down before nodding. “I am fine.”
“Good. The matter is settled then. Any questions from anyone about orders for this week?”
No one spoke and he nodded, handing the gun back to his guard. “Excellent. Thank you for your extra time, gentlemen.”
Alexei spoke then, “What about Diaz?”
“Leave him for now. I am sure he is deep underground, possibly even gone to Montreal to hide. I will worry about him later. I want you to be sure the deal with Armand goes through on Friday. Understand? I want no mistakes. If HOPA confiscates that shipment, I will be very angry. Make sure whatever hands need to be greased get taken care of.”
“I’ll take care of it. You have my word.” He turned to go and stopped next to Ilya, snarling at him. “With me. I will beat your ass for your impertinence later. Right now, you can go clean up the fucking mess Edwin made when he killed two of our girls.”
Ilya sighed and fell in behind his brother, following him. He stopped when Sergei spoke from behind him. “Actually, I need Ilya here. I would like to discuss his failings with Vitali in private.”
Alexei turned and smirked at him, “Guess maybe you won’t be around for me to smack around after all. Have fun.” Sneering at Ilya then, he waved mockingly before he left.
Ilya turned and looked at Sergei, “May I speak?”
He got a negative shake of the head. “My office. Upstairs. Now.”
He walked to the end of the large warehouse they were in, glancing back once at Viktor who lay there blood seeping onto the concrete floor. Sensing his question, Sergei spoke quietly from behind him. “Do not worry. You are not about to join him.”
Walking into the office, he stood again in front of the desk, his hands behind him, waiting. Sergei pointed at the small couch along one side. “Sit.”
Doing as instructed, he watched as his boss went and opened the door that led out the back part of the office. His lips curved up as she walked in with a large bag in her hand and came over to him, sitting and starting to unwrap the gauze around his forearm.
“Ilyusha. You are going to get yourself killed one day if you keep pushing him.”
He didn’t speak, just looked over to Sergei, who snorted as he sat down. “You may speak freely in here, you know that.”
His outburst was quick, “He is such a fucking ass, Sergei, I do not understand why you allow him to challenge you like that.”
“Because your father is very powerful still, Ilya. I have to walk a tightrope and balance carefully, lest I tip off and fall into the shark infested water.”
He rolled his eyes, “I did nothing wrong. You let him humiliate me today. I have lost credibility now.”
“Careful. Just because I like you does not mean you can insult me. You have lost nothing. Everyone knows you are the best at what you do. Which is whatever I ask. If you were not who you are, you would be my second. But you know, I cannot do it.”
Sighing, he nodded, “I am sorry. But I did nothing. If I had left Vitali to chase Diaz, he would have died if there was anyone else with him. There was not. But what if there had been?”
Hissing, he looked down as Svetlana pulled the gauze off that was stuck to the open slash wound and frowned at him. “This is a mess. Why did you not come see me last night?”
“Because I was trying to stay away from my brother so he did not kill me. He knew it was Viktor’s fault, but thought if he could finish me before anyone knew, he could spin it his way.”
Sergei shook his head, “Vitali would not have lied for him.”
“I know, but Alexei is not always the quickest thinker. Too much snow up his fucking nose. Rage first, thinking last.”
Svetlana put down a large pad over his lap and laid his arm on it while she started to clean and debride the wound with irrigation from a small bottle she pulled from the bag.
He watched for a moment before looking back at Sergei. “Vitali needs to be careful. Alexei wants to be your second and if he is gone, then my brother is the next obvious choice.”
His boss scoffed at that notion, “He is not that brave. He will not take out my own brother. You, I worry about. But he knows better than to touch Vitali.”
“If you say so. I would still tell him to watch his back. His normal protection is good, but they are not me. Why was Diaz even in town? You think the Hollanders are moving on something?”
“No. Our alliance is strong with them. I cannot imagine David knew. It was someone else. Maybe one of the gangs. They want us weak. They know the summit is coming soon. The Kents are trying to encroach again, maybe it was them.”
“Well whoever it was, you are lucky I was there. Viktor was useless.”
“Yes, and now he is even more useless.”
“You wanted him dead.”
“Maybe, but now your brother is even more angry with you than he was. He will kill you and Grigori will do nothing.”
“I will not let that happen. I will kill him first.”
Sergei glared at him, “And then what? I am supposed to do what, when Grigori threatens unless I kill you. You kill him, then you kill both of you. Unless there is extremely sufficient reasoning.”
He looked down at his arm again as Svetlana put on gloves before she ripped open a sterile packet and held the needle and surgical thread up in front of him. Nodding, he looked away again as she sewed his wound together, his teeth grinding together occasionally. They sat quietly, the only noise an occasional hiss of breath as he let Svetlana work. When she was finished, she cleaned it again and rebandaged it, much better than he had in his haste to stop the bleeding.
Cleaning everything up, she came and perched on his knee as he leaned back and put his good arm around her, letting her kiss him lightly.
“I am sitting here you know. I do not wish to see my daughter kissing someone who may be dead in a few days.’
She smiled at her father, “Then I suggest, Papa, that you make sure it does not happen. Ilyusha is worth ten of Alexei. A hundred.”
“I am not a miracle worker. Ilya, I am telling your brother I have assigned you a job for a couple of weeks. I want you to lay low until he calms down. Stay with my daughter and relax. Let your arm heal.”
“You are hiding me. I did nothing wrong!”
“Ilya, this is for your sake. I agree, you did nothing wrong. But let’s allow things to cool off for a week or two. Please.”
“This is ridiculous. I am the best at what I do, yet I am punished.”
He stood up, dislodging Svetlana from his lap and she smoothed her skirt down as she asked him, “You have a key still?”
“Yes.”
“Use it. I have to work tomorrow. A twelve hour shift. But I will be there shortly. I can bring dinner.”
He sighed and kissed her cheek, giving Sergei a nod. “I apologize that I caused you such problems. I do not mean to. I was doing what you asked.”
“You were. I know that. I will come up with a solution. Vitali is going to New York after the sit-down. Maybe I will send you with him. I do not want to lose you simply because your brother is being hot-headed.”
“You need to cut his supply off. He snorts more than he delivers.”
“I will look into it. Thank you for keeping my brother safe. There will be a bonus in your account by tomorrow.”
“Thank you. We will speak soon then.”
He smiled at both of them and took the stairs down two at a time, not even looking to where Viktor’s life blood was being cleaned with bleach.
Outside, he walked to his black Ducati and grabbed his leather jacket he’d left draped over the seat, pulling it on before shoving his helmet on and slamming the visor down. He threw his leg over, kicked the stand up and started the bike, listening to the roar and taking a breath. He needed to calm down. He didn’t move for a few seconds, just breathing deeply before he left, making a sharp turn before rolling the throttle wide open. He took the long straightaway at a high speed before pulling back a little and entering traffic. He lane split most of his way to Sveta’s, ignoring the dirty looks he sometimes got.
He parked in her extra spot, which she paid for just for him. His Porsche was here at the moment also, but he always just pulled close since they were at the end of the row. He brought his helmet and jacket with him since he wouldn’t be going out for a while and walked to the parking garage entrance to the building. Using his keycard to access the elevator, he went to her floor and dropped his helmet and jacket on a table near the door, unlacing his boots and leaving them as well.
He showered, trying to keep his arm dry, since he’d forgotten to ask her, managing fairly well. Toweling off his hair, he pulled a pair of his boxer briefs out of the drawer he kept things in and pulled them on before going to grab a drink and sink down onto her plush couch. Half asleep when she came in later, she dropped a large bag on her island and came and straddled him on the couch, his arms going around her as he nuzzled her neck.
“Alexei’s going to try to kill me at some point.”
“I know. We’ll figure something out. I told Papa to just get rid of him, but he won’t. He is scared of your father trying to take over.”
“I hate my family.”
“I know that too. I brought food.”
“You?”
She chuckled and climbed off his lap and shook her head, “No, I have a date tonight.”
“You do not. You are going to leave me here alone?”
“I didn’t know you were going to nearly die by antagonizing your brother.”
“Cancel. I need you.”
“You do not. I am convenient. That is all.”
“Do not act like you want more than that.”
“I’m not. But that’s why I’m going on a date tonight.”
“Do you want me to go to a hotel?”
“No, don’t be silly. If I want to fuck, I’ll go to his place. Or I’ll come home to you.”
“You are such a slut.” This was said with a fond smile as he rolled his eyes.
She grinned, “You would know. You are the male version of me. Let’s eat. You know I love you. I will always be here for you.”
“I know. I love you too.”
They ate Chinese food at the table and when they were finished, he cleaned up while she went to shower. He was laying on her bed when she came out and they picked out an outfit for her to wear. Grinning as she held things out, he asked her, “Slutty or demure?”
“In between? He’s a doctor.”
“You are a doctor. What difference does that make?”
“He’s not quite as adventurous as I am.”
“Boring.” He walked to her closet and flipped through a few things, finally throwing a dress at her. “This one.”
She shrugged into it, a midcalf, tight black sweater dress with a low back and turned to look at the rear of her profile.
“Your ass looks luscious. He will love it.”
Once she was gone, he lay in her bed with a glass of vodka and flipped around on the TV until he found an old Fast and Furious movie. Leaving it there, he lay back and finished his drink before letting himself go to sleep.
September 21, 2018 - Montreal - Tokyo Bar
It was close to three when his phone buzzed. He was leaning against the bar talking to some woman who was doing her best to flirt, but he wasn’t paying much attention. He held a finger up as he pulled out the vibrating phone from his back pocket and glanced at it, frowning immediately.
He motioned to the bartenders and pointed at the door behind them. One of them nodded and let him behind the bar where he went into the slightly quieter room and answered, his voice soft so he wasn’t overheard, “Hayd? What’s up? It’s late for you isn’t it?”
“SHANE. Oh thank fuck. You didn’t go. I was so worried. I’ve been trying to call for an hour.”
“What? One sec.” He pulled the phone down and looked at it and did indeed have several missed calls from the private number with no contact info attached to it. “Fuck, sorry. I didn’t feel it vibrating I guess. I’m out with the gang.”
“Where?”
“Tokyo Bar. What’s going on?”
“One of your father’s warehouses exploded.”
“Fuck. Are you kidding me? Which one?’
“South of the house. On the Rue Cousens. Is that where it was? Tell me it wasn’t. Please. I’m on my way. I’ll call you when I’m there.”
He wasn’t listening anymore. The phone was dark in his hand as he slammed out of the room. Walking by the Men in Black, he yelled at them. “One of you get the car, the other one get Luca. We have to go. NOW.”
He tried his Dad’s number. Voicemail. Again. Again. Again. The car pulled up and he could barely breathe. Luca got in and he climbed in after.
“Mr. Hollander?”
“The meeting. The sit-down.”
“Mr. Hollander, you are not allowed.”
He cut him off. “GO NOW.”
He tried the phone again. Voicemail. He called his Uncle Thomas. Voicemail. He tried bumbling Rob. Nothing.
His chest was seizing up on him.
“Shane, what’s going on? Shane?” Luca was looking concerned now. “Shane?”
He couldn’t answer. Couldn’t speak. Breathe Shane. In, hold for four, out. In, hold for four, out. The car screeched to a stop and he threw the door open and stood there, just outside the car, his mouth open as he tried to understand what he was looking at. There were flashing lights in every direction, firetrucks already on the scene, flows of water going everywhere.
It was one of the smaller of their warehouses, where really they just kept some offices there for things like this sit-down. A few other things that were moved often came in and out sometimes. But tonight. Earlier at least, it should have been full of the heads of most organized crime families, street gangs, motorcycle clubs, any sort of organized group that conducted illegal activities in Canada. They all should have been there or at least a representative of them all.
Standing there staring at the burning building, he tried his father’s line again. Nothing. His breathing got more frantic and he ran at the building, ducked past a patrol officer and under a crime tape they’d strung up to keep journalists back who were gathering in full force. There was debris all over the ground and he nearly tripped twice. He was scooped up around the waist by a tall man in a dark suit.
“Hold it right there, nobody can get any closer. I need you to go back behind the tape, Sir.”
“FUCK YOU. Let me go.” Shane swung at him, his fist connecting with a jaw and he squirmed loose and heard cursing as he ran forward again.
“STOP HIM.”
A few men ran at him and tackled him to the ground as he screamed at them to get off him. He heard a familiar voice. “Let him up. It’s his fucking warehouse.” They got off him and he stood and ran again, a firm hand stopping him as he looked up at a Chief Inspector that was on his payroll. The Inspector shook his head and quietly told him, “Mr. Hollander, no closer. Not yet. There could be secondary explosions.”
“My father was here tonight. Where is he? Is he ok? He was working late.”
The voice was low still, “I am aware. We cannot get inside at the moment. We have reason to believe the meeting was over, but there were still a few people here from the witnesses we’ve talked to. I need you to calm down Shane.”
“Who? What witnesses?”
“SHANE!” He spun with relief to see his Uncles, both of them. Thomas pulled him into a hug, while Jin stood there looking at him with relief. Both of them were dirty, soot smudged on their clothes and faces. Thomas had tears running down his cheeks though which scared Shane.
“Who? Who was still inside? Please, please. Not my Dad right? Not him? Rob? Where are they?”
He got a slow nod from Jin while Thomas just started crying while he stared at the fire. Luca had made it past and came running up to him, grabbing his arm while they both looked at the fire, Shane’s head shaking slowly.
“No. No no no. He wasn’t in there. He wasn’t. It was over. He was gone. Right? GONE? HE WAS GONE!”
Jin tried to hug him and he shoved him off. “FUCK YOU. WHERE IS MY DAD?”
His breathing got more erratic and he dropped to his knees, tears streaming down his cheeks as Luca got on the ground behind him, holding him, whispering to him to breathe. The Men in Black were calling for a paramedic. For who? Who did they find? Fuck, why couldn’t he breathe. Where was his dad? “DAD?? DAD, please. Please no no no, please where’s my Dad?” He got up and ran, was tackled. The last thing he remembered was a pinch in his arm and then darkness.