Page 31

YURI

I never should have gone to her apartment. I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep my temper under control, but we needed to talk about Dominic. There was no way around it. I can’t tell if Charlie is being stubborn or if she really doesn’t trust me.

After everything we talked about, I can’t believe she still had him over to her apartment. The bastard must be very convincing. I hate that she trusts him more than me. All I want to do is keep her safe and now she won’t talk to me again.

Still fuming and driving like a maniac, I head to the gym. Once I’ve fought off some of this anger I’ll be able to think more clearly. I don’t want to be the inconsiderate and controlling man she claims I’m being.

I knew she wouldn’t be open to my suggestion not to hang out with Dominic. What did I think would happen? He’s been there for her in a way I couldn’t be these last four years, but I know he’s not in this friendship for her benefit. He can’t be. He’s too selfish! I need her to see Dominic’s true colors. I’ll have to come up with some sort of plan to show Charlie he’s not who she thinks he is.

I don’t want her to feel like I’m trying to stop her from living her life, but how can I keep her safe if she won’t trust me? How can I stop whatever plan Dominic and his father have put together if she won’t listen?

Two hours later I head back to my apartment with a cooler head on my shoulders. I decided not to call Charlie while I was at the gym. She deserves some space to think, but when I call her now she just sends me to voicemail. Instead of blowing up her phone with annoying voicemail messages, I call Maxim and Andrey.

“Hey guys where are you?” I ask when Maxim answers the phone.

“We’re sitting in Andrey’s car outside one of the grocery stores on State. We’re out of sight though, don’t worry. Charlie doesn’t know we followed her,” He gruffs out.

“Good. I’m going to head over to Dom Chaya . Meet me there in ten. We need to talk about some things,” I explain before hanging up.

Ten minutes later I’m pulling into the parking lot of Dom Chaya , my favorite restaurant and tea room. My Babushka used to bring me here as a boy before we left the city and they have the best tea in town.

My family owns The Tea House, but we didn’t traditionally discuss business here until after my grandparents passed. We like to discuss business at the bar or the club because no one comes through those doors uninvited, but I’m trying to channel the peace and clarity my Babushka always evoked in this place so we can come up with a plan to remove Dominic from Charlie’s life.

Andrey and Maxim walk in a minute after I do and we head to the back dining room for privacy. We order some Zavarka tea and Sushkie . I wouldn’t be able to enjoy my tea without the amazing cookies. The Brits have their biscuits, we have Sushkie.

“So, what’s the plan Yuri?” Andrey asks once the waitress leaves the table.

“We need to deal with Dominic now. He is too embedded into Charlie’s life. I was stupid not to handle him sooner,” I say chastising myself. “Whatever we do, Charlie cannot learn that we’re behind the reason he’s no longer in her life,” I warn, mostly looking at Andrey.

“It’s going to be tricky,” Maxim starts, “we don’t want to kill him outright, at least not yet. Dominic is a pansy-ass! I say we scare him a little. It won’t be too hard to make him back off of Charlie.”

“What do you have in mind?” I ask, “We need to send a message since he is no doubt aware of Charlie’s importance now.”

The waitress comes back with our tea and mini-crispy-bagel-like cookies a few moments later, we sit in pondering silence for a while as we enjoy the aroma and comfort the tea and snacks bring.

“Let’s not overthink it,” Maxim says, his mouth full, “We know Dominic thinks he can’t be messed with. He seems to like that car of his a little too much. Why not burn it while he’s out with Charlie?”

“I don’t want Charlie near him when we send our message. We need to send the message loud and clear; I don’t want him getting any sympathy from her. He will stay away from Charlie or he’ll be the one up in flames next!”

“I think Dominic will act like an idiot when his car is burnt to a crisp. He’ll be so angry he will lose control over his fake cool and calm act,” Maxim explains, “It’ll be the perfect way for Charlie to really see who he is.”

Andrey finally pipes up with his concerns, “I don’t think it’s a good idea. We don’t want to mess up the boss’s plans by going after Dominic. Charlie isn’t in any danger with him. If he wanted to hurt her, he’d have done it already.”

Maxim and I both look at Andrey with disbelief. I’m left slack-jawed by Andrey’s comment, so Maxim finally says, “Dominic had no reason to hurt Charlie before, that we know of…” He pauses, “Now he knows about Charlie and Yuri. Do you really think his plan was being her friend? He’s not the type to be friends with a girl for no reason.”

My frustration with Andrey only grows with his response.

“I guess… but do we really think the boss will be ok with destroying the car of the son of his biggest enemy? He’s got plans in motion, Yuri. We have to remember that.”

“You don’t think I don’t know what my father’s planning. I’m not going to kill the bastard, but I need Dominic to know his place. He’s not going to continue sitting in Charlie’s apartment eating pizza and pretending to be her friend. I won’t be responsible for him hurting her. We’re going to destroy his car… tonight.”

We leave after finishing our tea and I send Maxim and Andrey on a mission to find out where Charlie and Dominic will be tonight. We have to do this now! There’s no time to wait.

After the shittiest day, we are finally set up for operation free-Charlie-from-this-douchebag! I sent Andrey and Maxim to get supplies; with the way Andrey’s been acting lately, I don’t trust him to go alone for something as important as this. Knowing him, he’d get the wrong accelerant. Now it’s time to force Dominic to show his true colors. We decided the term go-big-or-go-home was appropriate!

I watched Charlie and Dominic enter the Italian restaurant thirty minutes ago and am itching to get started. I’m waiting on Maxim and Andrey to arrive. We don’t want to start another Chicago Fire, so they are taking necessary measures to ensure only Dominic’s Range Rover goes up in smoke.

Of course not everything can be avoided, so if the Italian’s lose a restaurant in the process, I’m not too concerned. I would like to avoid hurting innocent people though, so I made sure to have Konstantine check that the sprinkler system in the restaurant is functional and have him standing by to reroute traffic with the flip of a switch.

A few years ago, Konstantine figured out how to hack into the traffic lighting control for the city. It’s come in handy quite often. We have the city on a tight leash since no one is as good as Konstantine and the cops can’t figure out how our men keep getting around their roadblocks and past their stupid checkpoints after a big job. We’ve even managed to reroute Nico and his men straight into the hands of the cops a few times.

Most people in Chicago don’t follow the rules of the road, but when you change a green light to red at the last minute, that can really jam someone up, so for this job, we want to make sure all lines are open for the firetrucks to get to the restaurant, but not too quickly. I still want to see that bastard’s car burn and watch his friendship with Charlie crumble.

Maxim and Andrey pull up behind my car and walk to the driver’s side window. I roll it down and ask, “Everything set?”

“Yea. We got everything we need. Andrey and I are going to set that car off like an M-80. I can’t wait to see the look on that fucker’s face,” Maxim says with a smile.

“I’m not sure this is a good idea,” Andrey whines.

“Don’t be such a coward Andrey,” I say with a sigh, “You do your job, I’ll do mine, and this will go off without a hitch.” I explain.

“You got it man.” Maxim says and they both walk across the street.

I quickly grab Andrey by the shirt, “And don’t forget to wear your earplugs!”

“Right.” he says walking away rummaging through his pockets.

I call Konstantine to double check he’s ready to go with the stoplights and any security cameras. We don’t need video evidence of me sitting in my car or the boys lighting this car up.

Once he gives me the go ahead, I signal to Maxim and Andrey. Maxim breaks into Dominic’s car, bypassing the alarm system, in seconds. I can’t see what he’s doing in great detail, but I know he’s pouring gasoline all over the interior. Andrey’s job is to haul the gas cans away so Maxim can get in my car as soon as the car bursts into flames. I quickly put in my ear plugs because I don’t want to go deaf and watch with glee and anticipation.

We don’t want to stay long, but I need to see Dominic’s reaction. Within seconds Andrey is hauling ass toward his car and Maxim is throwing an old beer bottle filled with gasoline and stuffed with a piece of kitchen rag through the open driver’s side window of Dominic’s precious car.

Maxim is throwing himself in my car within a few heartbeats and the next thing we see are red hot flames skating across the inside of the Range Rover.

BOOM!

Glass shatters littering the sidewalk and street. I pull my car out of its spot and drive down the block, take a left, and park quickly.

“I’ll be back,” I say to Maxim as I get out of the car.

“Is that a threat?” He chuckles and I start power walking back toward the restaurant and stand in the crowd of onlookers.

Some people are running away from the scene, some are crying, but it’s mostly silent. I hear distant sirens and feel the buzz from my phone in my pocket.

I check my messages and it’s Konstantine letting me know the fire department is five minutes out. I send off a quick “ok” and duck in an alley so I can watch the scene without being seen.

Next thing I see is Dominic storming out of the restaurant, they must have been seated toward the rear of the dining room for privacy, the bastard, and he didn’t know it was his car that exploded only moments ago.

“WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?” Dominic shouts.

Silence.

“I WANT TO KNOW WHO DID THIS! RIGHT NOW!” He shouts indignantly.

No one speaks. He’s fuming, just like his car.

“NO ONE? NO ONE SAW ANYTHING?” He demands from the crowd.

“Dominic, calm down. We’ll figure this out. Maybe there was faulty wiring or something? We are lucky to be alive!” She says, trying to console her friend.

“No! This wasn’t an accident. Do you really think a car will explode like that just from some faulty wiring? Are you stupid?” He insults her and I know now that my job here is done.

Her cheeks burn red and I know it’s not only because she’s standing near a burning car.

“Excuse me?!” Charlie says, raising her voice.

“You heard me. There’s no way this was an accident! Think C.C!” He continues digging himself a hole so deep, he won’t be able to climb out.

“I did hear you. Listen, I know you’re upset about your car, but you don’t get to talk to me like that. You’re my friend. So stop being an ass!” She shouts.

She’s pissed and he’s doomed. Perfect. She’s walking toward Dominic and I think she might slap him, but I don’t get a chance to see because my phone vibrates in my pocket.

I wrestle it out of my jeans and see my father’s name. I answer and take a few steps further into the alleyway, “Hey Pap,” I say in greeting but I don’t get a chance to say anything else.

“I need you, Andrey, and Maxim at the club now! Someone tipped off the cops again.” He growls out.

“What?” I say shocked and stop in my tracks.

“I got a call from Liam just in time and we were able to get everyone out of there, but this needs to stop now!”

“Okay, I’ll get the guys and we’ll be on our way.” I say hanging up the phone. I make my way back to the car just as pissed off as Pap. Who the fuck is ratting on us? This makes no sense! Without Liam on our side and warning us, again, we’d be toast.

I make it back to the car and throw myself into the passenger seat. Andrey is in the back and Max is at the wheel.

I don’t waste time telling them about the boss’s phone call, “We need to go now!”

As we drive, I think about Charlie and Dominic back at the restaurant. I hate leaving her with no security, but I don’t have any other choice.

Remembering their argument, I chuckle to myself. Dominic has always been a hotheaded idiot, so I’m not surprised by his reaction, but he’s been doing his best to hide his true nature from Charlie over the past four years. Now she’ll have to decide who is worth trusting.

It’s been twenty-hours and I haven’t heard from Charlie. After leaving the restaurant, and dealing with the rat situation, I decided to wait a few hours to call and check in so I didn’t seem like an overbearing asshole, but she wouldn’t answer my call. I want to give her time, but I wish she would reach out to me.

I know she was mad at Dominic for being a dumbass, so I’m surprised that she isn’t answering my calls or texts. I figured she’d call me right away since she was at the scene of a car explosion. I thought she would have wanted to rage about Dominic or that she’d at least be more upset at him than she is with me. I guess she just needs more space than I expected.

Andrey and Maxim have been keeping a close eye on Charlie for me, discreetly. I don’t want her to be more angry with me about the spearmint twins, but I won’t be able to get any work done if I don’t know she’s safe.

I’m terrified that the wrong people may know about us now. I know Dominic is dumber than a box of rocks, but there’s no way he hasn’t put two and two together about who I am, but since they’re so close I know she confided in him about me. That fact is still boiling my blood.

He may not know I’m Ilya’s son, but he definitely knows how Charlie feels about me, and that’s not good. He’s still dangerous, even if he doesn’t know anything. I’ve texted Charlie five times and called her just as often throughout the day just to check in. I’ve tried to keep my voicemails light and my tone soft in my texts. I don’t want her to think she can’t call me or text me about Dominic.

I don’t care that she’s still mad at me, but I wish she would answer the phone. I need to hear her voice. I was forced to be apart from her for too many years, so these last few weeks have been a breath of fresh air. I didn’t realize how much I missed the way she laughs, how she sighs when she’s frustrated and doesn’t know what to say, or even the obnoxiously cute way she sneezes.

Her calming effect started to overwhelm me, but now that she won’t talk to me, I realize how much I need her. When we’re together I know she’s safe. When we’re together, life seems less crazy, less like a pile of shit.