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“Welcome to Gemini.”
Katja and I keep it together until we’re inside and past the velvet rope. Only then do we break into a fit of giggles and clutch at each other.
“Oh, my God, I thought for sure we were screwed,” Katja exclaims.
“Me too! The way he started quizzing me, I for sure thought I was done for.”
“Luckily, he’s a man with taste.” Katja laughs and takes my hand. “Come on!”
Down a dark corridor with red walls and tiny, twinkling circle lights above, it takes a moment for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. Then we push past a beaded curtain and step into the heart of the club. The sight takes my breath away.
A sea of people moves together, dancing in the middle of the club. The floor beneath them slowly fades between various colors while bright spotlights and colored lasers dance overhead in time to the thumping music. It’s so loud I can feel the vibrations in my breastbone, and I press one hand to my chest as we slowly walk forward. Several tables dot around one half of the room, and booths hug the wall on the other. A large stage sits at the far end filled with the DJ and countless dancers grinding on one another.
What catches my eye the most, however, are the multiple silver stripper poles dotted around the room. Each one has a naked man or woman grinding against the pole like their life depends on it, and the flashes of tits and dicks warms my cheeks in shock.
“Too much?” Katja yells in my ear, leaning close because of the music.
“No!” I yell back. “It’s perfect!” Reaching the edge of the crowd, I cast my gaze up to several hanging cages above the crowd. Each one has a naked couple of varying genders getting down and dirty, and my heart leaps into my throat. We definitely came to the right place. This is the kind of place that changes people. I can taste it in the air.
I tighten my grip around Katja’s hand and take the lead, weaving through the sweaty sea of slicked, dancing bodies to the glittering bar. Several topless bartenders rush back and forth between patrons yelling out their orders, and I dart into an opening, pulling Katja with me.
I’ve never had a drink before, beyond a few sips at important events, thanks to my father. This is going to be amazing.
“How can I help you?” A topless man covered in body glitter slides up to the counter with a dazzling smile and neon glasses atop his head.
Glancing at Katja, who raises her brow encouragingly, I lean over the bar, toying with the pendant around my neck.
“Two of the fruitiest cocktails you have!” I ask excitedly.
“Coming right up!”
Tonight will be a night to remember.
5
KRISTOF
“You speak as if we don’t stand a chance,” Aleksander yells. “Does the strength of this family mean nothing to you?”
“What strength?” I yell back. “We’re losing men in droves, losing money from not being able to operate safely at the docks and the resulting blow of how much we’re losing from not getting our drugs into the country? Never mind the countless bribes to keep those deaths out of the news. Aleksander, wake up! Whatever your plan is, it needs to change before there’s nothing left to save!”
Everything that’s built inside me these past months pours out like a torrential downpour and there’s nothing to stop it. Aleksander and I used to work so well together, and while I put up a cold front, it pains me to see how he’s slipped. The Orlova name is one to be feared and respected, but these past few months are turning us into a joke, and I can’t stand by. Not any longer.
“The wedding will fix this.”
“Fuck the wedding!” I round on Aleksander, pointing at him as he remains seated, smoking away. “You can’t put our entire future on that!”
For more reasons than I can word.
Alena is strong, I don’t doubt that, but no one can survive Mikhail. He’s a sadist in all the wrong ways, and Aleksander seems blind to what appears to be a very obvious power play. Married to Alena, all it would take is for Aleksander to meet a grisly fate and the Orlovas would be swallowed by the Kuznetsovs. There’d be a new Pakhan leading the Russian Mafia into a new era of bloodshed.
“You think me foolish?” Aleksander booms. “You think me blind? This wedding is more than just securing a future for my family. Why can you not see this, Kristof?”
“Because I have just spent a year protecting the most important piece of our territory, to come back here and see that you have made no progress. You will think about the Nikolaevs when they should be a done deal!” Every muscle in my body is wound too tightly. I can’t move for fear of snapping something.
“The Irish?—”
“The Irish won’t give a shit that we’ve got access to new weapons. I’ve seen the tech they used to take out three of our clubs last week when I wasn’t even in the country. This new shit from Mexico isn’t going to put us ahead. If anything, it will merely even the playing field.” I rake a hand through my hair, pressing my fingertips to my skull in a vain attempt to ease the tension bubbling under the surface. What frustrates me even more is that Aleksander smiles as if we’re having a pleasant discussion when he stands.
