Page 30 of Niko's Printsessa

"Let’s try to keep Miguel and Luis alive, long enough for Niko to extract any useful information they might have.”

“We should’ve killed them a long time ago.”

“The cops don’t bother us because we don’t create messes they have to clean up, but unfortunately there is going to be a lot of blood shed, tonight.”

“No clean-up crew?”

“Not tonight. We have our own statement to make. No one fucks with us.”

“Did you call the Chief of Police.”

Alek nods, “Took care of it. He actually thanked us. The Peréz’s’ have been leaning on him pretty hard to look the other way, but he isn’t interested in betraying us.”

“Smart man.”

“They’re sloppy and they don’t care about innocents.”

“Let’s take care of them like we did the Caldera’s.”

Sergei clenches his fists, “FuckingMu-daks.” We all nod. Andrei’s wife Summer was abused by a low-life Caldera and in the end we killed them all. One thing the Sokolov men have no patience for is abusing woman. Aunt Zoya was abused by their father for years, and they were too young to take any action. Until they grew up and Andrei put a bullet in his head.

We dress in our tactical gear and gather our guns and extra ammunition. “Julio wanted a war and look what happened to him and his gang of goons. Gone, forgotten."

“I guess the world needs another reminder of who we are.”

Although Serg should really stay out of the war zones, he’s always had an insatiable taste for blood. “Be safe tonight, Serg. Tali will kill me if something happens.”

“Always, Brother.”

Alek and Isaak contact their teams and we drive to the warehouse, parking a few blocks away. We do a final check of our weapons. Alek radios his guys at the other end of the block, and Isaak does the same. Serg stays with me and the others take over a neighboring building to climb the roof and make sure there aren’t any snipers

Foko and Lev set up shop in the neighboring warehouse, and we wait for their confirmation.

I screw the silencer on my gun and check my sheath holding my favorite blade. A smile spreads across my face when Serg radios everyone it’s time.

Chapter Six

Becca

I lay down two cards and Max deals me two replacements, and I bet one hundred dollars.

He calls, Art calls, and Rurik raises another hundred. His cheek ticks slightly, giving his bluff away.

“I call.”

Max groans and folds and Artie follows, a smart move.

“What do you have RuRu?”

He ignores his new nickname and lays down a pair of kings.

I plop down my three of a kind and rake in my winnings.

“I need another shot to ease my pain.”

I refill our shot glasses with Zoyalov’s new citrus flavored vodka. We all tap our glasses twice against the table before shooting the liquor back.

Art shuffles the deck and deals out the cards. I slur happily, “Artie and RuRu! My new best friends!”

---