Page 84 of Bound to a Monster

“Good, good, then why don’t you take that hand from your gun, please?”

I ignore him and leave my hand right there.

“Tell me everything you know, Jovan.”

“Just rumors. You know how things are. Everyone talks.”

“Then tell me the fucking rumors.”

Jovan groans and flops down on the dirty couch. For a man that moves millions' worth of product every year, he still insists on living like a scumbag.

“They’re saying your old man, God rest his soul, died under suspicious circumstances.” He glances back at me, eyes wide. “This is just what I hear.”

“Keep talking.”

Jovan digs a crushed pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lights up. “They say you potentially had something to do with it.” Then quickly adds: “But obviously not, that’s just stupid talk.”

“Keep going.”

“Valentin Zeitsev is angry, apparently. Your father was working some important job for him, and now that he’s dead, everything’s fucked for him. Your father was an important cog in the machine, so it seems. He made things tick, and now he’s dead, and it’s a mess.” Jovan blows out smoke and groans. “That’s all I know, okay? I don’t have more details.”

I glance away from the old Serbian and look out the filthy window. It’s worse than I feared. I knew my father was working on the Canadian job for Valentin, but I had no idea he’d been an important part of the whole operation.

Now I’ve got a silence order on my head. Which means, as far as the underworld is concerned, I’m already dead. Anyone caught dealing with me will be shunned and potentially killedthemselves. It’s supposed to be a fate worse than death—a fate reserved for men too powerful and connected to kill but who need to suffer.

“I need a shipment.” I turn back as Jovan stubs out his cigarette and lights another one.

“Can’t do that.”

“Cash deal.”

“Everyone recognizes my goods. Please, Lev, you know that.”

My jaw grinds. I’ve been losing good business associates for weeks now because of this shit. I’m only just beginning to understand the scope of how bad things have gotten.

“Two boxes. Right now. I’ll pay double.”

Jovan groans and his eyes roll. “Double. Lev. You kill me. Please?—”

“Now,” I say. The charming Lev Federov is gone. I’m a skeleton of that man, all the fat charred away and melted into rivers. “Get moving.”

Jovan finishes his cigarette and obeys, grumbling the whole time. I count out the cash and leave it on his milk crates as he bangs around the cardboard boxes.

The place smells like mold and mildew. I’m impatient and want to get out of here. I have a dozen other people to meet with, and this little excursion has been much more frustrating than I ever could’ve imagined already.

I’m on the brink. My family name and my whole reputation are dangling over the precipice. Valentin hasn’t formally crushed me yet, but he’s trying to starve me out, all because I finally decidedto take on my father. I’m bleeding support, and if I can’t do something fast, this is all finished.

Then there’s a curse, and a box tumbles down from the stacks. Suddenly, Jovan’s screaming like a dying cat as he charges me with a box cutter.

The old bastard almost gets me. I’m distracted by my thoughts and taken off guard when the box clatters to the floor, and Jovan’s a lot faster than I thought he’d be. If he had a gun, I might be dead right now.

Instead, I twist out of the way at the last minute. He snarls, stabbing forward, and I feel myself dropping into a fuckingfencingstance like I’m having a basement training session with Carmie. Jovan flicks his wrist at me, the blade slicing in the air between us, and I lunge forward as his arm goes across his body. I catch his elbow, shoving forward, putting his forearm to his own chest, and kicking out his ankles.

He hits the floor hard. I bring my knee into his gut and grab onto his wrist, dropping back into an arm bar. I flex my back, hyperextending his elbow, and he screams in pain as he releases the knife. It clatters to the floor.

“I submit!” he shouts, writhing and tapping like we’re in some fucking MMA fight. “Oh, fuck, please, Lev, I submit, I submit, I submit!”

I wrench hard, and his elbow pops.

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