Page 118 of Thorns of Lust
He had been gone for three weeks. It was her brother’s bullet that finally ended him, and I couldn’t get the blonde woman off my mind. She hadn’t left my thoughts since the last time I saw her.
New Orleans wasn’t my city. I never cared for it, but now it housed two of my family members in its cemetery. My father’s body remained in Russia. It seemed cruel to my mother to have him buried next to her.
Humid summer weather filled the air. Sunlight glimmered through the old stones and threw shadows onto the century old cemetery grounds. Images of my twin brother played through my mind.
The addict. The heartbroken man. The geek during school years. The scared little boy.
After Mama’s death he turned into a terrified little boy. Depression plagued him. Love drowned him. Then bitterness swallowed him whole.
The cruelty of our world didn’t agree with him.
Somehow, I knew we’d end up here. No amount of protection could have kept him safe once he started losing himself in the white powder.
Marchetti, Agosti, Leone, Romero, Callahans.
They all stood behind me as the local priest gave his last blessing to Maxim’s eternal soul. It was all fucking bullshit. None of us earned it. None of us would get it.
I stared at both tombstones, the engravings identical. They weren’t far from Adrian Morozov. It still boggled my mind that his mausoleum was so close to my family’s.
With the final blessing, the priest came forward and offered his condolences. I shook his hand, not bothering to make small talk.
My phone beeped and despite the priest talking about the eternal life he’d secure for Maxim, I ignored his babbling and retrieved my cell.
Surprise washed over me to see it was a message from Tatiana.Want a drink?
I wasted no time replying.My place.
Bubbles appeared, then a reply back.You want me now?
A sardonic breath left me. Now, yesterday, ten years ago. Tomorrow. Ten years from now.
Forever.
I wanted her forever.
I’d never truly lived until Tatiana came into my life. My brother was dead, but it was no fault of hers. His life slowly started ending the day we saw our mother die.
I typed a message back.I always want you.Then to ensure she knew where to go, I expanded.Wait for me at my place. French Quarter. I’m at a funeral. St. Louis Cemetery.
A short reply.Ok.
Satisfied she’d be waiting for me and tucking the phone back into my pocket, I returned my attention to the row of mourners. Some honest; many not. Maxim managed to line up a lot of enemies during his years of drug abuse. His hacking skills worked against him during those years because he wanted to fuck with people - for one reason or another.
Dante Leone approached offering his condolences and a handshake. I didn’t bother replying, just offered a terse nod.
Marchetti was next, his eyes flickering around. “Just you?”
The question was odd but my mind was elsewhere, back in my place with the blonde angel who’d be waiting for me.
“Yes. Who else do you think would be here?” I asked sarcastically. “I just buried my brother.”
Not that he was there for me much in the past years. As for my sister, I’d never bring Isla around these men. The two of us said goodbye to Maxim together, back in Russia. Neither one of us had been close to Maxim for years, his rage pulling him away from us.
Nonetheless it was a loss.
“Let me know if there is anything you need,” Marchetti offered. I nodded. “Will the Nikolaevs cause further trouble?”
A sardonic breath left me. “Probably.” But I was about to cause even bigger trouble for them. “I’ll handle them though. They now cost me my brother and his woman. Adrian’s fuck up could be perceived as partly their fault too. So it’s their turn to pay up.”
