Page 21 of A Pawn in the Game
I eat the chickpea avocado toast the guard brought me, grateful that the meals have been vegan ever since the boss-man found out I don’t eat meat. I also replay the phone conversation he had before he left. It was obviously urgent.Did my dad make contact? Would he?
I simply don’t have enough information to reach a conclusion, so I finish my breakfast, and ask the new guard the one thing that comes to mind. “Do you like chess?”
CHAPTER 12
Luka
Leon’s official office sits in the back room of one of his casinos. It’s opulent and lavish and the place where he makes all his legitimate business deals. His unofficial office is located three stories below. It’s where the family business takes place, and only a few people know of its existence. I make my way downstairs and down the long, dimly lit hallway and barge into the room, not bothering to knock.
“Uncle, to what do we owe the pleasure?” I grit out, plastering a fake smile.
The aging man sporting a comb over stands as tall as he can, in an immaculate suit. Two of his apes stand beside him, trying to reach a combined IQ of a 100. Leon sits in his office chair, his knuckles white from gripping his pen so hard. “As I was just saying, I’m worried. The Russians are making us look like fools.”
“I’m handling it,” I respond.
“I’m not sure he is.” The asshole addresses my brother, not bothering to even look at me.
“I said I’m handling it.”
“Are you?” He turns to me now, huffing a laugh that makes spots of red appear in my vision. “Because as far as I can tell, Liz’s man betrayed us and both him and Liz are left standing proud.”
My brother glances at me now, as if checking if that’s true and I grind my teeth to keep calm. I could strangle him on the spot. But that would only bring more trouble to my grieving family.
I glare at my uncle. “Liz is loyal to us. And the guy who did it… well, I’m sure the Russians already killed him.”
He snorts. “Leaving them to do our job? What kind of message does it send?”
“I sent them a fucking message!” I roar, my calm quickly slipping away from me.
“Maybe, but you have shown Liz and his man they have free rein to fuck us over whenever they want.”
I stalk closer, and his apes enclose him. As if they could stop me if I actually planned on hurting him.
“Liz did nothing. He’s been loyal to our family for over ten years. He doesn’t deserve to die because a silly kid made a dumb mistake.”
“Pfft. Debatable.”
“That’s not how our family does business! We gain loyalty with respect, not fear!”
“He’s right,” my brother butts in.
“That might have been the case… earlier. Because they respected your father.” His mouth turns down in fake sympathy. But everyone in this room knows he couldn’t stand him. And the feeling was mutual. “Now, the family’s running around like a headless chicken.”
“Meet the head.” I gesture dramatically at Leon.
He sighs. “I worry people aren’t going to take a couple of kids seriously. And I’m just trying to protect Matej’s legacy.”
My heart beats loudly in my chest, my rage consuming me. Leon and I are both over thirty and well respected in our circles, much more than the leach standing in front of us.
He uses our silence to continue spewing bullshit. “What about Landers? Have you even made any headway with him?”
“We’re working on it,” Leon responds, and I suppress a groan.
“Maybe he needs more motivation. I’m sure a finger or two would do the trick.”
“We gave him a week. We still have three more days,” Leon says.
Uncle Toma sighs again. “I just hope you’re right. Before our reputation is tarnished forever.”
