Page 4 of Vengeance

That’s something to deal with when the time comes, and it’s no use trying to convince Eileen of that. One thing I’ve learned about her these last few months she’s been with me is that she rarely, if ever, budges when she’s made up her mind about something.

“What did he give you?”

Eileen passes me a yellow folder, but I don’t open it until were back at the main part of the house and sitting in my home office.

It’s a bunch of files with names and photos of all the biggest players in the bratva. The Russian mafia. Every boss, every lieutenant, captain or whatever the hell they call themselves. Like the Italians, power amongst them has less to do with titles and more to do with understanding. The titles and structure that people think our organizations run under are mostly classifications that law enforcement we haven’t bought off adhere to and the public has latched onto in their fascination with us.

The Italians have never had much to do with the Russians. Their much smaller and younger than the Italian families with less power and connections As long as they stay off Italian turf and don’t interfere with our business, we let them be, and they’re not dumb enough to start shit with us, no matter how big and ruthless their soldiers.

But according to Isabella, Pray’s greed has weakened the Italians. Interpersonal fights and disputes have never been anything new. It’s an expectation of the business and the same as with any people or family. But never like this.

The Russians have tried their damnedest to stay the hell out of it because they think we’ll implode from the inside and destroy each other so they can gain more ground. And while both Isabella and I would like to say there’s no chance of that happening, the way Pray has things set up, even when we come out of this on top, there’s a possibility the power and influence we have will be tarnished.

But that’s not why me and Viper care about them being allied with us. What we care about is the fact that the bratva are damn good black market weapons dealers. And if we want to see this fight with Pray through to its inevitable conclusion, I need a lot more that I’ve been able to get my hands on. Substantial as that already is.

“They’re going to be hard to convince to ally with us. Even with all the ways they benefit and could expand their power by doing it,” I point out.

“That and the fact that you don’t have a penis,” Eileen adds. “But Adrian seems to think proof of Pray’s plan to campaign for president will persuade them to our side.”

I hadn’t gotten that far into the files, so I ask, “Proof?”

“Keep going.”

I skip the rest of the information on the Russians and get to the information on Pray’s plans to run for president. Potential platforms to run on. Campaign deals and promises. His potential base. The states he’ll tour. The people, places, and events he’ll visit. A list of rich doners to help fund him. A carefully crafted narrative and information both good and bad to release at just the right time to keep him being talked about and in people’s faces.

It's a lot more than what I had and ever thought I’d be able to get my hands on about his bid for president. I’d known about it. Only because Delilah’s girlfriend, the woman who almost had me killed nearly a decade ago, has an interest in things like politics and called that Pray was preparing to make the bid. But I’ve never anything beyond her very educated guess to prove it.

This proof changes everything, though.

Mixing crime and politics in this way has always been something anyone who works in the criminal underworld frowns upon. Too much scrutiny. Too much opportunity for a journalist or overeager investigator to put obscure pieces of evidence together and expose us for even the most airtight of records.

But if anyone could pull it off, Pray could. And it was one thing for him to have a monopoly on crime in the country, but it’s a completely different thing for him to have even proximity to the highest legal authority in the land. He could systematically eliminate every single one of his rivals and never implicate himself. Go down in history as the man who beat the mob for good while it never being known that he and them were one and the same.

If this doesn’t convince the Russians to side with us, nothing will.

“When’s he planning to announce his bid?” I ask.

“After his term as governor is up.”

“Right after the election or after the change of power.”

“Depend on which one benefits him the most.”

“We’ll assume the earliest date then. We’ve got to get him out of here by November.”

“That’s going to be tight.”

“If we get the Russians help, we can pull it off.”

“I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about…” Eileen nods her head toward my belly.

I resist the urge to rest a hand there. She’s right. November is just a month after I’m due.

“That’s if I go that far,” I correct. “Something to worry about when it comes.”

“I’d feel better, and I know Adrian would feel better, if you had a contingency plan. Just in case.”

“We’ll talk about it if we can’t get the Russians on board.”

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