Page 130 of Mafie Trials

“No no no, they just got a little bit of frostbite. Their fingers ended up being okay though. Well, for the most part.” I shiver at his words and promptly step away from the freezer with a reminder that not even ice cream would be worth that.

Boris pulls out a bowl then looks back at me.

“Do you want to join me? I feel that I may owe you after you just saved my life back there.”

Okay, who was this man and what has he done with the ruthless mafia father I’d been coming to know?I mean, sure, he’s been sweet to me. But making jokes and eating ice cream feels weird. It feels… normal.

I think back to Alexi and how he’s actually really good at throwing in a random joke here and there that always gets everyone in the room. This makes sense now, actually.

“Want to hear a story about Alexi as a child?” I know an olive branch when I see one, and he really is trying. I pull out a chair with a mischievous grin on my face.

“More than you will ever know, but I want the good stories, Papa Bear. None of the sweet sappy stuff. I need dirt on these boys.”

He slides a bowl of ice cream in front of me, a grin on his face. “I’ll give you enough that you can bury them.”

???

I’m crying, sobbing hysterical tears of laughter rolling down my face as Boris imitates what Alexi looked like trying to get out of a giant mud pit of his own creation. Apparently, the boys thought the best way to evade the enemy was to trap themselves on the only island not made of mud and got stuck out in the heat all day. They were all three so sunburnt the family doctor had to prescribe them a special lotion to help.

“He looked like a little lobster for a week, it was quite pitiful.”

He keeps talking and I hold up my hand begging him to stop because I might actually pee my pants. The last thing I ever expected in my life was to be sitting here with this man in the middle of the night and finding this type of joy.

He continues to tell stories about Alexi and the boys, as well as some stories about my father. It’s been such a long time since I let myself think about him. I share some of the good memories with him too.

“He loved finding new hobbies to explore with me. We would get an idea and then do all this research by watching how-to videos and collecting all the gear. Sure enough, every time we would be into it for three to six months then we would be selling the gear and moving on to the next thing.”

I smile as I think back to the time my father thought we would be outdoorsmen. Living off the land and fending for ourselves. We didn’t even last three days that time.

Boris chuckles, setting down his spoon to lean in. “Want to know a secret?”

“Always.”

“When your father was younger, he was afraid of accidentally sleepwalking. We saw this scary movie about a man who was murdered in his sleep by his sleepwalking wife. Ever since, he was terrified he would hurt someone by accident while sleepwalking.”

“I never knew that.”

“He was so paranoid about it he invested in these mats that would trigger an alarm if he got out of bed at night. One night, he got up to pee and didn’t think about it and the second his feet touched the mats the alarm went off and your father peed the bed.”

My ice cream nearly shoots out of my mouth. I swear some of it even gets into my lungs as I choke while laughing so hard there is no way my face isn’t blue.

Boris laughs with me, his face bright red and I find myself learning to love him in a way I never thought I’d be able to love someone again. My love for Havoc has always been easy, but he’s more like a brother to me. I haven’t loved someone like I loved my father since the day my life was changed.

I may have lost my father, but Boris looks at me the same way he used to. He looks at me the same way he looks at Alexi. I believe that we can pull this off because now I’ve got my family at my side, and we aren’t going down without a fight.

???

Alexi

I woke up cold and instantly knew Evie wasn’t there. It’s a strange feeling to wake up without her because it hasn’t happened in months. My arms itch to reach out and pull her into me and try to get more sleep before everything starts. We have one day left to make this all work the way we have planned.

We are going to the airport tonight to do a quick run-through of movements and check the tech to make sure it all works for us. Our comms will have trackers in them along with our bracelets in the hope that if someone is taken they will find one and ignore the other.

I don’t think there’s an outcome we haven’t planned for, even death. The guys and I talked a few nights ago and decided we would each write some letters to be handed out in case anything happened.

Putting into words how I feel on paper for Evie was difficult. I am not typically an emotional being. I know and understand anger, but the other things are not something I deal with on a daily basis. So, I was very surprised to find my eyes glassy at more than one point in writing it.

We gave them to my father just in case and he filed them in his office, assuring me they would get to the right people should anything happen to him as well. My gut turns, unease settling into me as I get out of bed and go search for my girl.

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