“Really. They’re using me as an excuse, Soph. But Dad knows full well that if he just lets me keep Alex, then I’d come home tomorrow.”
“Nobody is mentioning him, you know.”
“What?”
“Nobody is talking about Alexei. It’s creepy, like he doesn’t exist anymore. I asked my mom about him and she just shook her head like I shouldn’t say anything else.”
I bit my lip, worried. That was not a good sign at all. I didn’t know what my father would do to me if I had to go back to my people, but clearly he was never going to accept Alexei. He was such a stubborn man, so unwilling to bend when he was clearly in the wrong. And he was wrong to try to separate a mother from her baby.
“What do I do, Soph?”
“Stay where you are,” she warned. “I don’t like what’s happening here. Keep Alexei there and stay safe.”
“Okay. I’ll try. I don’t know how long they’re going to let me stay here.”
“But Vince will help you, right? I mean, he is the father and knows it now.”
“Yeah, he knows it.”
“He’ll help. He has to.”
“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “He’s not the type of man to be a father.”
“Shit. I have to go.”
“Okay.”
“Stay there, Kaley. Stay safe. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Bye.” But she had already hung up.
I took a deep breath. I hadn’t really considered what was going on back home yet. I had assumed the men were preparing for this war and life was going on otherwise unchanged.
But now I realized something more important. My father had disowned me.
Sure, he acted like everything he was doing was to get me home. He pretended like this war was to save me or something like that.
But he had my cell number. He could call me any time.
Instead, he talked a big game about bringing me home but never mentioned Alexei. And he knew I wasn’t coming home without my baby.
I was finished at home. It sank in and hit me hard all at once. I was finished at home and I was never going back.
The first shots had been fired, even if they were digital shots. But the war was on, and I had no home.
I stood there breathing deeply, trying to keep myself under control.
Suddenly I had a huge urge to go see Alexei.
I pushed myself up off the wall and walked quickly back to my room, to my son, the boy I would never, ever abandon.
18
Vince
War needed money.
That was just a fact.
If you wanted to run a successful war, you needed money. You needed guns and loyalty and the ability to pay off the cops and the mayor and much, much more.
But you couldn’t do a thing without money. That was what kept the troops loyal, the blood flowing, the bullets flying.
We drove in a convoy of three big black SUVs. Rafa was driving our car, with me up front and two thugs in the back.
We pulled up to the drop site. It was late, around one in the morning, and the parking garage was completely empty. We pulled our cars up and got out in force, armed to the teeth and ready for any shit.
The Latino gang, they called themselves the Rollers, and they were late. Under normal circumstances that wouldn’t be a big deal, but we were in a war, and who knew what the Russians were going to do.
So my guys were edgy when the Rollers finally showed up.
They came in two beat-up muscle cars. They pulled in slowly and parked and then climbed out. I recognized their leader, Carlos, but not the two other guys.
I stepped forward. “Carlos, you’re late.”
“Whatever, man. We had car trouble.”
I laughed. “Seriously?”
“Yeah, man, seriously.” He gave one of his guys a look. “Fucking asshole forgot to get it inspected.”
I laughed, shaking my head. “Glad you made it at least.”
“You got what we came for?”
“We do. You have the money?”
Carlos gestured at the guy next to him, who was carrying a briefcase. He popped it open.
It was full of cash.
“Good,” I said. I gestured to Rafa. He walked forward with a duffel bag and tossed it over to Carlos.
Carlos caught it and opened it up. He pulled out a kilo brick and smiled. “This is why I like you fucking white boys,” he said. “No jokes, just the shit in a bag.”
“Money,” I said.
Carlos nodded to his boy, and the guy slid the briefcase over to us.
I stopped it with my foot and then picked it up. I checked it quickly, and it looked to be all there.
“If you’re short, we know where to find you,” I said.
“Same to you, man.”
I smiled at him. “Nice doing business with you.”
Carlos nodded, turned, and the whole group got back into their shitty fucking cars. They pulled out and left.
“Easy,” Rafa said.
“Yeah, it was.”
I had a strange feeling in my gut, but it was over. We had the cash, and the Russians hadn’t made a move. I gestured at the guys and they got back into the cars.
We pulled out, heading down the garage. Our car was in the back, following the other two.