Page 70 of Silent Heart

“He said the local leader of the Toro Syndicate paid them to do it. Don’t see a reason for him to lie,” Kazimir said flatly.

“Is he going to tell tales?” Dimitri grumbled.

“Negative. He won’t talk,” I interjected, finally having a contribution to the conversation.

Luka snorted violently. “Yeah, that’s one way to say it.”

Dimitri’s voice turned thoughtful. “What would it take to irradicate the entire Toro Clan?”

Kazimir shot me a pointed look. That question was addressed to me.

I tapped my finger against my thigh. A yawn crept up my throat, but I stifled it. “From what I’ve gathered, they are heavily based in their respective cities.”

“But with enough manpower, you could do it?” Hope filled Dimitri’s voice.

I let out a rough laugh. “I’m flattered you think me capable, pakhan.”

“Oh, we know you’re capable,” Luka chuckled. “You should have seen the mess he made, Dimi.”

Kazimir and Dimitri groaned in unison. A rapid conversation about tonight’s events ensued.

The truth was, I didn’t know how much fight I had left. Taking out an entire organization would have been something I jumped at two or three years ago. But recent events jaded me. I couldn’t irradicate the trafficking rings—only cripple them. No matter how hard or smart I fought, they always patched the holes I punched into their operations.

It was a never-ending battle, one that would see me to my grave.

Now the established mobs in Chicago faced a newer threat. The Toro Syndicate wasn’t an organization based on something binding like ethnicity or family ties. They were a gang that operated like a mob, pulling their members from the streets and shaping them with military efficiency. Their main base of operation was Minneapolis, but they were fighting tooth and nail to establish themselves in Chicago.

While our bratva wasn’t the only mob willing to do whatever it took to keep them out, the Toro Syndicate was always recruiting—like they’d tried with the street gang tonight. It kept their numbers higher than any one mob, and it kept organizations on their toes.

And my cousin thought I could wipe them out.

My heart throbbed wearily.I’m not a god, Dimi.

No, if I were, I would storm north to claim my woman and defy any force to take her from me. But I couldn’t even do that. The only way to keep Harley safe was to let her go.

“At least help me take out the satellite operating here in Chicago,” Dimitri repeated, doing a masterful job of keeping the annoyance from his voice that he’d had to repeat himself.

“No, pakhan. I’m not your man,” I clipped out.

“We’re headed to the airstrip,” Kazimir said quietly.

Dimitri’s voice filled with disappointment. “Oh, I see.”

I turned away to look out the window. My family needed me. But I couldn’t stay knowing that no one was fighting the scourge on the innocent. There were forces here who could fight the Toro Syndicate. There was no one saving the victims of trafficking. Unease trickled down my spine. It might be a losing battle, but I would never stop fighting. Now that one of the trafficking operations was in chaos, thanks to the authorities finally doing their damn job, I could return to the unwinnable war. The disorganization in the trafficking rings would be temporary, but it was enough for me to sneak back into the fray. There would be no trace that I was in Wisconsin or Chicago. My sabbatical was over. It was time to hunt.

The phone call clicked to end as Kazimir slowed the truck at the airstrip’s private gate. He rolled down the window and handed the attendant a stack of bills before creeping through to one of the hangers.

After putting the truck in park, Kazimir turned to me. “Kolya, when you offered to hunt the men responsible for the death of my wife’s sister, I didn’t think it would turn into this obsession.”

Obsession? I supposed from the outside that was one way to put it. The more fitting term was curse.

“Dimitri won’t say it, but we need you here,” Luka said, voice lacking its normal humor.

I set my jaw.

“Luka says you were seeing someone?” Kazimir changed the topic. “That’s pretty serious.”

I shot him a hard look, letting him know how dangerous the territory he was treading was.

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