Page 40 of Ties That Bind Us

Nick

It was amazing how much I had started to miss Ava when I didn’t see her. We usually only went a few days at most without seeing each other, but I was missing her like it had been weeks. We’d both been busy—her with school and me trying to get a handle on how my life was about to change. We talked every day, and as much as I loved the sound of her sweet voice, I was craving the feeling of her in my arms. Hopefully, I could convince her to move in with me soon so that we could see more of each other. The wedding planning was moving along, and we had a date on the books. As soon as Ava was comfortable, I wanted her here with me full time.

My father had already begun training me for when I took over after the marriage was official. Until now, I hadn’t fully comprehended all he was responsible for, and that was just with our family. After Ava and I were married, the Moretti group would be partly my responsibility as well, and the pressure would double. I’d also have to figure out a way to deal with the Asnikovs that would send the right message to all of our enemies. Since word of our merger with Moretti had gotten out, this would be my first opportunity to show the Mafia world the type of leader I was going to be, and it couldn’t be taken lightly. I was certainly feeling the pressure.

My dad usually didn’t venture to the warehouse unless it was a special circumstance, so when I got there and his car was parked outside, I was a little concerned. Hurrying inside, I made my way to the upstairs office. He was already in there with Leo, Zane, and another one of the council members. I could see smiles on their faces and could tell they were laughing, which was a good sign, but it still made me a little uneasy that they were all here first thing in the morning.

“Hey,” I said shutting the door behind me. “Everything okay?”

“For the time being, yes,” Zane said. “But we’ve got a little problem.”

“What kind of problem?” I growled, throwing my bag into the corner. This wasn’t exactly how I wanted to start my day.

“The kind that smokes cheap cigars and has a shitty accent,” Leo scoffed confidently.

My dad rolled his eyes. “As your brother so eloquently put it, Asnikov is making moves. One of our clients out of Miami called me this morning to cancel a shipment. Apparently he’s getting the same guns, just cheaper, from Alek.”

“Are you fucking serious? How?” I rubbed my temples. This was the most inopportune time for the Russians to start poaching our accounts. The merger had already created some rumblings with our clients, and it seemed Asnikov was taking advantage of the vulnerability.

“We aren’t sure,” Zane spewed. He didn’t like having a problem he couldn’t solve. “But they need to be dealt with before we lose anything else.”

“The timing of this is too coincidental, this has to be about the announcement of the engagement.” I shook my head as I took a seat behind the desk.

“That’s what we’re thinking too,” my dad agreed. “But we can’t expect it to end here. They’re toying with us, but who knows when it could escalate.”

“Does Ava need protection?” I furrowed my brow. The thought of her in any kind of danger was debilitating.

“She’s not in any danger right now. No sense in worrying her over nothing,” my dad assured me.

“What do we need to do, then?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. I had a hunch where this was heading, but I didn’t like it.

“They had a guy named Vic seal the deal. He needs to be eliminated,” Leo said plainly. He was right. I hated that he was right, mostly because it was my job to make sure that happened. While I knew that was my role in the organization right now, it really wore on me.

Andrew had been the first person I had shot, and perhaps that was why each kill was hard for me. I always thought about him, and that day, and everything leading up to it, whenever I had to carry out a hit. I thought about our friendship, and how badly his family had been hurt, and because of that, it got harder and harder for me to separate. My father used to say I had too much of a heart to be in the Mafia, and for a long time I tried to prove him wrong. I hid how I felt about killing so that no one knew how much it bothered me. I would deal with it at night, on my own, where only God would see.

Something was different about this time, though. Maybe it was the responsibility I felt about taking over the group, or maybe it was that I finally had someone else I cared about whom I needed to protect. I was suddenly hyperaware of the feel of the gun tucked into the back of my pants and my itch to use it. Where Ava was concerned, I knew I would stop at nothing to make sure she was safe.

“Nick, I know that you don’t particularly like—” My father began to reason with me.

“I’ll do it,” I cut him off sharply. “But it’s the last time.”

Everyone looked at me in surprise, but my father nodded knowingly. He knew my compliance came from a place of concern for my future family. For my fiancé.

“Quick and quiet,” he instructed. “No one sees you come, no one sees you go. They have a safe house he’s holed up in, but he leaves every day at five. If you go now, you should be able to catch him.”

“I’m supposed to meet Ava at the restaurant at six.”

Leo nodded. “I’ll be there. I’ll let her know you’re running a little late.”

“And it might be time to consider moving the wedding up, Nick. I know you’re easing into this, but with their added pressure, the Russians might be moving along quicker than we expected,” my father cautioned.

“Let’s just take care of this first and see where we are,” I said, grabbing my sniper rifle from our gun safe. Things were progressing really well but I didn’t think Ava would take too kindly to me pressuring her into changing things since we’d just barely gotten a date set. I had promised we would take this slow, and I had every intention of keeping that promise unless it was absolutely necessary not to.

“Let me know when it’s done.” My dad nodded and headed out the door. Leo and Zane soon followed, leaving me to prepare for the hit alone. I needed to get in the right headspace and normally, I couldn’t do that in the company of others. I had to separate myself from the man behind the gun, almost as if it was a character I was playing.

Ava

I had been sitting at the bar waiting for Nick for thirty minutes now, and I was getting frustrated. Leo had let me know Nick was going to be late, and even kept me company for a while, but eventually he had to get back to work. It turned out he ran this restaurant, the same one I had come to with Rob the night I met Nick for the first time. I had come here right after class this afternoon, and had been trying my best to occupy myself.

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