Through the soundproof leather door. We enter Ivan's office. Extreme opposite to miss Qin's, this room is filled with all kinds of expansive decorations. A golden coffee table with a bunch of vodka and whiskey on it and a leather sofa next to it. A 50-inch TV on the west wall. Ceiling with gold lining on the edge and around the lights. A huge red Indian carpet almost covered the entire floor.
A black desk in the middle of the room(also with golden lining on the edge) there's a bunch of papers, a revolver, a glass ashtray with several cig ends, and a golden plate with some leftovers of cocaine on it. A black baroque-style leather chair is behind the desk. A gun cabinet sits at the northwest corner of the office.
Ivan pours two shots of vodka and hands me one.
"To your health."
"To your wealth." He grins at my words.
Hot liquor down my throat. Undiluted vodka plus the martini I had have given me enough courage to battle all my unwary doubts about..... everything. Heaven knows how I needed this.
"You got your office renewed. Again."
"A bit. Here and there yeah." He pours himself another one.
"Humble eh? Shouldn't you be preparing for war or something?"
"Гавно!" He downs another shot and lumps down next to me. "Everybody is talking about war. War this, war that, for fuck sake." He continues swearing in Russian but I can't make out the rest.
"Thought you would be the most eager when it comes to a good old-fashioned bloodbath," I say while side-eyeing him.
"That's when I was still a soldier. Now I got to worry about more than myself. And I got to worry about money again!" I look at him and the Indian carpet, the desk silently.
"Don't give me that fucking look. I used my own gold for this." He grabs the vodka bottle and pours mine and his glass full.
"To war."
"To peace." He clinks my glass as we finished the drink again.
"Peace? Don't tell me you're becoming a moralist." He groans.
"I was never a big fan of total conflict between two gangs. Bad for business. Bad for both sides." I cross my right leg on my left.
"Ha! You can take those words to Zakhar. See if he buys it." I raise my eyebrows.
"Bosses gave the words?" Ivan doesn't answer me. After a few seconds, he puts his glass on the coffee table.
"Not yet. But judging from the orders he gave, it wouldn't be long before it starts." He seems.......worried.
"You truly don't want this do you?" I sit up and look him in the eyes.
"........No. I fucking hate those slanted eyes in east but a war with them won't end pretty. I am not a fool, I can see they aren't disunited anymore. If it was 8 years ago I wouldn't even give a shit. But now....... Fighting them now will turn half of this city into a slaughterhouse." He leans back. Looking at the ceiling as he speaks.
I push open the metal door leaving a blood print on it. The sun is setting down.
"Especially now that you are not here." He glances at me. I see plea in his eyes.
I made a promise to myself too, Ivan.....
"I've told you, Ivan. I won't get into this. I won't get into either side." I lower my line of sight out of reflexes.
He looks at me. Pitying. Then he lets out a long sign.
"I know, I know." He grabs the bottle again. "ебать." He shakes his hand gently. "Your rules will kill you the day you break them." He drinks straight from the bottle. He sits motionless for a while like he's trying to let the alcohol take its effects.
"And where have you been for the past months? Fuck I even have my guys looking for you and they found nothing. Thought you were dead."
"So you were the one that's been telling people I'm dead huh?" He shrugs and raises his hands while still holding the bottle.
"Couldn't blame me. You disappeared from the face of earth. And you got Yulia worried you know?"
"She. Was worried? About me? She looks just like the last time I came."
Not. For. A single fucking second.....
"Believe it or not. She and the fellows were discussing what could have happened to you when they were off duty. Fuck me sideways....... some of those guesses were fucking hilarious. Eugene guessed you ran into Katerina on the street when she was in a bad mood. Igor said you probably got castrated by the Qins for fucking the emperor's daughter! " He starts laughing at the end of the sentences."I swear, there's a new version every day! "
"Glad that I'll be missed when I'm gone. " I let out a dry laugh. "And you? Did you come up with a theory about me too?"
"My money was on the japs. Thought they finally caught you cheating on a blackjack table." He grins and fills my glass once again. "But I was just joking. I know you wouldn't go that easily."
There it is again. Scorn on Death. You should know better than everyone Ivan. It lingers on top of us all.
He pours me another one and clinks my glass with his bottle.
"To the deceased."
"To the living."
I'm getting tipsy now.
"You haven't answered my question yet kid." Ivan puts the bottle down.
"I was...... on vacation." He doesn't laugh or smile. Ivan looks me in the eyes when I say it, but I avert mine.
"So that's what Yulia was laughing. And you've been on this...... 'vacation' for the past few months?" I nod but still avert my eyes. Lying to someone that knew you for a long time is the hardest.
".......I don't care what you were doing. I know damn well you can protect yourself.
But Lee, don't go on a 'vacation' too often alright? And... don't forget the way back." I can feel a strong hand on my right shoulder. Ivan gives me a few shakes.
Just when I was about to come up with something to say, Ivan's phone rang.
"прогресс? .......... хорошо." He hangs up the phone.
"The guys downstairs ran into a little problem."
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
***
The icebreaker has two areas, the part that's open to the public and the part that's open to the mobs. Behind the stainless steel gate is a spacious room, full of gun crates, and a bunch of low ranks who are unpacking and inspecting the firearms. A couple of fellows are playing poker at a round table. Lots of new faces.
Ivan walks in first before I do. The second I walk inside two men in hoodies drop the ak-103 they were cleaning and pull out their pistols on me. I sign.
"Ivan, would you?" He stops his footsteps and gazes at those two.
"Those that don't know this guy. Listen closely! If you shoot him, hit him, stab him, call him a chink. You suffer the consequences. He's a friend of mine and all your seniors, so those two fucking morons by the wall! Put your gun away and pray those rifles weren't damaged!" He continues walking. I recognized three of the older members of the gang by the poker table. They nod at me, the rest of the players look at me and their seniors confusingly.
At the end of the room, we walk down two sets of concrete stairs. There's a long table in the middle of the room. This floor can work as a meeting room. By the end of the long table is a rusty steel door, I see Ivan's bodyguards standing outside.
"босс." They nod at Ivan.
"How's our honor guests doing?" I can hear a series of muffled sounds and a man shouting coming from the door.
"Eugene had been inside for half an hour." The man on the left speaks as the one on the right opens the door. A disturbing scratching sound echoes through the room as the door was pushed open. Smell of Metallic, sweat and blood came out.
Rusty iron and fear.......
One of the stalkers is hanging in the air. He's handcuffed and chained to a meat hook. A young man with golden hair is beating him with precision hits. His mouth moves every time a punch landed on him. His eyes though swollen but still wide open.
The other one is tied to a chair. He looks slightly delirious, his body trembles every time the sound of a punch is produced. Seven of his fingernails were plugged out, covered in blood. They now look like pigs' intestines. Twirling.
Both of their suits were gone, they're almost naked with only a boxer on. Burn marks, bruises, signs of electrical shock are all over their upper body. Blood slowly drips down from their chin and hit their chest.
"Use your waist, don't let your punch do the work! Let your body do the work!" A middle-aged Russian with some gray hair is sitting in a chair, instructing the young man with golden hair.
"Understood." The young man with golden hair looks a bit out of his breath. But when the door opens he's the first to react.
"Boss!" He turns around and greets Ivan with respect. Ivan doesn't even look at him, he's solely focused on those two Chinese.
When I walk inside the small room he turns back to Eugene. "Do we....... need another chair......?"
"Look. Who. It is." Eugene starts grinning and slowly claps his hands when he sees me. "I knew you're not that easy to kill."
"Good to see you're still kicking too. Old man." The young man seems a bit unsure of the situation but he's keeping his mouth shut.
Good lad.
"And who's this?" I tilt my head towards him.
"Freshly picked 'Shestyorka' from the tenth street. Got assigned to Ivan's wing a few weeks ago by Igor, I'm showing him the ropes around here." Been a while since Eugene care about the sixes, the kid must have some potential.
"What's your name kid?"
"Budimir." Youthful, steady, and a bit of a punk but..... there's a sign of respect in his eyes. "I didn't know there's Chinese in our organization ...... sir." He's inspecting me.
Ivan lets out a laugh behind me.
"There is none. I'm not a part of the mob." He frowns at that. After a moment the realization hits him.
"You're the one seniors in the lounge have been talking about!" Yeah, there's definitely respect in his eyes now. I let out a small hum.
"So what's the problem, Eugene?"
"If I can't do some real damage to them they won't fucking talk. And this guy has been mumbling some Chinese for a while now." He points at the one suspended on the ceiling.
I take a few steps forward and put my ears close to his mouth but remain a safe distance so he can't bite off my ear. The sound is way too small and disorganized for me to understand.
I take a step back, raise my clenched fist to my chin, knee carries waist, waist carries arm. My index and middle knuckles impact a soft spot between his rib cage and hips.
The guy coughs out some blood and gasps for air.
"Hey. Focus." I snap my fingers in his face. He squints his eyes as he sees me. The once tired and hollow eyes are now filled with rage. A series of words spit out of his mouth so fast I can barely understand.
"What did he say?" Ivan asks while inspecting the tattoos on the other Chinese.
"Uhh...... I think that was Cantonese. He said..... he's going to fuck my mother and uh...... desecrates my ancestor's graves." Eugene laughs out loud.
"Want me to try ?" Ivan asks while cracking his fingers with his thumb.
"Nah. Not yet." I turn back to the Chinese. He's still staring at me.
"Do you know why you still have limbs?" I ask in Chinese. Now that I'm up close I recognize him as the stoic one of the two.
"Call it a gesture of good will towards...... colleagues." Alright here comes the important part. Focus!
"Because I think we may have a mutual master," I say in Chinese.
This is another gamble of mine. There's little chance that I'm right. But this can give me a hint of what he knows. When I finished the sentence his first reaction is confusion followed by disgust.
So he's not buying it. Which could mean:
1. He's working for Miss Qin but doesn't believe I do too.
2. He's not working for her but for someone else.
3. He doesn't know I'm currently working for Miss Qin. And thinks I'm fucking with him.
Let's double it down.
"Is Nan Shi Pei still hitting on receptionists? Saw him talking to the new girl when I went back an hour ago." He looks scared and starts glancing at the mobsters around when I mention Nan's full name.
"Don't worry. Maozimen don't understand shit." I try my best to sound fluent in Chinese. Thankfully I lowered my voice on purpose so it's hard to notice I suck at speaking Mandarin.
He's not convinced, but he's moved.
"I smelled smoke in Missy's office. Does she still hide on the balcony for a quick smoke? She sure grows fast doesn't she....." He looks shocked and he's not even hiding it anymore. His pupils expanded and his mouth is slightly open.
I take a glance at Ivan. He got the cue.
"Hey, lee! What the fuck are you talking about." He acts like some stereotypical angry Russian mobster.
"Just give me a minute."
He gave out a groan. I get a bit closer to the Chinese and with a low voice, I say.
"The one on the right is the Russian mafia's lieutenant. But you probably already knew that. He doesn't speak Chinese but he knows the boss's last name so let's avoid that." He gives me a subtle nod.He's on.
"Who........are you?"
"Me? I'm nobody. I don't have a name. All I have is a master. And only one. He send me here a long time ago. I can't tell you more." He and she pronounces the same way in mandarin.
His eyes wide open after hearing my words, at this range I can hear his heartbeats quicken.
"Are.....are you a 'Liu jiu' ?"
Yeah sure why not?
I tilt my head towards my right subtlety and look at him sideways with a warning gaze.
He starts panting quickly, he's eyes bloodshot, and his chest raises and falls in frequent motions.
"I, I thought I'm done. Can you get me out of here? Pleases! " He's almost crying. His stoic facade disappears, he's been afraid this whole time. Someone that has made his peace with death suddenly catch a chance of surviving. He sees me as his messiah. Now is my chance.
"I need a good reason to do that." I scratch my head and glance around a bit. "Why the hell were you following me anyway? "
"Th, the boss just ordered us to follow anyone strange that's associating with missy lately. And.......just when we were done today..... you showed up. After we saw you in missy's office we thought this is what boss send us for..... I thought he wants us to follow you...."
"How did you two know I was in the office?"
"We set up a hideout to monitor it..... across the jiu lou....."
Oh, I can work with that.
"You were spying. On Missy......And you say that's your boss's order? I doubt we are working for the same master." I step away from the Chinese and face Ivan, who's been standing there with his arms folded. "все следуют моему примеру." Ivan cracks his knuckles and takes off his jacket, Eugene grins like a beast and stands up from the chair. Budimir clearly doesn't speak Russian cause he looks confused.
"Wait wait wait! Pleases! I was inducted in the Guan Yu temple in the south! Qing lou himself vouched for me, and I kotow 300 times for the 300 seniors there with the last one being our master Qin Cunhua himself!"
Everyone in the room froze at that name. In the last hope of getting away, he ignored my warning about not saying any names.
"What's your name?" I turn around and asked him my last question.
"Xu Yu......" He looks like a ghost.
"Well. Xu Yu, hope you will be dealt a better hand next life." I turn around and walk away from him.
"Eugene, I'm down. You can take the gloves off now."
I and Ivan walk out of the torture chamber as the rusty door closes behind me with the same annoying sound. I didn't look back because I knew what I would see if I do.