Qin Yan has no reason to send them except for making sure I'm doing my job properly. Those henchmen were at the heart of noch, risking their live just to supervise me? I doubt that. Even if they didn't send them, the Qins might have some idea who they are. But to get them talking might need a bit of......... encouragement.
"Who's this ?" The sound of nan comes through the handset. I take a few steps away from Ivan and his guards.
"Nan, this is Lee."
"Mr. Lee, to what may I be of assistance?" I can imagine nan is putting on his grin while speaking.
"Plenty. But for now, I would like you to think it through before answering my question. Did you or did you not send someone to follow me?"
"Mr.Lee I wouldn't....."
"No, no, no. It's fine. You don't have to answer immediately. Let the question sink in. Give it real deep thought, and maybe discuss it with Miss Qin too. Because if your answers aren't the same as theirs then I might do some irreparable things. So nan, please show me the 'honesty' between colleagues you talked about." I hang up the phone and walk back to the Russians. The bodyguards are dragging the two Chinese inside the door they came from.
"All taking care of ?" Ivan puts his hands on his waist, watching his man do the work for him.
"Not quite, I need to know who they work for first."
"Ha! Way ahead of you, little brother. These two could have valuable stuff on those fuckers in Chinatown. My men are already on it."
"Ivan. I need them alive..... and mostly well."
"Yeah, yeah. But you owe me one. And I get to keep them after you're down with whatever shit you're on." Ivan roll his eyes and agrees. "In the meantime," He opens the door that leads to the club. "Why don't we go to my office and catch up on where the fuck have you been?"
***
The icebreaker is one of the biggest clubs in nochnaya, and also with the highest income thanks to all kinds of side business and the mobs' help.
The entrance has about three to four bouncers making sure no one is looking for trouble and no troubles can get in. The ground floor has a dance floor in the middle, two DJs are blasting electronic music by the north wall. On the east side is the bar area, which consists of one long counter with three bartenders. The initial idea was for them to serve cocktails and nothing else, but because lots of dealers conduct business here. Ivan got an idea.
He started making the bartenders provide drinks with 'extra' stuff in them for a higher price. The idea was a huge success, after a while he thought "Fuck it" and make the bartenders in his club sell FM2, LSD, coke, and all kinds of drugs to the customers that know their way around here.This action got a few complaints from the local dealers, but the protest only goes as far as complaints. They know questioning the mob's decision in the core of noch is not a wise idea.
The west side has a stage for 'dancers' to perform. Ivan once asked me if I think this is a bit too...... third-rated. I gave him a look but didn't answer him. Two weeks later he added a row of water curtains between the stage and customers so that it gives out a.......vague beauty? and change the lighting of the whole place to a red theme. Got to hand it to him, he knows what he's doing. The income of this place grows significantly after he takes over.
Since this place is a known stronghold of the Russians, customers usually behave while having fun cause you never know if the guy you just bumped is affiliated. But from time to time some drunk or high club rat forgets about it. So despite most of the time, regular bouncers can handle it, Ivan still decided to station two or three mob members at the monitoring cabin.
There's a set of the iron spiral staircase by the bar counter which leads to the second floor. Two malevolent-looking guards stand by it, blocking out any irrelevant people. The second floor is a giant 'L' shape balcony that overlooks the whole place. There are about 12 high tables and a small bar counter that only serves personnel on this floor. Contradictory to the dance floor, this place is pretty quiet (as quiet as you get in a club). People on the second floor are either official members of the mob or those that are deeply associated with them.
***
Ivan leads me up the stairs. The two guards step aside to let him enter but raise their eyebrows when they see me.
"Lots of new employees here."I raise my voice so Ivan can hear me over the music.
"Fucking war. Getting on everybody's nerves. The bosses want me to reinforce this place."
I see some familiar faces on the second floor. The Russian girl behind the bar counter raises her whiskey glass towards me and smiles. Igor is discussing business with a one-eyed man, he gives me a nod when he sees me. Yuri and his brother Yevgeniy both grin when they see me and Ivan. By the end of the 'L' shape balcony lies Ivan's office. A man and a woman are standing outside.
The man is Boris. He's been on guard duty outside of Ivan's office for as long as I know him. The woman spitting Russian cusses on the phone is Larisa, a 'Derzhatel Obshchaka'. Bookkeeper who collects money from brigadiers. Technically, she outranked Ivan, but since those two have known each other for a long time and Ivan never gave Larisa any problems the two are on good terms.
"это не сделано." She hangs up the phone. "Ivan. We need to talk." She turns her head to face me. "Good to see you're back in the game. I got a few things that you can......"
"Maybe later. I'm actually working right now Larisa." Ivan tilts his head but doesn't say anything.
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"Shame. War is coming. Job opportunities are everywhere, but be sure to choose wisely Lee." Yeah, about that........
"I'll keep that in mind. Since you too seem to have some business to attend to I will leave you to it them." Ivan opens the door to his office for Larisa. He looks a bit annoyed that he has to deal with her first.
"Wouldn't take long." She assures me before walking inside.
"That's what she said......." Ivan says in a dull tone and closes the door.
The guys downstairs might need a bit of time before they could get some answers out of the stalkers. And Nan hasn't returned my call yet.
I wouldn't do shit for them before he answers my question. The job itself is fucked up already in the first place, dragging more than one of my close friends into this shit storm. Whatever is inside that package is definitely not just for Ivan but for the Russian mafia.
What would the emperor's daughter send to the lieutenant of an enemy? Fuck, why does this looks some Romeo and Juliet bullshit.
And why the fuck was I followed remains unanswered either.
All I can do is wait.......or...
I walk back to the bar counter and enter the restroom next to it. A man is snorting coke on the sink. He raises his head to see who is it from the mirror. And as soon as he sees me he turns around and points his gun in my general direction.
I raises my hands slowly. He squints his eyes and blinks. Tilting his head to the right with the gun still pointing at my face. He finally recognized me.
"Lee boy? ебать！ l thought you're some Chinese spy or....... Chinese in general." He puts his gun back and laughs. "I heard you were dead you know."
He's higher than usual tonight.
"Not the first time I heard that tonight Pyotr." He turns back to the sink and finishes his line.
"It's good that you haven't forgotten your roots." He wipes his nose and pats my shoulder on the way out.
After he's gone I walk into one of the stalls, lock it, and bring out the kraft envelope.
Not heavy. Holding it I feel a rectangle solid object and possibly more than one piece of paper. Sealed by a red wax seal. Opening it will surely destroy the seal, Ivan wouldn't give a shit, the Qins want me to burn it afterward. No one will know if I opened it.
Pandora's fucking box.
No. Fuck no. I made that choice a long time ago. I'm not going to get involved in personal affairs of gangs. This is just a job. A fucking job that's all. I put the envelope back into my inner pocket and leaves the restroom.
***
Ivan is not done yet. I grab a high chair by the bar counter. Yulia puts her whisky glass down and walks towards me.
"What can I get you?"
"Lime drop martini."
"I thought you don't like dry stuff for your first drink?" She purses her lips.
"This ain't my first drink tonight." I give her a sly smile. She signs and brings out one of the vodka bottles in the back.
"Stynx huh?"
"Jealous?" Squeezing lime juice.
"Nah, I know where your heart resides." She smiles wickedly while adding a load of ice to the shaker.
Care to enlighten me?
"It's been a while since last time. Rumor says you're fucking dead." Her tattooed fingers grip the shaker tightly. Her tone amused.
"And you believe that?"
"Not. For. A single fucking second." She says in a teasing voice while slowly pushing the cocktail to me.
I take a sip and glance at Ivan's office. Still nothing.
"How are things going when I'm gone? Any news?"Yulia leans back on the table behind, her right hand is awfully close to a fruit knife. Gold up side down cross earrings sway as she moves.
"Not much. Just the usual stuff. A slightly larger gunfight with the chinks broke out two blocks away from rector street. суки came close……Too close." Her facial expression became gloomy for a second before it returns normal.
Yulia doesn't just hate the Chinese, she despises them with all her heart. Rumor has it that her fiancé was tortured and executed by the Qins in an opium den. When Ivan first brought me to this place she almost killed me on sight. It took a long time for her to accept me and even longer for her to like me. Now she thinks of me as one of their own.
She once said she sees me as a Russkie instead of anything else on a Sunday night after her shift ends. I still don't know how to think of that.
"Ivan's already done preparing for war. Everyone is just waiting for a reason." She says in a plain tone. "Boys are craving for actions."
"And you?"
"Ha! You know me. Skin all those sons of bitches if I can." She fucking means it. "What about you?"
"Me what? I'm not afflicted. I'll just keep doing what I been doing." I shrug and take another sip of my drink.
"Naive little boy." She smiles and slowly shakes her head. "You've been in this for what? 10 years now?" 12 years. "You should know there's no neutrality in war."
"If a war with piao jie actually happens. I gonna buy a small apartment at the lanes and wait it out. You wouldn't need to worry about me helping the Qins. But if I help you guys in a gang war then no matter the results I'll be seen as a personal merc of the Russian mafia." I made up the apartment part. But the rest is true.
Before I started taking most of my jobs at stynx, people already think I'm own by the Russians, the tales only lessened because of all the different jobs I did in the past five years.
"But what if........ let's say the Chinese are all the way up here." Yulia spread her arm to emphasize 'here'.
"While you're sleeping in your little condo. You get a call from Ivan. Gunshots in the back, people screaming. Ivan asks you to come here and help him. What will you do then?"
Whatever comes after.........
"I'll be here," I say lightly. She leans forward to the counter, close to me. And points her index finger at my face.
"There you have it."
"That was a rigged question." She laughs and walks back to get her whiskey glass.
"Nonetheless. I have the answer I wanted."
Ivan's office door opens as Larisa walks out with some documents. Ivan walks out not long afterward and gestures for me to come to him.
I finish my drink and get up from the high chair. Before I can step away Yulia stops me.
"I forgot to ask. Where were you at in the past few months?"
"Vocation."
"........" She waits a few seconds then starts laughing so hard that she arches her back. Her laughter draws some attention.
"охуи́тельно! That's a good one." She says while wiping off tears from the corner of her eyes.
"Glad you like it." I put on a smile.
"Fuck is so funny?" Ivan walks up to us.
"Oh, you have to ask him yourself."
Ivan glances at me and sees through my fake smile.
"Come on, let's get to my office." He says as he put his hand on my shoulder.