In the dim light of the early hours of dawn, the glowing red tip of a lit cigar burned bright. Nikolai stood in a black trench coat in the driveway of his new apartnt... the mutt had walked right into the snare.
Luis Caddel’s call that morning hadn’t been surprising, he had expected it even. Although it was a tad sooner than he had predicted, he didn’t mind, he preferred it this way as a matter of fact.
The High Council’s dog had arranged a eting downtown, proposing a one-on-one etup. Nikolai wasn’t dumb enough to fall for that, but he had played along until then, this was nothing.
He got in his car, his phone left behind in the apartnt, a demand Luis Caddel had made. It didn’t matter if he held his phone or not because he had already made preparations weeks before.
Nikolai’s eyes were like two drops of ink as he sped down the street. The least upsetting thing about the past week was the damage that had been wreaked on his turf, Angelo’s absence had hit harder than anything else.
The roads were empty that morning, so he got to the location in half the ti, burning down the speedoter.
The shabby, rundown apartnt was empty, there was nothing special about it, and the brief scout he did around the periter showed no one, just as Luis Caddel had promised. The dog was really overconfident, it made Nikolai wary.
He stood in front of the termite-eaten front door, his dark eyes clouded as he studied the house that didn’t look like it had been lived in for several years, trying to figure out why Caddel had chosen this as their eting spot.
The sun was rising behind him as he walked in, gaze sharp despite his languid gait.
"I trust you didn’t renege on the dealbreaker," An unfamiliar voice spoke as soon as he took a step in.
Nikolai paused, taking in the Alpha seated on the only chair in the room, a wooden chair that seed to have seen better days.
He lifted his hands lazily, smoke clouding his features, "You’re welco to frisk if you like." He invited, keeping his tone light.
Luis sat back, dark eyes satisfied. "Trust isn’t a word I would use with you, but I trust in the importance of the etup to you."
Nikolai lifted a brow, Luis Caddel seed to have a lot more to say, so he remained silent, watching the room slowly brighten.
The windows were all thrown open, letting in the first rays of the morning sun. It showed the peeling paint and the dusty, stained carpet that had completely lost its original color.
"Co in, Mafia King Nikolai." Luis invited mockingly, "Scared?"
Nikolai remained silent, the depths of his dark blue eyes hidden behind wisps of scented smoke. He obliged and walked in, he knew he had walked right into a trap, but that didn’t an he would carefully observe before making a move.
Luis Caddel would soon co to learn that he would have been better off going back on his word as soon as he showed up.
"Before we begin..." Caddel didn’t rise up from his chair in the center of the room, but he didn’t take his eyes off him either. "There’s soone we’re missing..."
Nikolai froze at those words, unable to hide how affected he was by them in ti. The glitter in Luis Caddel’s black eyes gave him all the confirmation he needed. He crushed his cigar in a fist, extinguishing the lit stick with his bare hands.
Luis’s faint, mocking smile stretched out into a grin, satisfied with the reaction he had gotten. He made a show of staring at the watch on his wrist, his gloved hand flexing.
"They should be here in a few minutes," He inford helpfully, "Before they get here, why don’t we get started? I heard you’ve been looking for , Mafia King?" Luis Caddel leaned forward as he said his title, the threat in his voice clear to hear.
Nikolai just calmly lit another cigar like nothing had happened, Angelo’s presence held no disadvantage to him, he just didn’t want the other within a mile of the pile of shit in front of him.
"I could tell you now, or you want to wait till Angelo gets here?"
Luis Caddel’s smile didn’t fade, "Might as well. I feel like he would really like what you have to say."
- -
Angelo woke up groggy in the back seat of a car, an uncomfortable and nauseatingly familiar pressure around his neck.
He couldn’t see after waking up, and he thought it was because it was still dark but he quickly ca to realize that it was because his vision was obscured.
He could tell that he was in a car, the motion of driving and the leather seats were a dead giveaway. It was just him in the backseat and even though his hands weren’t restrained, he didn’t make an effort to take the hood off.
The car was dead silent save for the running engine, and all lighthearted thoughts of this being Nikolai’s doing had long gone, his thoughts lingering back in Silvia’s house.
He hadn’t been hearing things, he had heard a gun shot. Hearing it alone shook him up more than seeing it would have... he tried to stop thinking about it for the mont and focused on his current situation. He needed to get out of this alive so he could see for himself that Silvia was fine.
Angelo couldn’t guess how long he had been out for, the hood over his eyes doing a great job of disorienting him. He had no idea how long they had been driving for, or where they were even heading to.
He tried to remain perfectly still, hoping to get a clue by listening hard. He fought the urge to take his hood off, knowing there would be consequences, he would rather Silvia wasn’t on the receiving end of that.
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