CHAPTER 5
1331 Words
“Hey, hey, hey, hey! This is f*****g crazy, man. Come on, she’s fourteen years old!”
Enzo told Alexei.
“In the motherland, boys her age are considered grown men.”
Alexei said, looking at Alesia and nodding his head.
Alesia blinked and stared from Alexei to the gun.
“Alesia, you know what you’re doing, right?”
Enzo turned to her.
“This is serious. This is life or death.”
“If we don’t do this, Grandfather will disown us, and the rest of our family will destroy us.”
Alesia said, staring directly into Enzo’s eyes.
“We walk out with this alliance today, or we don’t walk out at all.”
Alexei rolled the gun across the table.
It stopped in front of Enzo.
“Looks like you’re first, brathuka.”
He said with a grin.
“Unless the cripple is chickening out.”
“Watch your mouth. I’m still the eldest son of Don Arturo De Luca.”
Enzo warned him.
Enzo raised the barrel to his head and pulled the trigger.
Click.
The empty chamber echoed through the dead silence.
Alesia breathed out in relief.
“You made your f*****g point!”
Enzo yelled as he dropped the gun.
“The game is not over till we find the bullet.”
Alexei said as he picked up the gun.
“But if it helps speed things along…”
Without even blinking, he raised the barrel to his chin and squeezed the trigger.
Click.
It was empty.
He put it to his head and pulled the trigger again.
Still empty.
He let out a loud, scary laugh.
Enzo shook his head.
“There’s two chambers left, and in one of them is the bullet.”
Enzo snarled at Alexei, scared that it was Alesia’s turn next.
“You said it yourself, Enzo. This is life or death.”
“Then let me take her turn!”
Enzo snapped.
Alesia immediately looked up at him.
He cares?
She thought.
“She negotiated as an equal. Now she plays as one too.”
Alexei cut in.
Enzo reached for the gun, but Alesia’s hand stopped him.
“It’s okay.”
She looked at him.
“We need him to trust us.”
Enzo slowly withdrew his hand as she picked up the revolver.
“Russian roulette is nothing but a bet.”
She looked directly at Alexei.
“I’m betting you wouldn’t want the blood of Don De Luca’s granddaughter on your hands.”
She lifted the gun slightly.
“And I’m also betting there’s no bullet in this gun.”
“Are you willing to take the gamble?”
Alexei asked with a smirk.
“Or are you too afraid of death?”
Alesia slowly raised the revolver and pressed the barrel beneath her chin.
“Alesia, put that gun down!”
Enzo said.
His heart was beating so fast.
“Death doesn’t scare me, Mr. Petrov.”
Alesia said, staring directly at Alexei.
“Put that gun down!”
Enzo yelled.
“Not anymore.”
Alesia added.
Not even a flinch.
She was as cold and calm as ever.
Slowly, she pulled the trigger.
“Put it down!”
Enzo screamed.
Click.
The empty chamber echoed like a gunshot in the dead silence.
Alesia didn’t blink.
She lowered the gun, slid it across the smooth wood back to a stunned Alexei, and tilted her chin up.
Fuck.
I haven’t been this scared in forever.
Not even when a gun was pointed at my head.
Enzo thought.
His hands were shaking.
He let out a long breath and rested his head on his stick, trying to calm himself down.
Am I actually starting to care about this kid?
He thought.
Alexei clapped his hands.
“Not bad, malyshka. Not bad.”
He stared at Alesia with respect.
“You called my bluff.”
Alesia let out a slight smile.
“Most men would have backed down from the bet, but you have real courage.”
He said as he handed the gun to one of the men behind him.
“Petrov, you’re as crazy as ever.”
Enzo cut in.
Alexei laughed.
“I’m glad you’re still the same too, Enzo. But your daughter is stubborn, brathuka. Good luck raising this one.”
He said, looking at Alesia.
She just smiled and remained silent.
“Yeah, she’s not my daughter. But she is stubborn.”
Enzo reminded him.
“Now we can talk business.”
Alexei said as he clapped his hands.
A maid walked in carrying a tray and handed him a glass of alcohol.
“Get a drink for the girl too.”
He told the maid.
Alesia smiled.
“Father, I can explain…”
Marco said to his father as he stood across the long wooden table in his office.
Don Arturo slapped him hard across the face.
“You i***t!”
“We needed the Petrovs to trust us, and you insulted their heir to his face!”
Marco tightened his fists and clenched his jaw, staring down at the table.
“Arturo, please. Marco is the heir,” Don’s wife said, trying to calm him down.
“My heir should not be a fool!” Don snapped.
“By the time Enzo was twenty-one, he had increased our influence. But you embarrass this family at every turn.”
He continued staring at Marco, who couldn’t look him in the eye.
“Enzo is nothing but a cripple,” Marco said, pointing down at the table.
“Who drinks himself to sleep, Father.”
Then he raised his head and looked at his father.
“And his five days are almost up. Do you really think he secured anything with the Petrovs?”
He asked mockingly.
Just then, the spy he had sent to the Petrovs—the one Alesia had seen earlier—walked in holding a file.
Marco immediately turned.
“Hey! Just the man I was waiting for.”
“Don Arturo,” the man greeted with respect.
Don stretched out his hand.
The man took it and kissed it respectfully.
“There’s something you need to see,” he said, adjusting his suit.
He handed the file to Don.
Don looked at Marco suspiciously before opening it.
The file contained some pictures.
Pictures of Enzo and Alesia at the Petrov Casino.
Don stared at the pictures as he slowly flipped through them one after another.
The office fell silent.
He continued looking through the file.
The first pictures showed Enzo and Alesia entering the Petrov Casino.
The next showed them sitting with Alexei Petrov.
Then another.
And another.
Don narrowed his eyes.
“What is this?”
“I followed them all day, Don Arturo.”
“And?”
The spy hesitated.
“No one was allowed inside. Not even Petrov guards.”
The room became quiet again.
Don looked at the next picture.
It showed Alexei personally escorting Enzo and Alesia through the casino.
“Show him the recording,” Marco told the spy, pointing at his father.
The man stepped forward and played a recording on his phone.
“Half the territory… once they’re out of the way, my rightful place…”
Sal frowned.
Shoddy f*****g edit, he thought, but remained quiet.
The recording ended.
The spy shook his head.
“They weren’t negotiating an alliance.”
“They were offering Alexei Petrov half of our territory.”
He paused.
“In exchange, remove you, Don de Luca, and replace you with Enzo as the new head of the family.”
Don slammed his hand on the table.
“Betrayal!”
The room shook with his anger.
Marco lowered his head, hiding the smile on his face.
Don’s wife looked shocked.
Sal remained silent.
Don’s eyes burned with rage as he stared at the recording device.
“Enzo…”
He clenched his fists.
“Bring them to me now!” Don snapped, pointing at the guards.
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