The Score (13 page)

“Some men, many more than I am comfortable with, would hurt my daughter if they were aware of how much I love her,” Adrik continued, meeting Anton’s gaze head-on. “If they thought it would ruin me—and it would—they would do it. Sofia has lived apart from me, and while I visited with her every day, I did so in secret. I needed to keep her safe. I couldn’t risk someone getting idiotic ideas when she’s just an innocent child. So yes, the people I trust have access to my daughter, and only them. And even those people do not get to see my affection for her, they only know of her existence and relation to me.”

Adrik had given Anton access to his daughter and he’d been very open about his feelings towards the little girl. He wasn’t entirely sure what Adrik expected to gain from doing it, but Anton understood the point of what he was saying. “You trust me.”

“I’m trying to,” Adrik said, offering a smile. “But I can understand why I made you uncomfortable, keeping her presence quiet like I did. Your men, don’t be angry with them. They likely assumed a tiny girl wouldn’t be of much danger to you or your family.”

“Be honest, Adrik, what did you come here for?”

“To meet you. I have a lot of respect for you, Anton. I owe you a great deal, if we consider all that you’ve done.”

“There has to be more than that,” Anton muttered.

“You’re right.” Adrik took the time to pour another shot, offering it to the Pakhan across from him. Anton tossed back the shot and waited. “For the last two years, I have been cleaning house. Fixing problems. Getting rid of the issues. Smoking out the rats. Money, or making it, has been the last thing on my mind.”

Now, Anton’s interest was piqued. “Outside of the normal dealings, Sergei was dabbling in importing substance and diamonds. He tried to get me in on it the latter. I’ll tell you the same thing I told him. I don’t do diamonds. I don’t see the point. I also won’t touch human trafficking.”

Adrik agreed with a nod. “My issue isn’t what to import. I’m fine with drugs, and we have more than a big enough territory and market to get it on the streets and sold. That’s not the problem.”

“Then what is?”

“Getting the product,” Adrik explained simply.

Ah
, Anton thought. There it was. “You don’t have the contacts.”

“Or the reputation,” Adrik added. “Coming out of the woodwork like I did, so unexpectedly, had its downfalls. No one knows my name. Shippers aren’t willing to work with someone who hasn’t built up any work relationships to reflect on. Runners don’t trust a man they don’t know. I’m in a difficult spot.”

“I can see that,” Anton said. “Did you think I would hand over my contacts?”

Adrik laughed loudly, shaking his head. “Of course not. I expected you to tell me to go fuck myself if I asked like that.”

“I’m pretty close to it,” Anton admitted. “We’ve worked with our shippers and runners for years. My grandfather and his men built up those relationships. It wasn’t easy. They trust me for a reason. I can’t simply hand their names over to you, Adrik. Besides that, it’d be a competition. Who is paying more … things of that nature. Money makes people greedy and messy. It just wouldn’t work.”

“But you can vouch for me. And the fact of the matter is simple, Anton, you need a little less spotlight right now. Everyone is looking at you. The officials are chasing your people like dogs. Whether you like it or not, your contacts are going to start seeing you as a risk—their liability. Even if you can get off on these charges—”

“I will,” Anton interrupted sharply.

“Even if you do, you’ll still be the face of organized crime in New York. The one boss the officials look to every time something happens. Your contacts will start turning your men away, refusing your jobs. You know it, and so do I. You need a backup, and you need it now.”

Anton tossed his clenched fists in his pockets, attempting to hide his frustrations. Adrik was right in all he said, and that pissed Anton off something fierce. He’d been so caught up in the drama of his upcoming trial and the difficulties he and Viviana had faced over the last few months that his Bratva business had been pushed to the side.

No wonder Ivan wanted him to do this dinner.

Fuck.

“Are you offering to work with me?” Anton asked, not bothering to hide the sarcasm in his tone. “Because again, I don’t think that’d work out too well on the competition side of things, Adrik.”

“No,” the Jersey boss replied instantly. “I’m offering to work
for
you.”

Anton’s thought process cut off. Bosses didn’t work for other bosses. That wasn’t how it worked in their world. That would, essentially, make him Adrik’s boss.

“Forgive me, but that makes even less sense. If you’re wanting to make your own way, make your mark and reputation, working for me surely won’t do it.”

“I’m aware of that,” Adrik said dryly. “The arrangement would be a little … unconventional, sure.”

“That’s saying it lightly.”

“But it would also require a great deal of trust. Have I not shown you that? And respect, that too?”

Anton chewed on his thoughts. “You have. I’m listening, Adrik.”

“That’s all I want, Anton. Just listen. If you think it can be done to your satisfaction, I’m more than happy to work with you for the deal to be more to your benefit than mine, because eventually, it’ll come back to me tenfold, anyway.”

Anton watched his son climb up on a chair, kicking his little legs out and sitting straight and proud. He knew, without a doubt, he needed to set things up for his boy. Already, Demyan was so much like his father that it was hard to deny the likelihood of him not being involved in the Bratva when he was older.

“So,” Anton mused, drumming his fingers to the bar, “… work for me, hmm?”

Adrik grinned. “You’re as arrogant as they say, aren’t you?”

“Oh, yes. More so. Talk, I’m listening.”

Before the conversation could continue, three servers began bringing the dinner order up. Anton helped his wife get their son settled into a chair, though Viviana tried to convince Demyan to let her feed him.

“I’s a big boy, Ma,” Demyan said. “I’s can do it.”

Anton snorted under his breath. “
I’m a big boy
, little man.
I can do it
. Try not to make a mess.”

Demyan didn’t even bother to respond, instead focusing on the fork that was much too big for his tiny hand. Adrik’s daughter, however, jumped up into her father’s lap, happily allowing him to feed her bites from his plate and hers. All of Adrik’s attention was back on Sofia, as if she was his little princess.

Anton was reminded of how much he desired another child.

“That looks good,” Viviana said, pointing her fork towards the steak on Anton’s plate.

Raising his brow at his wife, Anton asked, “You’re interested in my steak, Vine, really?”

“I said it looked good. It does. What?”

Since when was his wife big on steak?

“Nothing, here …” Anton cut off a bite and held his fork out to Viviana. Grinning, she took the bite with a wink. “Good?”

“Very.”

“I can order another, if you want.”

“No,” she said. “I’ll just take bites of yours.”

“Fantastic,” Anton muttered. “So, I go home hungry. I see how this works, baby.”

Adrik watched the exchange with amusement. “You’ve been married three years, right?”

“A little more, yes,” Viviana replied. “Are you interested in being married? Maybe finding a mother for Sofia, Adrik?”

Anton nearly choked on the vegetable in his mouth. “Jesus, Vine! Not our business.”

“No, it’s okay.” Adrik smiled down at his daughter, offering her another small bite. “Eventually, maybe. Right now, though, my only concern for her is that she’s happy.”

“She’s a little girl,” Viviana said softly. “Right now it’s toys, dresses, and daddy. There’s going to come a time when she grows up into a little woman. Dances, dates, sex, periods—”

“Viviana, I am eating,” Anton managed to say, not remembering a time when his wife had embarrassed him so thoroughly before. “Not appropriate conversation for dinner.”

“Stop it,” she told him, rolling her brown eyes. “You’re being ridiculous. I’m only asking for Sofia, not to mortify you, Anton. Give it up and stop acting like a teenage boy. You know what a period is.”

“She has a point,” Adrik said, shrugging. “I’m aware of what my daughter needs, Vine. As she needs those things, I’ll provide them.”

“So you are looking for a mother for her.”

“Not actively, but I know she needs one.”

“But what about you? Don’t you want to have a woman you love and trust?” Viviana asked.

Anton desperately wanted to change the subject. “Adrik, our earlier conversation. What were you thinking of suggesting?”

Viviana took the hint and went back to eating, occasionally picking off Anton’s plate.

Adrik shot Anton a thankful glance before he said, “With your contacts and your assurance of my reputation to them, I could easily slip into the spot you hold now. I could ship and import, just the same as you do. However, they’d be working under the assumption they were dealing with only me.”

Anton waved for him to continue, chewing his steak.

“Like I said, you need the spotlight gone. You want to keep doing business. I can help with that. Your money, your product, and I can keep up the shipping end of it under my watch and name.”

Anton swallowed his food. “I can see what you mean about trust. You do realize I ship in the millions worth of product monthly, right?”

“I’m aware.”

“I won’t give you a percentage or product, Adrik.”

“I don’t want it. Just having the ability to get my own product in and a way to get it here gives me exactly what I need. But, I needed your contacts and your word to do it. It’s a good arrangement, for both of us. You get what you need, without doing much, and I get what I need.”

Anton picked up the napkin and wiped his mouth, leaning back in the chair. “If you stole from me—money, drugs, whatever—I would kill you.”

Beside him, Viviana didn’t react a bit to the declaration. While she had embarrassed him earlier, she was making it up to him tenfold now.

Adrik kissed the top of his daughter’s head. “I like my life, thank you.”

“I should hope so. You might be known for being ruthless, but do you know what they’ve come to call me, Adrik?”

“Brutal when crossed.” Adrik cocked his head to the side, amused. “Unstoppable. You have hordes of men loyal to you for the way you work and handle issues. I aspire to that. Who wouldn’t?”

Yes, Anton had to admit, he liked Adrik.

“To friendship, then?” Anton asked, feeling his wife’s hand squeeze his knee supportively under the table.

Adrik dipped his head. “To a friendship.”

With the dinner finished and the plates cleaned, conversation flowed to easier topics. Despite Demyan being a big boy like he professed earlier, he was curled up on his mother, his head resting against her chest and snoring while she rocked him like a baby. Even big boys got tired, apparently, and only then was it okay for them to act like infants. Sofia, too, had fallen asleep over her father’s shoulder.

“There’s one more thing I wanted to ask you, Anton,” Adrik began, still rubbing his daughter’s back.

Anton traced his fingers along his wife’s arm, content and quiet. “What’s that?”

“I’ve made it clear my first priorities are with my daughter …”

“You have,” Anton replied, confused. “I can relate. Why?”

“I want to insure her future, her safety. Things of that nature. I want to know that if something happened, and I was taken from her, she’ll be taken care of, loved, and protected.”

“Don’t we all,” Viviana put in from Anton’s side.

Anton agreed with a hum.

Adrik gave Viviana a pointed look that she missed, though Anton didn’t. “You did that quite well, didn’t you?”

“I tried,” Anton replied. “But I love Vine. I couldn’t imagine not being with her.”

Viviana’s head popped up, a bright smile coloring her beautiful features. “He did just fine.”

Anton wasn’t focusing on the words that were being said, he was focusing on the ones that weren’t. “What are you dancing around, Adrik? You’ve been frank with me all night. Suddenly you’re clamming up. It’s making me fucking nervous.”

“You risked a hell of a lot for your wife. You’re still facing the consequences, too.”

Viviana cleared her throat and stopped rocking Demyan. Clearly, by the frown she sported, Adrik’s comment had put her on edge. But, like the lady she was, she chose to take herself out of the equation.

“Anton, I need to use the ladies’ room, so if you wouldn’t mind taking him, please.”

“Sure, baby.”

Demyan switched arms, seemingly not noticing his new bed was his father’s much larger form. Anton reveled in the heat and quietness of his son as Viviana made her way through the dining area. Once out of view, Anton turned back to his new friend and ally.

“I think you offended my wife,” he said quietly. “Though I’m not sure why, so I’m not too angry about it.”