Page 15 of The Brigadier

“Let me give you a piece of advice,” I told him, closing in on the counter. “Get him. I don’t care if Bobby is in the dentist’s chair or getting the fuck of his life. Let him know his good buddy, Nikolay is here to see him.”

The kid swallowed. “I’m telling you, he’s not here.”

All I could do was sigh.

And unleash the boys.

I stood in the same position as they started swinging, the glass easily breaking. Alarms went off but that didn’t bother any one of us.

The kid, meanwhile, was crouched down behind the counter, cowering with his arms over his head.

While the noise was horrific, it was Maxim’s laughter that almost became annoying. I was going to suggest the man take up boxing.

“Hey. What the fuck?”

As the new voice piped in, Bobby racing into the room, the kid jumped up and headed for the front door. I didn’t know anyone could sprint that fast.

I allowed the boys to continue as Bobby glared at me, his face puffy and red. He was wearing a fucking light blue leisure suit today. I could go blind just by seeing it.

When I threw out my arm, the smash and run effort completely ceased. The silence at this point was beautiful.

Bobby was still fuming, as if that was going to get him anywhere. When he came out from behind the counter, acting as if he was going to confront me, I simply unbuttoned my jacket, allowing him to see the weapon right there in my holster.

He stopped short, maybe getting the message.

“What do you want, Nikolay? We’ve always been buddies. Now this? You fuck up my store?”

“So here’s the thing. We aren’t buddies. We’ve never been friends. You are like a roach crawling the earth looking for crumbs. Up to this point, it was allowed. No longer. You fucked with Charlie, my man. Remember him? He’s into you for fifty large. As of this moment, that debt has been released. Do you get it?”

“You know I can’t do that. I’m a businessman.”

My anger was usually fairly contained.

But not today.

With the desire that I couldn’t get rid of, Charlie’s blubbering, and the fact some asshole wanted our diamonds, I was spitting angry. Instead of shooting him on the spot, I shifted my forearmunder his throat, pushing his beefy body back with ease and smashing it against another wall. Shit fell off onto the floor and I was certain he was about to start crying like a baby.

I was extremely strong, could easily break a man’s neck.

He was choking, even though I wasn’t using the full extent of pressure that I could. He was flailing, hitting me with open hands. Didn’t his daddy ever teach him how to fight?

I pushed harder until his face turned beet red. “Head to the back where the good stuff is,” I told my men. It took them all of three seconds to react.

Meanwhile, Bobby was pleading with his eyes.

Why should I care? The lack of respect was intolerable. At least if I decided not to kill the pompous fuck, I would hit him where it really hurt. His merchandise. His beloved store.

The smashing sounds resumed and there were tears coming from Bobby’s eyes. I’d made the right choice, even if a part of me hated it.

It didn’t take long until another wave of silence hit.

That’s when I let Bobby go. He choked and bent over, acting as if he was going to die.

“You’ll live, Bobby. This time. However, the debt has been released. You need to tell me that it is and I’ll take you for your word.”

I backed away, waiting for him to collect himself as my men returned from the back room. He coughed and wheezed as if attempting to win an Academy Award.

Sighing, I closed my eyes. There were times I felt far too old for this shit. We were supposed to be professional businessmen, the old ways left in the past. But more and more, especially since new crime syndicates and cartels popped up in the city, it seemed we’d needed to resort to how our fathers had handled business. Or anyone attempting to get in the regime’s way.