Page 10 of The Dark Side
Was his father going to acknowledge the renovation as a good thing?
“Helina’s fine, like I told you over the phone. You didn’t have to come home.”
Yakov sat in the chair opposite of him, offering Adrik to sit as well. “Someone tries to kill my son and granddaughter, I’m stopping everything I’m doing. Don’t you want my help?”
Adrik didn’t want to insult him. “Of course. Yoursonsand granddaughter deserve all your attention.”
Yakov ignored the correction. “Six families aren’t responding. That’s not a good sign.”
“Do you think they are plotting something?”
“Of course. They took advantage while I was out of town.”
Adrik withheld an eye roll. Yakov believed he needed his hands in everything, or it went to shit, so he said.
“We need to flush out information. You will stop the fulfillment of all drug orders. We’ll see who rats first.”
“That’s… that’s millions of dollars a day.”
The idea of stopping the funding of drugs to the populace would have never entered his mind. People relied on their products to survive, whether for money to feed their families or an addiction. To take it away could cause a riot.
Or allow their competition to step up and replace them.
“Yes, is your daughter and brothers not worth it?”
“You’re cutting into the livelihood of thousands of people.”
“Yes. Again, is your daughter not worth it?”
Adrik had to hold his temper. His father had a knack for pushing the wrong buttons. “Of course she is, but what you suggest is dangerous.”
“I give it less than two hours before someone comes with information.”
“It’s too much of a risk.”
Yakov smiled as he leaned against his desk, grabbing a cigar. “What do I always say?”
Adrik watched him cut the tip of the long, fat cigar. He put it in his mouth and looked up at his son. Adrik gave him the answer. “Big risk, big reward.”
“That’s right. Now, about the shootout. This teacher that was there? What are you doing about her?”
“She’s been taken care of.”
“She has a meeting with that FBI agent, Mally. The bitch that tried to convict me six years ago. Thought she’d end her career and get pregnant by now. But these women nowadays want to be men.”
Adrik reassured, “I took care of it.”
Yakov ignited the silver zippo and held fire over the tip of his cigar. The smoke was thick and swirled upward. “Hn,” he inhaled, and held it, staring at his son for a moment longer before blowing it out. “I’ll leave it alone for now.”
Adrik was hoping that was the end of it. And then Yakov spoke again. “Since you’re here, let’s talk about the changes you’ve made.”
Adrik met his father’s gaze. Though Yakov was now an old man, his eyes never changed. They were the same dead eyes he met every day of his life. “What about them?”
“You think you can do this job better than me?”
Adrik chewed the inside of his cheek, looking away. He was disappointed in his father because, for a moment, he thought Yakov would be proud of his actions. But he should have known better. “I wanted to try something different.”
“Think I haven’t tried different things? The way I operate is the best there is. So, all you need to do is continue in my footsteps. I don’t need you to think. I don’t need you to question. Just copy. Can you do that? Or should I find someone else to take on the family?”