Sniping Her Mafia King
Chapter 43

In a curious twist of events, it had been Isabella who had figured out a clue from the interrogation audio clip of Pavel.

They had asked him where Oleg was staying. After the eighth time of asking the question, with all of the women, including Zoya leaning forward with bated breath while Addy tortured a response out of him, the man had spilled a name.

Jesse had been rubbing her hands along her cargo pants as if drying them off as if she were itching to crawl through the cell phone and participate. When they had suggested Zoya wait in the other room, citing it was going to be brutal and violent, she had insisted she remain and listen since she was the only other than Jesse who spoke fluent Russian. Arwen knew Jesse was torn with letting the young girl stay and shoving her in a room. In the end she had let her stay, but Jesse had been on edge to expose her to Adrianu's cruel interrogation. Even without the visual, it was clear Adrianu was using a device or weapon to elicit responses. Arwen herself was morbidly curious and thoroughly annoyed there was no video.

If Zoya however had been squeamish about the sound of the man screaming when the sound of flesh being torn was loud, she had remained incredibly stoic, listening intently to the words the man screamed instead of his shouts of pain. She had shrugged and said screams of pain was familiar where she was from. The team was confident Artemis was going to scoop this feisty young woman up and make her one of theirs.

The man had finally screamed the name Nastya. For nearly an hour after he had screamed the name, they had run through every contact they could find for Oleg for a woman named Nastya. They had looked at streets in the city where Zoya originated from for anyone with the person's name and had crossed off.

But then Isabella had an epiphany. She had grappled with her phone excitedly and then slid it along the table.

"What is this place?"

"Evgeni took me there once. Just once. It's a dive bar. He took me there to show off how cool he was with his scary friends. I was underage and I remember being concerned the bar owner would get into trouble, but he said it was run by old friends of his family. I remember Mikhail being pissed he'd taken me there and told me not to go back because it was not a safe place for a girl who was not from the motherland. At the time I didn't think anything of it. They were a weird f*****g family." She drummed her fingers along the table excitedly, "check out the name." The name of the bar was Nastya's.

"But that's here in New York." Cat made a face. "We have no record of Oleg leaving Russia."

"So?" Arwen shrugged, "there's no record of me leaving Canada a month ago and yet I did."

Isabella pointed to her, "exactly!"

"If the bratva told Oleg to get the girl back, maybe they gave him resources." Cat was quickly on board with their thought processes.

"So, he is here? In America?" Zoya suddenly sat back in shock. "He would come all the way here to get me?"

"But he's not going to get you. We'll get him first. Don't you worry about it."

"You don't understand," she said suddenly. "Oleg, he is much meaner than my father and my father was cruel. Oleg once threw one of the girls into the street because she," Zoya looked away as if embarrassed, "she didn't have an o****m. He swore he was the best lover, and he could make any of them and she tried to fake it and he knew, and he beat her up and threw her naked in the street. It was the coldest day of the year. She had frostbite everywhere. We weren't allowed to bring her in until he permitted it. She lost part of her nose, many of her fingers and toes and a," she wiped a tear, "she lost a nipple."

"Jesus Christ," Arwen punched the wall behind her after rising angrily. "I want this guy dead."

"We all do, Delta," Jesse cast her a warning glance.

"If he's here, who else is here? How many of them came with him?" Isabella looked to Zoya, "we have Pavel, his brother and Igor. How many others would Oleg normally travel with? Who was his posse back home?"

"Oleg has many friends. He is powerful and rich, or at least they were until Radomir revealed my father's debt and took almost everything from them. Even Oleg's mother had to leave her house to go live in a tiny apartment," Zoya's voice was suddenly mocking, "she is not a nice lady."

"I don't want us walking into a bratva affiliated bar and not know how many are going to be backing Oleg."

"Here's what I don't understand," Isabella stretched out as she watched Jesse's fingers flying across the laptop reporting into the team at HQ what they'd figured out. "This Radomir guy, Oleg owes him three million and agreed to wipe out a million for the sale of Zoya to him but then she ran. He should have just done what most bratva would do, shoot Oleg in the face for f*****g up the deal or tacking the million back on with interest. Why send Oleg to get her back? It doesn't make sense for a guy to get his d**k all hard to get a girl's cherry this bad." She frowned at Zoya, "sorry. It's crass but -"

Zoya gave a loud sigh, "I might have," she looked away, "I spit in his face. I made him angry."

"Oleg?"

"No, Radomir. He said he was going to take me with him and teach me what it means to show respect to my superior and I said I'd rather be dead. He said it could be arranged. I spit in his face, and I told him to be man enough and do it then." "f**k," Cat cackled with laughter. "Jesus, Arwen, she's your f*****g mini-me." She gripped her ribs as she laughed and Zoya stared at her in shock. "She f*****g told a mob boss to go f**k himself."

Isabella and Jesse joined in on the laughter as Arwen grunted and flipped them off. She looked to Zoya, "good for you. You're not required to respect anyone who does not respect you first."

"He made me angry." Zoya's blue eyes flashed furiously.

Jesse patted Zoya's arm gently, "Arwen did the same thing to Mr. Cavallaro."

Zoya blanched, "him, I would not have done this. I would have simply followed him and did what he said to do. He is a very scary man. Radomir is scary but Mr. Cavallaro is scarier."

"Why?" Jesse asked before Arwen could say anything.

"He is always calm. He has no facial expressions. Even his eyes, they are cold, like a shark's eyes. He sees everything but he doesn't react with emotion. When Radomir gets upset, he turns red and angry, and he blusters. He says things like 'you don't want to see me angry' and then he shoots people. Mr. Cavallaro would never say such things. He would rip your heart out of your beating chest, and I don't think his face would change." Zoya gave an exaggerated shudder.

"He is the master of cool," Isabella nodded her appreciation. "It's why it's so hot when he smiles or laughs." She nodded at Jesse, "or when he cried at Dylan's wedding when you sang."

"He cried?" Zoya was incredulously stunned.

"He did," Jesse patted her hand. "Do not mistake his demeanor for someone who is incapable of caring, Zoya. He loves his family deeply. He has simply learned to channel his emotions from a very tender age."

"He does it very well. Men who are controlled like him are the ones who are extremely dangerous and scary to me. A man who lets his emotions rule him is easier to manipulate." Zoya spoke with a wisdom far beyond her years. "I bet it takes a lot to make Mr. Cavallaro lose his cool."

"Does his face change when he cums?" Cat asked with a chortle as Arwen cursed loudly at her.

Jesse pushed away from the table and pointed at Arwen, "do not answer that. I do not want to know my cousin even has an o****m let alone has facial expressions when doing it."

Arwen chuckled as she punched Cat's arm rounding the table, "you are all sick."

Her phone rang and she reached across the table and grimaced, "I wonder if his ears were burning."

She put the phone on speaker, "dude, I'm in the middle of something. You're on speaker. Make it fast."

"Take me off speaker and go somewhere alone."

"No."

Zoya blinked at Arwen's arms folded over her chest.

"Arwen, mia cara, unless you want me to explicitly detail to the girls how I put you to bed crying last night."

She grabbed the phone and took it off speaker, "not cool, Cavallaro."

"Aw no fair Delta!" Cat yelled after her as she stormed away.

"I want a cool name like Delta. Maybe they can give me one?" he mocked her.

"What do you want? I'm working."

"I have information I wanted to share with you."

"Do tell," she leaned against a sofa and put her back to the group of women who had followed her from the kitchen and were all peering at her through the opening. Even Zoya was in on their rude behavior. "Radomir Gavrikov is boarding a plane as we speak to the USA. He is a man my father did business with in the past and I have ended the business relationship. He is looking to renegotiate terms." "You're telling me this why?"

"Because he told me he had other business to tend to while he was here and thought he would kill two birds with one stone and meet with me here. I agreed to meet with him in my casino in Atlantic City. He is expected to arrive tomorrow. We are meeting for dinner." "Okay," she bit her lip.

"I would prefer you not put a bullet in his head while he is in my company."

"What?" Arwen stood upright from the sofa and felt her fingers curl tight around the phone.

"I am asking a professional courtesy Arwen. You have beef with this guy. I have plans for him and we will handle it. Do not take him out."

"I don't take my orders from you, Mr. Cavallaro." Her words were furiously terse, "if you have such a suggestion, call my boss."

"Arwen, I need your word."

"I won't give it. If I get given an order, I have to obey it."

"Like a f*****g dog?"

"You're ordering me now!" She tried to control her anger, but he was pushing her buttons, "what's the f*****g difference?"

"The difference, as your partner, I am asking you to be respectful and not shoot a target in the head in my casino or while he is under my protection."

His partner word gave her pause but then she exploded, "You would keep a man like him in your protection?"

"Again, I told you, I have plans for him. Do not interfere in my plans." Addy's voice was impatient.

"F**k you."

"We can do all this and more at a later date. I am busy this weekend."

She hung up on him and spun to Jesse, "your cousin is a f*****g dickwad!"

"No shit." Jesse eyed her impassively. "What did he order you to do?"

"To not take an assignment should it come up." Her phone rang in her hand, and she noted the number and shrieked and tossed it furiously across the room. "f**k him! I should have shot him in the head when I had the chance." Isabella rose an eyebrow, "what assignment?" She looked to the phone still ringing on the floor. It stopped ringing only for a moment before starting again. "He's persistent."

"He's an a*****e." She looked to Cat, "you sure you don't have a bit of pent-up rage you need to take out on something because I could really use a good fistfight right now."

Jesse's phone started ringing in her hand and she gave a chuckle, "it seems he's trying me now. What assignment does he want you to decline?"

She gave a pointed look to Zoya, the last thing she wanted to do was let the girl know Radomir was on his way to the US. She had enough to worry about with Oleg being here. She didn't need to know his boss, her buyer, was coming too. Jesse sighed, "Zoya, can you leave us for a few minutes?"

She made a face of impatience and stomped off to the bedroom assigned to her. Once the door was closed Arwen followed her team into the kitchen.

"Radomir Gavrikov requested a meeting with Addy. I assume he figures we know or will know about it. He's meeting him for a business discussion and called to specifically request I not shoot him in the head while he's in Addy's protection." Arwen revealed lowly. "Are you f*****g kidding me?" Isabella's fist clenched with rage. "Who the f**k does he think he is?"

"I don't know. Said he had his own plans for Gavrikov and didn't want me to take an assignment. Demanded me to turn it down if it was offered to me."

Both of their phones started ringing simultaneously and she grimaced, "how can he dial two numbers at once?"

"Who f*****g knows but I'm not answering it." Jesse grunted. "f*****g Cavallaro family always in my shit." She kicked a chair, "I do not like my two worlds being this close. He asked me yesterday if I kissed my saintly mother with my assassin's tongue. Fucker." Cat looked up suddenly, "what did he mean about tucking you into bed crying?"

Arwen glared at Cat and then shook her head, "Deidre had me wound up with stories of our folks. Then she was in tears, and I was in tears. We then went to bed and one gloriously intense o****m later and I was a crying mess. I've never cried from an o****m before. Have you?"

Both Isabella and Jesse raised their hands sheepishly, both of them looking everywhere but each other.

"How the f**k are we the most powerful and wanted assassins on the planet and s*x makes us cry?"

"Not me. I didn't cry from the o*****s." Cat stared at them and then frowned, "do you think it's why she left? She couldn't make me cry with pleasure?"

"Oh my god, no," Arwen slapped at her, "there's nothing wrong with you. Crying or not crying during s*x is not why she left."

"I should never have asked her to stay forever. I scared her off," Cat complained.

"Can we get back on topic?" Jesse grunted as she pulled her computer towards her and started a video call into HQ. "We can sort out what is going with Tuva later. If we have to, we'll kidnap her and bring her back for Cat to interrogate. For now, let's find out what HQ knows." She shut her phone off as it started to ring again. "He's like a f*****g dog with a bone."

"I can't believe he asked me to refuse an assignment." Arwen was pissed.

"The man has balls," Isabella moved to stand with the other three girls in front of the screen.

"Ladies," Artemis' face showed up on the screen with Clara behind her. "How can we help you?"

"A few things. Most importantly, the King is overstepping bounds and I'm worried my Delta is going to shoot him in the a*s."

Arwen quickly recapped the call with Addy for them and Artemis twisted her lips in annoyance.

"I should have punched him harder in the balls. I pulled the punch at the last second because I figured you'd be annoyed if he couldn't use them."

She shook her head at Artemis' words. He'd said she'd pulled the punch.

"Let's see what he has planned for the bratva brat. Like Addy, this guy took over his father's show, but his father was never a big-time player. He operates out of a small port city where it's too cold for anyone to want to challenge him for his territory. Unlike Addy, he's uncontrolled and couldn't run a stopwatch let alone a mob."

"Zoya seemed to think he was a big fish."

"He is a big fish, considering the size of their pond. He has money and lots of it but its inherited not earned. He's in a port city and he charges people to use his docs. He might be number one in his city but in his country he's a bottom feeder. Leave him to Cavallaro for twenty-four hours. If he hasn't dispatched of the guy by Monday morning, we'll have a team to meet him when he lands." "You could just have one of the girls take his aircraft out as it lands," Arwen thought aloud.

Artemis smirked at her, "this is why you're my number one sniper." She looked over her shoulder at Clara and Psych-One who had just appeared. "We'll set it up. Our girls may need special equipment. If the fucker gets on a plane back to the homeland, take him out midflight." Clara was grinning broadly at the team as she chuckled.

Artemis spoke again, "in terms of him asking you to not take an assignment as a professional courtesy, you'll need to set personal boundaries. He's a rules guy. Give him new rules."

"I might just shoot him and be done with it."

"Well, your prerogative and all, but I feel you'll be sad about it," Psych-One commented dryly. "You could just be a big girl and talk about your emotions and let him know how it made you feel for him to cross your personal and professional boundaries." Arwen considered flipping off the woman but instead kept a straight face. "Fine. I'll let him know he disrespected me."

Jesse gave a loud laugh, "oh my god. Yes. Tell him he disrespected you. I love it." She was roaring the more she considered it.

The call shifted to what they would do to Oleg and his posse once they established exactly what they were working with in the underground of the bar where he was holed up.

Her phone rang again, and she walked away to answer it this time.

"What do you want?"

"Do not hang up on me again," Addy's words were furious yet cool. She was reminded of Zoya's shark comment. She knew his face was closed off and she didn't even need to see it.

"Why? You disrespect me. You disrespect me and my job and you think I'm supposed to just take it?" At his stunned silence she continued, "you do not get to dictate my professional career, Mr. Cavallaro. What we do in the bedroom doesn't extend to my life outside of it. Don't you ever disrespect me in such a way again or it will be the last time you ever speak to me. Now, for what feels like the hundredth time today, I'm at work. Don't call me again until my shift is over. If you have intel you desire to share, share it with my supervisors."

"Arwen!" he snapped angrily.

"Goodbye." She hung up the phone this time and gave a furious hiss of accomplishment. She had done what she wanted to do but she was angry about it.

"How did that feel?" Jesse asked from behind her.

She turned to find the three of her closest friends eyeing her carefully.

"I still need to punch something."

"Good," Jesse grinned. "Hold onto it. We're going to kill a Russian pimp and his buddies tonight. You in?"

"Yes. f**k yes."