Rivals

CHAPTER 37:

Rebecca

"Rebecca! Wake up!" Damian shouted as he climbed onto my bed and started jumping on it.

"Five more minutes," I groaned as he kept jumping.

I reached over to wake up Killian, but he was already gone.

"We're leaving soon!" He boomed, which made me sit up.

"What? Why? I thought it wasn't safe to leave?" I questioned as he jumped down and sat on the side of the bed.

He looked refreshed, and in no pain.

He wasn't kidding when he said he'd be better today.

"Dante called Ruslan this morning. He wants us all back in New York today," he explained as I rubbed my eyes.

"Do you think The Lions will follow us back to New York?" I asked as he sighed.

"It's inevitable. There's no telling what their next move is and we only know little of what Dimitri told The Lions," he paused. "But we can't stay here forever. A life of hiding isn't a life at all," he smiled slightly, giving me a twinkle of hope.

"Thanks Damian, you have a way with words," I compliment as his eyes light up.

"The ladies call it my charm," he boasts as he flashes me a toothy grin.

"And this is why you'll always be Sloppy to me," I chuckle as I stand from the bed and stretch.

"That's fair, but you know you love me," he laughed.

"I do love you Sloppy," I agreed as I messed up his hair and quickly jogged out of the room.

"Hey!" He groaned as he got up and ran after me.

"How are you able to run around?" I asked concerned as I helped him walk down the stairs.

"I got shot in the arm, my legs are fine Bex. Besides," he said as jumped onto the countertop to sit. "I'm also high on painkillers," he smiled.

"Heads up!" Reese called as he tossed an apple to Damian.

He caught it with ease and took a bite out of it.

"You've still got it Damian," Reese complimented as he took a seat next to Damian on the countertop.

"What'd you expect? That one tiny little bullet could take me down? Never," he smiled as Morgan and Killian walked in with a couple mugs of coffee.

"Ah, gimme one of those," I ordered as Morgan smiled and handed me a white mug.

He handed Reese and Damian one too, just as Ruslan walked in.

"Good, you all are here. Meet me in my office in five minutes," he ordered before walking out.

"What's going on?" I asked as everyone looked at each other.

"Guess we'll find out in five," Killian scoffed before he walked in the direction Ruslan went.

"He's not a morning person," Damian rolled his eyes as he slid off the countertop and swung his good arm around my shoulder. "Let's go gang," he chanted as he led us to Ruslan's office.

His office was nothing like my father's. It was large, and in the center was a table.

Ruslan was sitting at the end, Killian standing beside him, examining a large paper.

On the other side of Ruslan, there was a man about the age of my father.

He had tan skin, bright green eyes and dark hair. He had not a single wrinkle on his face and he wore a dark blue suit.

"Don't say anything unless you're spoken to," Damian whispered in my ear as I rolled my eyes. "Please. This isn't a joke. One mess up and bad things can happen," he pleased as I nodded.

"Good. Take a seat everyone," Ruslan instructed as everyone sat down. "As we all can see, Dimitri is not among us," he started as Killian tensed. "We do not know where he is, but what we do know is that he is allegedly providing The Lions with information," he said as Killian scoffed.

"Allegedly? I was there. He told me straight to my face that he was giving them information when he was abandoning his gang members in a collapsing building," Killian protested as Ruslan placed his hand in the air for him to stop talking.

"Dimitri has influence over The Black Dragons. It's his word against yours Killian," he reasoned. "Can you find Dimitri, Gregori?" Ruslan asked as he turned to the man beside him.

"I can't. As you said, Dimitri has influence. If he wants to stay hidden, he can," he spoke fluently as he turned his head to look at me.

His face lost composure for a moment, looking at me curiously, and making me squirm in my seat.

"And The Lions have started to poke in our imports as well. If this accelerates, we will have no choice but to stop aid to The Black Dragons,"
Gregori revealed.

"Fine. How did The Lions get our security layout?" Ruslan asked, continuing the meeting as Gregori continued to stare at me.

"That's my fault," Killian spoke up. "The son got it from me and I didn't even know it," he said as Ruslan sighed.

"Well that answers that," Ruslan boomed as he slammed his fists on the table and stood. "This gang has been around since my father started it when he was twenty. We have faced much worse than The Lions and they are making us look amateur."

Gregori broke his gaze with me as looked at Ruslan.

"Dimitri is gone for now, but his influence remains. Since he is in fact gone right now, I am leading this gang once again. And as my first order, I am pulling The Black Dragons out of this fight and out of New York," Ruslan commanded as everyone's jaw dropped.

"What! We're in this too deep Ruslan! We can't just back down!" Killian shouted.

"I didn't know about the agreement between The Wolves and The Black Dragons because Dimitri was afraid I would do just this. We had nothing to do with The Lions until The Wolves drug us in. This is Dante's fight, not ours," he spoke sternly as he picked up a cell phone and dialed.

"What's he doing?" I whispered to Damian as his face was just frozen in shock.

"I am ordering all operations of The Black Dragons in New York to be shut down until further notice. All gangsters will be moved out of New York in forty eight hours. If they are not out of the state by then, they are considered a traitor to this gang and this country. God have mercy on them because I will not," he spoke harshly into the phone before hanging up.

He backed away from the table and everyone stood.

"Where does that leave us?" Killian asked as he motioned to Reese, Morgan, Damian, and I.

Ruslan looked at each one of us and stopped at me, his face becoming softer.

"The Lions will be after Rebecca and I will let you two as well as a few others to aid in her safety. I will give you two months and then you return to Russia or you will be considered traitors to the gang," he spoke harshly.

"I am willing to offer aid to Rebecca as well, but the same terms will apply to my men. I am doing this because of what my son did," Gregori spoke up. "It's time I get back to my country," he stated as he shook hands with Ruslan and left.

"I wish you all the best of luck, but it's either we live or we all die," Ruslan stated. "Pack your bags. You're leaving soon."