Last night’s search of the church’s neighborhood yielded few results, save for the guy they found selling some great pot. The crew bought five dimes and went home to smoke until they couldn’t feel any feelings at all. It must have been great because Angel didn’t remember falling asleep and didn’t wake up until there was a loud and persistent knocking at their front door.

  “Alright, alright! Keep your pants on,” she called, praying that it wasn’t a neighbor coming to complain about the smell or any ruckus they may have made last night. She wasn’t awake enough to deal with that noise.

  She got up from where they had passed out on the floor, stretching her aching joints until they popped. Checking the time on her phone she choked when she saw it was already passed five in the evening.

  “Goddammit, guys wake up, it’s late.” When neither stirred, snoring and completely dead to the world around them, she prodded and kicked at them until she got some form of acknowledgement. “Get your asses up!”

  The knocking picked up again as Angel stumbled to the door, kicking the food wrappers and empty beer bottles out of her way. Through the crack, that split in the middle when Vitaly forced his way in, she saw a man standing there with a large box and an even larger bouquet of red roses. She grumbled and griped with herself as she opened the door, definitely not awake to deal with this noise either.

  “Good evening Ms. Ivanov,” the man said and judging by his uniform, Angel guessed that he was her chauffeur for the night. “Mr. Nikolai sends these with his regards and hopes you like them. He’s looking forward to seeing you this tonight. I’ll have the car waiting for you when you’re ready. Please take your time.”

  With a tip of his hat, he passed her the gifts and descended back down the stairs. Angel had no idea what to do with the bouquet, it’s not like they had any vases lying around. Resting in the kitchen sink would have to do for now. It had been ages since she had received presents from a “gentleman caller”, and she wasn’t counting some of the creepy offerings men had left in the dressing rooms at La Pearle.

  “Jesus, how many dozens of flowers did your ‘boyfriend’ send you?” Beau grumbled when she set them down with the box.

  “Zero, she said. “Nikolai’s a sweet guy, but he’s never been the flowers and chocolates type of guy. Matvey sent these.”

  “He’s trying a little too hard to get you two back together,” Dima said, rubbing away the soreness from his stiff neck.

  “If Nikolai has kept up the act, than he hasn’t shown any interest in a single woman beyond a one night stand since I left. We’re still young but Matvey was counting on marriage and grandchildren by now. He’s gonna rush this as quickly as he can.”

  She sat down and opened the large box, revealing a black dress, matching open toed shoes, a silk wrap and a jewelry box.

  “He picked out your outfit for you?” Beau asked, more than a little creeped out. “How’d he even know your size.”

  “I don’t want to think about that. Ever.”

  With a pounding headache pending, Angel trudged to the bathroom to wash up and throw on the dress. It was a modest off the should style with long sleeves and a hem that reached just below her knees, much more appealing to her godfather’s sensitivities than her normal attire. For a fleeting moment she considered having a last minute act of rebellion and doing her makeup as like she would do for work, but her better judgement won out in the end, for once. As long as Matvey was being this generous, she wasn’t deliberately going to rock the boat. If proper was what he wanted, she could do that. Even if it would be terribly dull. All she had time for her hair was a loose updo that would barely cover her dark roots and she had too much on her mind to really give a damn. She also decided to ditch her contact lenses in favor of her glasses full time instead. Dancing at the club was why she switched to lenses in the first place, she didn’t have to worry about knocking them off all the time if she wasn’t going back there. Inside the wrap was a little black clutch barely big enough for her phone but it would have to do for now. She didn’t have any idea where she was going and wondered how long Matvey would keep her in the dark about, well, everything. Most likely until she and Nikolai had “made amends”.

  When she finally came out to get the shoes the boys looked at her as if she had grown a second head.

  “What?” she asked. They didn’t respond. “Did the skirt get caught in my underwear again? Hello?”

  “You look so…” Dima started, but lost his voice as quickly as he found it.

  “Weird?”

  She couldn’t blame them for thinking that, she didn’t know what to make of herself anymore either.

  “I was gonna say creepy,” Beau said. “A fancy getup like that, you’re a whole ‘nother person.”

  You have no idea, Angel thought ruefully.

  “Well, you look that part now… I think.”

  “Don’t forget this one,” Dima said, holding up the flat velvet jewelry box.

  Angel dreaded what she might find inside. Matvey had had many girlfriends after Nikolai’s mother, Irina, passed away and he’d always given them the gaudiest, over the top jewelry, though the clunky costume jewelry she had didn’t look much different. She opened the box and choked as her heart leapt into her throat. A string of bright white pearls and matching earrings set in gold. Nikolai’s mother’s pearls. Matvey had given them to her for her sixteenth birthday, the last birthday she spent at home before the bust.

  The police had torn up her house during the raid and when she packed to leave she only brought the essentials that she could fit in one bag. Honestly, she never wanted to see these again. Angel remember when she was little and Aunt Irina let her try them on when she and Nikolai had been caught playing dress up in his parents clothes. How pretty she thought they were and how pretty Aunt Irina said she looked wearing them. How one day she’d be such a beautiful bride.

  They were an heirloom passed down from wife to wife in the family as an engagement gift, closed around their necks like a collar until they accepted a wedding ring. Angel knew she was the only one who thought so cynically about the lovely pearls, any woman would be happy to be given a gift like that and if it had been any other situation she would have been too. Receiving them the first time had her so dizzy she almost passed out and now was no different as she broke out in a cold sweat.

  “Angel… hey, Angel?”

  Snapping out of her dissociative state and back to the matter at hand, Angel remembered she wasn’t the only person in the room.

  “You alright?” Dima asked, picking up on her mounting distress.

  “Mm-hmm, just fine,” she lied. “Do you mind helping me put this on?”

  Dima stood to help, but Beau beat him to it.

  “You’re fingers are too big for the clasps,” he said, earning a shove from his giant friend.

  Beau wrapped the heavy double string of pearls around her neck and managed to get the clasps together on the first try while she put in the earrings.

  “Well, how do I look?” she asked.

  “Like you’re goin’ to a funeral.”

  “Perfect.”

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  “You look fine,” Dima said, holding up the wrap for her to put on.

  There wasn’t much else she could do to stall besides fake an injury or get a real injury. The stairs wouldn’t have been that long of a fall, but she was also worried that the chauffeur would get in trouble if he didn’t deliver her to the restaurant in one piece. She brushed aside her nerves, picked up a half empty beer can and chugged the rest of what was inside, then braced herself for her “date”.

  “Here,” she said, bundling up her normal coat and a pair of Ugg boots. “I need you two to follow me to the restaurant and wait for me to message you. When I do, bring these to me.”

  “Why?”

  “Don’t worry about it, just do it.”

  As ready as she’d ever be, she pulled the wrap tightly around her shoulders and went out front to where the chauffeur was waiting for her. She was starting to hate being driven around, she’d rather have her hands on the wheels so she could drive far, far away. Or maybe just into the Hudson River. Not to far behind, the guys tailed in their busted up four door, showing Angel that they were going to need to brush up on quite a few basic skills before they would make any progress in this business. But there would be plenty of time to dread that later.

  The car dropped her off at a beautiful restaurant with a large chandelier and a white grand baby piano being played at the entrance. A maitre’d was already there to bring her to her table, where dimly lit candles sat on a pristine white table cloth next to a bucket of champagne and a sharply dressed young man in a tux who stood waiting for her.

  Tears sprang up as Angel instantly recognized her best friend. So much had changed in only a few years. His dirty blond hair was longer, his shoulders had broadened and the freckles that had scattered across his once baby faced cheeks were faded, but it was still her Nikolai.

  In the blink of an eye, the two closed the distance between them and threw their arms around each other, laughing in spite of themselves and wiping away the stray tears that beaded down their cheeks.

  “It’s good to see you again,” Nikolai whispered. “This all sucks, but it’s good to see you.”

  “It’s good to see you too,” Angel said, “I missed you so much.”

  When they had hugged long enough to make the other patrons uncomfortable they took their seats, Nikolai pulled out Angel’s chair for her before taking his own, making her snicker.

  “Since when did you become such a gentleman?” she asked. Granted, Nikolai had never been rude growing up, but he never bothered with manners when it was just the two of them.

  “They’re watching us,” Nikolai said casually, tilting his head toward the waiters on the other side of the room.

  “You’re dad owns this place, doesn’t he?”

  “He does now.”

  “Of course he does,” she sighed as one of the waiters came over to pour the champagne.

  “So, how’ve you been… Angel?”

  Angel choked on a mouthful of Dom Perigon, the bubbly fizz going up to her nose and nearly spraying it on the table.

  “There’s no way he told! How did you hear about that?”

  “Doesn’t matter, answer the question,” Nikolai dodged, taking a swig from his flute.

  “I was doing pretty good until last week, but you know, it is what it is.”

  “Sorry about that. And now?”

  “Better now that I’ve got you in my corner again. Since you seem to know all about me, what about you? Things been okay back home?”

  “I’ve been fine. After that… stuff happened and things calmed down, we came back, I finished school, and now I work for dad.”

  “Well, you look great. It’s nice to know neither of us peeked in high school.”

  “No kidding. You’ve certainly filled out nicely. Do you still stuff your bra or is that sort of thing frowned upon where you work?”

  “Jerk!” Angel laughed, playfully kicking his foot under the table. “You’re one to talk about padding, string bean. How much did you pack in those shoulders.”

  “Hey, this is pure muscle. I was down half my strength when you left, I had to bulk up.”

  Angel rolled her eyes, he may have been a skinny kid, but he was never weak. She wouldn’t have ever considered leaving if she didn’t think he could take case of himself. Still, that didn’t make it any less of a relief to see him doing well in person.

  He was still the same Nikolai. It was as if only four days had passed between them instead of four years.

  “You said your dad owns the place now, he didn’t do that just for our date, right?”

  That would have been a little over the top, even for him.

  “No, nothing that extreme. He likes the food here and decided to buy it so he could open a second location near headquarters.”

  Matvey never settled for anything less than black tie. He’d owned dozens of restaurants back home all of them had strict dress codes to abide by.

  “I saw the construction site for it,” she said, “it’s massive.”

  “Tell me about it, he said it’s going to be at least another year until we can actually use it.”

  They had so much more they needed to discuss, important things that they couldn’t so much as whisper with so many people hanging around and breathing down their neck. Especially not with so many of them on Matvey’s payroll. Benign small talk barely got them through the appetizers, if they were going to do some real “reconnecting” then they needed to get away from prying eyes.

  “Do you know where the ladies room is?” Angel asked. “I need to powder my nose.”

  To anyone else, she was just using an out of date phrase to excuse herself, but Nikolai quickly caught onto their old signal and smiled widely.

  “Yeah, go to towards the kitchen and it’s on the left. I’m going to step out for a smoke.”

  Nikolai threw some cash on the table and went back toward the front entrance while Angel took off toward the kitchen and out the employees only entrance, texting her boys to meet her there and waited for him to catch up.

  He came running up from the front just as her boys came around from the back with her coat and shoes.

  “What the hell were you doing all the way back there?” she asked them as she traded them for the wrap and high heels.

  “Tryin’ to find a place to park,” Beau said. “So, this the guy?”

  They weren’t sure what Nikolai would be like, based on Angel’s description, but they had expected him to be as threatening and commanding as his father. To see someone so average looking was both a reprieve and a let down.

  “Kolya, these are my boys,” she introduced. “Boys, this is Nikolai.”

  “Pleasure to meet you,” Nikolai said. “I hope she hasn’t been bossing you around too much. But if Vitaly’s been telling the truth, it sounds like you two need all the help you can get.”

  “Yup, I can see how you two were friends,” Beau snorted. “Sorry to cut this short, but can we go now. We’ve got things to do.”

  “Bullshit, but yeah, you’re free to go. Thanks for bringing my stuff.”

  “Are you going to be ok on your own?” Dima asked. This whole thing was making him uneasy, doing all of this behind Matvey’s back was going to bite them in the ass, and despite his favoritism for Angel, he didn’t seem like a forgiving man.

  “We’ll be fine. I’ll see you at home later.”

  And with that Angel grabbed Nikolai’s hand and dashed out of there with him in tow.

  “Where are we going?” he asked.

  “Anywhere but here. We need a little privacy.”

  “You came prepared. You haven’t lost your touch.”

  “After what Uncle Matvey put me through, I can’t afford not to be.”

  “Since when’re we her valets?” Beau grumbled once Angel was out of sight, kicking at the dirt as they walked back to their car.

  “Take it easy, she’s doing her best and if we can help keep her sane it’ll be safer for all of us,” Dima said, trying to fold the silk shawl. “We’ve already seen what she’s like when she’s mad, so I don’t want to see what a meltdown is like. Do you?”

  Beau shuddered to imagine it. If that was how she got mad, he didn’t even want to think about what Nikolai or Matvey must be like.

  They were almost to their car, when, as they passed the kitchen doors, they were yanked inside, the door locked behind them. In a flash, Beau and Dima were put in coats and ties and sat down in a private dining room across from Matvey himself. A place had been set for each of them. The china plates and fine silver were a small fortune laid out before them. Were it not for the situation, Beau would’ve pocketed a soup spoon in a heartbeat.

  “Glad you could join me this evening, Mr. Belmont, Mr. Borisov,” he said, an overly pleasant grin spread across his face. “Please, eat. The chef has put together a special tasting menu.”

  The boys wanted to throw up. Of course he knew their names. He’d already dug into their lives because of their association with Angel and their stomachs flipped as they wondered what else he may have known about them now. Dima knew this would catch up to them, he just didn’t expect it so soon.

  “Sir, we’re so sorry, we had no idea what she was going to-“ Dima tried to explain, but Matvey held his hand up to silence him.

  “It’s alright, I saw that coming. Those two have been sneaking off like that since they learned how to walk. Don’t worry, you’re not in any trouble, I just want to talk.”

  They didn’t believe that for a minute, but what could they do? If he saw this coming, why didn’t he stop them?

  “I appreciate the two of you looking after my girl,” Matvey continued, “and bringing her back to me.”

  “Oh, we d-didn’t really…” Beau stammered.

  “Yes, your little deal with Vitaly was an amazing coincidence, but I believe fate brought you all together. My Lyudmila trusts you both, yes?”

  “Uh, sure, I guess.”

  She’d come clean to them about everything, even her brother. Beau still didn’t trust her as much as Dima did, but she had to have enough faith in them to do that.

  “Good, then I hope that means I can as well. I don’t care about what you were doing before, Vitaly informed me of your failing street trade, but I assumed that’s why you joined with her.”

  He wasn’t entirely wrong, but they weren’t about to correct him, so they nodded instead.

  “Lyudmila is home with us now, where she belongs. As long as you are with her, you work for me. Understand?”

  They boys hesitated, but nodded all the same. They didn’t like where this was going.

  “I can’t afford to lose her again. She’s very dear to me, I have high hopes for her future and…” the man sighed, “and I can’t bear to see my son go through that again, it nearly killed him.”

  It was hard to tell if Matvey was just gullible or if Angel and Nikolai had really pulled off such a great act, but the effect it had was startling. Matvey was a force to be reckoned with, but the boys had to suppose that even he had a heart buried deep, deep down somewhere. Discomfort was setting in to see a boss like him become emotional, for a moment he almost seemed human. A few seconds of awkward silence passed and Beau found his voice again.

  “What do you want from us?” he asked, more bluntly than he intended. He just wanted this to be over with so he and Dima could run far away from this damn restaurant. He was starting to understand Angel’s feelings a lot better.

  “He means, how can we help?” Dima stepped in to cover for his friends lacking manners. Matvey only laughed at their scramble to save face and continued.

  “I want you to keep an eye on Angel and protect her, be her bodyguards if want to put a title to it, and report everything back to me. If there’s even the slightest hint that something may be wrong or that she might try to run away again, I want to know about it immediately. I would have liked for her to move back in with the family, but Nikolai says we shouldn’t overwhelm her and scare her off.”

  It was a little late for that and they guys were sure being monitored like that would only make things worse. Angel was more than capable of handling herself, but Matvey was taking precautions. In his mind, he was protecting a cherished treasure, someone he held as dearly as his own child.

  “I expect to see at least one of you with her at all times, and I shouldn’t need to spell out what the consequences are if you can’t handle this. Do I?”

  “No sir,” Dima and Beau said, quickly.

  “Uh, we should really be going,” Dima said as he stood up, pulling Beau up with him. “Please excuse us.”

  “Of course,” Matvey said. “Are you sure I can’t temp you to stay for dinner?”

  “No thank you, sir. We wouldn’t want to be in the way.”

  “Very well.”

  Dima thanked their lucky stars that he didn’t press on about it, he couldn’t come up with a good excuse when he was put on the spot.

  “Oh, by the way,” Matvey called their attention back as they were already halfway out the door, “let’s keep this little sit down between us.”

  They both nodded and booked it back to their car before he could stop them again, and didn’t slow down until they were back in the car. Running away made them look like cowards and probably not bodyguard material, but they didn’t give a shit. Matvey made their skin crawl worse than Vitaly did, but somehow he still didn’t scare them as much as Angel did. They weren’t going to abandon their loyalty to her that easily and if she ever found out they were going behind her back, she’d kill them before her godfather could and she would make it much more painful than whatever Matvey could think up.

  “We need to tell her,” Dima said.

  “No shit,” Beau groaned as he started the car, peeling out and away as fast as he could.

  She wasn’t going to like this.