Brothers Romanoff [MMF]

30

Xiomara learned that the Romanoffs never did anything without a reason, and they never went anywhere without a business reason behind it. After a few months of being their girlfriend, Xiomara was used to many things.

They opened doors for her. They paid for everything. They mostly made quiet conversation with one another, their eyes speaking volumes on the silence.

And when she was not at their house, unless she called, they left her be.

Lev swallowed, cutting it his meat his eyes on Mikhail who sighed.

"Okay," Mikhail set his utensils down with a loud bang. "What is it."

Lev put his fork frown, swallowing his bite. "She stop only comes weekends. She's attached but not securely not yet. Saying I love you now, will drive her away in fear."

Mikhail sighed and stood. "I don't want to play mind games I just want to tell her how I feel—"

"I know," Lev whispered. "But you know I'm right."

Mikhail swallowed his unease. "What do you suggest, Lev?"

Lev smiled softly, tapping his fingers. "The barefoot in the winter...pregnant in the summer."

"Fucks sake, Lev!" Mikhail hissed, standing abruptly, his chair falling with a clatter to the ground.

He raised his brows looking away. Mikhail felt bile raising in his throat.

"She would fucking hate that," Mikhail spat. "She wouldn't want to be a mother. She wouldn't want that. Fucking none of it."

Lev wiped his mouth delicately. "At least one. If we could just get one...it'll connect us forever now—" he held up his hand, interrupting Mikhail's loud protest. "I know. I know it's fucking shitty, Mikhail. I know. But I know her. I know her too."

Lev stood, crossing the room, wrapping his arms around Mikhail's waist. "She'll hate it at first. She will. But what she wants more than anything is a family. People she can trust will never abandon her and she'll never find that. Not with other people. Not with us. But the unique bond of a mother and her child...it could give her that. The bond she craves."

Mikhail frowned. Lev was so charismatic, such a smooth tongue he could charm a snake out of its skin, given the chance.

"Let me take care of it," Lev smiled. "Don't you even worry about it."

Mikhail shook his head. "Lev. No. No, we're not doing that."

Lev blinked but nodded. "You're right." He whispered and nodded. "God, you're right! What was I thinking I...you know how I get on the dark side of things. Less of a man more of a monster."

"No...that's plenty man. It's just a monster too." Mikhail smiled softly, patting Lev's cheek. "Don't ever suggest anything like that again. We can be monsters to the world but not to her."

Len smiled softly and nodded. "You're right. You always keep me sane, Mikhail."

Mikhail kissed his cheek and walked away. Lev sat back at the table, eating his scrambled eggs in silence.
Xiomara would be back soon. Lev as usually tasked with picking her up from her apartment.  The house was quiet.

A storm was brewing out by the docks. A whole shipment on the brink of being taken out by a whole storm in the pacific.

If they lost it...it would mean trouble.

Real trouble. Maybe Mikhail was right. Now was not the time. His phone rang in the clear silence. He picked it up.

"Talk to me," he murmured.

"We lost it."

Lev looked up and blinked. Mikhail walked into the room with a frown.

Lev put his call on speakerphone. "Lost...?" Lev trailed.

"The shipment. We lost it. We lost all of it. Every kilo. Of everything. Lost 20 men too and the ship. All gone in the fucking ocean."

Lev clenched his jaw, standing. "Am I forgetting English or did he just tell me we lost a whole fucking shipment of drugs?"

Mikhail frowned leaning into the phone. "Listen, you're telling me there's not a gram left? Everything? Everything's gone?"

Lev paced around the dining room. "We've got distributors so far up our ass they are tickling the prostate and it's fucking gone?!" He screamed.

"What do you want us to do?! It's a storm, we can't control it." The man on the phone yelled back.

"Call fucking Poseidon, call Youin call someone. Fucking—" Lev screamed raising his hands. "This is gonna start an all out war. We were already short now people are gonna think we're fucking them on purpose."

Mikhail clenched his jaw. "How many people do we have pending deals with."

Lev scoffed. "The issue isn't even the amount of people. It's the people we owe. We're supposed to get drugs to the Vitale. They're a tricky bunch. I don't want to deal with them."

Mikhail frowned. "We could come to an agreement."

Lev chuckled. "With the Vitale? Impossible. They are some disagreeable motherfuckers with firepower we can't rival. We are a local operation. They are a superpower."

"It isn't like him to think he can't do something so this doesn't bode well," Mikhail sighed. "How long can we keep them off our asses."

Lev narrowed his eyes. "They'll be sending an operative within a week. We can take em down. But that'll only buy us  another week before they send a team. I could take a team, but if they send an elite squad...I'll need backup."

Mikhail clenched his jaw. "Another shipment like that will take a year to procure. How long can we stall?"

Lev raised his finger, dialing two phones at once.

"Get Xiomara, those bastards are not if not ruthless," Lev hissed. "I wanna talk to the highest ranking Italian you got who's last name is Vitale,"  Lev demanded.

"No, I don't want to hold—fucks sake."