Thick As Blood - Nestor Oceteva

3. No Rest For The Wicked

It was almost 2am by the time we arrived in the outskirts of Santo Padre. We had swapped seats in Kettleman City and again just south of LA. I was surprised that Nestor trusted me enough to put the address in the GPS and have a sleep. I could have had a laugh and headed to Vegas but I didn't. As I pulled into the driveway the gate was already opened so I parked beside the line of cars. I got out as Miguel and Marcus came out the front door.

"Tell me you didn't kill Nestor."

Miguel frowned as he looked at the car. Nestor's seat was laid flat along with the tinted windows so he couldn't be seen from here. I laughed manically at my brother and I saw true worry.

"You will never find his body..." I paused dramatically as Miguel frowned even more. "Don't frown so much bro, you'll get wrinkles before your time."

Nestor must have woken up at that point as his door opened and he stood up stretching, oblivious to his employer and friends dismay.

"Sleeping beauty has awoken. O ye have little faith in me thy brother."

Sleep deprivation and the long drive added to my strangeness I must admit. I'm overly dramatic at any given moment but it's only after 2am that my inner Shakespearean comes out.

"Glad to see you survived 8 hours with her." Miguel said with sincerity.

"I can see why you kept her hidden."

I cracked up at Nestor and he laughed too until he saw Miguel's stern face and he shut up real quick. Oh brother, you are so serious. I grabbed my bag and walked past the men into the flashy modern house. A blonde woman was floating down the stairs in silk sleepwear and she froze at the sight of me.

"What is this Miguel?" She waved her hand my way.

"Who. I'm a who, not a what." I am a doctor who.

"Emily, this is my sister, Liliana. Lily, this is my wife, Emily."

We both eyed each other up and crossed our arms. I had spoken to my brother a handful of times over the years and he hadn't mentioned a wife before. I figured I should try to be polite if I was going to stay here. Even if I didn't want to.

"Nice to meet you Emily." She just nodded. Not even a 'you too'. There goes being nice. I heard Miguel speaking quietly Nestor before the braided man took my suitcase and said to follow him.

When we were out of eye sight I elbowed Nestor. "I can see why you kept her hidden." I mimicked him and he chuckled along with me. "Is she always a ray of sunshine?" Nestor tried not to smile but I caught it.

"They've had a rough year." I didn't think that was an excuse. We have all been through shit and it didn't mean you had to be an arsehole.

"Who hasn't."

We walked in silence after that, both caught up in the shit storm of memories the last 12 months had wrought. It was almost the anniversary of Alex and KJ's death and I knew I would have to make the trip back to Russia for it.

+++

I woke up to my alarm that I had forgotten to turn off and groaned as I saw the first rays of sunlight through the open curtains. I had to admit the view of the rolling hills and bush land was beautiful but I missed my view of metal roof tops. Changing into my workout gear I put my headphones on and left the property.

I ran to the edge of town and back to the Galindo household, an hour round run. I looked at my watch and it had just passed 7am. Needing the warm down, I found a large flat grassy area and began stretching. I was going through the motions and had entered the King Pigeon Pose when a shadow fell across me.

"Good morning." I couldn't say much else from this position, every muscle was pulled tight in my abdomen.

"Not as good as yours."

I lifted up to see the smirking face towering above me. I thought it was Miguel but it was in fact Nestor standing there. I held my hand up and he pulled me from the position so we were standing face to face.

"Everyone is waiting on you for breakfast." I cringed at the thought.

"Everyone?" I hoped a certain blonde would be missing.

"Everyone."

He still hadn't dropped my hand so when he turned to the house he dragged me with him. I could've easy pulled away but I had to admit it felt nice to have a small human touch. It had been almost a year since I felt something like this.

It made me miss him, my KJ. I met KJ through his sister, Tahlia. Tahlia's family had sent her away to boarding school, to network. Her family was from Novosibirsk, Russia and would fly her home every holiday. Eventually, I had joined her on those trips home and met her big brother, Kirill Sokolov II, Kirill Junior or KJ for short.

Young and naive, I fell hard for the man. He promised the world and I believed he could give it. At 17, the 25 year old giving me attention made me feel special, wanted, something I hadn't felt in my whole life. He introduced me to a new life of adventure outside of the castle walls the boarding house was built from.

I should have known everything was too good to be true. When I found out he was a part of the crime syndicate Bratva I was already in too deep. There wasn't anywhere to go but deeper so I did. I made my way to the inner circle and made a name for myself.

I sat silently at the table and ignored the stares of the people around me. All I ate was a small amount of fruit, I was used to smoothies and shakes for breakfast. I hoped it wouldn't be like this everyday that I was to be here, this was painful to sit through. Excusing myself soon after, I showered before changing into some frayed denim shorts and a loose TRIVIUM shirt tucked into the shorts. I was almost to my car when Miguel intercepted me.

"Where are you going? The funeral is this afternoon."

I had only ever seen him in dark suits so it didn't look like any different kind of day for him. He could have been dressed for an appointment with his dentist as much as his mothers funeral.

"I'm going to have a look around town. I never planned on going, she was your mother not mine." He opened his mouth to argue but I just put my hand up. "Agree to disagree but I'm not going. Just be content knowing you got me to come this close."

I patted his shoulder patronisingly and hopped in the car and sped off down the road towards Santo Padre ignoring the black Escalade that pulled out soon after me.