Angelo didn’t ask any questions, getting into the car and getting comfortable. It was afternoon but the skies were overcast, making it look later than it was.
He didn’t ask but Nikolai provided details nonetheless, poised despite the gravity of his words. "We’re going to clear out a drug ring."
Angelo looked over, his surprise etched over his delicate facial features. "That sounds like a job for the police."
The edges of Nikolai’s lips lifted in a faint smile, "Not like that. It’s more of a cleanse, with their blood."
Angelo hesitated, he wasn’t exactly part of Nikolai’s Mafia but he was in close proximity to important matters despite that. He wanted to ask for more information but didn’t want to overstep.
"Yes?" Nikolai prompted patiently, noticing his body language.
"Why?" Angelo managed out, not quite expecting a response.
"They have been cutting profits," Nikolai gave a brief but straightforward answer.
Angelo nodded, wondering what role he would be playing.
"You can kill anyone that goes after you," Nikolai said at the right cue like he could hear Angelo’s thoughts.
His instincts made him want to keep Angelo by his side but he knew better than to listen to it
Angelo nodded again with more vigor. He couldn’t tell who was the enemy and who wasn’t, but if he was defending against any hostiles, it would make things much easier.
He glanced to the side at Nikolai, wondering if he could also take out anyone that went after the Mafia King. He kept his speculations to himself, cautiously getting out of the car when it came to a stop.
They were parked in one of the rundown and empty parking lots that seemed to be multiplying in the area, a handful of shabby buildings around.
Nikolai walked over to his side, "We’re heading there," He leaned closer to inform him, his hands clenched into fists.
Angelo was unaware about how much danger his hair was in, appraising the unpainted warehouse that had cracks in the walls and loose ceiling boards.
Nikolai started off first, walking confidently to the warehouse like they had an appointment.
Angelo couldn’t help but notice as he followed him that it was just the two of them. It had been the same last time but he doubted that there wouldn’t be retaliation this time.
As they rounded the corner, they bumped into a Beta with rough facial hair and a weather-beaten leather jacket.
He seemed to be on patrol and had been about to light a cigarette when they all came face to face.
Before the Beta could process the sudden appearance of the person he was supposed to be on the lookout for, Angelo moved, the glint of metal in his hand as he slashed the patrol guard’s neck.
He froze after the Beta was dead at their feet, turning to Nikolai with a sheepish expression. He had moved on instinct, unused to taking orders.
Nikolai reached out for him, his hand aiming for Angelo’s hair. Angelo ducked and held out his bloody knife menacingly.
"Was I supposed to do that?" He tried to bring their interaction back on track.
Nikolai shrugged, the Beta at their feet might as well be a log of wood. "You can kill anyone you want." He allowed magnanimously. Saying in not so many words that even if Angelo killed some of his men, he was fine with that.
Angelo looked away from the Mafia King in front of him, not great at handling the special treatment Nikolai casually dished out.
They couldn’t keep standing around the patrol guard who was bleeding out on the ground, Nikolai taking the lead again.
"Should there be a patrol guard?" Angelo spoke quietly, falling into the familiar patterns he had honed for years.
Nikolai barely paid attention to where he was leading them, much less their surroundings, far too focused on watching Angelo be in his element.
"It’s unlikely," He gave an absent response.
Angelo frowned, that meant that they had been expecting Nikolai. He pressed his back against the side of the warehouse as they got to another corner that would lead them to the entrance, it smelled of a trap.
Nikolai didn’t seem to care that they could walk right into danger, waltzing right around the corner.
Angelo moved before he could process his actions, grabbing the Mafia King’s wrist and pulling him back. Nikolai didn’t put up any resistance, the Mafia King falling right against him.
Fortunately Nikolai braced his weight with a hand, pinning him against the wall with a cocked brow. His other hand still held captive by Angelo.
Angelo dropped the Mafia King’s hand like it burned him, effectively trapping himself against the wall. "You can’t just walk right into what could be a trap." He muttered, unable to hold eye contact with Nikolai for some strange reason.
"Worried about me?" Nikolai’s expression eased into a smile.
Angelo was spared from a response by a third person rounding the corner, no doubt to check on what was going on.
Nikolai pulled away and had the newcomer with a bullet already in him before Angelo could pull himself together. It was hard not to notice that Nikolai had put a suppressor on his gun, the muffled sound even quieter as he had shot the patrol guard at point blank range.
Angelo noted this, it meant Nikolai was aware it was a trap, or he wouldn’t have bothered to muffle the sound of his gunshots, he had just been worked up over nothing.
Nikolai’s smile was easy as he swerved around the corner one more time, his trench coat swishing as his gun went off three more times in quick succession. It was almost like he had memorized their positions at his first look.
Angelo rolled his eyes and pushed away from the wall, his hair falling down his shoulders. He narrowed his eyes at Nikolai who had returned to him after clearing out the men on patrol.
The knot he put his hair in had been loose but not loose enough to fall apart from merely bumping into the wall, and he knew who exactly the culprit was.
Nikolai wore a harmless expression at his accusatory look. "We should get moving."