Leveled: A Novella (Saints of Denver #0.5)(68)

It sounded screwed up to feel bad for Lev for him not being allowed into a group of thugs, but my heart squeezed painfully. He was always the odd one out. I hated that.

Nas continued, “So the boys are off getting their Chaos tattoos, leaving this one guy, Maxim, to enforce on his own for the night. None of the boys knew shit was about to hit the fan. No one but Lev.” She sipped her coffee. “The tattoo parlor that belonged to Chaos had its door busted in. A rival firm of Italians had been on our backs for getting in on their turf. One of their men decided to send a message. Comes in, guns raised, ready to shoot whoever got in his way.”

My heart started to beat faster. “What happened?”

Vik answered, “Lev happened. He came from behind, out of the shadows, threw the f*cker down and let his fists do the talking.” Vik smirked. “We’re talking a grown-ass man with not one but two f*cking guns, being overpowered by an unarmed fifteen-year-old boy, and being beaten so badly that he needed surgery to fix his ugly mug.”

Whoa.

Nas cocked her head to the side. “The Italian was disgraced. They were a laughingstock after that. Chaos was pleased. Well, you can imagine what happened after that.”

Let me guess. “They wanted Lev in the firm.”

“Yep,” she confirmed then smiled. “But he wouldn’t join. Said that he would protect his brothers, but he would never be Chaos. My father was disappointed. He wanted Lev to be a brother in every way, but he agreed that Lev should have a choice. He respected that.”

“What happened then, if he didn’t join?”

Vik clarified, “We were the enforcers, but Lev had our backs. He was our muscle. We did the collecting. He did all the fighting.” He hesitated before telling me, “It’s like he was born to battle, Mina. It comes so naturally to him. He can get lost in here.” He tapped on his temple. “You’re helping him find his way out of that prison.”

I uttered, “But he’s enforcing now, right? How did that happen?”

Nas spoke. “My dad was getting older, as was my uncle. Both had families. They wanted to settle down, but you just don’t leave a firm. It’s for life. When my Uncle Ilia died suddenly of a heart attack, my father took it hard. They were close. Dad’s health declined and he withdrew his responsibilities from Chaos. Bratva agreed that he was in no shape to lead.” She shook her head lightly. “Long story short, Bratva weren’t happy with the way things were being run down here without my father on board. The men were fighting amongst each other, fighting for power. People took sides. Loyalty fled. Eventually, Bratva forced the firm to disband. Everyone went their separate ways.”

Vik drawled, “You can take the boy out of the hood, but you can’t take the hood out of the boy. You get me?” I didn’t. He must’ve seen this, because he explained, “Most of the disbanded members formed their own illicit firms. We didn’t do that. We opted to stay neutral, start a business, go clean on the straight and narrow.”

My brow rose. “Doesn’t look like it to me.”

Nas raised a hand. “Listen, the boys, they’re not doing anything too crazy here. Sasha is a broker. He loans large sums of money to people at high interest. When they don’t deliver on the set terms…” She tried to smile, but it came out a wince.

I spoke for her. “They get the shit beat out of them. By Lev.”

Vik scoffed. “Well, of course it sounds bad when you say it like that.”

Ah, Vik. I couldn’t help but smile at him.

I spoke softly, “Well, that explains things. I still don’t know how I feel about it, but now I know.”

Nas eyed me. “Let me ask you something, Mina. Does Lev doing this affect how he treats you?”

No. It didn’t.

I shook my head.

She had another question. “Do you really want to know every time he thrashes someone? ‘Cause I don’t. Vik and I, we don’t talk about it. Or are you just sore that you found out by accident?”

I was sore about how I found out. It was all Anika’s fault.

Nas added, “Yes, he roughs those losers up, but those idiots know exactly what they’re getting into when they make a deal with Sasha. They’re not so innocent, you know. There’s a reason they can’t go through legal channels to get the money.”

I understood this. It didn’t make it any better though.

I shrugged.

Her hand came down on mine and squeezed. “Do yourself a favor. Put it out of your head. It’ll cause problems where there are none.” She stressed, “It’s a job, Mina. Just a job. Think about it as debt collecting.”

Vik nodded in agreement then uttered, “You can judge, Mina, but remember,” his eyes softened, “Lev didn’t judge you when he busted you stealing his brother’s wallet. He gave you a job, a place to live, and fed and clothed you when you had nothing.”

That statement hurt so much, because it was true. Lev didn’t judge me. Sure, he didn’t trust me at first, but he didn’t judge me. He was there for me when I was alone, without a friend in the world. And here I was questioning him.

My heart sank. I was a terrible person.

Vik went on gently, “This is the life we were dealt. It’s all we know. We might not be churchgoing, god-fearing men, but we’re not bad people, babe.”