First Encounter?

...In Moscow City At 08:15 Pm ...

...----------------...

You know what I’ve always hated? Waiting. Like waiting for food you’ve ordered, waiting in line to get movie tickets, and so on.

But thanks to God—or maybe not—waiting has become a regular thing for me, because I started working at a restaurant as a waiter. Well, technically, it’s a bar, restaurant, and café all rolled into one, which is kinda cool... I think.

Anyway, the point is: I’m standing in front of this guy who’s been staring at the damn menu for the past five to ten minutes. I know what you’re gonna say—“Then just go do something else, and when he decides, he’ll call you.” Yeah, yeah, I know. I even told him that already. But this man just looked me dead in the eye and said, “Can you please stand here while I decide?”

So now, here I am. Standing here, waiting on his royal ass to decide what he wants to eat. And I can’t mess this up, because I’ve already done enough dumb shit, and the only reason they haven’t kicked me out yet is ‘cause my best friend Irina owns this place.

Anyway—enough rambling. I’ve gotta ask him again, because this awkward silence is driving me insane. I looked at him with a smile—one you could clearly tell was fake—and asked, “Sir, have you decided what you want to order?”

Without even looking up, he replied, “Can you wait a little bit longer, please?”

I don’t even know how, but somehow, I stopped myself from slamming his head into the damn table. I just nodded and said, “Okay, sir.”

As I zoned out in my thoughts, I suddenly heard someone call my name. Oh, speaking of names, I haven’t told you mine yet. It’s A—

“Alina! Come here, fast!” Sofia yelled, cutting through my thoughts.

Well, now you know— “I said fast!” she snapped again.

I nodded at the man and made my way to the kitchen. When I stepped inside, I walked straight to Sofia. “Uhh... you just saved him, you know that?”

Just as I was about to say more, a man’s voice came from behind me: “Saved him? Or saved you?”

I instantly recognized it—Bogdan.

I turned around and looked at him. “I was just about to kill him,” I muttered.

Sofia laughed, and I shot her a look. “What’s so funny?”

She smirked. “You can’t kill him. Bogdan said he works for the mafia—Crown Three.”

Before I could say anything, someone shouted from behind us, “You mean the real mafia?”

I turned around—it was Ivan, the newbie. He joined today.

After hearing that, I smirked at him and asked sarcastically, “Are there fake mafias too?”

For some reason, he looked away and muttered, “I’m new here, so… I don’t know much about this… stuff.”

I laughed. “You’re in Moscow, bro. Stop acting all innocent.”

I laughed for two or three minutes straight, but then I glanced at Ivan. The look on his face said he was about to cry. Sofia and Bogdan were giving me that look too—you know the one: Seriously?

I sighed and looked at Ivan. “Look, Ivan, I didn’t mean it like that. It was a joke.”

Ivan looked at me. “It’s fine. I didn’t take it seriou—”

“Nah, you did take it seriously,” I cut in before he could finish. I wasn’t wrong. He totally did.

“I didn’t,” Ivan insisted.

“Yeah, you did. The look on your face said you were about to cry,” I snapped.

I was about to throw in more truth bombs when Bogdan started laughing. I turned to him. “What’s so funny?”

He just kept laughing and said, “You should really think before you speak.”

“Wait, did I say something wrong again?” I asked, turning to Sofia.

She just nodded.

“Guys, it’s really fine…” Ivan mumbled.

I looked at him. “You said you just moved here, right? So where were you living before?”

“Australia. I was studying there,” Ivan said.

“Well then, here are the main things you should know.”

“Should I explain?” Bogdan asked, mocking me with a smile.

“No need.” I turned to Ivan. “So, there are three mafia gangs. I mean, there are more, but they all work under these three main ones. Like Bogdan said, the guy out there”—I pointed at the man—“he works for Crown Three.”

“Crown Three?” Ivan asked.

I pointed the same knife at him—the one I was just using to point at the other guy. Don’t ask me when I picked it up. Ivan looked at the back of my wrist, where an old scar from a cut still lingered.

“Don’t interrupt.”

“O-okay,” he said.

I put the knife down. “So, as I said, there are three mafia gangs. Their names? Crown One, Crown Two, and Crown Three.”

“So Crown Three is the top one?” Ivan asked, clearly excited and confident.

Poor baby.

I blinked. “Oh, no. They’re not first.”

“But… their name is Crown Three. That means, like, three crowns, right?”

Ivan looked so into it. Like a kid learning about superheroes.

“Yeah, that’s what everyone thinks,” I said. “But the rankings go like this: First is Crown One, second is Crown Two, and third is Crown Three.”

Ivan opened his mouth, about to interrupt again, but I cut him off. Fair game, he did it twice already.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. You’re about to ask why Crown Three isn’t at the top if they’ve got three crowns in their name. But they see it differently. They say, ‘You may have two or three crowns in your name, but you still follow the orders of the one who only has one.’”

“Wow,” Ivan said, his mouth half-open.

“There’s nothing to be wow about.” I waved him off. “Now, the main thing: the guy who runs Crown Three? His name is Alek Petrov.”

I paused. “I don’t know much about him, because there’s barely any info out there—but that’s exactly what makes him scary. He’s 34, But he looks like he’s in his... 20s,” I muttered.

“There are a lot of rumors about him too,” Bogdan added, catching our attention with that deep voice of his. I mean, the guy used to be in the mafia, so he knows a shit-ton more than he lets on. As he started talking, I snapped out of my thoughts.

“So, as you know, he’s the leader of Crown Three. He only became leader four years ago, after his father was killed.”

“Killed by who?” Ivan asked. “I mean, he was a mafia leader. That couldn’t have been easy, right?”

I turned to Ivan. “Of course it wasn’t easy. That’s why they chose betrayal. His dad was poisoned—by his most trusted man.”

“What happened after that? Did they ever find out who was behind it?” Ivan pressed.

I looked at Sofia instead. “Are those grapes sweet?”

“I guess. But does it matter?” she said with a shrug.

I nodded. “Yeah, right.”

I grabbed a few grapes and hopped up onto the counter, casually popping them into my mouth. Ivan stood to my left. I glanced at him and smirked. “You know what? This is all just really suspicious. Like, why the hell do you wanna know all this anyway? Planning on joining the mafia or something, huh?”

“N-no... I-I hate mafias. I... I was just curious...” he stammered, avoiding eye contact.

“Alek killed the man who poisoned his dad,” Bogdan cut in again.

Sofia and I exchanged a look and sighed—because here we go. When Bogdan decides to tell a murder story, he doesn’t hold back. He dives into every fucked-up detail.

“Still just a rumor,” he said, “but knowing Alek... he could do something like that. No mercy.”

“What did he do?” Ivan asked, eyes wide.

Bogdan took a deep breath. “People say that when Alek found out who it was, he tried to make the guy talk—wanted to know who hired him. But the man didn’t say a single word. After a while, Alek lost his patience and—”

“Killed him?” Ivan interrupted.

Seriously, this guy cannot shut up. I wanted to roll my eyes, but Bogdan didn’t even flinch. I don’t know how the fuck he stays that calm.

“Yeah,” he said. “But not that easily. Rumor says he cut off all the guy’s fingers. The man screamed nonstop, but Alek didn’t flinch. Then he dropped the fingers into a bowl filled with the same poison that killed his father... and ordered his men to feed the poisoned fingers to the bastard.”

The look on Ivan’s face? Priceless.

Sofia noticed too. She tilted her head and asked gently, “Hey... are you okay?”

Ivan didn’t answer for two or three seconds, just stared into space. “H-huh? What... what happened after t-that?”

He totally ignored her question, and fuck, I tried so hard not to laugh—but yeah, I failed.

“Poor Sofia. Getting ignored by her junior, huh?”

Before I could bask in my own sass, she smacked me hard on the shoulder.

“Ouch! Damn... you’re pretty strong. Wow.”

“You deserved it,” she said flatly.

Before I could come back with something, Bogdan spoke again.

“What else? The guy died.”

This time, Sofia cut in. “But... don’t people say Alek chopped the guy’s body into tiny pieces and flushed them down the toilet in his own house? In front of his family?”

“WHAT?!” Ivan shouted.

“I don’t believe that,” I said, looking at Sofia.

“Me neither,” Bogdan agreed.

Maybe Bogdan told us that because he used to work for Alek... who the hell knows?

“I’m not saying I believe it,” Sofia said. “It’s just a rumor.”

“Is he even mentally okay?” Ivan asked, grabbing our attention again.

When I looked at him, his expression was wild—some twisted cocktail of fear and anger all at once.

Ivan kept talking. “W-what about the police? What were they doing?”

I popped another grape in my mouth before answering. “You think the police here are any different? Hell no. They're just like the rest—sitting in their so-called police stations, chillin’ in the AC while shit burns out here.”

Sofia and Bogdan both laughed at my words.

“For real,” Bogdan said, still chuckling.

But before I could process what was happening, Ivan was suddenly in my face—like right there. He looked pissed. I mean, yeah, it’s a fucked-up situation, but why the hell was he gettin’ mad at us?

“Ayo, you can also speak from th—” I started, but he cut me off with a glare that could freeze fire.

“How can you laugh at something like that? Do you think it’s nothing? Are you guys even okay?”

“Hey, we didn’t mean it li—” Bogdan tried to step in, but I cut him off with a wave of my hand.

I turned to Ivan and flicked my fingers right on his forehead—hard.

Yeah, bad idea.

He got even angrier.

“Look, I know it’s not normal,” I said, calm as ever. “But here? This shit is the bare minimum. And that guy? He chose that life. You think he didn’t know what he was getting into? He knew the damn risks. He knew the outcome.”

I tossed another grape into my mouth, chewing slowly before leaning in and putting my index finger on his shoulder. “And yeah... ever heard of something called private space?”

I gave him a push.

Ivan backed off immediately, face turning a soft shade of red. Eyes dropped to the floor, avoiding mine.

“I-I’m sorry... I didn’t mean to. I w—”

“Yeah, yeah. I get it.” I cut him off again. “I’ll let this slide once. But I don’t like people getting that close. Got it?”

He just nodded, still staring at the floor like a guilty puppy.

Bogdan broke the silence. “You know about Crown Two? The one who runs it is Lev Volkov. He’s 28. His story’s kinda like Alek’s. He became leader after his dad died. No one knows if it was natural or... something else.”

“What do you mean by that?” Ivan asked.

“What I mean is,” Bogdan said, “his dad died one year before Alek’s. Coincidence? Maybe. But it was shady as hell.”

I jumped in. “Alek and Lev hate each other. They’ve tried to kill each other more than once... but somehow, they both survived.”

Ivan blinked at me. “They survived? How?”

“Maybe they’re monsters or something,” Sofia chimed in.

“Yeah, maybe.”

“What about Crown One?” Ivan asked. “I mean... the one running that gang must be even scarier, right?”

I smirked. “It’s not a he, it’s a she.”

Oh god, the way Ivan’s mouth fell open? Priceless.

“S-she?” he stammered.

“You mean the one who gives orders to those two”—he was talking about Alek and Lev—“is a woman?”

He asked that with so much shock, it was written all over his face.

“She’s the real mystery,” Bogdan said, looking at Ivan. “No one really knows anything about her, except her name—Yelena. She’s around 27, I guess.”

Sofia looked at me and said, “You know a little about her, right?”

I glanced at each of them, and the look on their faces screamed, Come on, tell us!!

I sighed. “Okay, okay, but remember—these are just rumors.” The three of them nodded eagerly.

“So, as you know, no one really has any solid info on Yelena. One rumor says she’s in Dubai right now.”

“Why? Is she living there?” This damn kid—I swear, he loves interrupting at the worst times.

“I don’t know. That’s what they’re saying… she moved there after she lost her family.”

“How?” Ivan asked.

“They say there was an attack about six years ago. She lost her mother, her father… and her little sister, who was seventeen.”

“But why did they attack? And who did it?” Ivan asked again.

“Rumor is… the mafias were afraid of Yelena’s sister.”

“Huh? But she was just a kid… right?” Ivan asked, like he was clinging to hope that it wasn’t true.

“Didn’t she stay home all the time after that kidnapping thing?” Sofia chimed in.

“Kidnapped?” Ivan looked completely thrown.

“Oh yeah,” I said. “They say she got kidnapped when she was about seven years old… and somehow escaped.”

“You’re not gonna go into the details?” Bogdan asked with that smug-ass smirk.

“I’m not a psycho like you,” I scoffed, rolling my eyes.

“What details?” Ivan asked, clearly intrigued, looking at Bogdan.

“So,” Bogdan began, and I exchanged a knowing sigh with Sofia, “they say she was kidnapped at school when she was seven. No one knows exactly what happened… except the ending.”

He paused before continuing. “The man who kidnapped her tried to rape her. But somehow, she got her hands free and jammed both her thumbs into his eyes—ripped them apart. And even after that, she wasn’t sure he was dead… so she picked up a knife and stabbed his face over and over, until it was just a bloody mess. So fucked up no one could even identify him. That’s why no one knows who ordered the hit.”

I cut in. “After that, she never went back to school. Instead, she started learning how to fight… and how to use guns.Her father got her a personal tutor, and that man was a police officer. No one really knows what she looked like back then, because she always wore a mask to cover her face. Yelena’s dad didn’t have a son—only two daughters. And since Yelena was the older one, she was supposed to take over the mafia business. But when the mafias found out about her sister, they started saying she might be better suited to lead. Yelena had the brains, sure, but she couldn’t fight.”

“So what’s the problem then? Sounds like a win-win for both of them,” Ivan asked.

“While some mafias were happy about it, others weren’t. They didn’t want her sister to take over. That’s why they tried to wipe the entire family out,” Bogdan said.

“They only found Yelena’s mom and dad’s bodies though,” I added, looking at Bogdan.

“So you’re saying she’s still alive?” Sofia asked with a sarcastic scoff.

“Wow… things are really fucked up here,” Ivan said, running a hand through his hair.

“Yeah, they sure are,” Sofia nodded.

“Definitely,” Bogdan agreed.

“Yup, for real,” I said, nodding too.

“Oh, what’s Yelena’s sister’s name, by the way?” Ivan asked.

“Her name is Al—”

Just as I was about to say it, we heard the main door burst open.

“What the fuck?” Sofia said, rushing out of the kitchen with Bogdan.

Ivan and I followed, and when we got there…

There were so many men in black suits, guns in their hands, and eyes locked on us.