Chapter 578: +Chapter 578+
Unlike with the first man, the second marched right over to the woods like he could tell something was wrong.
Angelo ducked behind a tree once more, his all black outfit providing decent cover in the wooded area, the cloudy sky providing a boon. He counted down the seconds as the man walked deeper and deeper into the wooded area.
He wanted him deep enough that he wouldn’t be seen from the park or the street, but not close enough that he would be alerted by the dead body just a short distance away.
Angelo cursed their choice of outfits, it would have been easy to embed a throwing knife in the man’s throat if the jacket wasn’t in the way. It wasn’t just tasteless, it was also an obstacle.
He went for the eyes instead, planning to close the distance while the man was disoriented and slash his throat as well. It worked great except that he got more blood on himself and from the woods, he could see another nondescript car slowing down as it drove past the gates of the park.
He had just been about to drag the bodies behind trees so that they were less likely to alert the rest of the High Council’s men when he noticed the car driving by and immediately gave up on that.
He wouldn’t be able to accomplish it in time so he decided to move a little closer to the park proper, there was no reason to worry about alerting the next parka-wearing spy if he was in between the spy and the dead bodies.
Angelo momentarily forgot about Nikolai, completely focused on the task at hand. It would also take some time for the Mafia King to get to him and there was no telling how many spies would show up in that time.
-+-
Nikolai stared at his phone blankly when the call dropped, instantly figuring out what had happened.
This time, he didn’t dare to think about calling the assassin back, knowing that it could be a costly distraction in the middle of a fight or while the other was sneaking around.
Nikolai knew better than anyone just how dangerous Angelo was, it didn’t stop him from breaking all the traffic rules even while they had been on a call.
He had been so unnerved by the news of Angelo in danger that he hadn’t stopped to give orders to his men. So now he called Fallon, giving the other frosty orders through clenched teeth, instantly hanging up.
Nikolai had hung up right away so that he would be free to accept Angelo’s calls but there was nothing. A few minutes passed and he finally got off Davian’s turf into Central Area, nearly crumbling his steering wheel into dust from how tightly he held it but still, nothing
.Angelo wasn’t calling back and his hands were tied, so he couldn’t call the assassin back. He could only put a lead foot on the gas, a danger on the road to himself and everyone else.
Nikolai knew that Angelo was fine to hold his own against more than a few but that knowledge didn’t ease his irrational fear.
Previously, his ire was only with the dead bastard who was unfortunately related by blood to Angelo but if the High Council dragged Angelo into their turf war, then they would certainly get his attention and reaction.
The 3rd District was a place he rarely ever had a reason to be in but he didn’t waste even a single second, swerving round corners at speeds well past the road limit, leaving momentary chaos behind.
When he got to the street that housed the garden, he noticed that there weren’t any cars on the road. He completely ignored the neatly printed signboard that pointed to a free parking lot right next to the park, stopping right on the street.
He was right out of the car as soon as it came to a stop, trench coat whirling as he stormed into the park without a care for his car.
Nikolai had a rough idea of where Angelo might be so he hurried right over, half breaking into a run with his gun cocked.
He stumbled to a stop at the sight of Angelo, covered in blood while dragging a lifeless body behind a row of shrubs.
The assassin’s pale green eyes sparkled at the sight of him, the body he had been dragged falling limply to the side when he straightened up with a pleased expression. "You’re here earlier than I expected."
There had finally been a break in the stream of nosy spies so he had been in the middle of stashing away the evidence. It was far too easy to be alerted to five bodies right at the entrance to the hiking trail.
He had been so absorbed in the grueling task of shoving bodies in a little dip behind some shrubs, that he hadn’t noticed or heard Nikolai approaching until the Mafia King was right in front of him.
But then again, Nikolai was disconcertingly light on his feet, so he would have definitely caught on if it were one of the green spies approaching.
Nikolai swallowed past the lump in his throat, seeing Angelo’s expression get animated every time the assassin registered his presence was something he would never grow tired of.
"Are you hurt?" He muttered, slipping the gun into the inner pocket of his trench coat.
Angelo glanced down at himself, grimacing at the blood that had crusted over as well as the fresh blood he had gotten on himself by hiding bodies. "I’m..."
"Come here."
Angelo walked past the body he had been working on, going right up to the Mafia King who had instantly dropped everything to come to him.
"I’m fine," He completed his interrupted sentence, avoiding Nikolai’s hands when the Mafia King reached for him. "And covered in blood," He tagged on, taking a step back. "Don’t touch."
Nikolai’s expression darkened at that, his disapproval plain to see. He couldn’t see any injuries at face value but the blood could be hiding more.
"There’s a fountain in the park," He suggested, "You can clean up a bit..." A bit enough for him to touch the assassin.
Angelo didn’t bother about the bodies anymore, if Nikolai was here, he could leave everything to the Mafia King.
He said nothing about the haphazardly parked car right outside the garden gates. He hadn’t seen another spy in a while, so he guessed that he had either killed them all off, or the rest had noticed that something was off and stayed well away.
Either outcome was fine with him, he needed to wash his hands first and then make a quick call to Silvia. With Nikolai’s presence, he didn’t bother about keeping an eye on his back.
Considering that the Mafia King was practically glued to his back, he doubted that anyone would be getting through him.
Layers of fresh and crushed blood momentarily bloodied the metal sink of the drinking fountain before being washed away. Angelo was far from clean but he could stop to make a phone call then.
Nikolai figured out what he was about to do when he took his phone out but his attention was taken up by a car slowing down as it drove past the park.
He made his way back to the open gates to find the car cruising past, the car picking up speed after it went past the park. He wasn’t interested in luring spies like Angelo had unwittingly been doing while waiting, taking out his phone as he made his way back to Angelo.
There was no doubt that whoever was being the wheel of the car had seen his face. He wanted that to happen, uninterested in having more nosy scouts interrupt them.
He gave a quick descriptor of the car to Fallon, including the man potentially driving it with the information he had gotten from Angelo.
The influence of the Mafia Kings weren’t felt as heavily in Central Area because the entire point of that section was to give people the choice to live freely, unaffiliated with any system. Regardless of it being Packs or a Mafia House.
That didn’t mean that they still didn’t run it. It was due to the Mafia Kings’ presence that Central Area was able to exist.
So he had Fallon share the information with Davian and Asher. With all three of them working together, weeding out the moles crawling through the sewers in the Districts would be a quick and easy task.
He got to Angelo after giving out the order, finding the assassin meticulously washing his face at the fountain. He then tried to get the worst of the blood off himself which wasn’t great for Nikolai because it meant that Angelo’s clothes were now wet.
He took off his coat and walked closer, "Put this on, we’re going back to the mansion."
Damp tendrils from Angelo’s hair curled up at his hairline, lending his wet, pink-tinged face a softer air. He didn’t turn down the offer, the fact that he wouldn’t get the crusty blood all over Nikolai’s car aside, he rather liked wearing the Mafia King’s coats.