66. Andrei

Jericho was sitting in his cell waiting as he was holding his head in his hands. He was in a deserted section. They didn't keep the normal prisoners there... The cells were for private dealings.

He had gone against his boss to please his queen. He was confident to defend her if any danger rose. He just couldn't say no. He had to try harder. The door to the cell opened and he looked up. He was met with his boss's icy stare that he could never get used to. He stared into his soul with those eyes reprimanding him. He stood up quickly. He didn't speak knowing to wait to be addressed. His boss walked to him as he stared straight but avoiding eye contact like the soldier that he was ready to serve.

His boss stood right next to him staring  at him. Jericho tried to compose himself. His boss was young but he had earned the respect of his men with his ways. As much as Jericho feared for his life, he knew his boss regarded him highly to deal with him personally. Even if he was to die then it meant his boss was going to be personally execute him rather than his men do it. That was what he hoped for. He wished to die by his boss's hand if he was not worthy.

Tristan said coldly "Talk. I want every detail of what happened since you entered this place. I want to know who you saw, who you talked to and what you did."

Jericho respectfully dropped to his knees and with hands behind his back spoke as clearly as he could trying not to shake and waver which was hard. His boss had allowed him to speak. This meant he could be shot dead if he was found guilty.

Tristan listened intently. His biggest concern was whether O'Brian had been influencing Vienna in any way or encouraging her to come find him. He had to nip that in the bud. No one was allowed to influence her. No one.

It was becoming clear that Vienna was the one initiating the defiance when he had ordered clearly for Vienna not to enter the building. But Vienna had no idea what kind of business he was dealing with inside. Not even his own men understood the dangers. Only he did.

Tristan couldn't forgive O'Brian's mistake. O'Brien should have stopped her. He could. He had to be punished.

Once O'Brian was finished, Tristan said harshly "Tell me what you have done wrong..."

O'Brien said quickly "Disobeying orders by you and acting on the orders of ma'am."

Tristan silently reached into his pocket.

Jericho swallowed hard as he noticed his boss leaned down and placed a gun in front of him on the floor. His boss then stood up and said "What do you think your punishment should be?"

His heart sank. He was only twenty one. He was fighting tears. He was too young to die. But if he had failed his boss he welcomed the painless quick death his boss was mercifully handing to him. He slowly reached for the gun and grabbed it. He took it to his head and positioned it well to make sure it didn't miss his brain and didn't blow his face accidentally. His heart was beating faster and it felt like his heart was almost in his throat as his mouth went dry. He closed his eyes and pulled the trigger.

He opened his eyes shocked. He then pulled the trigger again and again. He looked up at his boss as he was breathing hard. His heart was beating even faster and he felt like choking with fear. What was the meaning of this?

Tristan was looking down at him. If he hadn't done that, Tristan was going to kill him. If he was loyal enough to kill him self without hesitation in his orders he was willing to reduce his death sentence " Next time you fail me, I will kill you slowly. Very slowly..."

O'Brian was looking up not believing he was spared. "Sir... I won't fail you again..."

Tristan said dismissively as he walked away " You will be dealt with over the next week by me personally. You will be through hell. Make no mistake. Leave the basement. Through the long passage way and wait for instructions ... You are a soldier. Always ready to serve... Don't forget your vows... Recite them as you leave..."

Jericho had not defied him publicly. No one knew of his instructions to him. He dealt with him privately. So he didn't feel the urgent need to make his punishment public.

Once Tristan was out of O'Brian's cell he made his way to the ground floor. He was not worried about O'Brien. He was a soldier. He was always ready to serve even after a long grilling and humiliating punishment. It was established he was no traitor. He was just not as assertive but Tristan was going to teach him personally to never give into the demands that put his queen in danger. Jericho had to be punished by him for his error. It was going to be a long week ahead for him.

Tristan was certain after he was done putting him through hell, there was no way he was going to dream of being soft again. Even now after his session with him, he was sure Jericho had the message. He was not the best. He was the best of the best. He understood that he had made a huge mistake disobeying his boss.

Tristan opened the door to see Trent and Vienna having tea. They both stood up discarding their cups.

Tristan said "Trent. Leave us."

Trent quickly left gladly. He didn't want to know what they were about to do.

After Trent left, Vienna looked at Tristan who was standing with his hands in his pockets. She said "Look. I am sorry..."

Tristan said " I don't want to hear it Vienna."

Vienna said " Did you ... kill him? The guard..."

Tristan said "I should have... But no he lives... For now..."

Vienna took a deep breath.

That didn't escape Tristan's eye. "Are you ... getting attached to men who work for you Vienna?"

Vienna shook her head "No... it's just that... I feel responsible. I shouldn't have insisted on coming to you. I should have waited..."

Tristan wasn't convinced. He was going to watch Vienna closely on this. He said "You should have..."

Vienna sighed and started walking to Tristan "You are trying to protect me... I should listen to you..." She stood in front of Tristan. "But I want to be with you... by your side... Please don't exclude me..."

Tristan said "I won't exclude you... In fact I will keep you closer... If you try to pull a stunt like this again, you won't get your way Vienna... You will be facing resistance... So don't try to defy me again... Ever... You won't get your way..."

Vienna said "I trust you but I can't possibly do as you tell me all the time..."

Tristan said " You can try Vienna... But if you succeed then you will realise why I give the orders that I give... You will learn the hard way that way and I can't allow that..."

Vienna asked "What Business were you doing that I couldn't see? Who were you interrogating that I should have kept away... I didn't see any danger when I entered that room..."

Tristan said " The man I was dealing with... You can't know of what he said to me... You can't know of what I did to him... He is well known ..."

Vienna said "He was hooded... He couldn't see me and he is your prisoner..."

Tristan said "I have to set him free..

Vienna gasped " Is he a ... hostage?"

Tristan nodded " Not Exactly... He is from the ... Russian mob... I have to set him free so they know I honour my word... He injured many of my men... He is a well trained assassin. I caught him finally after he made a mess... I decided to hand him over to show good Will and the Russians owe me a debt knowing I didn't kill their missing prince who was causing havoc in my side of town. I told them I had to question him to find out if he had planted any surprises in my territory. He is known for that... He shouldn't have done what he did... They will owe me big time for sparing his life..."

Vienna gasped and covered her mouth. "Is this Andrei Alexandrov?..." She was familiar with his case. She was told by Anastasia Santiago who was daughter of Sergei Santiago, his father's close ally. Her father was part Russian so she knew of it... She had told her about how he was missing. He was her age... so a teenager could be anywhere... If anyone with information didn't come forward his family had threatened to kill them and start a blood bath.

Tristan said "With knowledge comes responsibility."

Vienna breathed "When will you release him?"

Tristan said " I already have... After I left you with tent, they turned up... They came to pick him up from the basement through a secret passage way I allowed them to use. That's why I didn't want you down there in the middle of it. I would need your father's permission to involve you in such business... Imagine Russian men, coming inside... to pick their prince up and seeing you down there. You were safe outside... But you had to come to get involved in business I didn't want you to be involved in."

Vienna said "I am sorry..."

Tristan said " It don't matter... Can you remain here while I arrange for us to leave? I need to make some phone calls."

Vienna nodded.

Tristan left the room and closed the door as he saw his brother waiting outside.

Trent asked " I can't believe you let him go just like that... What did Andrei share?"

Tristan said " He gave me nothing about his Antiques... I couldn't hurt him because I had to return him in one piece... So his parents have to just send me the information in the post. They will... But he was happy to share some information gladly...When Irish safety and unity is at risk, he was happy to point it out. Only he didn't know how much more his information was worth to me... But again he doesn't give a crap about anything but his own family ..."

Trent said "What did he say?"

Tristan said "He gave me names... of people who have sold my uncle warfare... weapons... very recently... We have a lot of work to do..."

Trent gasped "Wow. How does he know?"

Tristan said "He was approached by some middle men to get them some weapons... He went along with it... He is nuts... He went deep underground ... very deep... He knows a lot more... Only if I didn't have to give him back without a scratch on him, I could get it out of him eventually... At least they owe us one..." He then looked at his watch "Stay with Vienna. I don't want her wondering off... I will be back shortly. I won't be long..."

Trent said " Alright.. But we need to get into their system somehow Tristan. We need more than a debt with that family... We need close alliances with them. There is no way in except middle men right now... No Irish or Italian is married to any them... let alone an O'Neil or Giovanni. Tell that to Stefano Rosario who has rejected Andrei's sister, Avianna every time she sends him invitation to her school parties. Andrei even approves because he was doing work experience with Stefano in some law firm and introduced him even to his sister since Stefano didn't even glance at any women there. He likes honour... They could easily get into the system through Stefano..."

Tristan walked past him "The Rosarios have Sergei Santiago as middle man... Alliances will come one day..."