The King - S.R. Jones Page 0,68
with Andrius, and maybe we should all have another meet soon. Take fucking care, man.”
“I will, thanks.”
I hang up after wishing him and his well, and sit and think. The Armenians are crazy fucks. They’ll fit in with Popov. If I take him out, I’ll effectively be wrecking their plans as well, making a whole host of new enemies. Ones I really don’t need, but… I can’t let that fucker get away with what he did, or make a move on Allyov. No way. He’s so damn volatile, and I want him out of the picture now more than ever. Not just for personal reasons anymore, but because he’s always going to be a danger to any of us doing business over here.
Taking out my phone, I dial Vasily. “Come to the study,” I tell him.
He does. And when he arrives, I tell him to close the door and sit.
“We’ve got problems,” I tell him.
He raises one dark brow and listens.
“It seems Popov is planning on moving against Allyov, with the Armenians.”
“Oh, fuck no. They’re crazy motherfuckers.”
I laugh. “My thoughts exactly. I take out Popov, I end up in a war with them.”
“Why don’t you tell Allyov and let him take out Popov? Set the wheels in motion and sit back? You could even feed misinformation to the Armenians.”
“Because I need to be the one to do it, to show the world you don’t fuck with me. He killed my fucking wife, Vasily.”
“Okay … let me think. Right, how about we tell Allyov what Popov was planning, get him on our side? Then we show the Armenians that Popov was going to fuck them over, concoct enough evidence to convince them, and tell them we’re dealing with him, then introduce the Armenians and Allyov. All sorted!”
I go to the sideboard and pour two hefty glasses of vodka from a bottle chilling in an ice bucket. I pass the neat drink, no ice, to Vasily and take a sip of my own.
“Doesn’t solve the issue that the Armenians are wanting to move into the territory here, does it?”
“No, but you said yourself, you want London to remain legit for you. The only reason you’re even getting involved is because of the vacuum you’d leave for Allyov if you took Popov out. If Allyov thinks you taking Popov out is a favor to him because the bastard was going to backstab him with the Armenians, he’s hardly gonna worry about whether you leave a power vacuum, is he? And he and the Armenians can fight over the scraps and work something out. In fact, the Armenians could become Popov and fulfil his role, and Allyov could keep doing what he is.”
I sip and sigh, and I think. And think some more. “It makes a certain kind of sense. After all, the Armenians can do what they damn well please, but without permission to use Stamatis Kontas’ shipping lanes, they’ve got nothing. They can’t get the arms to the UK.”
Stamatis isn’t merely mob, he’s a fucking cartel kingpin. He keeps his operation super tight. Damen, his son-in-law, Alesso, and Markos, and a few long-term hires, he trusts. In fact, I think, I need to build more of a Stamatis-type operation. His men are in deep with him, their fates all tied together. Vasily works for me, as does Bohdan, but could I make them more? Start to give them more of a return on their time with more share of the power? Not Denis, he’s muscle pure and simple with his lack of brains.
“Yep, in this whole thing, Stamatis is king maker whether he wants to be or not.” Vasily picks up my train of thought, proving he can strategize with the best of them. “He won’t want hassle, but we just have to present it to the Armenians along the lines of, this: Popov is an untrustworthy asshole. Allyov isn’t. You let us take out Popov, and we will let you have his territory and all it entails. You work with Allyov nicely, fulfilling the same role Popov did, and we will ensure you can use the European shipping lanes.”
I smile because it makes sense. First things first, we have time, so I need to talk to Andrius and find out if he’s willing to give Allyov the information or if I should go through one of Allyov’s other men.
Vasily sips his drink. “So, the girl?”
“Liza? Yeah, I know.”
“No, the other one. If this all comes to fruition, you don’t need to