Viktor
Ihandle things differently in my business than in my personal life.
Which is why Stefan, one of my lower soldiers tasked along with others to guard the girls at the warehouse, looks pale as death and as if his teeth might chatter out of his head when he approaches me on the docks.
“What’s happened?” I ask immediately, my voice tight and cold. I can see the ripple of fear that runs through him at that.Good, I think grimly to myself. It feels good to be in charge again. It feels as if my domestic life isn’t entirely in control at home, not unlike my first marriage. It’s made my temper at work much worse, but if that inspires my men to do their jobs more efficiently, all the better.
Tonight is Caterina’s and my “date” to the Philharmonic. While I hope that it will be an uneventful night, I’ve learned over the past two weeks of our marriage that Caterina isn’t necessarily the pliable and easy wife I’d expected to be delivered to me. She’s stronger than I’d expected, and while the challenge might be pleasant under other circumstances, the coldness of our marriage bed has left everything between us stiff, awkward, and constantly on the verge of a fight.
Our marriage isn’t the only thing that’s stiff these days, either,I think, remembering my shower this morning. It’s become a habit to jerk off quickly before Caterina wakes up, imagining our wedding night over and over again until I could retrace every single thing we did. I imagine other things too, things I’d do to her—that Iwilldo to her if the clinic fails and I’m able to find a good reason to order her naked into my bed.
It takes the edge off enough for me to get through my day. Still, it leaves me irritable and frustrated, a man who has never had trouble getting a woman, reduced to hastily jerking his cock in the shower while his wife sleeps.
“Let’s go inside, boss. We’ll talk there,” Stefan says, his voice nervous despite what I’m sure are his best efforts.
“You can tell me here, now,” I snap, my irritation growing by the second. “What’s happened?”
Stefan glances at the water next to the dock, as if uncertain whether or not I might throw him in once he’s done speaking. He’s already on thin ice—he’s partially responsible for Anastasia Ivanova managing to weasel her pretty way into the ranks of my brigadiers and fuck enough of them to uncover what Franco and I had planned together. It had turned out, of course, that Franco was double-dealing both sides. He paid for that. Stefan and the other brigadiers were punished too—I can see the gap where Stefan’s tooth once was. But clearly, he’s fucked up once again.
“One of the girls escaped, boss,” he says, his voice cracking a little. It would almost be amusing how terrified he is if I weren’t on the edge of exploding with frustration and anger.
What isn’t amusing is that he’s let part of my shipment escape.
“You’re fucking kidding me.” I stare at him, and I can see him shrink under the iciness of my gaze. “Are you eager to lose another tooth, Stefan? Perhaps two? Should I have one of the men beat all of them out of your mouth?”
“No, boss.” He’s shaking now. “No, please. I—she tricked me. I let her out to use the restroom like you said we should let them. And she—”
“She came on to you, didn’t she?” I can feel my jaw muscles working. “How many times have you incompetent fuckers been warned not to let your dicks do the thinking when it comes tomymerchandise?”
“She said she’d suck me off for some extra food. We just needed to go into the corner, and—” he shifts uncomfortably, and it takes only a second for me to put two and two together and come up with Stefan possibly never getting an erection again.
“She bit your fucking dick, didn’t she?” Again, I’d almost laugh if I weren’t nearly incandescent with rage. “And then she escaped.”
Stefan nods miserably. “Yes, boss.”
“Where were the other guards?”
“They were, ah—”
I don’t need him to finish the sentence, and now I’m fucking furious. I push past Stefan, nearly shoving him into the water without meaning to as I stride into the warehouse. “Alexei!” I shout out, my voice echoing in the huge metal building. “Alexei, get thefuckout here!”
When Alexei emerges, Mikhail is with him, one of my other brigadiers. Alexei is tasked with overseeing the warehouse operations, and clearly, he’s doing a shitty fucking job of it.
“Yes, Viktor?” His tone is cool, almost insubordinate, and I narrow my eyes. I’ve heard rumors lately that Alexei has been complaining about my leadership, about the way I’m handling things. If he goes too far, I’ll have no choice but to bring down the hammer on him. And that would be a shame since he’s an excellent brigadier.
“I heard one of the girls escaped last night.”
“That’s correct.” Alexei frowns. “We’ve got men after her, and they took dogs with them. She won’t get far.”
“If she got into the city, she could. And if she does that and fingers us as the ones who kidnapped her with intent to sell—” I let out an angry breath. “I can grease plenty of hands to keep us from being held responsible for that. But I’d rather not have to, especially when I have plenty of men tasked with guarding them. Men who, apparently, can’t keep from getting their dicks wet long enough to stop themselves from sampling the merchandise.”
“If you’d listened to me about not allowing them out of their cages—”
“If my men could avoid fucking them, it wouldn’t matter!” I raise my voice, and even Mikhail flinches back at the anger in it. “These women are meant for sale to rich and powerful men. You think those men would be happy if they found out the cocks of the lowest Bratva had been in their new purchases only days before?” I grit my teeth. “If they touched one of the virgins—”
Alexei swallows hard, and I know then that today is going to be a bloody day. “What do you want me to do, Viktor?”
“Collect every man who was on guard duty that night. Bring them in here and line them up. We’ll handle this the old-fashioned way.”