CHAPTER 39
ILAY
I stare at the guard while I try to process the impossible fact that my innocent wife managed to drug the most dangerous man in Russia and slip away unnoticed.
"Really?" I ask, my voice dropping to a dangerously quiet pitch. "She knocked me out cold for seven hours?"
"Yes, sir," he replies while strictly avoiding my gaze. "We were concerned, but we didn't want to intervene." I run a hand through my hair and shake my head. I am impressed despite the rage currently boiling in my blood, and I mutter under my breath about how I never saw it coming.
Viktor shifts his weight beside me and mumbles low enough that he thinks I won't hear him, "You're the only one who thinks that woman is innocent." I snap my head toward him instantly with my eyes narrowing into slits. "Did you say something?"
Viktor stiffens and his face goes pale as he realizes I heard him, so he quickly shakes his head and looks straight forward. "No, sir. Nothing at all."
I hold his gaze for a long second to let him know he is treading on thin ice before I turn back to the guard.
"The executives are waiting for you at the mansion," the guard informs me while checking his watch to break the tension. "They have been there since eight."
"Let them wait," I snap. "we are leaving in ten minutes."
***
The drive back is suffocatingly silent as my head pounds from the residual drugs in my system.
My mood darkens with every mile because she actually drugged me so she could leave me.
I should be furious and tearing the city apart to find her, but mostly I am just exhausted and burning with a rage that could destroy everything.
When we arrive at the mansion, I storm inside without waiting for the door to be opened and head straight for the meeting room. The executives fall silent the moment I enter, standing straight and bowing.
"Pakhan," they greet me in unison. I ignore them and take my seat at the head of the table. "Sit." They sit nervously, sensing the violence in the air. I lean back and study them like bugs under a microscope. "I called this meeting because I am not in a good mood and I need to clean house."
The tension in the room spikes instantly. I snap my fingers for Viktor to place the files on the table. Gregory stands up abruptly. "This is preposterous, these are very big accusations you are making. Do you know how long some of us have been here? Some of us were here before you were even born."
I raise my hand, and the man immediately shuts up. "I don't care," I say simply. "Everybody is disposable. Those files you see here contain extensive evidence proving that several of you are not just incompetent but are actively working against me."
I point directly at a man near the middle of the table. "You, Sergei. Your name is central to all of this because you are the ringleader." Sergei starts sweating visibly. "That is not true."
"I didn't want to believe it," I continue, my voice getting colder with every word.
"You were close to my father, but then I started tracking things.
My locations were compromised and most of my shipments were sabotaged.
If not for the fact that I have the influence I do, I would have wondered how these puppet governments would have the gall to stop my shipments and raid my warehouses. "
I lean forward slightly. "So sit down, whatever shit you have to say right now will not save you. In fact, even if you had good reason to do it, it won't save you because my mood is sour this morning and I need to spill some blood."
Sergei tenses as his hand reaches toward his pocket.
"What?" I ask, my voice dangerously soft. "You want to shoot me in my house? I knew you were arrogant, but I didn't know you could be this foolish."
"It's either you or me," Sergei says, his voice shaking with rage. "You never deserved this position anyway. If it wasn't for your father marrying that stupid woman, we wouldn't be in this mess."
My eyes flash with rage. "Say that again."
Sergei knows he is going to die so he has the balls to continue. "It's true. If only he had married a woman with more influence like we suggested, but it seems the men of your family are cursed to always marry women who take you one step back."
He gestures at me with disgust. "And then there is you.
This time around you are going after a woman with zero value and we find out she is the daughter of an enemy.
What other shame can you bring into this organization?
Your father was the same when he married a woman of lower status who wasn't even part of our world.
It seems you men just like to bring collateral damage and ruin operations. "
"So that is why you sold us out to the same people you call our enemies?" I ask, my voice deadly quiet. "I am not stupid, Sergei. You are very stupid for using the same payment route to pay for that information because they would never know if you weren't feeding it to them."
I stand up slowly. "I almost died in those woods when I was fourteen. I was hunted like an animal all because of your betrayal." I smile a cold and empty smile. "So I will repay the favor."
I snap my fingers, and my men burst in with guns drawn. Chaos erupts as executives scream and try to run. "Wait!" Sergei begs. "We can negotiate!"
I shoot him between the eyes myself, and then I give the signal for my men to slaughter the rest.
The room fills with gunfire and screams until seventeen men lie dead on the floor. Only three remain alive, cowering against the wall.
"You three can leave," I tell them calmly. "Leave Russia tonight or I will kill you too."
They run for their lives. "Clean this up," I tell Viktor. "Sir," he says hesitantly. "I have news about Miss Iris. She left the country." My world stops. "What?"
"She took a private plane to Germany this morning," he explains. "Germany," I repeat numbly.
I close my eyes and see her face. "Maybe it's for the best," I say, shocking myself. "She needs time and maybe I need time to be better." Viktor looks confused. "Sir?"
"Get me a therapist," I order. "And sign me up for anger management."
"Sir?"
"You heard me," I snap. "And keep monitoring her. I want to know everything she does."
"Yes, sir." I wipe a speck of blood from my sleeve. "I will get her back. She belongs to me and nothing will change that." I walk away knowing that she can run as far as she wants, but I will always find her.