VALERIAN
“Anything?”
Niko closes the front door, the sound echoing through the high ceilings. He shakes his head. “No. Not yet.”
“Where the fuck is she?” I run a hand through my hair.
I’m on the verge of pulling it out. I finish walking down the stairs.
Since Joy escaped, the estate feels more echoey. More hollow.
I don’t know what the fuck she’s thinking. Igor and his men are using her to get to me. And she’s falling right into their trap.
She’s a smart girl. She knows this. But she chose to leave anyway.
I make it down into the lobby, approaching Niko. I know why she left. I’m too much for her. The killing isn’t an issue. It’s something else.
To date, she’s the only woman who has ever run away from me.
“Did you check Venice Beach? I think she was staying there with her friend before the marriage.”
“Checked the area. There wasn’t anything.”
Nikolai is very meticulous. He caught her in the ocean the first time I sent him after her. He knows what he’s fucking doing.
The fact that he can’t find her is very concerning.
“You look worried.”
“They’re going to use her to get to me.”
“That shouldn’t be an issue.” Niko stares at me harder. “But it is. Because you feel something for her.”
“I shouldn’t.”
Niko raises his brow. “I never thought you’d actually admit that aloud.”
“It doesn’t matter. The feeling won’t be around much longer. When I have her back under my roof, safe, I’m sure things will go back to the way they were before.”
More lines appear between Niko’s brow. “What do you mean by that?”
“My cock can’t get enough of her.”
“Are you sure it’s just your cock?” Niko looks at me pointedly, stepping away. “Shower, since it looks like you haven’t done that yet today and meet me in your office.”
Mudak.
I walk into the kitchen since I haven’t eaten all day. Galina is here, preparing something. I heard what happened earlier. Joy threatening to kill her. Then she flashed her tits in front of my guards. I don’t know what gets under my skin more.
“I’m sorry about Joy.” I step more into the kitchen. “She acted way out of line. I’ll make sure she never does that again when she’s back.”
Galina drops the teaspoon in her hand and turns around. “Joy’s not coming back, Mr. Valerian.”
My chest tenses.
I lean into the countertop. “What do you mean?”
“Joy’s very brave. And it humbles me that she use me to escape.” She pats her chest. “I’d do it again for the same outcome.” She looks at me for another beat. And then she turns back around.
I stare at the space in front of me. My chest is growing tighter by the second. And my pulse, for the first time in many years, is beating rapidly.
I stare at the back of Galina’s head, watching her prepare tea, the teaspoon clanging against the mug as she finishes stirring.
This isn’t like Galina. I hired her because she was respectful.
Attentive. This evening, she’s none of those things as she faces back the other way, ignoring me in my own house.
Forget the food. I don’t have an appetite. I leave the kitchen and cross the courtyard, heading to my office to meet Nikolai.
I open the door. Nikolai is there, sitting behind my desk with a grave expression written across his face. “You’ll want to see this.”
Something pulls at my chest. Black spots take over my vision, the world tilting on its axis. If this is about Joy, I’m fucked. I can’t concentrate on stopping Igor if my heart is beating rapidly in my chest, thinking about her.
“What is it?” I mutter, taking my first step inside.
“Come and see for yourself.”
Way to build anticipation.
I walk to my desk, steering the monitor around to have a look. Nikolai’s looking at one of our main accounts. It’s where most of the money from the real estate goes.
And eighty percent of it is gone. I stare at the latest transaction. That is a lot of fucking money gone in the blink of an eye. And as frustrated as I am, I can’t help but feel slightly relieved. Joy is okay. Her dead body hasn’t been found down a side alley. Yet.
I blink, staring at the amount withdrawn from the account. There’s a transaction ID.
“I already tried to file a case,” says Niko, staring at me. “But there’s nothing the bank can do on their end. The person responsible has access to all of our accounts, according to the bank.”
“No, they don’t.” I rake a hand through my hair. “I restricted Igor from accessing all of our accounts. There’s no way he could get back in.”
“Someone has.” Nikolai pins me a look. “And they’re doing well to hide their tracks.”
Bylat. This must be the people Igor is working with.
I lean in, my forearms over the desk as I take a closer look at the monitor. “The Bratva is down millions of dollars.” I do some calculations. “The money left in this account will pay for the guards in my house. Maybe you and a few other enforcers. That’s it.”
Niko clenches his jaw, looking at me.
“Who the fuck is stealing from us?”
“I already tried tracing the transaction. I couldn’t get anywhere.”
I rise back to full height, pacing the office. This is bad. Joy is gone. She could be in trouble. And the Bratva is severely weakened. Which means that if we need to save her, we don’t have the resources.
Technically, I still have everything. But my men will start dropping like flies when they realize there’s no money in the bank.
And then what? Igor takes everything? I go back to being the helpless teenager I once was, unable to control anything, not even my own life as I watch my father being sent away for something he didn’t even do?
Bylat. He had his moments. But he was a better man than I could ever hope to be.
I return to the desk, folding my hands over my chest. “We need to find out who did this.”
“I’ll start by finding Igor.” Niko raises from his seat behind the desk. “I’m sure I’ll be able to get some answers out of him.”
My pulse spikes. “Don’t… do anything reckless.”
Niko looks at me, narrowing his eyes. “You know, you’re not the fearless man everyone thinks you are. You still love your son.”
“Unfortunately,” I sigh. “Things would be easier if I didn’t.”
Niko nods, understanding. “You did what had to be done. And you made the right choice, not telling him.”
“Make sure it stays that way. Igor can’t know the truth.”
“I know. It’s the only way you can protect him.
Sometimes sacrifices have to be made.” Nikolai stares at me, the burned side of his face shining in the evening sun.
“You let him grow up hating you,” he says.
“Not a lot of people would do that. They’d rather tell the truth, even if that truth would kill the person they love, just to make themselves look like the good guy.
” Niko deepens his stare. “But you’re not like most people that way. ”
I rake a hand through my hair again. We’re steering away from the main point here.
“I need you to find Igor. Get some answers out of him. We need to find out who he’s working with.”
“How do you propose I do that without being violent?”
I grimace. Good point. “I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”
I head over to my desk. In the meantime, I need to figure out where Joy has run off to. She should have her phone handy. I can hack into her GPS like Niko did and track her down. Maybe handcuff her to my bed for peace of mind.
That’s when my phone starts buzzing.
Niko, standing over my desk, looks up at me from his brow. He seems concerned.
I think we both should be. The number ringing me on the burner is unknown. I usually save my contacts if I know the person.
I flash Niko a glare and accept the call, activating loudspeaker so we can listen to the call together.
“Speak,” I say into the receiver while staring at Niko.
“Am I speaking to Valerian Sokolov?” asks the man.
This man is leaving a bad taste in my mouth already. I sense it straight away. Firstly, he’s Russian. The fake American accent isn’t fooling me. I’ve lived in America for decades, and can tell straight away when someone is forcing an accent.
“Yes,” I say, still staring at Niko. “And who might I be speaking to?”
“Siguard Volkov.”
My heart feels like it’s been ripped right out of my chest and crushed right in front of me.