Chapter 18 – Karik
I underestimated her ability to get to the truth sooner than expected. She never passed up the chance to prove just how smart and resilient she was.
In under five days or so, she’d already figured out the one name nobody outside the Bratva inner circle had heard of.
Should I be impressed or worried?
Was I not careful enough at hoarding that information? Or was she simply too good at what she did?
Niklaus Varro.
The mere thought of that asshole made my blood boil, and my fingers clench into fists. He was the reason for this whole scandal, the reason Vetrov was convicted in the first place.
Varro was the real target. Vetrov happened to be the substitute. Neither of them committed the crime, but the one paying for it wasn’t the one who was supposed to be arrested. There was more to the story than it met the eye; however, she didn’t even know the half of it.
To the outside world, Vetrov was serving time for the bombing that claimed over half a dozen lives and left many injured. To Ellie, however, the man was incapable of pulling off such a coordinated terrorist attack on his own.
She strongly believed that he was framed and innocent. But that’s because she didn’t know the full story. Now that she’d already figured out there was another player in the game that nobody knew about, she wasn’t going to stop until she found out who he was and his role in this case.
Ellie had come closer to the truth than anyone ever had. And although a part of me wanted to keep her in the dark, the other part was of the opinion that she’d earned the truth.
She’d put in the work, giving it her all, in a bid to prove a man’s innocence. I admired her dedication to the case, especially because she wasn’t making a dime from it. She wasn’t moved by money but by her affection and her faith in a broken system.
Perhaps it was time to come clean and finally set this case aside once and for all.
It was time to tell her the truth and open her eyes to the reality of how things truly worked in this world. The conversation was long overdue anyway.
Later that evening, after a warm shower, I put on a white singlet over a pair of loose pants. I combed my hair to perfection and wore my signature cologne in the right proportion. Strange, I would usually just step out without paying attention to my looks.
I told myself it was nothing.
But deep down, I knew the extra effort was for her, to impress her. There was no need for any of that. Yet, I couldn’t help it.
I stepped out of my room and began strolling down the empty hallway. Not long after, a door toward my right opened with a quiet creak, as if someone was being careful not to make a noise.
When I looked in that direction, I saw her standing in the doorway. She froze the moment our eyes met, her breath hitching, eyes wide with shock.
It was Agata.
At first, I thought her sudden unease was because of the way I scolded her the last time. Or maybe because she was afraid I’d scold her again for reporting me to Ellie.
But that was until I noticed the subtle details in her appearance. Her hair was a tangled mess, her fingers quietly tugging down the hem of her uniform.
The zipper on her back was undone, letting the sleeves of her dress slip slightly off her shoulders. The imbalance left her bra straps exposed, and that’s when I noticed her breathing was labored.
A man’s voice came from inside the room, asking in Russian why she’d stopped. I recognized it. Behind her, Sergei came into view, shirtless, fingers zipping up his pants.
He stared at me in shock while she lowered her head, unable to meet my eyes.
Those two were fucking.
I wasn’t sure how to feel about my staff having a secret affair under my roof. But then again, what they did in secret shouldn’t concern me. As long as it didn’t affect their work or interfere with my life.
To ease the tension and not make things more awkward than they already were, I walked away as though I never saw a thing.
Agata and Sergei?
I did not see that coming.
Ellie was at her table when I pushed open her door and walked in. She was working through a pile of documents, her back to the entrance, scribbling in a notebook.
“The day you learn how to knock, pigs might actually start flying past my window,” she said, her voice calm and composed.
“Vetrov wasn’t supposed to be the one behind bars,” I said, going straight to the point.
She stopped writing and paused for a moment before turning around. Her hair was tied in a messy bun, with a few strands framing her face. When she looked at me, her eyes sparked with curiosity and something darker.
I stepped forward, both hands in my pockets. “He was never in the original plan.”
“What do you mean by that?” she asked. “What original plan?”
I halted a few paces before her. “The Bratva wanted to silence a high-ranking freelance operative. The man knew too much. He stole vital information about our organization. The elders had to stop him.”
“Lemme guess: Niklaus Varro.” A pause. “What happened?”
“The plan went south,” I answered. “Someone snitched and told him he was about to be framed for the bombing of a shipping warehouse.”
Her brows arched in disbelief, as if she was starting to connect the dots.
“That leaked information gave him an edge, and he used it to his advantage,” I continued. “He sabotaged our plans, erased every evidence linking him to the bombing, and then disappeared.”
Silence.
“By the time we realized that he was two steps ahead of us, it was too late. We’d already blown up the warehouse.
” I paused, watching the mix of anger, shock, and disbelief in her eyes.
“Someone needed to be blamed for that. And it couldn’t be him because he’d wiped everything that could link him to it. ”
She rose to her feet. “So that’s where Vetrov came into the picture.”
I have a subtle nod.
“I don’t get it. Why would he take the fall? Was he under duress?”
“People will do anything when money’s involved, milaya.”
“So he was paid for it?”
“Not him,” I answered. “His family.”
Another pause.
“They needed the money badly at the time because he owed some dangerous people a shit ton of money,” I explained. “Vetrov was already drowning in debt, and the collectors had threatened to kill him and his entire family.”
Her expression began to shift, softening as though she were starting to see the whole thing through a wider lens.
“The Bratva offered him a good deal. We were going to pay off his debt so his family would be spared. In return, all he had to do was take the blame for the bombing.”
She stared into my eyes in silence, her previous anger dissolving into something I had yet to name.
I stepped forward, closing the distance between us. “Vetrov’s family is only alive today because he took that deal. So the man you’re fighting for owes everything to us.”
She swallowed hard, her chest heaving with slow breaths. “It still doesn’t change the fact that your organization blew up a building and killed six innocent people just to frame one man.”
“That’s the problem with you, milaya,” I said, halting close to her. “Everyone’s innocent until proven guilty. But sadly, that’s not how things work in my world.”
“They were dockworkers, Karik,” she said, her eyes boring into mine. “What could they possibly have been guilty of if not of working to feed their families?”
A pause.
“The warehouse was just a front,” I said. “Trust me, you don’t wanna know what really went on underground. So when I tell you those men were far from innocent, you’d better believe me.”
“Bullshit!” She pushed against my chest. “You’re just trying to justify your evil.”
“And you’re just being deliberately naive.” I grabbed her wrists midair. “Open your eyes! The world isn’t black and white, and neither is this case.” My voice had risen a bit higher than I’d intended.
I continued, much calmer this time, “There are powerful forces at work here that you don’t understand. So, for the love of God, know when to quit.”
She looked me straight in the eyes and said, “No,” bluntly.
I hesitated, watching a flicker of defiance dance in her gaze. “You’re the most stubborn person I’ve had to deal with.”
“And you’re the most unbearable person I’ve ever met in my whole life.”
Silence.
We stared at each other, neither breaking eye contact. The longer the stillness stretched on, the faster my heart raced. Gradually, her expression shifted from stern to something softer, something familiar.
The scent of her perfume lingered, reminding me of our time together in my study. My eyes discreetly roamed over her body, drinking in the sight before me. She wore a white tank top that clung to her like a second skin, highlighting the outline of her breasts.
Her nipples were poking out beneath the silk fabric. The hem of her short flared skirt brushed against her thighs, her skin glowing in the soft light.
The sight awakened something in me, causing my cock to twitch in my pants. I recognized the expression on her face; it was sheer desire, the kind that told me she was just as horny as I was.
A cold shiver ran down my spine, and a voice inside me whispered that I should kiss her. I was almost certain that she wasn’t going to push me away, yet I hesitated.
She drew closer, those warm hazel eyes sparkling with something that hardened my cock. Before I could form my next thought, she leaned in, and like two magnets, our lips crashed together in a heated kiss.
Her hands slid under my singlet as our heads began to tilt to the rhythm of our passion. I devoured those cherry lips, my palms finding her breasts. Her tongue invaded my mouth, and she took off my singlet, feeling the roughness of my skin.
I did the same with her top and pulled her closer, bending over to take her breasts in my mouth. One at a time. She tipped her head back, moaning quietly as her hands slid down to my groin.