Chapter 5
V iktor
Nik, my most trusted man, pulled up to the warehouse and glanced at me as he turned off the engine.
“What’s the angle here?” he asked.
It was a fair question because we weren’t supposed to be here. Despite being the eldest son of the Bulgarian mafia leader, Boyan Stefanov, I wasn’t actually in charge of most of this operation, even with him freshly behind bars.
“My source says neither your father nor Ivan is here tonight, so these idiots won’t know any better. We will tell them Boyan sent us to check on the merchandise and the books.”
Nik grunted, “Let’s see how well that goes.” But I was willing to think on my feet and I wasn’t adverse to shooting people in the face and making shit up. No one wanted to get on my bad side.
“You make sure we know all the main players in this, and I’ll look through the paperwork.”
“This shit makes me sick,” Nik muttered.
He wasn’t alone. The trafficking side of our illegal business was one I’d been working for years to persuade my father to shut down, but with his two right-hand men running it and my father’s preference for secrets and lies, it was like pulling up a weed but leaving the root.
With him behind bars now, I had a much better opportunity to succeed, but I needed to ensure I’d left no stone unturned for traces of my sister, Katerina.
Nodding at Nik, we exited the vehicle, and he took position at my back. I knocked on the rusted door once, wondering why I’d chosen to come in one of my favourite suits.
The door opened, and a man with a cigarette hanging from his mouth greeted us. It took less than a second for his eyes to bug out of his head.
“ Gispodin Stefanov ,” he greeted in Bulgarian, dipping his head.
I swept in past him, trusting Nik to stay behind me. The second man inside looked equally shocked.
“Where is Dobri?” I barked, and he scrambled to find the man in charge.
I strode up the cold corridor, inhaling the mixture of sweat and cigarette smoke wafting from the man leading us.
Dobri the slimy lowlife, who ran these auctions, appeared from a door ahead and schooled his shock much better than the men at the door.
“Viktor.” He extended his hand and gripped mine between both of his clammy palms.
I mentally noted that I would need to bathe in an industrial cleaner and burn this suit later.
Dobri was almost a head shorter than me, with a huge gut overhanging his trousers. His hair was gelled into immobility.
“Dobri.”
“What brings you to my auctions? Are you looking to purchase?” His beady little eyes gleamed as they searched my face.
He spoke in English, which was interesting. I’d not had many dealings with him, but his reputation for cruelty preceded him.
“Boyan is concerned about the cashflow. Nik needs to be shown around, and I will check the books.”
My father was so old-fashioned that all his skin trading went through coded ledgers. He didn’t trust electronic information.
Dobri made no outward sign that my words indicated the big boss was questioning his operation, and he barked orders at the man who showed us through to take Nik on a tour.
“I can assure you that the cashflow is excellent. We can head to my office and have a drink. Unless you wish to check the merchandise.” His eyes slid to the corridor ahead as two men appeared and halted.
Dobri shouted at them to get moving. They came closer, and a line of women appeared behind them.
The first was dressed in a business suit that didn’t fit very well, but behind her was a line of young, scared-looking girls dressed in thin slips, wearing far too much make-up, and all staring at the floor.
The unmistakable tremors gave away that they were all terrified.
My jaw tightened, and my muscles tensed.
Anger blazed under my skin, imagining my sweet sister shuffling past, cowed and terrified.
One woman's head suddenly lifted, shifting her dark braids against her pale skin.
Her eyes locked with mine, and my breath caught in my chest. Time stood still as everything narrowed down into this moment.
Her stunning blue eyes widened, and she stumbled a step.
My hand shot out reflexively, closing around her upper arm, and her soft skin sent tingling through my hand, and her lips parted on a gasp.
There was an innocence that radiated off her.
The white slip she had on did nothing to hide the outline of her dark nipples that framed the number 873.
Lust and something distinctly protective shot through my veins.
Mine. The thought struck me like a ton of bricks, squeezing my chest tightly. The idea was both absurd and completely inevitable, like my fundamental reality had been rewritten when our eyes met.
Her nostrils flared suddenly, and her expression shuttered. She pulled her arm from my grasp and cast her eyes back to the floor, shuffling away. Sounds and smells rushed back over me in technicolour as Dobri chuckled.
“Are you sure you won’t stay for the auction? That one is older than the rest, and I could offer you a discount.”
My stomach turned at his words, and my trigger finger itched. With extreme difficulty, I tore my eyes from her back, and a new urgency beat through me.
“The books,” I clipped out, and Dobri plastered a smarmy smile on his face.
I followed Dobri in the other direction to the stunning woman, whom I needed to get as far away from this disgusting place as possible. A plan whirred in my mind to ensure I got both things I needed from this trip.
The office was cramped and dingy, but a space heater made it much warmer.
Unfortunately, that also meant Dobri's smell was more pungent here, and I decided acid might be needed to wash myself when we got out of here.
I sat at the main desk and texted Nik to join me.
Dobri passed me the ledgers and kicked back on one of the other chairs, lighting a cigarette.
Nik knocked and entered.
“All okay?” I asked.
“They are having some trouble with one of the buyers, " he said, and Dobri sat up abruptly.
“I will return. Then we’ll take you to the auction, yes?” Dobri asked.
I nodded curtly.
Nik: You’re buying goods at the auction?
Nik was my right-hand man for several reasons, but one of the best things about him was the seamless way he understood my instructions. He knew not to speak out loud in here.
Me: Stealing goods, setting fires and shooting a few people.
He raised his eyebrows as he read my text, then shrugged.
Nik: What do you need me to do?
Me: Get one of the women and take her out to the car. Dark hair, older than the rest, blue eyes, number 873.
Fucking stunning. Doesn’t belong here , I added mentally.
This time, he looked up at me, widening his eyes.
Me: My future wife. I’ll create a distraction .
Nik gave a startled huff.
Nik: Okay, boss. Did you get the other thing you came for?”
I held up the ledgers.
The door opened and closed as Dobri returned, an air of irritation around him.
“Are you ready to bid?” Dobri leered at me expectantly from the other side of the desk, his yellowed teeth exposed.
“You’ve been skimming money, Dobri.”
“What?” he spluttered, his face turning red. “That’s fucking?—”
I lifted my gun and shot him between the eyes.
He went down like the sack of shit he was, barging the desk forward with his momentum.
Despite the silencer, the gunshot had been loud in the office and rang in my ears.
Nik cracked the door open to check the corridor outside.
He closed the door again and shook his head briefly.
I snatched Dobri’s cigarettes and lighter from the desk and stepped around his corpse, carrying the ledgers.
“The woman, Charlotte, has an office at the front,” Nik said as he strode off toward the girls.
I wanted to follow him, but I needed to tie all this up, and I knew Nik wouldn’t let me down. Lighting a cigarette, I took a long drag, disliking the feel of smoke in my lungs. I’d quit many years ago and had no intention of restarting at thirty-three, but I needed an easy fire starter.
Finding the man at the front door, I ordered him to take me to Charlotte. Her office was by the warehouse's front doors and smelled much better than Dobri’s. She stood from her computer, smoothing her suit jacket as I walked in. My eyes zeroed in on the wastepaper basket, full of paper.
“We got word there was money skimming, and I’ve found evidence it’s Dobri,” I said without preamble.
“What?” Her face paled.
“Did you know?”
“No!” She held up her hands. “I swear.”
If it were anyone else but me, she’d be dead too. Or sold off, but she was lucky she was a woman, and although she was part of this, so was I.
“I believe you.”
She swallowed.
“Where is the security footage?”
“It feeds to my laptop, but the main box is in Dobri’s office.” She gestured at the computer.
“I need you to oversee the rest of the auction. And send Dobri’s most loyal men to the office.”
She blinked at me.
“Now!” I barked, and she jolted, grabbing her clipboard and darting out the door. I flicked my cigarette butt into the wastepaper basket, snatching up the laptop and left the door slightly ajar as I followed Charlotte back into the warehouse.
Nik: I can take them out the back door here, but I need that distraction.
Me: I’ve got the security feeds. Leave the door open.
Having some of the women escape would provide cover for my theft and allow them to gain their freedom. Not that I was anyone’s knight in shining armour; I was still a monster.