Chapter 6 – Eduard
I didn’t plan to leave the house today.
But now, I had to.
I needed to step out, away from the presence of the girl who refused to leave my mind.
It had been hours since I spoke to her, but her voice continued to replay in my head.
“The car is ready, Boss,” Leonid informed from the other side of the door.
Picking up my phone from the nightstand, I stepped out of my bedroom to meet Leonid, also dressed up.
Without a word, he led the way out of the house and toward the car.
As I got into the car, he spoke, “Ivan wants to know if you’ll be coming to the second warehouse also. To know if they should lock up or not.”
“Do they have an emergency to attend to? They should wait until I give other instructions.”
Nodding, he closed the door.
My head turned backward as Leonid drove out of the gates, my eyes searching for one tiny being in particular. Although I knew the windows on her floor didn’t open from the inside, I found myself hoping she was in the mood to pull back the drapes and look out.
But then, I didn’t even know the exact room she occupied. For all I knew, it might not be one of those facing the front of the house.
“Ask Viktor to unlock the door of the girl’s room. She can move around, except for the main exits or entrances.”
“Yes, Boss.”
He picked up his phone to make the call.
I settled into the leather seat, forcing my mind back to the business I was going to the warehouse to handle.
Several minutes later, we were pulling over in front of the main warehouse.
“Mr. Eduard, I’m so glad we could eventually meet today. Tomorrow would have been too tight,” Greg Morales rambled as he stood from a chair at the entrance of the warehouse.
“Greg,” I uttered by way of greeting as I approached. “I don’t remember agreeing to meet today.”
Craig Morales, Greg’s brother, was a member of the U.S Senate and one of my seasonal clients. He occasionally sent Greg, since he was the one who introduced us. Beyond that was the fact that many people would rather relate to me through intermediaries for whatever reason.
“You’re right. But, you see, after confirming your absence and calling to schedule a meeting for tomorrow, I had to wait here for my driver to arrive. He got delayed by a small accident, so when you told your men that you’d be coming, they told me.”
My eyes flashed to the two men standing by the entrance.
I would have refused to have the meeting with Greg and asked him to come back the next day as planned. But there was a point I wanted to make. Besides, anything that meant more hours outside the house tonight was more than welcome.
“Let’s get it over with, then.”
He was sitting across from me in my office the next minute.
“It’s been what? Two years? It’s nice to see you again,” he rambled, smiling too gleefully for my liking.
“I believe you don’t expect me to say the same.”
His smile dropped into a small chuckle.
“What are you here for, Greg?”
He cleared his throat before leaning closer, bringing his elbows to the table.
“The elections are around the corner,” he stated.
“So I’ve heard,” I stated, prompting him to get to the point I already knew he was driving at.
“Craig is running for governor. The current governor, Henry Plum, has many supporters. The thing is, Craig only has this opportunity to serve as governor so he can run for the presidency in the next six years. We need your society’s support to gather the numbers we need.
Your influence could sway many other smaller organizations if they see you supporting us. ”
“I need to get something straight. Do you need my influence or the support of the cartel?”
“Actually,” he started with another chuckle. “We were hoping we could get both. We’d be glad to get both. Of course, we don’t intend to ask you for something you won’t get anything out of.”
“So, what is it that you’re putting on the table?”
“The ports you operate through…we have laid down plans to relax the measures to make them less restrictive for your business.”
“The existing measures never disturbed my business,” I mentioned, shrugging.
“Yes, but what we’re proposing is a much wider wiggle space.
You’ll be able to move five times what you usually move through the ports.
Because we know you don’t deal with terrorists or retailers who just sell guns to anybody, we can vouch for you.
And that’s why we can rearrange the process to ensure your shipments are listed alongside the army’s shipments.
Yours will simply be listed as private. That means no need to avoid checks or pay so much for passage. ”
“As much as that sounds good, you can’t have both.
Here is how it works,” I started, sitting up straight.
“Having the support of the cartel as a whole means mobilizing members of the Bratva and other Mafia in and around New Jersey to vote. I won’t have to ask them to vote for your brother; it’s just about spreading the word about helping an affiliate get higher on the political ladder for the benefit of our cartels. ”
He nodded in understanding as I went on.
“But, my support, on the other hand, isn’t that simple.
It’s personal. I’m at the top of the Mafia hierarchy, and that means many people are bound to follow my example because they trust my judgment.
That’s exactly why I stay away from publicly declaring my political stance. I don’t trust any of you.”
“I can assure you that we won’t make you regret choosing us.”
“This is not about regret. You guys can’t evoke such a feeling from me,” I answered.
“It’s about my motivation and the reputation that follows it.
I always ask my men to support whoever they believe in.
Telling them I believe in someone would make them all follow me, and that would mean they are not just looking up to that person; they are expecting me to make that person deliver.
I’m not that interested in government dealings. ”
“I totally understand,” he replied. “We’ll opt for the support of the cartel as a whole. After all, the organized crime society in the state is larger than some industries.”
“We have a deal, then,” I confirmed.
Greg had barely left my office when I called Leonid to bring the guys we met at the warehouse to my office.
The three of them stood by the door as Leonid walked over to my desk.
“Boss, the guys counting just finished, so I went over to confirm the quantities. We’re all set for tomorrow,” he informed.
I nodded, getting up from my seat and shedding my suit jacket. I stalked to the back of my leather chair, my hands on the headrest.
“Which of them did Leonid call to inform of my coming this evening?” I asked the three of them.
The other two looked at the one standing in the middle.
“He called me, Boss,” he confessed.
“Right. Where were you when the call came in?”
“I was with the guys sorting the delivery in the back,” he answered, his voice cautious.
“Then you came all the way to the entrance to announce to your colleagues. You were in a hurry to stretch your vocal chords, am I wrong?”
“Uh…Boss, I didn’t…I just told them you were coming, as Leonid said,” he uttered, looking from Leonid to his colleagues.
I walked to my desk, taking a pistol out of the drawer.
Manipulating the gun in my fingers, I casually moved past Leonid to the other side of the desk, facing them.
The fear written all over them told me they were now catching on to what they were in trouble for.
“It’s either one or the other,” I stated, leaning against the desk. “Either you talked so loudly that Greg Morales heard, or you two directly told Greg I was coming.”
The silence that ensued could be cut with a knife.
“When you are to share information regarding location of any kind, what’s the regular code?” I asked them.
“Share on a need-to-know basis and don’t speak until the recipient is confirmed,” the first guy replied.
“And information about my coming falls under what category of location information?”
“Highly valuable,” the same guy replied.
“So, how did that highly valuable information get to Greg Morales? Which of the two scenarios is it?”
“Boss, I didn’t tell them in his presence. When I saw that they weren’t alone, I called Paolo to the side and passed the information. Then I left. I don’t know how the visitor knew about it,” the guy in the middle explained.
I traced my right eyebrow with my finger.
“Boss, I….when he told me…I returned to…to my spot to…to tell Hendrik—”
The sound of a gunshot was immediately followed by a howl as he held the ear I had just grazed.
“Why the fuck are you stuttering? Am I supposed to wait all day just to listen to you?”
His eyes were bloodshot and filled with unshed tears as he nodded frantically.
“I relayed the information to Hendrik. Mr. Morales heard so he decided to wait for you,” he rushed, his hand still gripping his now-bloody ear.
“Interesting. So, what you’re telling me is that you spoke loud enough for a visitor to hear?”
“Ye—”
The bullet got to his feet before he could completely utter a response. Another loud cry filled the room as he fell to the ground.
“Look at me!”
He did as I said.
“What did you do wrong?”
“I was too loud. I let valuable information get out,” he groaned, sweat bathing his face.
“Nice.”
I turned to Leonid. “Let’s go check on the delivery you supervised.”
Just before I stepped out of my office, I turned to the two guys who were still standing. “Get him treatment and clear the mess on my floor before I get back.”
***
I didn’t arrive at the house until just a few minutes before midnight. Despite having spent only a few hours at both warehouses, I felt tired.
But my physical tiredness was the opposite of my mental state. My mind spun tirelessly with thoughts of the girl I had brought into my space.
As I ascended the stairs to my floor, I paused on her floor before going up.
Her presence here was no longer about Lucien. It was no longer about revenge or manipulating him. It was simply about her.
After a glass of whiskey, I was in bed, ready to sleep and forget about her. But the images of her annoyingly beautiful face looping in my head seemed to laugh at me.
My body was still, but my mind wouldn’t shut down.
I gave up after more sleepless minutes. Rising from the bed, I strolled to my office.
Then I went straight to the security monitors at the corner of the room. My eyes caught one particular camera feed. She was in the hallway outside her room, feet bare, hair framing her face.
I should go down there to make sure she’s not up to anything funny.
I could send someone—who am I kidding?
There was no point in denying it: Seeing her restless face on the screen made me itch. And heading over to that hallway was the only way I could scratch that itch.
I was already out of my office before I could think of stopping myself.
I padded along the dimly lit hallway, my eyes and ears alert for any sign of her.
I found her just as she stumbled into the wall near the end of the hallway. She let out a startled noise—that was when she saw me.
“Didn’t realize I had company.”
Her voice was sharp, and her face showed her defiance.
My eyes went lower. They shouldn’t have.
If they didn’t, I wouldn’t have noticed how her crop top clung to her body. I wouldn’t have noticed how the fullness of her breasts pushed against the thin material of the top.
But they did. And I couldn’t unsee.
I forced my eyes to her face, and I found her unblinking gaze on me.
The darkness curled around us as I took a step closer to her. She remained rooted to her position as I took another step, leaving no more than a few inches between us.
The silence between us was no ordinary silence; it was charged with a kind of heaviness I couldn’t quite decipher.
Her look showed no sign of the anger she had earlier—and that was probably why the next thing that came out of my mouth was, “What’s your name? You know mine.”
Those brown eyes didn’t leave mine as she answered, “Marielle.”
I nodded in acknowledgment before asking, “Why are you out here?”
“What? I can’t even move around?” she questioned, her voice daring.
“Trust me, you’re safer when you’re behind closed doors.”
She took a step closer, eradicating the tiny space between us.
I fought to control my breathing when her tiny forefinger landed on my chest through my pajama shirt.
“What if,” she started, her finger slowly sliding down my chest, “I begged you to ruin me.”
Between her words and the heat that washed over me, I lost control.
I fisted her hair, yanking her head back and pushing her against the wall.
“You have no idea what you’re asking for,” I warned, my voice coming out rough. “I ruin things for real.”
I held her slender waist, and my body shook internally with hot desire as my eyes locked on hers. Right then, I was torn between the need to punish her for daring me and my desire to devour her until she was begging to be released.
Her victorious smile made me release her, my jaw tight in frustration.
She knows I lost.
She successfully broke my control.
I stepped back as she walked away, her steps slow and deliberate. Watching her disappear into her room, my blood pounded in my ears.
How does she manage to push my buttons?
I had been tested in the most dangerous ways—but never like this. From guns pointed at my head to interrogating vicious spies, none of my past challenges unnerved me like this girl, Marielle.