Chapter 28
Alexei
The silence in the conference room is deafening. The only thing audible apart from steady breathing is the sound of my fingers drumming on the table. “Say that again. And say it slowly this time.” My voice comes out controlled.
Bohdan clears his throat. “Dato attacked the Russian ports used for Poland shipments.”
“And?” I urge him to continue.
He responds, “He’s claiming the territory. Setting up checkpoints, posting his own men. He’s saying this part of the port is his and we should forget about it.”
I grit my teeth in anger, then slam my hand on the table a bit harshly. “How many men did we lose?” I ask.
“Three,” Bohdan says. “Three men executed in front of the workers as a message.”
I grip the edge of the table. The bandages on my shoulder pull tight, making pain shoot up the wound, but I ignore it. I am angry. What gave this fucker the audacity?
I stand. The chair scrapes back, almost falling from the force. “He negotiates for port access, and I give him. And he responds by taking my entire operation when I’m not around? In fact, what kind of incompetent fucks do I have around me?”
Bohdan sounds confused. “Sir…”
“How can he kill three of my men under your nose?” I slam my good hand on the table. Everybody in the conference room flinches.
Bohdan pulls out his phone. “Sir, you need to calm down. First of all, don’t think the bastard is working alone.
He’s not smart enough to pull shit like this, and we all know it.
But before we continue with that, we will have to compensate the three men who died.
They had children and wives who haven’t heard from them, and they keep coming to our operations to ask where their husbands are. ”
I suck in a breath. This is getting even more and more complicated. But it is not going to be solved if I sit on my ass and let that young fool disrupt my business. Billions are being lost while one stupid Georgian cannot keep his fucking hands to himself.
I sit down. “What? You think my men’s lives are worth nothing?”
“No,” he says.
I stand up and walk towards the window. “My men’s lives are worth everything.
” I nod my head, looking outside, watching the city of Moscow with cars passing by.
This is my empire. This is what my father built, and my grandfather and his father before that.
I will not let a Georgian street bastard who doesn’t even know his mother ruin my operation. He needs to learn and listen.
“What would you like us to do?” Bohdan asks.
I turn back, facing everybody in the room. “He has a brother called Stanislav.”
The room goes silent.
“Pakhan,” Bohdan says carefully. “The boy is barely involved in any operation, and I don’t think we should be going after him. I mean, the missus said he was nice to her when she was kidnapped.”
I cut him off. “His brother. I want him taken.”
“Dato loves that boy. He protects him, keeps him safe, away from his dirty work.”
I smile. “So we’re going to show Dato what it feels like to lose someone. I think maybe another one of his family members needs to die. By the time only the bastard child is left, then the mastermind will come out.”
“So you want us to kill him?” Bohdan is asking for confirmation.
“Kill him? No. No. No. No. I don’t work like that.
” I walk back to the table. “I want you to find him. Watch him. Learn all his patterns, his routine, who he sees, where he goes, who he fucks, or who fucks him. I don’t care.
” I look down at each one of them, letting them see the seriousness in my eyes.
“And when the time is right, we will take him so that Dato knows who he’s playing with.
He thinks that my being silent about the bullshit he’s pulling means I’m weak.
He thinks that because now that I am a married man, I care about my family, I wouldn’t still do reckless shit.
I am a reckless motherfucker. He should not cross me. ”
“Yes, Pakhan!” everybody shouts in unison.
“Now, the ports. How are we fixing that situation? I should expect by now the rest of his crew should have been slaughtered and fed to the fish.”
Bohdan walks forward. “Yes, sir. We’re already moving operations through Latvian routes. It’s slower, but after today ends, we will be able to get back the Russian-to-Poland port.”
“Very good.” I head for the door. “The meeting is over. Everyone, get to work.”
They all file out, but Bohdan lingers.
“Sir, you should be resting. The doctor said you were really injured and even though you are healing fast, you still need to rest just in case.”
I sigh. “Bohdan, I love you as a dear friend. The doctor said a lot of things. He said I needed time to heal and relax. I am relaxing. I just came back from my honeymoon. I will be fine, okay? It’s not as if the wound got infected. I’m okay. So don’t worry about it and just do your job.”
He nods. “Alright, sir. I’ll keep you updated.”
“Yeah. You do that.”