CHAPTER 2
KIRILL
As I walk off the elevator to head toward my office, the first person I see is Betty.
Considering she’s the receptionist for my floor, she’s right where she should be, but that doesn’t stop annoyance from flooding my system.
What started out as a great working relationship, one where she showcased her competency, has been devolving.
How did I not see that she’s just an opportunistic woman?
Why am I even surprised?
Her job isn’t complicated or taxing.
Maxim, Baker, and Huck deal with their own schedules.
The only schedule she is in charge of is mine.
Hell, Maxim acts as my personal assistant more than she does.
She’s expected to be the face of my floor, but lately she’s been trying to spend more time in my office than at the reception desk.
How the hell can she hear the phone ringing from all the way in my office?
Most of the people she’s dealing with work underneath me.
I’ve made sure to hire competent people who are good at their jobs.
I don’t have time to run every division of the business I’m still in the process of building here.
The people who work for me have no idea about the other world I walk in, the world where darkness reigns and violence is currency.
The work done in this building is legitimate, but I’m sure the people here have their suspicions about the man behind the public persona.
They can keep their thoughts, and speculations, to themselves.
Betty flashes me a bright smile, but it dims when I barely spare her a glance and keep walking.
It takes less than a second before the sound of her heels on the floor follows me.
I’m barely able to suppress a snarl of annoyance.
Why can’t I get even five minutes of fucking peace?
I’m sitting at my desk and starting up my computer as Betty glides into my office.
Being in the same room with her, alone, sets my teeth on edge.
Keeping one eye on her, I pull my phone out of my pocket and send a text to Maxim.
“I just wanted to go over your schedule, Mr. Volkov,” Betty chirps.
When she steps closer, my throat closes up as the sickly sweet and floral scent of her perfume washes over me.
I try breathing through my mouth, but then it’s like I can taste the way she smells.
It’s disgusting.
Leaning back away from her, she doesn’t take the hint.
“Betty,” I growl, my voice a warning.
Her eyes flash at me, trying to look innocent.
I don’t believe it for a second.
“Oh,” she demurs, “right, you can pull up your calendar.”
She takes a step back, but it’s not even close to being far enough away.
Pulling up my calendar, she taps on the tablet she’s holding and starts to walk me through my day.
Even though she’s doing her job, I’m annoyed.
It takes everything in me not to snap at her and tell her I’m very fucking capable of reading the calendar.
Taking a deep breath, I remind myself that she has a job and she’s doing it.
If only her tits weren’t practically spilling out of her top.
As if that would entice me.
She’s not my type.
It’s not like Betty isn’t beautiful.
She is.
I learned a long time ago that having someone attractive and capable as a receptionist or assistant can help in the business world.
I won’t argue about whether it’s right or not because it’s a means to an end.
Her beauty is a weapon.
One she uses.
Why shouldn’t I do the same?
Lesser men have been brought to their knees or knocked completely off their game by luscious legs, a nice set of tits, and a pretty face.
“Ralph sent an email out this morning and asked for the meeting you had scheduled for today to be pushed back until tomorrow,” her voice is soft with a hint of timidity.
She knows this information won’t go over well with me.
Ralph heads up the commercial real estate side of my business.
It’s one of the most profitable, but in the last few months I’ve noticed a shift.
Either Ralph isn’t doing his job or someone underneath him is undermining his authority.
Neither option is acceptable.
My eyes are sharp as I look at Betty who can’t hide the grimace on her face.
My voice is cold, “Did he give a reason why he needed to change the date and time of our meeting? The same meeting that has been on the books for over a week?”
Betty takes a deep breath and tries to straighten her shoulders.
Still, I can see the strain she tries to hide.
She might not know about the other side of my business dealings, doesn’t really know who I am in this city, but she can feel the power coming off me.
And how pissed off I am.
Prey always knows when a predator is closing in.
It’s not Betty’s fault, but that doesn’t matter to me at the moment.
“He mentioned something about needing to move it in lieu of a client meeting,” her voice is small, her words a murmur that whispers her hope of avoiding the wrath within me which needs an outlet.
“Clients always come first,” my words are clipped.
Without the legitimate business holdings I’ve built in Seattle, I wouldn’t be able to operate in the shadows as seamlessly as I do.
Maxim strolls into my office and Betty lets out a relieved breath, one which is probably premature, as she steps away from my desk.
My brother arches an eyebrow; the questions clear to read in his eyes even as his face remains a stoic mask.
With a subtle shake of my head, he doesn’t voice any of his questions.
“Thank you, Betty,” the words are shards of glass against my throat, but necessary.
“Please get the meeting with Ralph rescheduled as soon as possible.”
She gives a nod and then practically runs out the door.
Maxim’s chuckle is deep and smokey.
When I look at him, daring him to say whatever is on his mind, he doesn’t even try to hide the amusement in his eyes.
“That woman doesn’t know when to quit,” I mutter under my breath.
He runs his thumb back and forth across his chin, a thoughtful look on his face.
“Do you think Betty would want to climb on your dick if she knew about the other side of you?”
“Are you fucking serious right now?” I narrow my eyes at him as I growl my question.
“Yeah,” he shrugs like he’s not being fucking ridiculous.
“It’s clear she’s not the kind of woman to get her hands dirty.”
“No, she’s not,” I agree with him.
“But she is the kind of woman to chase money and power without really caring where it comes from. She craves those things but is too weak to be able to stand at my side.” There’s a hint of resigned bitterness in my voice.
“The worst is she thinks she’s so strong, but we know she’d buckle.”
He scoffs, “She wouldn’t.” I arch an eyebrow, more than a little surprised at his words.
The smirk on his face turns sinister.
“She’d run screaming in the other direction. She’s weak,” the derision is in tone has me smiling.
Okay, it’s more like a small lift of my lips, but it counts.
When you have the weight of expectations on your shoulders, smiles aren’t easy to come by.
I can’t afford to show any weakness or vulnerability.
His face turns contemplative.
“I bet she has her suspicions about what else we’re involved in.”
“You think so?” I ask as I look toward my door even though Betty’s desk is not in my line of sight.
“If you don’t think she suspects something, then you’re underestimating a woman who wants everything she thinks you’re offering,” his tone is neutral.
“I’m not offering her a damn thing,” I snarl.
Maxim barks out a laugh, one I shake my head at ruefully.
He’s not wrong and he knows it.
Poor Betty.
Some of my annoyance melts away.
I’m sure it’ll only last as long as Betty stays out of my office, which won’t be long considering I know her patterns.
But, at least for now, a bit of the tension has eased.
I love my brother, and I need him at my side, but there are times when his lackadaisical approach toward life pisses me off.
I’m not sure if it’s who he really is or if his attitude is simply an attempt to balance me out.
I’ve always been the one to take everything on, including my father’s hopes and desire for power.
That need, that drive, always fell to me.
Maxim had the luxury to be shielded from that.
While I don’t resent him, that doesn’t mean I like to always carry the burden either.
Being the head of a crime organization, one which also must function in the real world instead of just the underground people are too scared to acknowledge, comes with a price.
I never know who to trust.
Thankfully, I have my small inner circle.
I am always looking for the other shoe to drop.
Which it has time and time again.
I no longer have hope for light amidst the darkness.
While jealousy is not something I allow myself to often feel, I have seen men, great men at that, fall in love and find something pure which infuses their entire beings.
There’s no doubt in my mind it will never happen for me.
Even if I were to find a woman who could handle me, all facets of me, there’s no way she would also open her heart to my men.
Because when it comes to the four of us, all or nothing is the only way.
We can’t have our focus split or let our guard down more.
I’m doubtful that we could keep even one woman safe.
Four?
That would be impossible and not something I would risk.
When Wolfe and his team found their woman, one they rescued from the hands of Morozov years ago, I allowed a tiny bit of hope to grow in the depths of my soul.
They have found a woman to be at the center of their little mercenary group.
While it’s possible we could find the same, I’m not going to be holding my breath or believing it is an inevitability.
Dealing with fairy tales and happy endings is not something I have the luxury of doing.
“You should have taken me up on my offer to find a way to blow off some steam last night,” Maxim teases me even though his eyes are assessing.
My brother sees more than I want him to; it has always been his way.
“You clearly need to blow off some steam and whatever sleep you managed to get last night didn’t help.”
I press my lips together because sleep was illusive as fuck last night.
It has been for months.
Longer, if I wanted to really be honest with myself.
It feels like everything is moving too fast and the shadows are creeping in closer and closer.
Something is coming.
If it’s a reckoning, I’m ready.
But it feels like so much more.
My gut is screaming at me that we won’t just have to deal with Mikhail and the echoes of his father.
We’ll have to fight harder, protect fiercer, and drag so much more out into the light.
“I don’t need to blow off steam,” I grumble.
I run a hand over my face, the day feeling heavy on my shoulders even though it has only just begun.
“Ralph has put off our meeting,” I inform my brother, and he sits up a little straighter.
“Why?” Maxim growls the question, and I can’t help but smirk.
I’m not surprised at his reaction, he oversees the real estate side of the business because it’s all about people, an area where he has always excelled.
While I intimidate, Maxim charms.
That is not to say he can’t be intimidating.
If anyone wanted to look deeper, they would see that my brother is just as deadly as I am.
Maybe even more.
“Apparently he has a client meeting,” my voice is banal.
Maxim narrows his eyes as Huck and Baker walk in.
They look between us as they take seats around my office.
We all have our own work areas, which we use, but I ensured my office would be big enough for the four of us to work out of as well.
We work best together and I’m not prideful enough to be unwilling to admit that to myself or the other men in the room with me.
Together our strengths are capitalized.
When apart we function, damn well, but we’d rather be at our best.
“Do we even want to know?” Huck smirks as he pulls his tablet out and starts getting to work.
“Probably not,” I grunt which has them all chuckling.
My mind settles with the quiet as we all start to work.
Well, all of us except for Maxim who seems to spend a long time just lounging.
It’s what he does best, and I stopped expecting anything else a long time ago.
It’s almost lunch time when Betty bustles into my office.
Her mouth forms a perfect ‘o’ of surprise when she sees the rest of the guys sitting in the room.
Huck and Baker look up from whatever they’re working on, and Maxim covers his mouth with his hand.
Betty clears her throat and stands a little taller with her shoulders back.
It’s clear she’s trying to appear confident.
Nothing good would come from calling her out on it.
“Mr. Volkov,” she simpers, “I got another call from Richard Chambers. He is still requesting a meeting.”
My eyebrows pull together, and I can feel the guy’s interest in the conversation.
We know exactly who Richard Chambers is.
He’s been requesting a meeting with me for months.
But why would I invite someone who did business with Morozov into my house?
Anyone who would align themselves with Anatoly Morozov is not a good man and they sure as fuck aren’t someone I want to be involved with.
Anatoly terrorized this city.
The worst part is that the people who cowered from him didn’t even know his name.
They just knew you always had to be looking over your shoulder with the expectation of the shadows reaching for you.
From what we’ve found so far, Chambers wasn’t involved in every facet of Morozov’s business.
He helped Morozov find men who didn’t mind dabbling in the seedier side of the city while also finding ways to launder the money.
I would have taken him out when Anatoly was killed, but he wasn’t there.
We made a plan to allow him to believe that his involvement wasn’t detected.
Men make stupid decisions when they believe they’ve gotten away with something.
And Chambers hasn’t disappointed.
Since Morozov’s death, Chambers has been clamoring for a meeting with me.
He tried to reach me directly, which was never going to happen.
Then he started reaching out to my office.
As our business has grown, along with our power, he’s increased the frequency of his calls.
Maybe it’s time, finally, to give the man what he wants.
Not being able to reach me or schedule a sit down must be driving him crazy.
He went from having the ear and trust, at least as much as Morozov trusted anyone which probably wasn’t much, of the most powerful man in Seattle to floundering with Morozov dead.
He must be twisting in the wind by this point.
I’ve put him off long enough.
A grin lights up Maxim’s face because he probably knows exactly what I’m thinking.
When I catch Baker and Huck’s eye, I give a small nod and they both stand up and head out of my office.
We went over everything we found on Chambers months ago, but it’s time for a refresher and to find out what the man has been up to recently.
I make a humming sound and Betty shifts from one foot to the other.
“He’s requesting a dinner meeting this time. What would you like me to relay to him?”
It’s difficult to stop myself from rolling my eyes and grunting out my annoyance.
A dinner meeting.
That’s a new tactic.
It makes me wonder what he’s up to and what he thinks he’ll gain.
Time to put the man out of his misery.
Possibly in more ways than one.
As I lean back in my chair, I hardly even glance at the woman.
“Set it up.”
Betty’s mouth drops open, the surprise clear to read on her face.
Of course she’s surprised.
I’ve pushed Chambers off for a while.
I’m sure he wasn’t easy to deal with, but Betty, to her credit, didn’t complain about it once.
“Yes, sir,” she murmurs and rushes from the room.
“Well,” Maxim drawls, “looks like it’s time to find out what Chambers knows and what he thinks he’s going to gain from getting on your good side.”
I look at my brother and nod curtly.
Chambers doesn’t know that he just invited the devil to the table.
He’ll find out soon enough.