CHAPTER 21
KIRILL
“Mr. Volkov,” Betty’s sickly-sweet voice coming through the intercom on my phone has me gritting my teeth, “Mr. Chambers is on line four for you. He says it’s urgent.”
Pulling my cell out of my pocket, I shoot off a text to Huck, Baker, and Maxim to let them know Chambers is calling me.
It’s been a week since Maxim and Oaklynn’s date was interrupted by her father and Lev.
I was expecting this call sooner than a week later.
I’m surprised he made it even 24 hours.
Not taking an opportunity to call and try and goad me probably took a lot of restraint.
There’s no doubt in my mind he was spending that time with Lev planning.
It’s not like I’ve gotten any updates on my fake financial portfolio.
He’s no longer even trying to use that as a pretense.
Which is just fine by me.
I’m more than happy to get straight to the heart of the matter instead of playing these games.
Without responding to Betty, I pick up line four and put it on the speaker, just as the guys stride into my office, closing and locking the door behind them.
Huck rigged the phones so no one can pick up a line once it’s been answered from any of our office phones, which means Betty is out of the loop if she was stupid enough to listen in to any of our phone calls.
That woman is on her last legs.
After what she tried to insinuate about our woman, I almost ordered her death.
But then Angelo called and there were other matters to worry about.
The only reason Betty is still breathing is because it’s better to have your eyes on someone you don’t trust than cut them loose and leave them to their own devices.
Every day she isn’t reprimanded, she gets more comfortable.
I’m sure her time will come.
Sooner rather than later.
But today is not that day.
“Richard,” I smoothly greet him, sounding completely unbothered because I am.
He’s the kind of man who thinks too highly of himself.
It’ll get him killed.
By me.
“When I saw my daughter a week ago with your brother,” he sneers the words as if Maxim is some powerless boy instead of a man capable of great destruction, “she informed me that invitations were at the printer. I still haven’t received it, and I’m concerned.”
“I assure you the wedding preparations are proceeding without incident.”
He scoffs and I can’t help but grin.
Getting under his skin is fun.
I don’t owe him a damn thing, and he knows it.
“I would hate to imply that I don’t believe you, Mr. Volkov,” his voice drips with barely contained sarcasm, “but I would like an update on the wedding planning. I would like to see what has been decided and be looped in on any concrete plans. I’ll gladly offer my help if need be. I know my daughter can be,” he pauses for dramatic effect more than anything else, “flighty.”
I clench my hand into a fist and my jaw sets at the insult he’s just laid at my feet about Oaklynn.
Not reacting to the disrespect is not easy.
Our woman is anything but flighty, but Chambers doesn’t really know anything about his daughter.
He never did.
That’s his loss.
“I’m not opposed to you being involved,” I keep my tone measured, “as long as you understand all final decisions will be Oaklynn’s. It’s the only wedding she will ever have. I want her to have everything she’s ever dreamed of.”
“Of course,” he concedes though I can hear the strain in his voice.
“Has the ring you designed come in yet?”
I smirk at the guys and pull the box out of the top drawer.
Oaklynn wasn’t lying to her father about the ring.
I had no idea that she would come into our lives when she did and I wasn’t prepared.
I am now.
There’s no way I was going to allow a subpar ring to ever grace her finger.
It was delivered yesterday, and I can’t wait to see it sparkling on her finger.
But that won’t be until after her father is dealt with, at least.
Mikhail is another problem.
But I can only deal with one thing at a time.
Unless something goes down which has Chambers and Mikhail in the same place at the same time.
I just don’t see that happening any time soon.
Not if he was seen meeting with Lev.
As much as it pains me to admit, they are far too smart for that.
“It has,” is the only answer I give him.
He doesn’t even deserve that much.
“Good, good,” he responds distractedly.
“I’d like to meet with you about the wedding planning. Does the office work for you?”
I look up and meet Baker’s gaze who rolls his eyes and lets out a silent huff of annoyance.
This guy thinks we’re stupid.
Underestimating your enemy is never a good idea.
“Unfortunately, my schedule is full,” I tell him, my tone bland.
Yes, my schedule is full.
That includes a meeting at a warehouse downtown that has just come on the market.
A warehouse that used to be owned by Morozov, as if I wouldn’t find out that information.
We already know the meeting is a set-up.
Chambers went through with the auction to sell his daughter on the dark web.
He didn’t give himself nearly enough time to take me out of the equation and now he needs to deliver his daughter.
There’s just one problem with that—we won’t ever let her go.
Before Chambers can argue with me, I let out a soft sigh, “How about this? How about you come over for dinner tomorrow at the house? You can see where your daughter has been living and make sure she’s been taken care of while also getting an update on all things wedding.”
He’s never going to make it to that dinner.
He thinks he hid his tracks when he functioned as a front man for the sale of the warehouse.
There’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll show up there.
He’ll want to see us taken down so that he can snatch Oaklynn to fulfill his side of the auction.
He has no idea that we’re the buyer.
As if I would ever allow anyone else to think they’d have a claim on her, even if it was through an illegal auction site.
“I would like to see how Oaklynn is adjusting,” Chambers tries to sound like a caring father, but he falls short.
The glee in his voice thinking that his plans are about to be carried out successfully can’t be hidden.
“I’ll send a driver to pick you up tomorrow evening at six,” I tell him before hanging up without hearing his answer.
“I hate that man,” Maxim growls as he glares at the phone.
He’s not alone in that.
I shoot my brother a look of understanding before turning my focus on Baker.
His jaw is set in a firm line; he’s not a fan of walking into the meeting today knowing full well that it’s a set-up.
But we have to.
There’s no other way.
And it’ll get our first problem out of the way and dealt with.
I have a feeling Mikhail will go underground again when his plan doesn’t work, but he won’t be ablet to take as much time to regroup.
He won’t be able to let it go and his anger will start to take over.
A man can only take so many hits before he reacts in anger instead of strategizing first.
Mikhail is just like his father.
“Wolfe, Dominic, and Hendrix have been in place since before dawn,” Baker informs us, his tone clipped.
“It seems Lev has been living in the warehouse. No sign of Mikhail and they’ll let us know when Chambers shows up.”
I look at the time and nod.
We need to leave and head over to the warehouse for the meeting which is really an ambush.
But the men we have watching our backs are better trained.
When I look at Huck, he nods and stands.
“I’ll monitor the cameras from home. Oaklynn and I will be safe in my office.”
There’s no doubt in my mind that they’ll be safe there.
Huck’s room is far more than his office; it’s also a safe room with the full capabilities of running the empire I’ve been growing and withstanding an attack of a much larger scale than Mikhail can launch.
Huck is out of the door a moment later.
No goodbye.
No good luck.
We don’t need it.
He knows he’ll see us soon and that we’ll be one step closer to ridding the city of everything that threatens our place in it.
I stand along with Baker and Maxim.
The three of us pull our weapons and check them over before holstering them again and striding out of my office.
We don’t even glance Betty’s way as she calls to us.
I’m sure she has her tits hanging out again, but I’m not interested in seeing them.
As we ride the elevator down, Maxim murmurs, “She’s going to be a liability sooner rather than later.”
I adjust my tie and then the sleeves of my suit jacket while I nod.
“Probably. It’s a good thing she doesn’t know anything about our business. She can try to use the limited information she has access to, and we’ll take care of it if that happens.”
“I have a feeling Oaklynn will take care of her before any of us get the chance,” Baker chuckles and I can’t help but grin at his words.
Our woman could hurt Betty.
The fact that she let Betty walk away after insulting her is a testament to our woman’s control.
Watching her control bend and break as she is lost in passion is one of my favorite things.
We’ll need to take her to bed soon and show her exactly how we can work together to give her pleasure.
I know she’ll love every moment of.
She’s almost ready for the four of us to claim her.
We’ve all spent time with her individually and shown her what it’ll be like to be a family together.
When she’s naked on the bed for all of us, she will have no fears or reservations clouding her mind.
She’ll know she’s safe and protected.
She’ll know she’s free.
The car ride is quiet, but when we’re about ten minutes out, we call Hendrix, his voice coming through the car right away, his words clipped, “Chambers just arrived, and Lev is still inside.”
Maxim pulls his phone out of his pocket before confirming, “Huck is home with Oaklynn. They’re secure.”
I take a deep breath and let it out slowly.
Chambers won’t be walking out of that warehouse in one piece.
“Keep an eye on our backs,” Baker growls, clearly unhappy about how this is all going down even though this situation isn’t any worse than ones we’ve been in before.
“Roger that,” Hendrix confirms before we hang up.
When we pull up at the warehouse, it’s eerily quiet.
I don’t need to ask if Baker and Maxim are feeling the same thing I am.
It’s the calm before the storm.
When we climb out, Baker takes point and Maxim walks behind me, having my six.
We move together seamlessly the same way we have so many times before.
Not having Huck with us isn’t new either.
He’s normally monitoring the tech side of things even though I would never make the mistake of undermining how deadly the man can be.
Baker glances back at me before opening the door of the warehouse and steps inside.
Two shots ring out almost simultaneously just as Baker lets out a grunt.
Chambers is standing in the middle of the empty warehouse, unarmed.
But that doesn’t stop me from raising my gun and shooting him between the eyes.
He never even saw it coming.
When I turn to Baker, I find him holding his arm and gritting his teeth.
“I’m fine,” he grunts, “just a graze.”
The sound of boots heading our way from behind us has Maxim spinning around, gun raised.
Hendrix and Wolfe usher us inside the warehouse.
Wolfe turns his worried eyes toward his little brother who makes a sound in the back of his throat that is full of annoyance.
“You’re clear. Lev and Chambers are the only people here,” Hendrix sounds almost disappointed about the fact that they were stupid enough not to have backup.
Then again, you’d need support to have backup and they’re still rebuilding and have no one they can really trust.
“Dominic took Lev out. That was the shot you heard,” Wolfe informs us, his eyes still locked on his brother.
We move closer toward where Chambers dropped, his blood spreading across the concrete floor.
I look down at the man responsible for causing our woman pain and don’t feel a flicker of remorse.
Hopefully, Oaklynn won’t either.
He’s not worth her grief or even a second thought.
“You should let me check on that,” Wolfe nods toward Baker’s arm.
“I’m fine,” he snarls back a little too quickly.
“Let him check it out. You might need a stitch or two. They’re trained to do that. It’ll prevent our woman being even more pissed at you than she already will be.”
Baker lets out a groan knowing full well Huck would have hacked into any and all cameras in the area to give him the best views possible.
He grumbles, “She’s probably pacing that little office right now and worried.”
Maxim barks out a laugh and nods his agreement.
Dominic comes from the rear of the warehouse dragging Lev’s body with him.
He dumps him on top of Chambers without even a hint of care.
Not that either man deserves it.
“It’s clear,” Dominic confirms.
I look around and nod.
“Probably best to burn it.”
Excitement fills the faces of Wolfe, Dominic, and Hendrix.
They love blowing shit up.
I don’t blame them; it’s fun.
Just as Maxim is about to open his mouth, probably to ask to join them, the ground beneath us shakes and a very loud boom sounds.
We all instinctively crouch down and look at each other.
We look around confused for a moment, but without a word we all jump into action.
When we run out of the warehouse, it only takes a second before we see the smoke.
“Isn’t that the direction of our warehouse?” Baker’s question is filled with a dazed realization.
We have multiple warehouses in the industrial area of the city, but there’s one that we use for very specific purposes because of the underground area that makes it perfect for those who need a little more persuasion to spill their secrets.
“It is,” my voice is somber.
“Get home to your woman,” Hendrix barks.
“We’ll check it out and clear the area if possible after we set this one to blow.”
“This is a message,” Maxim’s voice is ominous.
All I can do is nod.
It is.
This war is far from over, but we already knew that.
The only good thing about today is that Chambers and Lev are dead.
Mikhail will have to find more support, but he won’t give up.
I hope he doesn’t because I’m going to enjoy watching the life drain from his eyes.
Just like I did with his father.