Chapter 1 #2
Yeva left the room, closing the door quietly.
Oleg waited for her footsteps to retreat before he spoke. “She’s very good.”
“Thank you.” Polina had her arms crossed over her chest. “She’s smart and follows orders but not blindly. She thinks well on her feet.”
“Excellent.” Oleg knew the strength of an empire rested in strong local governance. “Strong leadership potential.”
Polina nodded. “The drivers were Poshani?”
“I’m sure of it,” Oleg said. “The accent is unmistakable.”
“The trucks arrived last night,” she said, “but I didn’t know where they were coming from.”
“Of course you didn’t,” Oleg said. “It’s not your job to know Ivan’s contracts. If there is any blowback, it will come to me. Don’t worry.”
“The Poshani won’t even know you were involved,” Mika said. “As far as they’re concerned, it was one of Ivan’s rivals. None of their drivers were killed, were they?”
“No,” Oleg said. “Only a few injuries.”
The Poshani were a clan of roaming vampires who were experts in moving cargo in unobtrusive ways.
Need to smuggle cigars into Moscow? The Poshani had a plane and a pilot. Want to get that load of Russian caviar to a buyer in Monaco? Not a problem.
Five truckloads of high-end electronics delivered to a warehouse was the kind of job they would send teenagers to complete.
“They might have suspicions,” Polina said. “Ivan’s rivals tend to be far more brutal than we are.”
“True,” Oleg said. “Perhaps we should have killed more of them to cover our tracks, but that would only make the call that is coming from the Poshani even more complicated.”
Mika’s eyebrows went up. “You just said there wouldn’t be much blowback.”
“Their drivers were still attacked in my territory.”
Mika shrugged. “True.”
The Poshani were ruled by three terrin, all of whom he knew personally. Some of them more personally than others.
And Oleg knew the moment word reached the three Poshani terrin that their drivers had been attacked in Oleg’s territory and their trucks stolen, he would be getting a call.
“They’re a very reliable ally, and we want to keep them happy. We will have to compensate them for their loss.” Oleg smiled. “This is perfect actually. I can call and yell at Ivan about pissing off the Poshani. Then I will settle with them and make Ivan pay for it.”
Polina shook her head. “I think you enjoy toying with your brother too much.”
“Of course I do. The man thinks he is playing chess when he’s losing at checkers.” Oleg puffed out his chest. “Like a pigeon. Strutting around with no idea where his shit is landing.”
Polina laughed.
Mika wasn’t as amused as Polina. “You should call the Poshani before they call you. Defuse the situation.”
“Of course I cannot do that,” Oleg said. “Because as far as I know, nothing has happened.”
Mika pulled out his phone, which was already buzzing. “No need.” He held up the screen and showed Oleg. “She’s calling me.”
Oleg smiled slowly. “Excellent.”
Bucharest, Romania
“Jodi has a concussion, and Pierre’s knee will likely take months to recover according to his doctor in Warsaw.
” Tatyana Vorona, newest terrin of the Poshani people, listed out the injuries with precise intonation in delicately accented Romanian.
“The rest of them have bruising on their wrists from the gang who attacked the warehouse.”
Radu, the terrin Oleg had known the longest, kept his eyes narrowed on Oleg. “And you have no idea who these criminals might be?”
“Ivan and I have our suspicions, but I wanted my first priority to be your people and their compensation,” Oleg said smoothly. “Since you were operating as contractors in my territory.”
Tatyana leveled a stare at Oleg that told him she knew exactly what he was doing.
She was stunning—as always—in a deep blue suit that highlighted the color of her eyes. Her hair was pulled back in a sharp twist that made Oleg want to tug on it, and her full lips were pursed in displeasure.
He had an erection just looking at her.
Oleg casually crossed his legs and folded his hands in his lap.
“It horrifies me that this kind of violence was visited on your drivers in my own territory. I cannot express my disgust.” He cocked his head toward Tatyana.
“You can be sure that I am personally reviewing Ivan’s security protocol, and we will track down these offenders in short order. ”
“And we are grateful for that.” Radu clearly felt the tension between his fellow terrin and his guest. “This isn’t a matter to create a rift, my friend. These things happen in the course of business, do they not?”
Oleg turned back to Radu. “I’m relieved to hear you say that. I would never want a misunderstanding to create a fracture in our long and close relationship.”
Tatyana was undeterred. “Then there are the five trucks, which were new-model, temperature-controlled Mercedes that will cost at minimum half a million euros to replace.”
Oleg spread his hands. “A small price to pay to make a friend whole. I will have Bernard transfer the money to your account, or if you prefer, you can send the specifications to my supplier and we will order the vehicles ourselves and make sure they are delivered quickly.”
“No need.” Tatyana snapped a file shut. “I will make sure to place a rush order with our suppliers and contact Mr. Lazareva when I receive the bill.”
“Whatever you like.” Oleg leaned forward. “In this matter, I am your humble servant, Tatyana Vorona.”
“There’s nothing humble about you,” she said through gritted teeth. “And there never has been.” Then, with a bared fang, she rose, nodding at Radu. “Brother.”
“Terrin Tatyana.” Oleg stood as she did, glad for the suit jacket that covered how aroused he was by her irritation. “Always a pleasure to see you.”
“Humph.”
“Sister, be well.” Radu appeared amused as he rose.
Tatyana left the room, and Oleg couldn’t stop his eyes from falling to the decided sway of her hips as she walked away.
Delicious.
Radu cleared his throat after the door clicked shut. “It’s been five years since she formally rejected your aegis and became terrin, and you still antagonize her? I am aware of your history, but—”
“How do I antagonize her?” Oleg couldn’t rid the image of Tatyana’s ass from his mind. It had been far too long since he’d seen her in the flesh.
“You seem to antagonize her by existing.” Radu sat and stretched his legs out.
Oleg shrugged and took his seat across from Radu. “She is a fierce advocate for her people. I cannot blame her for that.”
“Indeed.” Radu narrowed his eyes. “Her loyalties must be to the Poshani first.”
Seeing as Tatyana had been turned by Oleg’s own daughter, a few voices in the Poshani power structure had questioned her popular election, wondering if she could be tough enough as a defender for their people against a vampire lord as dominant and powerful as Oleg Sokolov.
“No matter the blood tie she had to my daughter,” Oleg said, “I think it is obvious that Tatyana Vorona barely tolerates me.” Oleg chuckled a little bit. “I do not think any Poshani, human or immortal, would doubt her loyalty to your clan.”
“There is no doubt in my own mind.” Radu tapped his finger on the arm of his chair. “I have seen her priorities firsthand.”
In the five years since Tatyana Vorona had become terrin, the Poshani people had thrived financially under the joint leadership of Radu, his sister Kezia, and the new terrin.
Poshani businesses were prosperous, and their reputation for reliability had grown without taking anything away from their discretion when dealing with immortal clients.
Oleg sat and waited for Radu to speak. He could tell the wind vampire had more to say.
“You know…”
Oleg pasted a curious expression on his face. “You have a question?”
“More of a statement.” Radu leaned forward. “Between friends.”
“Old friends.”
Radu spoke quietly. “It has been five years, and Ivan is still alive.”
“Yes.” Oleg chose his words carefully. “Family is complicated, and he is my brother.”
“He conspired with my own brother, and my brother is dead.”
“You didn’t share blood with Vano,” Oleg pointed out.
“Are we truly going to argue this?”
Oleg steepled his fingers as he looked across to Radu. “Your brother died primarily because he broke sacred hospitality laws of your clan,” he said. “While my brother…”
“Would stab you in the back as soon as you turned it.”
“Which—to be completely fair—is a long-standing tradition in our clan.” Oleg smiled and sat back in his chair. “As I said, family is complicated.”
“This theft from the warehouse—it’s not an isolated incident.”
Oleg cocked his head. “What have you heard?”
“Some would say that Ivan is… getting sloppy,” Radu said quietly. “He has never been the wisest about who he hires.”
Oleg sighed. “A situation which I have had to rectify on more than one occasion, yes.”
“Many in our clan refuse to work with him. Tanya told me this contract was set up through a shell company. If she’d known it was Ivan’s cargo, we wouldn’t have touched it.”
Oleg had to admit that Radu’s use of Tatyana’s familiar nickname irked him more than a little bit, but the vampire was, after all, her brother now. “Which is no doubt why Ivan made the shell company.”
“She hired a new security person the day after it happened,” Radu said. “Something to do with the computers that I don’t understand.”
“That sounds like her.”
“Ivan’s people are frustrated,” Radu continued. “His men talk to our drivers who talk to my men. You know how these rumors spread. Vampires gossip more than old farmers.”
“Hmm.” Oleg nodded slowly. “So his people are unhappy.”
Radu smiled. “But you know this already.”
“Perhaps.”
“Then perhaps it is time for a change.”
“My friend, you are too young to remember the old days,” Oleg said. “When Truvor the Red ruled from the Baltic to the Black Sea. When his territory extended from Belorussia to the edge of the Khazar Plains. Do you understand what it takes to hold that kind of territory?”
“I know what it takes to hold it because you have,” Radu said. “With fire and blood. Your territory is only a little less than your sire’s.”
“Exactly.” Oleg leaned forward. “And I have held it together for nearly five hundred years. I killed Truvor, then killed all my brothers who challenged my rule. I killed my own blood mate when she became a danger to my people, because if the immortal empire of the Kievan Rus breaks, far more than my own clan will suffer. You are my ally, my neighbor, and my friend. You know this.”
Radu sat back with a smile on the edge of his lips. “And yet Ivan lives.”
“While it serves my empire for Ivan to live, he will live,” Oleg said. “Our clan has suffered unusual loss in the past century. First Luana, then my daughter Zara. My own sibling Zasha was killed in America last year.” Oleg spread his hands. “And I will admit I did nothing to prevent it.”
“Zasha was as twisted as Ivan.” Radu curled his lip as he said the name. “Perhaps more.”
“That may be.” Oleg shrugged. “But another disruption is not ideal at this time.”
“I do understand, my friend,” Radu said. “And I do not envy you.” Radu reached for a deep red bottle on the table beside him. “More blood-wine?”
“Unfortunately, I must go.” Oleg stood. “I wish we could visit for longer, but you are not my only meeting tonight.”
“Then I will have to finish this wine myself.” Radu smiled. “And hope your next meeting is less stressful than this one.”
Oleg chuckled. “My friend, I would not count on it.”