Chapter Sixteen - IVAN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
IVAN
I LET OUT a breath as I close the door to Emma’s room softly behind me. I knew she wouldn’t easily accept the idea of being here all the time.
I smiled and laughed when Ilya told me she was trying to drive off in my car. That’s when I figured out just how truly determined she could be when she set her mind to something.
Will that make it easy to keep her safe? Probably not.
Is that going to make me stop wanting to protect her? Absolutely not.
Did I just fall a little more in love with her? Yes, yes I did. I am totally and completely done for if the Irish finds out what she means to me.
I head down to my office where my brothers and Mikhail are waiting for me. Pouring everyone a drink, I sit in my chair while they stare at me.
“What?” I ask them as I take a sip.
“Declan Callaghan called,” Maksim says as he takes a sip of his own drink.
“Oh good, he got our message. What the fuck does he want?” I ask.
“He wants to meet,” Maksim replies.
“What could that fucker possibly have to say to me?” I ask, leaning forward and placing my forearms on my desk.
“He says the two of you have business to discuss,” Maksim continues.
“Ivan, he mentioned Emma,” Dmitri tells me, sounding reluctant.
“Fuck,” I say as I take a deep breath.
“Here’s what I think we should do. I’ll call his people and arrange a meeting,” Mikhail suggests. “I’ll set it up for a public place to keep the peace. We’ll be nearby if everything goes south.”
“I don’t like this. Callaghan is up to something,” I grumble.
“Agreed,” Mikhail says. “We won’t know what he wants until you speak to him in person.”
“Fine. Set up the meeting, but don’t offer choices of location. If he wants to meet, he’ll meet on my terms, or not at all,” I tell Mikhail. “Dmitri, get Boris on the phone and tell him we’re having lunch tomorrow at his place, and we’re bringing some guests. He’ll know what that means.”
“You got it,” Dmitri replies.
“Also, tell Callaghan he’s allowed to bring one other person and a bodyguard. No weapons necessary. It’s just us having a lunchtime meeting.”
“Right,” Dmitri confirms.
“If that’s all, I have some things to arrange that don’t involve Callaghan,” I say, dismissing my brothers and Mikhail. They leave, and I’m left alone with my thoughts.
Earlier today I arranged for Emma to have a credit card so she could get herself anything she needed to make herself more comfortable in my home.
I left it on the side table when I was up there earlier.
She hasn’t come downstairs to yell at me yet, so she may not have seen it.
I’m not worried about it too much, so instead I focus on this meeting tomorrow with Callaghan and let the rest of the day pass in silence.
The next afternoon, I arrive at the restaurant two hours before the agreed upon time.
Normal people would not find it necessary to be so early, but I’m not normal people.
It’s a power move, and Callaghan needs to know that I am the one in control here.
I take my place at the corner table in the back and wait.
Mikhail is inside with me, along with Ilya.
Dmitri and Maksim are parked outside and down the street in opposite directions.
Grigory is hiding in the kitchen with Boris, pretending to be a cook.
Boris brought me a drink, and I spend time scrolling through messages on my phone. One of them is a text from Emma thanking me for the card, but she doesn’t think she’ll need to use it because she won’t be at my house that long. I laugh when I read it. She’s really not going to let it go.
Half an hour before our agreed upon time, Declan Callaghan walks in the door with his two people. I assume they are bodyguards, but I don’t particularly care.
“You’re early,” I comment as Ilya pats him down and checks for weapons. I don’t bother getting up from my seat.
“So are you,” Callaghan responds as he sits down. “Are you to be patted down as well, or just me?”
“As a token of respect, I’ll agree to be patted down.” I stand and allow Callaghan’s bodyguard to check me for weapons. Finding none, I return to my seat.
Boris brings him a drink. It’s not a whiskey that Boris usually keeps on hand, but I brought a special bottle for this meeting. Callaghan takes a sip and nods.
“This is a fine drink,” Callaghan says in his thick Irish accent.
“Consider it a gift,” I reply. I watch his body language closely.
“I’ve heard some things in the wind that a lot of property has recently been purchased in the Seaport District,” he says to me, looking me in the eye.
“I’ve heard the same thing,” I reply.
“What would you know about it?” Callaghan asks.
“I’m not at liberty to speak about it. Besides, you know my business interests are elsewhere,” I tell him.
Boris brings out a plate of pelmeni, Russian dumplings, along with some sauces and a couple of plates.
“Please, enjoy,” I say to Callaghan as I gesture towards the food.
He says nothing as he reaches for the dumplings and places some on his plate. I put a few dumplings onto my own plate and start eating.
A few minutes later, Boris brings out plates of stroganoff, and places them on the table. There’s not much conversation between myself and Callaghan, which is pretty normal for these rare meetings between bosses. We both understand that small talk is not what we’re here for.
When we’re done eating, Boris comes to clear our table, and leaves the bottle of whiskey and two new glasses.
“What is it you want, Callaghan?” I ask him as I pour the first round. Whiskey is not my preferred drink, but today I’ll make an exception.
“Right down to business, I see,” he responds. “I can appreciate that.”
“My time is valuable and I have things to do,” I tell him.
“Like Emma Murphy?” he asks, a smirk making his lips curl up at the corners.
“What the fuck did you just say?” I ask him, my blood starting to boil. The audacity of this motherfucker to lead with that, implying there’s something going on.
“Come now, Ivan. I was only joking.”
“Let’s take a page from the book the Italians use, and leave the women out of it,” I tell him. I’m seething under my skin, but my face is neutral.
“I know it was your guys who took out four of my soldiers the day before yesterday,” Callaghan starts. “That wasn’t very nice, Ivan.”
“Your guys kidnapped someone under my protection. That wasn’t very nice, Callaghan,” I mock.
“I see. Well, they were of no use to me, anyway. However, Emma Murphy is of use to me and my organization. Hand her over, and this will all be forgotten,” Callaghan replies.
“What makes you think I have her?” I ask him.
“Call it a hunch. If you don’t have her in your direct possession, then you know where she is.”
“That’s very presumptuous of you,” I tell him, taking another sip of my drink. “Why is Emma so important you need to kidnap her in the middle of day in front of people? What’s she to you?”
“What do you know of Emma Murphy?” Callaghan asks.
“I know enough,” I say.
“Then you know her father acquired a very large debt with me in order to put his daughter through school,” he begins.
“He fell behind on his repayment plan. When he had a hard time coming up with the funds, I proposed a deal. He could either come up with the remainder of what he owed me or he could give me his daughter as payment.”
Declan is waiting for me to show some kind of reaction, because he pauses to take a drink of his whiskey. I don’t let any kind of emotion show on my face, even though I want to reach across the table and strangle him with my bare hands.
“Emma’s father declined to turn over his daughter, so he agreed to provide the remainder of what he borrowed. I gave him a deadline of full payment in sixty days, or I would take Emma away.”
“So what’s the rest of the story?” I ask him. He’s not revealing much more information that I don’t already know, and I’m getting bored.
“When the sixty days were over, Emma’s father did not provide full repayment of his debt. I heard he had an unfortunate accident, and as a result, Emma was left fatherless,” Callaghan replied.
“How does this concern me?” I ask him. My anger rises with every word that comes out of this asshole’s mouth.
“You have Emma. I want her for payment in full on her father’s debt to me,” he answers.
“Let’s assume, for a moment, that I have her. Why would I just hand her over? Men in our line of work are not exactly honorable.”
“You’re a businessman, Ivan. You want to protect your assets and avoid any conflicts with those assets.”
“And?”
“I would hate for something to happen to your properties in the Seaport District. Those are valuable pieces of property that can be rendered worthless.”
“What the hell are you implying, Declan?” I lean forward with my forearms propped on the table.
“I’m not implying anything, Ivan. I’m simply stating that property is valuable to men like you and me.”
“Bullshit,” I say to him. “Here’s my answer for you—I will not turn Emma over to you. The debt was between you and her father, and he’s dead. So that’s the end of it. I don’t appreciate being threatened, either personally or professionally.”
“Who said anything about threats?” Declan holds his hand up in mock surrender.
“Cut the shit, Callaghan. This meeting is over,” I tell him.
I stand from the table before he can. Anger flashes across Declan’s face before he schools his features into a neutral expression.
“Things could have ended much differently,” he says as he rises from his seat. He holds out his hand for me to shake, but I leave it hanging there.
”Stay away from Russian territory,” I tell him. “If you come anywhere near Emma or any of my properties, I will not be responsible for what happens.”
Declan stares at me with a look I can’t decipher, then turns to leave the restaurant, his goons following behind. As soon as he’s gone, my brothers enter the restaurant and we gather at the table in the back. Boris brings out more food for my brothers and Mikhail.
“Mikhail, when you’re done eating, get on the phone with Kolya,” I start. “I need him to dig more into Declan Callaghan. There has got to be something on him we can use for leverage. He’s too cocky for his own good.”
“You got it, boss,” Mikhail responds.
“Dmitri we need to increase security on all of our properties immediately,” I say as I direct my attention to my brother. “This also means the Beacon Hill and Watertown houses. I also need more security for Emma. Yuri is no longer an option.”
“What’s going on, Ivan?” Dmitri asks. He’s always the first one to ask questions.
Ignoring him, I continue. “Maksim, I need you to make sure all of our other operations stay on track for the next few weeks,” I say to my middle brother. “As a matter of fact, you’re now officially in charge of technology and research. Kolya will report to you.”
“Yes, Ivan,” Maksim says quietly.
“Grigory,” I say to my youngest brother.
“What’s up, Ivan?” Grigory asks around a mouthful of stroganoff.
“I want you to look into any legal means we can use against the Irish. Work with Dmitri and Maksim and ensure that everything is done within the letter of the law,” I tell him.
“Well that’s no fun,” Grigory says.
“I said the letter of the law, not the spirit, Grigory.” I smile at my little brother.
“That’s more like it.” Grigory smiles back.
“Ivan!” Dmitri says loudly, trying to get my attention. “What. Is. Going. On?”
I finally address him. “Declan has plans to come after Emma. He claims that she was promised to him in the event that her father didn’t fully repay his debts, which he didn’t,” I explain.
“That’s a shit move,” Dmitri replies. “What kind of a father essentially sells his daughter? Can he do that?”
“It’s frowned upon in most places,” Grigory says, trying to lighten the mood.
“My conversation with Declan filled in a few missing pieces in the information Kolya got me last week,” I tell them.
“He’s threatening to destroy our properties if I don’t hand her over.
That asshole has another thing coming to him if he thinks he can threaten and intimidate me into giving up Emma. ”
“Okay,” Dmitri says, “so we protect our properties and keep Emma out of the crossfire. But how do we know Emma is innocent in all of this?”
“What the fuck are you implying?” I ask angrily, barely keeping my temper in check.
“It just seems a little weird that we’re having increased conflict with the Irish, and now a girl who is half-Irish suddenly shows up. That can’t be a coincidence,” Dmitri replies.
“Say that again, Dmitri,” I say, my voice lowering as I get closer to my brother. “Kolya did the digging, and I believe his results. I don’t have questions about Emma’s innocence in this.”
“Okay, Ivan,” Dmitri says as he holds up his hands in mock surrender and backs away.
“Good. We understand each other,” I say. “I’m going back to the Watertown house and remaining there for the foreseeable future.”
I leave the restaurant with Ilya and Mikhail following behind me. I have things to discuss in the car with Mikhail, and I know my brothers will take care of their assignments.
I will be damned if I let Declan Callaghan think he can intimidate or strong-arm me into playing the game his way. He has severely underestimated me, and will not live long enough to regret his choices if he dares to lay a finger on my girl.