11. Max

My workout is almost done when Sasha calls. I quickly wipe the sweat from my face and chug some water down before snatching my phone from the bench. I need a shower but it can wait. Sasha wouldn't bother me unless it's important.

"Yeah?"

"Someone's been digging into Uriov."

"State Police?" Hopefully not. While Uriov isn't directly connected to my Bratva, there are threads between our organizations if anyone cares to search hard enough.

"No. Whoever it was managed to cut me off and disappear before I could trace their IP."

I snort. "I thought you were the best out there, Sasha," I tease, knowing full well it will piss him off.

"Fuck off," he snaps, predictably. "It's a blip. Next time I'll get them." I hear him clacking away on his keyboard. "They found the PlayPen site though. Looks like it went live last night."

My good humor vanishes instantly. I knew Uriov was trying to set up a pay-per-view platform for sick fuckers, but as far as we were aware, he'd been too distracted with other things to put his little idea into reality.

I have a sneaking suspicion his new friendship with Mayor Kolanski is the reason why things are moving at a rate of knots. It's way too much of a coincidence that their budding relationship has happened at the same time as Uriov's new business venture goes live.

"Keep an eye on things. The minute Kolanski signs the permits I need, his days are numbered."

"For sure. I'm working on hacking into the backend to see who's signed up. I plan to introduce a virus into the code as well, which should fuck things up for a while."

"Good." If I have my way, any of the sick fucks who think it's fun to watch women and kids get abused live on camera will end up in a shallow grave.

I plan to shut down the operation and get rid of the main players. The rest will be named and shamed on a well-known news site. What happens to them after that is up to the authorities in their respective countries.

Just because I operate on the wrong side of the law most of the time doesn't mean I'm OK with the kind of shit Uriov is involved in. There are lines I will not cross, and trafficking is one of them.

My business interests are wide-ranging and I have no issue trading weapons and other illegal goods, but trafficking women and kids is beyond the pale. Unfortunately, as much as I hate Uriov's trading activities, I can't directly take him out, not without starting a war.

But I can make life difficult for him, which is why Sasha has been tasked with monitoring and disrupting his new enterprise.

The developers Uriov has working for him are good, but Sasha is better.

Artem is waiting for me with the car when I emerge from the main entrance of my apartment block. Tonight I'm heading for a charity fundraiser where my good friend the mayor is giving a rousing speech on behalf of abused women everywhere.

It's fucking laughable. How that asshole manages to keep a straight face while he extols the virtues of the charitable foundation he set up to help vulnerable women amazes me.

What the donors who hand over vast sums to the charity don't realize is that it's a funnel. The women who are taken off the streets are processed by people on the mayor's payroll. Suitable candidates are then sent on to a new center, where supposedly they are given counseling, financial assistance, and everything they need to rebuild their lives.

In reality, what actually happens is they are trafficked into a far worse situation, one they have zero chance of escaping from.

The mayor made the mistake of bragging about his charitable work one night, during a business meeting in his office. He took great pleasure in telling me what happens to the poor women and kids he ‘helps'.

It was all I could do not to kill him there and then.

If there wasn't so much riding on this casino development, I would have.

The traffic around the civic center is horrific. Tonight's charity gala is a huge event and the mayor has invited lots of big names to garner more publicity. I'll be rubbing shoulders with the city's rich and powerful. Most of them are assholes.

I wouldn't normally bother attending.

Given my questionable life choices, I prefer to keep my handsome face out of the press. Nothing good ever came of being plastered all over the morning news, especially not alongside the mayor. I have no intention of being sucked down with his sinking ship when he's finally brought to justice.

Still, attending the gala allows me to pull the mayor aside and find out why the fuck he's stalling on these permits. Knowing him it's because he's not happy with the deal we struck.

The greedy fucker either wants more money from me or wants me to do something for him.

Which one of the two it is remains to be seen, but I fully intend to find out this evening.

The clock is ticking on the casino development and my investors are getting restless.