Chapter 14: Vlad

I leaned back in my chair, a hand under my chin as I narrowed my eyes at Sergei sitting across the table in the conference room. My associates were present as well as we deliberated on the welfare of the business.

Sergei was telling me about the businesses that had paid for our protection services and was filling me in on the progress so far.

Drumming my fingers on the mahogany table, I watched him in silence, and I could see the discomfort in his eyes. He tried to stay composed, but I'd been in the business long enough to know when my presence was making people nervous. He seemed nervous, with good reason anyway.

Sergei was a regional manager, one of the lowest ranks in the organization, and I was…well, I was me. There weren't too many people above me save for the Pakhan , of course. This was the reason Sergei was nervous.

He must have heard about me, and the stories were why he was so uncomfortable. His fear was glaring, but I admired his ability to press on without so much as a stutter.

Sergei was portly with balding hair, and it seemed to me like he was in his mid-fifties. I'd only just met him when the meeting began, but with the way he spoke, I knew the region he managed was in good hands. Notwithstanding his nervousness, he seemed to know what he was doing. We needed more people like him, and that alone earned him my respect.

"From what I can tell, everything seems to be in place," I said to Sergei.

He paused for a moment. "Not everything, sir."

I squinted, waiting for him to continue.

He did. "There's a…uhh." Sergei cleared his throat. "There's a minor resistance from a rival organization who are threatening the businesses that paid us protection fees."

"If they paid us protection fees, then why are they not being protected from this…." I paused and continued almost immediately, "What organization are we talking about anyway? The Italian Mob? The Chinese Triad?"

"None of those. They know better," he replied.

"Then who?" I asked, a little curious.

"They call themselves the White Lions," one of my associates chipped in.

My brows rose instantly at the ridiculousness of the name. "The what now?"

Sergei had a faint grin on his face; clearly, he considered it ridiculous as well. It was by far the lamest name of a gang I'd heard in a long time.

"They must be new in town ‘cause I've never heard of them," I said.

"Yes, they are," he replied. "Which is why I wasn't sure how to deal with the situation. Should this resistance have come from another rival organization that's already rooted in the system, then it'd be an all-out war," he explained.

I drew in a deep breath, already feeling sorry for those unlucky bastards. "I take it they don't know who runs this city."

He shook his head. "I don't believe they do."

I scoffed. "Kids. That's what they are: children. And since they're stupid enough to play with fire, they'll get burned."

"What are our orders?" Sergei asked me.

"Round them, beat some sense into them, and educate them on who owns this turf. Let them learn the hard way," I said. "Go easy on them, though, since they haven't really overstepped yet. Let's just assume they don't know about us."

He nodded.

"But if they want to be gangster so bad, see if there's any of them that can be useful and bring them into the fold," I added. "Anything else?"

"Well, there's something else that I think you should know about," he said.

"What's that?" I asked, but honestly, I wasn't really interested; I just needed to get this over and done with.

"A Silver Serpent who kidnapped and raped a daughter of one of our own," he answered.

The Silver Serpents were a criminal organization known for their ruthlessness. I'd heard about them, and I also knew that Maksim had put them in their place a few years ago.

"She's just thirteen, Boss—the girl he raped," Sergei added.

Now, I was pissed, suddenly interested in meeting this rapist-slash-pedophile. My fists clenched, and I felt a wave of anger wash over me. "Take me to him."

"Gladly," Sergei said and got out of his chair.

He led me to the basement where the man was tied up, both hands over his head, bound by a chain connected to the rafters. His face was swollen, and his eyes were barely open.

As I walked in, the men standing guard slightly bowed their heads in reverence, but my gaze was fixed on the man hanging in the middle of the dimly lit room with only the tip of his toes brushing against the floor. He looked exhausted, worn out from all the beatings he took.

I stood before him with gritted teeth as he struggled to breathe. He had the guts to go after a daughter of one of the members of the Wolkov Bratva; wrong move.

"How did it feel taking advantage of that poor girl?" I asked him.

He managed to raise his head, and the moment he saw me, his body jerked in fear as though he recognized me. "Oh, God," he whispered softly, his voice laced with fear. "It's you."

He looked terror-stricken, like he'd seen the devil, and that was who I was at the moment: the devil whose path he'd crossed. "I swear to you, I didn't know who she was at the time. Please, show mercy," he pleaded, shedding tears.

"She was thirteen," I said. "Did you know?"

He swallowed hard, shaking his head as he muttered words that were inaudible.

"Take off his pants," I instructed.

"What?" His eyes widened in fear.

My men, without hesitation, rushed at him, and one of them stripped him naked from the waist down.

He was protesting, struggling, but to no avail.

"What are you going to do to me?" His voice shuddered, overwhelmed with fear of the unknown.

I stretched out a hand, and a dagger was placed in my palm.

"No, no, no, no, no!" The words came out of his bloody mouth in a nervous rush. His eyes looked like they were about to bulge out of their sockets. "Please, don't…don't do this. I'm begging you. I'm sorry—I'll never do it again; I promise." His voice grew higher the closer I drew to him.

"I know," I replied, halting before him. "That's because I'll make sure of that." I seized his cock, squeezing on his balls.

His screams pierced the air, and the room was filled with his pleas for mercy. I was certain that the poor girl must have screamed and begged him to stop, as well, but he'd had his way with her anyway. Why, then, should I show him mercy?

I looked him dead in the eye, and he knew that my mind was made up. The words coming out of his mouth produced no sound, and tears filled his eyes, but I was unphased by all that.

With one precise slice, I cut his cock off, dismembering it from his groin.

He wailed at the top of his voice, and his body reacted with a violent quake. Blood gushed out like water from a fountain, and soon, his head fell weightlessly on his chest. He was out like a light.

Sergei placed two fingers on the man's neck, searching for his pulse. He looked at me. "He's still alive."

"I didn't want him dead," I replied. "He'll live the rest of his life in that condition; that way, he'll never rape anyone ever again."

"I can't think of a punishment worse than that," Sergei said.

I wiped my palms with a white handkerchief. "When he wakes up, send him on his way. Let him tell his people what I did to him, and if they're stupid enough to come seeking revenge, then hell will freeze over."

I walked away.

Outside the building, my car was waiting for me; I got into the backseat and exhaled softly. I withdrew my phone from my pocket and stared at the text that I'd sent Sienna. Still no response. I locked the screen and tossed it aside, my fingers rubbing my eyes.

I was desperate to hear from her, and now I realized how she must have felt when I hadn't reached out after our first night together.

So that's how it feels.

It sucked.

To honor my friendship with Paul, I had been rude to Sienna, cold and distant. And now, I feared I might have pushed her away for good.

The incident at the club made me realize just how deeply I cared for her, just how much she meant to me, and after that sex, it was as if my eyes had opened. There was no point holding back on my feelings now; I'd tried, but I couldn't; instead, I ended up making things worse.

I could still smell her perfume, could still feel the taste of her tongue in my mouth. I replayed the sex over and over again, and the thought of it made me hard. She was all I could think about; staying away at this point was going to be next to impossible.

But she wasn't replying to any of my texts.

Did she hate me that much? Did that mean that I'd lost her for good?

I sighed heavily and smoothed my hair back, hoping that I hadn't screwed this up.