Chapter 20 - Benedikt

The more I committed myself to being a better man and husband for Gemma, the easier everything else seemed to feel. The more I was beginning to see just how important she was to me.

I wasn’t one to attach myself to anyone. Despite wishing I could have someone to lean on for the longest time, I didn’t allow myself those connections. Whether I'd known it or not, I was holding out hope for someone so magnetizing and all-encompassing that I wouldn’t have to doubt for a minute if they were right for me.

Yet, with Gemma, I could feel myself getting attached. Establishing a codependence that was both thrilling and terrifying. While I always had ideals and thoughts about the future, I never knew if I would ever find that person, so I didn’t get my hopes up. That thought process had changed entirely, and for the first time, I was looking forward to what was ahead.

Having Gemma by my side felt like opening up a world of possibilities. As if every experience was new, and I had the chance to see everything through a different lens.

With her, I could think clearly. Things made more sense, and I wasn’t wasting time looking in all the wrong places. I didn’t feel like I needed to look anymore, and that was a bigger relief than I once would’ve thought.

With everyone being on high alert due to the Ivanov situation, our warehouses and businesses were under tighter, more stringent observation. We had more men on watch, groups out on the streets to trail them and their associates, and we were being more careful about our alliances—keeping a close eye on anyone who might try to pull a fast one on us in tandem with the twins.

Overall, work had become more stressful than usual, but having Gemma to look forward to at the end of the day made it all less aggravating. She had become my escape, and I was becoming more and more grateful for it.

Despite our increased defenses and determination to keep the twins under control, they had been suspiciously quiet as of late. Though they'd threatened Gemma, we didn’t hear much beyond that.

Not knowing what they might do next or the direction they planned to take things put us all on edge.

Strolling through the warehouse as I did a general inspection of our inventory, making sure everything was accounted for, my ringtone interrupted my thoughts.

Worried and somewhat thrilled that it might be Gemma, I fished my cell out of my back pocket and checked the ID. Seeing it wasn’t my wife brought me the slightest pang of disappointment and relief, but at the realization that it was Lukyan, I knew that usually didn’t mean something good.

Accepting the call, I was immediately connected with him and murmured, “What’s going on, Luk?”

“The trade happening this afternoon on the east end has been intercepted,” he said firmly, his tone grave and concerned. He was quick about it, cutting right to the chase.

My brows furrowed, and I immediately halted on the spot.

The reminder of the trade felt like a cold chill against my neck. Ari was held up with other matters for the day, so he left me to take care of it. He told me to go personally to make sure everything looked alright, but I decided at the last minute to stay back, figuring the guys I entrusted with the task could take care of it.

Knowing that immediately put me in a bad situation, I blew out a frustrated breath.

“Well, what happened? How did this happen?”

“We have reason to believe it was the Ivanovs—the trade was happening on our turf they’ve recently been trying to encroach upon. The truck was hijacked and taken elsewhere. I was able to locate the stolen vehicle parked outside of a warehouse I didn’t recognize—it was a new establishment. From what we can tell, the evidence points in their direction,” Lukyan continued with that maintained dutiful tone. “We managed to capture the incident on CCTV tapes, and I’m recovering them right now. As soon as they’re ready, I’ll send them to you.”

Forcing out another breath to temper the rising anger within me, I nodded to myself. “You said they intercepted it—how much did we lose?”

He sighed then, immediately giving away just how devastating it was. “You’ll get a rough idea from the clip. Just give me a minute.”

Tightening my fist at my side, it took everything in my power to not lose it.

I was supposed to be at the helm of that trade, making sure nothing went wrong, but I wasn’t even there. Without a doubt, I already knew Ari was going to lose his mind over it. That was a given.

But there was a small chance I could fix it somehow, which made me glad that Lukyan came to me instead of Ari.

“What’s the ETA on that footage?” I asked, beginning to lose my patience.

“Just another moment…and there. You should have it now.”

Sure enough, my phone vibrated in my hand, and the video thumbnail came up, showing distant footage of our guys pulling into the parking lot.

Bracing myself, I returned the phone to my ear and murmured, “How many guys did we lose?”

“About six. They never even saw it coming.”

His remorse echoed in my mind as I held on to that number, aware that six lives had been taken because I couldn’t be bothered to show up. Closing my eyes for a moment, I drew myself back together.

“Thanks for alerting me. I’ll review this and call you if I need anything. Keep an eye on this while I figure out our next steps. If it really was the Ivanovs, then we can’t let them get away with this—they need to remember their place.”

Even after Ari and I gave them an ultimatum before, it didn’t seem to have the desired impact. It wasn’t enough—not after I took the first swing through Gemma.

“No problem. I’m taking care of some things behind the scenes here. I’ll let you know if any more information comes to light.”

As we said our goodbyes and hung up, I turned the phone back around and pulled up the footage. Already able to feel my blood boiling, I hit the play button and watched closely.

The scene unfolded like any trade normally would, but as another vehicle pulled up to meet them, figures that had been hidden nearby jumped out and opened fire on them. Our men tried to deflect the shots and fire back, but they were quickly overpowered. Once the last guard dropped, the others filed in and collected the payload.

Closing my eyes again, I sighed, aware that they took quite literally everything that had been on that load. It wasn’t a skim off the top—everything being shipped out was taken, and as Luk said, it likely went straight to their warehouse.

Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to keep moving as I went up the stairs and pushed my way inside my office. Dropping into my chair, I ran a hand through my hair and urged myself to keep it together.

I didn’t want to lose my cool, but it was hard not to. That load was worth a sickening amount of money, and if the Ivanovs did take it, then it meant all that supply was now in their hands. We basically gave that power to them for free.

My hand twitched at the thought as I leaned back in my seat and tried to go over it all, but my angry, frustrated thoughts raced too quickly to truly analyze.

It was a devastating loss, and I knew Ari would have my head for it.

I mauled over the idea of recovering the truck. Lukyan said he knew where the payload ended up, and if we stormed in there without thinking twice, there was a chance we could repossess it all and have it all wrapped up before Ari ever found out.

It didn’t seem like too bad of a plan, but another thought came in and cut it down immediately.

Think. Don’t be impatient. Think it through.

Letting go of a deep breath, I knew that my subconscious was right.

I spent too long acting impulsively, and it had already landed me in more trouble than I wanted to deal with.

Regardless of how badly I wanted to knock the Ivanovs down and make sure they couldn’t do anything else to threaten our operations or my wife, I knew we couldn’t just run in.

Ambushing and attacking someone’s home base, especially when they were anticipating your next potential attack, immediately put you in a bad position. Given how they were gearing up for something worse, I could only imagine they had tricks up their sleeves that we were completely unaware of.

We didn’t have complete inventory of their resources—that was impossible to know for sure. They could’ve been making deals with other families behind the scenes, and I wasn’t prepared to find that out the hard way.

We already lost six guys earlier in the day, and we didn’t need to lose more.

Besides, if I were to launch an impromptu attack on the Ivanovs without consulting Ari, I would be in a whole other kind of trouble.

Sitting there by myself, still staring at the screen after the clip was well over, I knew I couldn’t swing in and save the day. Not only would that risk the lives of our men, but also my own. Doing it all for the sake of my pride wasn’t a good enough reason.

I needed to be smart. I needed to think.

While I struggled to put my finger on what to do next, I couldn’t shake the unwavering anger that pulsed within me. The Ivanovs retaliated due to Gemma not making those alterations to the article, and due to me pulling her away from work. By doing that, we took away their access to her, which left our business as their only target. It made sense, yet it wasn’t any easier to stomach.

I didn’t know just how long I had been sitting there deliberating with myself, but a text eventually lit up my phone, shaking me out of my focused state. Ari’s name made my entire body tense up. A cold chill accompanied that feeling of dread as I read his message:

My office. Now.

Forcing out a breath, I knew there was no avoiding it. He was back apparently, and surely the news had already been relayed to him. I had to face up to it eventually, but I only hoped I had caught him in a more empathetic mood.

That was not the case.

As I stepped into the office, I found him sitting behind his desk, eyes on me the second I entered.

“Close the door.”

The sharp edge in his words sealed my fate, and I already knew what was about to come.

Doing as he said in an attempt to lessen the severity of my scolding, I closed the door and stood there, almost like a soldier prepared to get reprimanded for fucking up royally.

That dark anger swimming in Ari’s eyes didn’t let up. “What the hell happened today?”

I let go of a quiet breath. “The exchange was hijacked by the Ivanovs—”

“I know that part,” he snapped, leaning his forearms against his desk while his hands remained clasped together. “I mean, what happened to you? Why the hell were you not at that trade?”

Keeping my chin up, I did my best to defend myself, even if it was pointless. When Ari was lost in a tirade, there was no leaving that situation correct or in one piece. “I was tied up here in the warehouse covering inventory, but I’m aware that I messed up—”

“Inventory?” Ari rasped in disbelief. “Benedikt, I assigned you to that trade because I knew you’d make sure to take the necessary precautions. You were supposed to oversee it—to ensure nothing like this happened. Do you know what you’ve done?”

Blinking back at him, I could already feel my resolve buckling under the weight of his scorn. Even so, I didn’t let it show.

“That group you sent out was full of fresh meat. You trusted a team of new and inexperienced men to carry out a very important trade, and because of that, they’re dead, and our payload is gone. Are you aware of how much that will set us back? Now we have to pay our supplier despite not having that load in our possession or risk losing out on that particular product. That arrangement took months to finalize.”

Despite staying silent and maintaining a steeled expression, I listened to his every word and felt each with a pang of pain and remorse.

He was right. It was my fault. I should’ve just done what I was told and followed through with my agreement to cover the job.

But I didn’t, and I couldn’t take it back.

“I know I screwed this up. Everything with the twins…I’m trying to figure out how to handle it,” I mumbled, feeling both guilty for what I had done and like I was nothing more than a child being shouted at.

Ari shook his head and leaned back in his chair as he scrubbed a hand over his mouth. Pulling in a breath, he lowered his tone into a quieter, yet venomous one. “Damn right you screwed this up, Ben. But now that it’s said and done, you are going to clean this mess up thoroughly. Impeccably. You are going to take care of it before we lose any more money, inventory, or manpower. Since you struck first against the Ivanovs, it’s your turn to take the reins.”

While incredible pressure came along with his demand, I knew I was in no position to argue.

I was the one who took the first shot at the twins, endangering my wife. I did it all out of spite and pride, and the consequences of that had come to fruition.

Only I could fix it.

“Am I perfectly clear?” Ari asked, not leaving any room for debate or excuses.

Nodding once, I maintained my brother’s intense eye contact. “Yes, I understand, Ari.”

He stared at me for another long, almost painful moment before he nodded and let go of a frustrated breath. “Good. Now get out of here.”

Blinking back the absolute rage I felt as it coursed through my system, I stepped out of his office without delay. I didn’t stand around and joke with him like I normally would. Instead, I returned to my office and remained there until the end of the day, stewing over what happened and wondering how I was going to fix it.

By the time I left and found myself locked in rush hour traffic, I found myself looking forward to seeing Gemma.

Ari’s wrath and his demand loomed over me like a beast that needed to be tamed, and his words lingered in my mind as a reminder of how badly I fumbled the situation. It made both my heart and my head ache, aware that I was in the hot seat.

But the thought of being with my wife felt like a salve to stave away the sting that lingered from knowing the Ivanov situation was completely in my hands.