Chapter 20

Yaroslav

I ’ve been so preoccupied with Kim that I haven’t had a proper meeting with my men since she arrived. That’s going to change today. Kim’s safely out of the house, away visiting her grandmother with a couple of my men for escorts, so there’s no chance of her walking in on this long-overdue meeting and hearing anything she shouldn’t.

My office isn’t large enough to fit us all, so I’ve gathered us around the dining table in the seldom-used drawing room. An assortment of drinks and light snacks have been laid out, so there’s no need for any maids to come snooping either. Artem, Vova, and my lawyer are present, as well as half a dozen of my most loyal henchmen. On speakerphone, my Uncle Innokentiy is joining us from Russia with a couple of our most loyal men there. David will be pissed off he’s been excluded, but after the stunt he pulled with Kim, I can’t trust him to keep his mouth shut around her.

The men all stand to attention behind their seats, “Pakhan,” they echo as I enter and take my seat.

“Please sit,” I command, waiting for a moment as they do so. Once the chorus of scraping chairs and readjusting seats subsides, I begin, cutting right to the chase. “Alright men, there are two main reasons I’ve brought you here today. Number one, the deal with the Gillihan Mob, and number two, Roman fucking Sharkozi.”

The men all nod knowingly, I’m sure this is no surprise to them. “As you are well aware, the deal with Thomas Gillihan is a make-or-break one for us. Unlike most mafiosos, the Gillihan Mob is unbound by family or a mother country. Their influence spreads throughout the South. If this shipment goes smoothly then the Gillihan Mob will be on our side. They value money above all else, and this porcelain is set to make us all richer than we could ever imagine. Gillihan is a powerful ally to have, with his help we can finally take down the slippery son-of-a-bitch Sharkozi. But he’s also a powerful enemy, one wrong move with the delivery and we’re fucked. He has some of the best assassins on his payroll, he won’t hesitate to take us all out over a deal gone wrong. So, I hope you have some good news for me Vlad?” I say directing my question to the man in charge of the team handling the shipment.

Vlad gulps nervously, he knows me well enough to realize that loyalty or not, his head is on the chopping block if he fucks this one up. He clears his throat before speaking, forcing himself to meet my intense gaze.

“Everything is on track, Pakhan. The porcelain arrived in Spain on time and is set to depart in a week.”

“Do you anticipate any problems or delays with this?” I ask, he knows better than to lie to me.

“No, sir,” he says shaking his head. He darts his eyes away from me and I sense there’s something he’s hiding.

“What is it?” I bark, I don’t need to say anything further, he knows I’ve sensed a weak spot.

“It’s all been taken care of now, Pakhan. I swear,” he says, a bead of sweat forming on his brow. “We ran into some unexpected difficulties leaving Poland.”

“And I’m just hearing of this now?” I ask, my voice dangerously calm.

“With the situation handled we didn’t want to bother you with—”

I cut him off, “What happened?”

“One of our guys got into a car crash on the way to work. Another dockworker filled in, he wasn’t on our payroll. He saw too much so we had to take him out.”

“Fuck, if this gets traced back to us and the cops start sniffing around the docks and into shipments at the time, we could burn this port for good. Why the fuck wasn’t I informed at the time?” I snap.

Artem speaks up, “Vlad approached me first. We handled it. I did a deep dive into the dockworker. He had a history of drug abuse. We pumped him full of enough gear to OD and then dumped his body in a well-known den and made it look as though he never showed up for work. No one will suspect a thing. If the police do come sniffing around, the men know it’s their lives at stake if they say anything other than he didn’t show up to work and hint that he seemed different lately.”

I’m not happy, but at least it seems that the danger has passed, and we’ve got away with it. “Okay, but make sure we keep a close eye on Gdansk port. Any hint of trouble and we’ll need a new stop somewhere else. This needs to be an ongoing operation, we need to prove to Gillihan we can reliably continue to produce the goods. I want us to double our efforts in making sure the Spain to America leg goes exactly as planned. I don’t care who we have to bribe or kill, understood?” I say, glaring around at everyone in the room.

“Understood,” they echo in unison.

“Innokentiy, any news on your end? I assume we are prepared for subsequent shipments?” I ask, my voice respectful but still authoritative.

“Nothing to report. All fine here, you know we have none of your Western bureaucracy to deal with in the motherland,” Innokentiy drawls in his usual slow manner of speaking in his heavy Russian accent. Innokentiy is about as patriotic as they come, I can’t imagine him ever wanting to leave Russia. It’s why we decided I was the best man to come expand our operation stateside.

“Good to hear. Vova, what about Roman Sharkozi? What’s the latest info we have on why he’s here and what he’s up to?”

Vova cracks his knuckles audibly, leaning forward with his elbows on the table. “So far, he’s still in Miami. He’s had no meetings with anyone of significance, it seems more like the motherfucker’s taking a vacation. He’s been out drinking, gambling, and whoring every day since he arrived.”

I sniff, unhappy with the lack of information. “There’s no way Sharkozi is here innocently. He’s up to something and we need to find out what. Increase your surveillance and get as close as you can. Get one of our girls down there to work in the clubs he’s been going to and get close to him. I want eyes and ears on the inside.”

“Yes, sir,” Vova confirms with a decisive nod.

We continue to discuss the logistics and finer details of the shipment as well as speculating on Roman’s possible reasons for being in the US for another hour and a half. Eventually, the meeting draws to a close and I dismiss everyone.

“Sorry, Pakhan. I just need a moment longer of your time, I have something I need to raise with you,” Artem says. “In private,” he adds, looking pointedly around the room.

I nod, wondering what he could have to tell me that he seems reluctant for anyone else to know about. The men start to file out and soon it’s just Artem, Vova, and I present as well as my uncle on speaker.

“Uncle, it was good to speak to you, we must catch up properly soon. I won’t keep you any longer,” I state.

“And you, nephew. Are you sure you do not want me to stay to discuss whatever it is Artem has to say?” he asks.

“No need. If there’s anything I need to speak with you about I will call you to discuss it separately.”

He sniffs pausing for a moment, “Very well. Do svidaniya ,” he says before hanging up.

Vova hovers seeming reluctant to be left out of the conversation too. “You can go, Vova, I need you on this Roman issue ASAP,” I say, gesturing to the door.

He nods silently before leaving, shutting the door behind him.

“So, Artem, what is it that you needed to speak with me so urgently and privately about?” I ask, turning my focus to him and leaning back in my seat, steepling my fingers.

Artem fidgets in his chair, not a good sign. If Artem isn’t completely still, it means that he’s got bad news. “Well, boss. It might be nothing, a mistake, but I’ve checked several times, and I don’t think I can be wrong…”

“Spit it out, Artem.”

“I was running through some figures, and it seems as though significant amounts of money have gone missing,” he says, pulling out some paperwork and handing it to me.

I glance through the papers, he’s right, there’s a substantial number of unaccounted-for transactions and missing money. “Why didn’t you keep Innokentiy on the line to ask about this? He’s the head of finance after all.”

Artem shifts again, clearing his throat, “Well, there’s only a limited amount of people who have access to be able to withdraw such large sums. I thought it was best to speak with you first so that word doesn’t get out.”

“You think Innokentiy could be stealing from me?” I ask incredulously.

“No, no,” he rushes to explain, “But someone is, and we’re more likely to catch them if they don’t know we’re onto them. I wasn’t sure how secure his line was, or how you’d want to handle it.”

“Thank you, Artem. You’re right, we need to handle this quickly and discreetly. I trust you can find out the persons responsible and take care of them?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good, let me know once you’ve got a shortlist and we can interrogate them later today,” I respond, dismissing him with a wave of my hand.

Although I may seem calm about the situation, internally, the news has worried me. Traitors are like weeds, once you have one more seem to spring up. We need to root them out quickly. Artem was right not to let anyone else know. If people think one person can get away with stealing from me, what’s to stop them from trying? Any weak link is like a cancer that will rot the organization from the inside.