I would do whatever it took to get home to my young wife tonight for dinner. “Absolutely. What time?”
“Is seven too early?”
Seven meant that in twelve hours, I had a reason to be back here and near her. “It’s perfect.” I stood up, and could feel how stiff my quads, core and hip flexors were after last night. Eventhough it hurt to bend over, I still leaned down to give my wife another kiss. “You’re addictive.”
She gave a giggle that went straight to my dick. “Have a good day.”
If willpower were a sport, I’d be operating at Olympian levels. No one could understand the discipline it took to walk away from her.
But I did. And I started my day mostly so I could come back to her.
When I walkedinto work I found Maksim and Sergei standing in the bay.
I did a double take.
Sergei?
What the hell?
As I approached the group, I took in the dynamic between the two. Sergei was red in the face and glaring at Maksim, who stood there with his arms crossed.
I looked between the two men. “Sergei, this is a surprise. What are you doing here?”
He moved his head to the side and spit on the cement floor. “Came here to tighten up this shit show.”
“I see,” I said calmly. “Maksim, would you mind joining me for a moment?”
Maksim nodded, not taking his glare off Sergei.
We stepped aside.
“When did he arrive?”
Maksim was vibrating with emotion. “I just got here. He was already here, and I found him trying to snoop in your office. Two of our guys weren’t letting him in. He wasn’t happy about it.”
The timing of his arrival couldn’t be worse. “Did he say what he was doing here?”
“Same thing he told you. He’s here to sort things out. I was just telling him that no one was allowed in your office and to wait downstairs. He didn’t agree, and that’s when you walked in.”
I dialed Grisha’s number, but it went directly to voicemail. I took a long calming breath.
“What do you want us to do, boss?”
“Be clear with everyone that all of Sergei’s requests have to be approved by either you or me. He’s no one’s boss.” I looked back at Sergei, who stood in the middle of the bay with his arms crossed and a sour look on his face. “I’ll deal with Sergei.”
“You need backup?”
I nodded.
Together we walked back to Sergei. I spoke to him in Russian. “Welcome to Canada, Sergei.”
He scowled but didn’t do more than grunt at me.
“I appreciate any and all help from home, but I’ll need confirmation from Grisha on what role he wants you to take. Until then, I’m the boss here, and every decision is filtered through either me or Maksim. You have no authority over any of our staff, is that clear?”
He spat on the floor again. “Not much of a greeting for someone who’ll soon be your boss.”
It would be a cold day in hell when I took my orders from Sergei.
