Oleg
Ivan Sokholov, brother of Oleg and governor of Moscow, was not an ugly man by the standards of most humans. He was tall and broad with sandy-brown hair and features typical of his Slavic ancestors. He had a strong jaw and angled cheekbones. His nose was prominent and impressive.
He was not an ugly man… until he opened his mouth.
“Get that shit out of my presence.” He sneered at the young woman carrying a tray of blood-wine with five heavy-looking goblets. “You think I would serve preserved blood to our knyaz? Get your lazy ass out of here and bring back live donors.”
Oleg held up a hand. “Blood-wine is sufficient. Do not trouble yourself.”
Nevertheless, the young human scurried from the room with her eyes focused on the floor, clearly accustomed to Ivan’s outbursts.
“It’s no trouble.” Ivan was all bluster now. “You think that I don’t have live donors for you and your party?”
“I would never think that.”
Oleg’s party consisted of Mika, a vampire governor of his own territory, Oleg’s right hand and—as everyone knew—his chief spy; Ludmila and Oksana, a mated pair of warriors whowere part of Oleg’s closest circle; and Charles Smith, human assistant to Oleg’s chief financial officer, Bernard Lazareva.
Charles was drinking lukewarm water.
Four vampires shouldn’t have thrown Ivan off-balance so much, so things in Ivan’s organization must have been worse than Oleg predicted.
How delightful.
His brother was flanked by four of his many sons, two who looked like idiots and were still staring at the door where the woman had exited, and two others who kept suspicious eyes locked on Oleg.
“The theft was… substantial, brother.” Oleg kept his voice low and even. “The loss of that many high-end electronics?—”
“Paid from my own organization’s funds,” Ivan was quick to add. “I would not dream of asking you for recompense.”
“Nor would you get it. You asked for a measure of independence centuries ago, and I have granted it because you areeffective.” He soothed Ivan’s bruised ego before he went in for the kill. “But damage has also been done to relationships important to the empire.”
“You worry about the Poshani too much,” Ivan said. “They need our business more than we need them.”
“Do they?” Oleg lifted on eyebrow. “Their new terrin has been aggressive in her expansion efforts. And according to Radu, Khori Transport didn’t realize the load they were carrying belonged to you.”
Why are you hiding, brother?
Oleg let the unspoken question hang in the air.
Ivan said nothing because there was nothing to be said.
“The trucks—more importantly, the drivers…” Oleg lifted one shoulder as he tapped two fingers on the heavy wooden conference table. “Radu was not pleased.”
It had been Tatyana more than Radu who had been furious about the violence, but the less his scheming brother thought about Oleg’s mate, the better.
Ivan huffed and looked to his right, and one of his sons handed him a folder. “The Poshani will receive a blood price for any of their drivers who?—”
“I have already taken care of that matter.” Oleg waved a careless hand. “I met with them last week, as soon as reports of this theft reached me.” He glanced at Mika.
Ivan was glaring at the spy. “Then I will pay you back for whatever loss you have incurred.”
It was the moment Charles had been waiting for. “The estimate for the rush order from the Poshani terrin’s office is around seven hundred and fifty thousand, but they were quick to add that the number could change in the final invoice.”
“Thank you, Charles.”
“I’m sure the Poshani will get very fine new vehicles,” Ivan muttered. “And I will pay you back for everything.”
“Don’t be absurd,” Oleg said. “You’ve already incurred over seven million in losses and are going to have to place a rush order to keep your distributors happy. That would be an additional…” Oleg looked at Charles.
