Yeva looked at the man to her right, and the vampire scanned the warehouse before he gave her a quick nod.
“Leave the men,” Oleg said, then walked out of the warehouse and into the frosty night. “Ivan’s people will find them sooner or later.”
“What was the problem?”Yeva’s voice was tinged with concern. “Knyaz, if I have done something wrong?—”
“No, no.” Oleg walked over and kissed Yeva on the forehead. “Please, my dear, do not concern yourself. You and your people did well.”
He and Yeva were meeting with Polina and Mika at their office in Vilnius.
“Dear Yeva, I’m the one who chose the warehouse and the cargo,” Polina said. “If there is fault, it is mine.”
“There is no fault,” Oleg reassured them. “Not for either of you. The operation went very well, and now we have six truckloads of electronics we can sell for a very good profit.”
“No fault,” Mika said slowly. “But perhaps some… complication.”
Oleg put his hand on Yeva’s cheek and patted it gently. “I am proud of your efficiency and your professionalism. You moved quickly and did exactly as ordered.”
“Thank you.”
“The operation was a success.” He spoke to Polina. “How many vans did we take?”
“Five, totaling around forty million euros retail,” Polina said. “Wholesale, Ivan will have lost about eighteen million.”
“Excellent,” Oleg said. “And Ivan had already paid for them?”
“Yes, the suppliers have already been paid, so this should hit only his pocket.”
“Except for the trucks,” Mika said. “And the drivers.”
“None of the drivers were killed,” Yeva said. “A few injured, but none badly. They didn’t really challenge us.”
“And the trucks can be dealt with,” Oleg said. “So the only ones who will feel this are Ivan and his men.”
“And any human backers,” Polina said. “The phones were heading to a high-end electronics chain in Moscow.”
“Routed through shell corporations to skirt sanctions.”
“Good.” Oleg was more than happy to let human politics interfere with Ivan’s bottom line. “Has he reported the loss yet?”
“Not to me,” Mika said, “but that’s not a surprise.”
“He won’t say anything to me even if he suspects it was my people,” Polina said. “He’ll never admit losing that much cargo.”
Ivan was a governor in Oleg’s empire, and he and his criminal enterprise controlled a huge and wealthy territory. Still, it wasn’t unheard of for a governor in one region to poach from other territories even if they were all under Oleg’s umbrella.
It was a bit like wolves stealing from a shared kill. It was expected with an empire as extensive as Oleg’s. Good-natured even. His people might snap at each other, but they’d turn on any outsiders if the larger clan was threatened.
Or at least that was how it was supposed to work.
But for the past few years, Ivan had been a thorn in Oleg’s side. Stirring up dissension among his commanders, poaching contracts, and undermining deals when they didn’t benefit his territory.
It was becoming clear to Oleg that Ivan’s plans were tending in a distinctlyunfriendly direction.
You should have killed him years ago.
Mika lifted an eyebrow as if reading Oleg’s mind. “You know what I am going to suggest.”
Polina glanced at Yeva. “You’ve done well. Give your people the bonus we discussed.”
