Chapter 1 - Adrian
It has been almost two full months of peace. It seems unheard of. An impossible thing.
Nothing has gone wrong, and operations with the Kozlov Contracts are running smoothly. I don’t even want to say it out loud in case I break the spell.
I’m even managing to patch things up with Anka for the most part. It’s a work in progress, but since my sister’s marriage to Viktor Nikolai, I’ve been doing my best to let her know how sorry I am about the past. I’ve been trying to make it up to her. After all, it was me that fucked up so badly.
The guilt still sits with me sometimes. But it no longer consumes me as it has for the better part of this past year.
It’s dark outside. The night sky is a deep navy blue with a glimmer of stars. Nothing like the stars I might see away from the city, but it’s beautiful nonetheless. I’m sitting in a glass-walled boardroom in my office building this evening, overlooking the glimmering silhouette of Chicago’s cityscape. Even in the dark, I can see the snow, glowing in the city lights as it coats buildings and sidewalks far below my sky-scraping tower.
I got back from Moscow this morning, and everything is going well there.
The glass of whisky in my hand chimes as I swirl the golden liquid over the ice blocks. It’s the only sound I can hear. Up here, it’s easy to feel like this city is mine. Like it belongs to me. In so many ways, it does, now that the Nikolai and Volkov families are working together. The new alliance has shifted business and ended a decades-long rivalry.
The building is quiet, most of the lights behind me have been turned off, and I feel at peace after another good day. I’ll head home soon and maybe get in a gym session. All in all, I’m enjoying my new routine that isn’t plagued by stress and uncertainty. Dare I say life is good right now?
A low chuckle rumbles from my chest, and I smirk at the blurred reflection of my own face in the massive windows.Don’t jinx it. Life might be good right now, but experience has taught me many times how quickly things can change.
My eyes look ominous in the glass reflection, and my hair looks almost black despite being dark blonde. Tilting the whisky back, I drain the last of the golden liquid and set the empty crystal glass on the boardroom table.
“Sir? I thought you might still be here,” Ivan’s voice comes from the open door.
“About to leave,” I tell him, straightening the collar of my shirt and picking up my phone to slip it into my pocket.
“We have an issue.”
Instantly, my hackles are up.
Fuck. I hope this is something small. I knew I shouldn’t have jinxed it.
“Something that can wait till morning?” I growl, hoping he says yes to indicate the trivial nature of theissue.
“The courier that was headed to the Kozlov’s early tomorrow morning… we packed the goods, and there is stock missing.”
“Missing?” My brows knot together. “Did we miscount?”
“No, sir, someone stole it. Not a lot, but enough that it would have caused a massive problem once it reached theother side, and our part of the operation had not been managed correctly.”
“For fuck sakes. Who the fuck would be stupid enough to steal from me?” I snarl, clenching my fist, wondering if my peaceful era was coming to an abrupt ending with one person’s absolute stupidity.
No. I won’t accept that.
I’ll go out of my way to make an example of this asshole to make sure that the message goes out loud and clear that I won’t tolerate this type of shit.
I can’t have my new business routes affected by idiots taking chances. And the fact that this guy, whoever the hell he is, thought he would get away with it gives me an uneasy feeling. Do people think I’m weak?
Not a fuck.
No.
This was one asshole taking a chance.
“Who was it?”
“We have video footage. The guy didn’t even do proper research. He avoided the decoy cameras and was unaware of the hidden ones. Clearly a rookie.”
“Who was it?” I ask again, wanting a name.
