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46
DMITRI
Ireceived a text message from Archer twenty minutes ago advising she’d left the restaurant with one of The Lion’s men.
My teeth grind together, my knuckles turning white as I finalize the last of my emails and cancel the last two meetings I have for the evening as I sit behind my office desk. I don’t usually leave early, but today will be an exception because I received another message from my informant only an hour ago.
The Lion is here.
That was the last I heard from him. I rub my hands over one another, the electrifying buzz and need for a violent release profound. I have Archer, watching over her and I only got off the phone with Luca thirty minutes ago.
It was time to put everything into motion. We’d baited The Lion by playing around with his men and ambitions. Now, it was time to act.
I’m about to call Elanee, but a second message comes in, and my blood runs cold.
The job is done.
My assistant, Chris, loudly proclaims on the other side of my office door. “You can’t come in here—”
The door bursts open, and my skin runs tight over my muscles the moment my gaze lands on the brute of a man who casually slings his arm over my assistant’s shoulder. My father’s grin splits through a thick black beard the moment he sees me, those brown, almost black eyes locked on me. “But I only need a moment of his time.” He pretends to massage his shoulders. “Such a fragile boy. So easy to break.”
The threat prominently clear and the only clipped reservation to my last nerve.
I’d seen photos over the years, but they don’t do justice to the cruelty that elucidates from those brown eyes. The jagged scar at his throat, however, is a new edition. One I have every intention of carving open again. “Hello, boy,” he says as he shoves Chris away. My assistant remains in the room duty-bound despite his apparent fear as he looks between us.
“Leave,” I grit out because I don’t want any witnesses to observe what is about to happen. We both slowly watch him walk out as I try to conceal my rage. It’s as if I’m having an out-of-body experience as my gaze narrows on the man who has taken so much from me, and I’m doing everything I can to not lunge at him.
The moment the door clicks shut behind Chris, The Lion raises his finger in warning. “Before you do anything rash, I’d like to advise that my men stand at every door of your incredibly impressive ten-story building. And I’m assuming that you don’t want a mass shooting for your granddaddy’s pride and joy company now, do you?”
We have hundreds of employees who work from the main office. My jaw locks. All these years, I’d imagined what it would be like to stand across from him. But all I’m guided by is the living, breathing creature built on pure hatred and rage.
My mouth goes dry as he sits across from me casually, filling the chair as he adjusts his black suit jacket comfortably. My informant advised me The Lion was in town, but why the fuck hadn’t he updated me as to his whereabouts? He throws his polished shoes on the desk and looks around. “I’m surprised you’re able to get off at all sitting in a box like this every day,” he says in his thick Russian accent. “No better than a dog in a cage. I’m disappointed.”
He begins to stroke his beard, and I can only stare. It’s the only thing I can do to restrain myself from being responsible for hundreds of people’s lives, and even then, I contemplate if it’s worth it.
“Are you stupid and mute, boy?” he asks dryly.
I feel the curve of my mouth kick up into a lethal smile. Finally, he is fucking here. Within reaching distance. “I’ve waited a long time for this.”
He matches my predatory smile. “I bet you have. You’ve certainly spent years trying to get my attention, at the very least. More or less a pain in my ass. But no more than a buzzing fly.”
“You took everything from me.” My voice isn’t my own.
“That’s kind of what I do.” He shrugs. “But didn’t you like the toy I returned to you?” There’s a humorous edge to his tone.
My tethering control snaps, and I shoot out from my chair, grasping onto the responsibility of everyone’s lives. Was I willing to trade theirs for Elanee? In a heartbeat. He lets out a monstrous laugh, and it infuriates me even more, knowing I so easily fall for his goading. “As broken as she may be. It’s good to see you have the same taste as me, boy.”
“I’m nothing like you.”
His expression twists mockingly. “I know you want to believe that, boy, but the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. But this…” He waves his hand around the office. “Disgusts me. I had hopes for you. But instead, you turned into a bit of a wet blanket. Maybe that’s why Elanee never wanted you from the start.”
My jaw grinds, and I think only of her right now to restrain myself. How devastated she would be when she found out others had lost their lives because I couldn’t keep my composure. “Leave her out of all of this. You wanted me, didn’t you?”
He chokes on a laugh. “Oh, my poor boy, you seem confused about two things. Firstly, I couldn’t give a shit as to what you do with your life. And secondly, you make the assumption that she never came to me willingly.” My blood boils, and my palms prickle from the way my fingers dig into them. Lies. Manipulation. He’s trying to get into my head and set us against one another. Because that is what he does, and it’s only because of my love for her that I’m barely able to restrain myself now as my vision narrows in and out and that catastrophic haze of red begins. Blood. I need to see blood.
His face elates. “Now, that’s the expression I like to see. Murderous. Almost scary if you had claws and a descent bite on you.”
“You seem to yap a lot,” I grit out. “What do you want?” I ask. Not that I care, he’s finally come to me after all this time. Surely, he wants something. Or maybe he’s pissed about our recent movement against his activities. I might not be able to kill him now, but I certainly will the next time I see him.
