Rodion
The air wrapped around methe second I stepped out of the auction hall. My jaw tightened as I exhaled. Anger simmering beneath the surface, threatened to explode. I paced along the gravel driveway, trying to put things together. My phone vibrated in my pocket, dragging my attention away from my spiraling thoughts. The name on the screen wasn’t one I could ignore.
“Speak,” I said into the phone, my voice cutting through the stillness.
“Boss.” The familiar voice of Pavel, one of my most trusted men, filtered into my ear. “About Salvatore, we’ve been keeping tabs on him as you ordered, but he’s disappeared. No one has seen him at his usual places. We suspect he’s meeting with an informant, but we haven’t confirmed.”
Salvatore. That son of a bitch. He was just like his brother Marco. The very mention of his name made my blood boil.
“What about the safe house? Have you checked?”
“Empty. He left nothing behind. But the surveillance tapes caught him meeting someone two nights ago. We’re working on identifying who it was.”
I pressed two fingers to my temple, the tension building like a storm inside me. “I want him, Pavel. Do your job.”
“We’re close,” Pavel assured. “We’ll—”
Footsteps approached from behind, snapping my attention away from the call. I spun on my heel, phone still pressed to my ear. Matvet walked toward me. His hulking frame moved with purpose.
I didn’t bother hanging up.
“What is it?” I demanded, already anticipating a report about the auction.
He stopped a few steps away, his hands clasped in front of him like a soldier awaiting orders. “The auction is still going on.”
I frowned. “Still? I told you to end it. Alessia is to be dealt with and forgotten. What’s the holdup?”
A flicker of unease crossed his face.
“Leonid is the highest bidder.”
My entire body tensed, a hot surge of anger igniting in my chest. “Leonid?” I hissed.
The name was venomous on my tongue.
“Yes, boss. He’s outbidding everyone else. No one dares challenge him.”
The world blurred for a moment as rage clouded my vision. My grip on the phone tightened, and Pavel’s voice became a distant hum in my ear.
“Pavel, give me a report soon,” I snapped. Ending the call without waiting for a response, I advanced toward Matvet. “You’re telling me that you let that snake think he can walk into my auction and take what he wants?”
Matvet squared his shoulders, but I could see the unease in hiseyes. “Boss, he is—”
“I don’t care who he is,” I cut him off, my tone sharp enough to slice through steel. “Leonid doesn’t win. Not under my watch.”
He hesitated. “What do you want me to do? He’s bidding under your rules. It’s your property.”
“Then break the rules,” I snarled. “Be a bidder and bid against him. Double his offer. Triple it, if you have to. I don’t care what it costs. I’ll burn this entire place to the ground before I let him win.”
Matvet nodded. “Understood.”
“Leave,” I ordered, waving him off like a dog.
As he disappeared back inside, I stood rooted in place, my chest heaving with barely contained fury. Leonid had been a thorn in my side. I didn’t care that he had once been my father’s close friend. To me, he was a snake.
All Italians were snakes. And now he dared to show his face here, in my domain, and make a play for something that belonged to me? I raked a hand through my hair, trying to steady my breathing, but it was useless. The longer I stood there, the angrier I became.
Alessia.She was nothing more than a complication, a nuisance I should’ve discarded long ago. And yet, the thought of her in Leonid’s hands was unbearable.