“I am sorry.”
“I already know,” he replies softly while pressing a gentle kiss to the top of my head. “You need to sleep right now. We have a gang war starting tomorrow.”
“And what happens after that?” I ask him.
“After the fight, I am going to keep my whore in line.”
I let out a soft laugh as I am already drifting away into exhaustion. “Good luck with that,” I tease him.
“I will need it,” he agrees.
I close my heavy eyes, his warm cum still feeling sticky resting between my tired thighs.
The impending gang war feels far away from this peaceful moment. So far that I fall into a dreamless sleep.
Chapter 44
Alexei
Stanislav looks worse than when I left him. Two days in a windowless room stripped away his remaining composure. He stares up with bloodshot eyes and cracked lips. The heavy metal restraints leave his wrists raw and bleeding. Pulling a metal chair across the concrete, I sit across him, positioned close enough that our knees touch.
"Good morning, Stanislav," I say in a soft tone. "Did you sleep well?"
He flinches at the sound of my voice, yet keeps his mouth shut.
"I need a few more details from you," I continue. "Some things just don't add up." I unbutton my suit jacket and fold it over the back of my chair. Next, I roll my shirt sleeves up to my elbows, taking my time so he watches my hands. "You mentioned twelve men on rotation at the Maryino warehouse. My scouts counted eighteen. Tell me why."
"I might have been wrong," he stammers. "I wasn't always present for every shift…"
"We also have the keypad code," I interrupt. "Seven-nine-four-two-one-one. My men tested it on the door. It failed."
All the color drains from his face. "Maybe Dato changed the numbers after I left…"
"That's a possibility," I agree, tilting my head. "Or perhaps you gave me a fake code on purpose."
"I didn't do that," he pleads. "I swear to you. I gave you everything I know."
"We'll come back to that issue in a minute." I pull my phone from my pocket. "First, I want to show you something interesting."
I dial Dato’s private number and put the device on speaker, setting the phone on the metal table resting between us. The line rings twice before connecting. "Who is this?" Dato demands. His voice sounds tense and suspicious.
"I'm calling about your brother," I answer.
Heavy silence fills the line. "What about him?" Dato finally asks.
"He's still alive. For now, at least. I thought you might want to speak with him." I turn the screen toward Stanislav and give him a nod to proceed.
"Dato," Stanislav chokes out. "Dato, it's me. I'm so…"
"You stupid, weak little shit," Dato hisses through the speaker.
Stanislav’s mouth hangs open in shock. No words come out.
"You let them take you." Dato goes on in a rampage. "You are a helpless child; a fucking lamb meant for the slaughterhouse. I should have known you'd be useless to my operation. I should have left you back in Tbilisi with the women and the old men where you belong."
"Dato, please listen to me, I didn't mean to…"
"Did you talk to them?" Dato interrupts. "Did you give them any of my secrets?"