Swallowing back the lump of emotion welling in my throat, I nod, afraid that if I speak, I will cry.
He gives me a sharp nod and then directs his team through my mother’s door.
She is safe now, and that is all that matters. Everything else will fall into place, and I will be there every step of the way.
thirty-nine
Arctic Security is nothing like I imagined. It is huge. There are forty-two floors in total. Ten subfloors, twenty floors dedicated to the security business, and the top twelve are part of the consulting and legal firm.
Matthias has been at the office for the last few days, barely getting away except to sleep for a few hours. Then he goes right back. For the most part, he has taken over the Bratva again, but I am fine with that. He isn’t leaving me out of the loop; he is simply more efficient at running the operation.
I came in with little knowledge of how to run the mafia, and most of my time asPakhan—a title I still hold—was spent searching for answers and revenge. Matthias is planning on teaching me everything he knows so we can truly rule as partners, but right now, he has a mole to find, and I am busy searching for my traitorous family.
When it comes to the security company, we don’t involve the operatives in mafia hits. The men and women who make up Arctic Security are all legit, and Matthias doesn’t want to taintthat. He does, however, run a black ops cyber unit that does tie in with the more criminal side of his empire. Mark would be so pissed at me if he knew where I was right now.
“We have more than fifteen satellites circling the globe at any one time,” Maksim informs me. “Our team has created back doors into the local law enforcement, the CIA, FBI, NSA, ATF…you get the point.”
Wow. That is scary impressive.
“The legit side of our black ops unit surveys security threats for other corporations. Social media monitoring, and so on,” he continues as he leads me down the corridor. “We have trained analysts who search for keywords, photos, hashtags, videos, and the like to remove all evidence of the Bratva.”
“Is that why Matthias is able to run a corporation so legitimately without any problems?” I wonder aloud. I have wondered how he manages to be the face of Dashkov Enterprises and Arctic Security.
“For the most part,” Maksim offers. “A good amount of our clients know who Matthias is, but those clients work in the underground. They’re just as shady.” He smirks. “Even the government contracts with us. They suspect who Matthias is, but when it comes down to it, they don’t care. There are bigger fish out there to fry. As long as we aren’t moving humans, the US government turns its head away.”
“That is a little worrisome.”
“Why is that?”
“I mean—” I run it over in my head a few times to make sure I am wording it correctly. “We’re still running drugs and weapons. Drugs that cause overdoses. Guns that kill people. Isn’t the government supposed to be all about shutting that down?”
Maksim stops so suddenly I nearly topple into him. He doesn’t look angry, but the air around us certainly shifts.
“That is true,” he admits. “But let’s look at it this way. We may sell the drugs, but we don’t put the needle in their arm. We aren’t responsible for what people do with the drugs we sell them.”
I scoff at his simple way of looking at the situation but remain silent.
“We may sell weapons, but our guns don’t kill people, Ava. People kill people. We can’t help that.”
“Then why sell them at all?” I ask, curious. If their legit businesses are doing so well, why have the criminal element in the first place?
“Sure.” He shrugs and continues walking. “We could go completely legit, but then we couldn’t afford to employ nearly half the people we do. The compound would cease to exist, and the people we’ve helped would have nowhere to go. We wouldn’t have the resources to save the women like we did at the docks. Not to mention, we may sell drugs, but we don’t cut them with rat poison or fentanyl. They are clean and safe.”
I shoot him a dubious look. He smirks. “As safe as drugs can be anyway,” he admits. “If we didn’t sell guns, someone else would. Yes, we do what society considers criminal and bad, but there are people much worse than us out there. We have morals and standards. Can you say the same about Ward? Or the McDonoughs?”
There is a part of me that wishes I could disagree, but he has a point. Despite their illegal activities and looser-than-normal moral codes, for criminals, they are well above par. Sure, they kill—no, we kill people and threaten them—but it is never just to watch them die.
What did Sansa say inGame of Thrones?“It isn’t what I want, but what honor demands?”
“You’re right,” I admit. “I was looking at it from the wrong perspective.”
Maksim smiles down at me as we stop in front of a large, heavy metal door. “The fact that you can admit that shows you will be a great leader, Ava,” he says proudly. “Remember that there are two sides to every coin. Sacrifices that must be made. You want to save women like your mom and Kenzi? Then you need to play outside the law. It’s not cheap to do what we do.”
I smile up at him and nod as excitement bubbles up inside me.
“I get that,” I tell him honestly as I bounce on my feet. “Now can we go inside? Mark is going to die when he finds out I was in here first.”
Maksim grunts. “That kid will never be allowed in this place if I have anything to say about it,” he grumbles. “The damage that hellion could do.”