I walk into the kitchen since I haven’t eaten all day. Galina is here, preparing something. I heard what happened earlier. Joythreatening to kill her. Then she flashed her tits in front of my guards. I don’t know what gets under my skin more.
“I’m sorry about Joy.” I step more into the kitchen. “She acted way out of line. I’ll make sure she never does that again when she’s back.”
Galina drops the teaspoon in her hand and turns around. “Joy’s not coming back, Mr. Valerian.”
My chest tenses.
I lean into the countertop. “What do you mean?”
“Joy’s very brave. And it humbles me that she use me to escape.” She pats her chest. “I’d do it again for the same outcome.” She looks at me for another beat. And then she turns back around.
I stare at the space in front of me. My chest is growing tighter by the second. And my pulse, for the first time in many years, is beating rapidly.
I stare at the back of Galina’s head, watching her prepare tea, the teaspoon clanging against the mug as she finishes stirring. This isn’t like Galina. I hired her because she was respectful. Attentive. This evening, she’s none of those things as she faces back the other way, ignoring me in my own house.
Forget the food. I don’t have an appetite. I leave the kitchen and cross the courtyard, heading to my office to meet Nikolai.
I open the door. Nikolai is there, sitting behind my desk with a grave expression written across his face. “You’ll want to see this.”
Something pulls at my chest. Black spots take over my vision, the world tilting on its axis. If this is about Joy, I’m fucked. I can’tconcentrate on stopping Igor if my heart is beating rapidly in my chest, thinking about her.
“What is it?” I mutter, taking my first step inside.
“Come and see for yourself.”
Way to build anticipation.
I walk to my desk, steering the monitor around to have a look. Nikolai’s looking at one of our main accounts. It’s where most of the money from the real estate goes.
And eighty percent of it is gone. I stare at the latest transaction. That is a lot of fucking money gone in the blink of an eye. And as frustrated as I am, I can’t help but feel slightly relieved. Joy is okay. Her dead body hasn’t been found down a side alley. Yet.
I blink, staring at the amount withdrawn from the account. There’s a transaction ID.
“I already tried to file a case,” says Niko, staring at me. “But there’s nothing the bank can do on their end. The person responsible has access to all of our accounts, according to the bank.”
“No, they don’t.” I rake a hand through my hair. “I restricted Igor from accessing all of our accounts. There’s no way he could get back in.”
“Someone has.” Nikolai pins me a look. “And they’re doing well to hide their tracks.”
Bylat.This must be the people Igor is working with.
I lean in, my forearms over the desk as I take a closer look at the monitor. “The Bratva is down millions of dollars.” I do some calculations. “The money left in this account will pay for theguards in my house. Maybe you and a few other enforcers. That’s it.”
Niko clenches his jaw, looking at me.
“Who the fuck is stealing from us?”
“I already tried tracing the transaction. I couldn’t get anywhere.”
I rise back to full height, pacing the office. This is bad. Joy is gone. She could be in trouble. And the Bratva is severely weakened. Which means that if we need to save her, we don’t have the resources.
Technically, I still have everything. But my men will start dropping like flies when they realize there’s no money in the bank. And then what? Igor takes everything? I go back to being the helpless teenager I once was, unable to control anything, not even my own life as I watch my father being sent away for something he didn’t even do?
Bylat.He had his moments. But he was a better man than I could ever hope to be.
I return to the desk, folding my hands over my chest. “We need to find out who did this.”
“I’ll start by finding Igor.” Niko raises from his seat behind the desk. “I’m sure I’ll be able to get some answers out of him.”