Page 58 of Ruthless Reign

Which is why Pavel is tasked with finding her and dealing with her—whatever dealing entails.

He runs his tongue over his front teeth. “Trust me, I haven’t forgotten. She must be laying really fucking low because she’s vanished like smoke. I have all of our best people tracking her, but so far, not even a sighting.” His mouth falls into a hard line. “She’ll make a mistake eventually, and when she does, I’ll be waiting.”

“You better be. We don’t need a second coming of the Black Company.” Warring with them once was enough.

Pavel fiddles with the radio a bit. Checks his phone. Picks up the binoculars, looks around, and then puts them down again. “God, this is fucking boring,” he announces. “Think this meeting has to do with the delayed shipment?”

I sit back in my seat, itching for a cigarette, but the glow would draw attention and that’s the last thing I need. “Doubt it. This looks like something else entirely.”

In the end, our shipment was delayed a few days because of bad weather. Not unusual, but Anatoly had committed to a strict schedule. He was sure his team had secured the best shipping routes and could make up time if needed. I’d like to believe he oversold and underdelivered, but my gut tells me there's something more.

The doors of the warehouse swing open, and one by one, men exit into the dimly lit parking area. I recognize a few of Anatoly’s guards, but the rest of the men are unfamiliar.

Pavel releases a low whistle. “Well, I’ll be damned. It’s a party.”

He reaches for the binoculars, but I shoo him away.

“Use your camera,” I tell him. “Get a few pictures while you’re at it.”

My focus sharpens as Anatoly steps out of the building, his presence commanding even from this distance. He clasps hands with a man I don't recognize. The guy is tall, with dark hair, and well-dressed in a suit and a finely tailored trench coat.

“Who the fuck is that?” Pavel murmurs, focused on his phone.

“Beats me. We have connections with everyone worth knowing in this town, but I’ve never seen that guy before.”

The hair on my neck rises. I don’t have a good feeling about this.

Anatoly and the other man exchange a few words and shake hands before they each turn and slip into separate chauffeured cars. Only two men remain, seemingly unfazed by the chill as they light up cigarettes. The orange tips flare in the darkness, puffs of smoke mixing with the steam from their mouth. They share a joke, their laughter reaching us despite the distance.

“What are these two up to?” Pavel squints into the dark.

“Not sure.” I slip my gun from the middle console into the back of my jeans. “But I’m thinking we should introduce ourselves.”

Pavel lowers his phone and smirks. “It would be inhospitable to do anything else.”

I press the drill head tighter against the blond mudak’s knee as beads of sweat pour down his face. Usually, I’d build up to the drill—it’s more of a mid-negotiation kind of tool—but fuck it, I’m not feeling charitable at the moment.

“Cut the shit,” I say. “Just tell us who the fuck you are and what that meeting was about, and we can all save ourselves some time.”

“I-I don’t know anything,” he sputters. “I’m just the runner—I swear on my mother’s grave. They don’t tell me anything.”

I grunt, irritated. “It’s better if you don’t assume I’m an idiot. A reminder: it didn’t go so well for your friend over here.”

His eyes dart nervously towards his counterpart, who’s lying face-first on the hard concrete floor of the warehouse. The asshole pulled a knife on me, which resulted in a shot to the head. Fucking novice.

The man pales to a sickly green. I sigh, moving the drill from his knee to over his dick. I don’t think I’ve ever drilled into someone’s dick before, but hey, there’s always a first.

“Are you fucking crazy?! Get away from me,” he screams and struggles against the ropes binding him tightly to the chair.

From a few feet away, Pavel scrunches his face in distaste as the guy starts to whimper.

“You’re young to lose your dick,” I tell him, even though he won’t be walking out of here alive. “You probably haven’t used it much in your short life. I don’t know who you’re protecting, but it’s not worth losing genitalia over.”

“You don’t fucking understand.” He’s trying to keep his shit together, but he’s shaking like a leaf, his bravado long gone. “They’ll do way worse if they find out I talked. You might as well just kill me.”

Pavel and I exchange a look. Well, this just got a hell of a lot more interesting.

“What’s your name?” I demand.

---