Page 79 of Captive Lies

The watcher understood his boss’s frustration. Orlov was supposed to hand Ms. Callahan to him while the ROC, with more than enough manpower, organized a heist of the paintings. But now, that wasn’t happening. The ROC was crippled and his boss had a lot of money on the line if he didn’t get some paintingsback.

“Grant Thorne has thwarted me at every turn,” his boss continued. “He doesn’t care about the paintings, but this girl, Blaire, means everything to him. She has many uses and it’s time I teach Thorne somehumility.”

“Boss?”

“You watch the gallery and keep me informed if Ms. Callahan shows up. I’ll set things in motion, be ready to takeher.”

31

Grant

The unfettered viewof the Midtown Manhattan skyline from his corner office at 150 Greenwich Street used to give Grant a sense of purpose. He’d worked tirelessly over the past twelve years. So when he’d finally moved Thorne Industries from their rambling office space in New Jersey to the coveted top floors of this building in Manhattan four years before, he felt he’d reached the pinnacle of his success. And yet, as he stood looking down on some of the skyscrapers that exuded financial power, the rush wasn’t the same. There was resentment there, that the conquests he’d coveted before were the cause of the danger now facing the people he loved the most. He made his first million before he graduated from Harvard Business School and bought his first tech company by the time he’d gotten his diploma. He’d been accused of corporate raiding, but he only took over when he felt an organization’s leadership was incompetent. Did he have to lay people off? Sure, he had, but not without careful consideration. Layoffs hurt company morale and spelled doom for productivity. After restructuring and bringing a business back to profitability, if there were open positions, first priority was given to deserving former employees. Grant was a results-oriented CEO. He didn’t care how an employee spent his time as long as he or she did the job and did the job well. That meant he had no time for sloth and people who couldn’t carry theirweight.

With his success, he had made enemies, and this success had also meant less time with Blaire. It was time to make changes. He’d have to work fewer hours and hire people to take over some of his work. That might make the board nervous, but he didn’t give a fuck. The high he’d experienced after each business coup was gone. Blaire had become his new drug and she was one addiction he had no intention of givingup.

The intercom buzzed. “Mr. Lopez is here to see you,” Heather informedhim.

Rafe was his second-to-last appointment for theday.

“Send himin.”

His managing director walked in and Grant noted he didn’t look as harried as he did in the past few weeks. He’d let Rafe spearhead the recent property acquisition and, from all reports, Thorne Real Estate was weeks from closing thedeal.

“Grant.”

“Rafe. You’re looking more rested today. I heard things are going well with the Meridiandeal.”

Rafe blew out a breath and sat on the chair in front of Grant’s table. “Yes, we’ve finally managed to convince the Russian government to sell us the land the structures sit on.” The recent rise in real estate interest in Russia was spurred by the relaxing of ordinances regarding property ownership. Russian law dictated that the land and the structure on it were treated as separate legal entities, thereby, making private ownership complicated. For a prime location in Moscow, Grant’s company preferred the outright purchase of the land rather than a long-term lease, especially given volatile relations between Moscow andD.C.

“I knew you had this, Lopez,” Grant grinned,pleased.

“I don’t know how you do it, man,” Rafe gave a lopsided smile. “Stay above all the dirtybusiness.”

Grant walked away from the wall of windows and perched on the edge of the table. “Who?”

“Whoelse?”

“Ivan Yashkin,” he muttered. The Russian oligarch was a pain in the ass. These new-monied businessmen emerged after the fall of the Soviet Union and rise of Russian privatization and had made Grant wary of doing business in the country. However, having a U.S. Senator for a father had its perks, not because he relied on his father’s position of power—although one couldn’t argue its advantage—but because of the political and business connections he’d forged. It definitely leveled the playing field for his company to do business in the country. The oligarchy had their influences in the Kremlin; Grant did as well. What his company wouldn’t touch was the use of organized crime to influence the decision-making process of the entities they do businesswith.

“Yup,” Rafe confirmed. “He’d been a nuisance player in our bid for theMeridian.”

“He really wanted the Galleria Development and, when we won the bid, he released all kinds of bad press about Thorne Industries in the Russianmedia.”

“I never understood why he wanted that development so badly,” Grant said. “His interests are energy andtechnology.”

“Maybe he wanted a piece of the real estate marketboom.”

Grant shrugged and nodded at the binder Rafe was holding. “Those need mysignature?”

“Can’t wait to get rid of me,boss?”

Grant winced. “I hate it when you call methat.”

His friend chuckled. “Well, it’s true. You sign mypaycheck.”

He took the binder from Rafe. “I’ll look over these tonight. Now get out ofhere.”

Giving Grant a mock salute, his managing director left theoffice.

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