Page 109 of Addiction

“He can try, but he will fail,” Armaan said coolly. “And you? Is this how you’re repaying Alexander? He saved you from the Russian mob. They let you go because of him, and you’ve been plotting against us since the beginning. We made you our head of security. We trusted you.”

“Now it makes sense,” Mihir said. “Ivan has been silent for years, and he started plotting against us only when you became our security head. He was waiting for you to be in the right position to hurt us. I’m sure you were the one who told him about our plan to nab him when he visited his mother’s grave. Isn’t it?”

Vasily’s silence was further confirmation.

Armaan lowered his chin. “You were right, Mihir. Ivan knew we were waiting for him that day, and that’s why he didn’t show up. No worries. We will catch him at some point soon.”

Vasily scowled.

“Ivan will never gain access to O-Corp,” Armaan said. “We may be outsiders, but it is our destiny, and we will keep what is ours.”

“Where is Ivan?” Mihir asked again.

At Vasily’s continued silence, Mihir said, “What do we do with him, brother?”

Armaan smirked. “I’m not in the mood to get my hands dirty. My woman is waiting for me. Our guys can have fun torturing him before they kill him. They won’t forgive him for being a traitor. However, he knows all our torture tactics; he may even be immune to them. He may put up a fight, or he may endure them longer. What is the fun in that?”

“What do you suggest then?” Mihir asked with a smile. They both were toying with him.

“There can be only one consequence for his treachery. Let it be a lesson for everyone else. Arlo, return him to the mob,” Armaan ordered. “Tell them he betrayed us and Alexander’s bargain with them is now null and void.”

“No.” Fear finally shadowed Vasily’s face. “I beg of you. Don’t send me to them. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”

Armaan smiled. “Good. Where is Ivan?”

“He’s in Reykjavik, Poland. But I don’t know where exactly.”

“Lies,” Armaan yelled.

“I swear, take my phone and see for yourself,” Vasily offered. “Read our messages, and you will know I’m speaking the truth.”

Mihir pocketed the phone and asked. “Where is Karl Leipzig, the guy who attacked Armaan?”

“Ivan called him back to Poland after the attack.”

“And the guy who shot Vedant?” Armaan asked.

“He’s there too. Check my phone. There are messages from him under the name of Paul Samson.”

“Brother,” Armaan called out. “He’s given us everything we need.”

Mihir looked at Arlo. “Take him away. Let the mob do with him as they wish.”

“No. Kill me yourself, please. But don’t send me to them,” Vasily begged. “I’ve told you everything I know, I swear.”

Armaan lowered himself to look at his face. “You tried to hurt the people I love the most. You hurt Vedant, and you tried to hurt Navya. For that, you will never see the light of the day.”

“Take him away,” Mihir ordered.

They stood together as they watched their men take Vasily away. Armaan let out a breath, all his tension finally easing.

“Arlo,” Mihir called the man. Arlo turned and walked to him. “You wanted to say something to us earlier. What was it?”

He tipped his chin at Vasily before addressing Armaan. “I was beginning to suspect him. You see, one morning, when Ms. Navya was leaving, he insisted I stand with him when he spoke to her. At the time, I didn’t know what he was going to tell her. But then he tried to warn her against you, and it annoyed me. We argued about it after she left, but he assured me he only had good intentions regarding her because she was connected to his girlfriend. I didn’t think much of it at the time. Then he killed your attackers the second you left the warehouse, even though I was still questioning them. That’s when a warning bell rang in my head. And then I realized he was the one who had forced me to take leave the night of the attack. Later on, I remembered that he, too, had taken leave that night. But when the call came about the attack on Mr. Vedant, he was back at the mansion, pretending as if he hadn’t been on leave at all. He even travelled to London with Mr. Mihir that same night. Something wasn’t adding up to me. Perhaps, I was thinking wrong, but I just wanted to run it by you both.”

Armaan lowered his chin. “Thank you, and I’m sorry for not hearing you out in the morning when you came to me.”

They had trusted the wrong man, but they wouldn’t make the same mistake again. Arlo gave them a nod and returned to the other men.

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