Page 72 of Addiction

“Thanks, brother.”

Mihir’s lips pursed. Of course, he didn’t like the situation. Well, tough luck. Armaan wasn’t letting go of Navya. Not even for Mihir. Mihir had no choice but to come to terms with the animosity he harbored for Ananya. They both would have to suck it up for Armaan and Navya’s sake.

“So, guys, I have some news on Ivan,” Vedant said, cutting into the thickening tension between Mihir and Armaan.

“What?” Mihir’s brow marred.

“First, I organized for someone to be there at the cemetery where Ivan’s mother is buried. He never showed up. Can you believe it?”

“This feels very out of character for him,” Armaan said. “His mother was very dear to him, and he has never missed visiting her grave on her death anniversary ever.”

“Why do I feel like he knew we’d be waiting for him there?” Mihir queried.

“But how?” Armaan asked.

“I don’t know…” Mihir shrugged. “It’s just instinct.”

“Anyway,” Vedant continued, “I also learned that Ivan is working with the Estonians, and he’s paying them a fuckton of money to get them to eliminate us.”

“What?” Armaan gasped. “Is this news verified?”

“Absolutely. My source got this detail from someone from Ivan’s team. Ivan’s definitely not in Russia any more, and that’s why he wasn’t at the shareholder meet last month. I found out that he might be on his way to London or to Dubai, so we all needto be very careful, especially you, Mihir. You’re the head of O-Corp. He may try and get to you first.”

“So, that bastard took the money we gave him and is now using it to get us killed. Fucking great!” Armaan scoffed. “He’s taken our benevolence for granted. We should have let him live with his minimal means as Alexander had intended.”

“We need to find him and teach him a lesson,” Vedant said aloud. “I’ll continue looking for him and see where he lands up.”

“The Estonians are dangerous…” Mihir mused aloud. “Perhaps, I ought to increase the security around all of us. I’ll talk to Vasily.”

“Let them come,” Armaan said. “I’m not afraid of them, and we already have enough security.”

“I’m not negotiating with you,” Mihir snapped. “I’m telling you what is going to happen. Come tomorrow, all of us will have a car following us wherever we are going. So tonight, all of us need to stay put wherever we are. I will need time to organize this.”

“Mihir,” Vedant began, “I cannot miss the dinner appointment I have in a few hours. I’m taking the jet right after.”

“I know that your bodyguard, Tyrion, is on sick leave, and I don’t want you going anywhere without him. Cancel that meeting,” Mihir ordered. “And no, don’t even tell me that we will lose money or a client. I don’t fucking care. I only care about both of you. Am I clear,da?”

“Okay,” Vedant accepted.

Armaan sighed. “Fine.”

He knew when his elder brother was ticked off, and now was not the time to annoy him further.

Mihir crossed his arms. “Good. Vedant, I need you to message me when you are on the plane.”

“Got it,” Vedant said. “I’ve got to go now.”

“Wait, Vedant, I also have some news,” Armaan said. “It’s about Dorab. Since we are all together, I might as well update you both. Our team reverted that he has been working for a man named JD for several years now. JD is some underworld don in North India, based out of Delhi, known for the severe torture tactics he unleashes on anyone who crosses him. Dorab is shit scared of him even though he has worked for him for years; he’s like an under don in that crime organization. But JD’s been in Bangkok for the last couple of months. One of our guys managed to infiltrate that gang and is now working for them. He overheard Dorab talking to someone about how he was held captive by us and that he didn’t know where Karina was.”

“So, he was telling the truth?” Mihir asked.

“Unfortunately, yes. He doesn’t know what happened to her. Which most likely means she’d actually managed to run away. Although our guy did mention that Dorab has been trying to talk to this JD fellow, but JD isn’t taking Dorab’s calls.”

“So, she could be safe. At least we hope that she is,” Vedant said.

“Or this other guy may know where she is,” Mihir put forth.

“Seems like that,” Armaan said. “Our guys are still following Dorab around. I’ve told them to wait until this JD guy returns, which could take a week, a month or even more, they have no clue. I want to see if they launch a search for her once JD returns. My biggest fear is that now, since Dorab knows we are looking for her, he might use her as leverage against us.”

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