Page 56 of Bound to a Monster

“Haven’t seen you around here in a while,” I say and toss him my best smirk.

He frowns back. My father’s always been immune to my charms. “I have bigger jobs now. You know that.”

“How is Canada these days? Very cold, I hear.”

Alex elbows me. “What can we do for you, Oleg?”

My father glares at me but turns to his son-in-law, his least favorite person in the world, his former favorite turned backstabbing shiteater ever since he got Natalya pregnant and stole her away from the man Oleg really wanted her to marry.

“Liquidate some of the stock. I need fifty grand in cash by tomorrow morning. No fucking banks.”

Alex’s eyebrows raise. “That’s not much time.”

“Make it happen. I don’t care what kind of loss you have to take. Get me the money by tomorrow.”

“Fed can’t just eat that kind of loss,” I say before Alex can trip over himself to comply. “We just finished rebuilding the place after the fire.”

“Do you think I give a shit? I need the money. Make it happen. And seriously,no fucking banks.”

“You have no clue what kind of financial state this business is in right now, do you?” I ask, letting some of my control slip. This isn’t the time to confront him and Alex is shooting me warning stares, but I ignore him. “When was the last time you bothered checking the books?”

My father shifts toward me. He squares his shoulders and I know that look. He’s pissed and struggling to contain it.

“What I do with my businesses is my decision. I rebuilt Fed from my funds, and if I want to burn it down again, I fucking will. I need fifty thousand dollars in twenties. Make it happen.”

He walks away, gets in the car, and slams the door behind him. His two guards scramble over each other to get in and drive off.

Alex watches them go and doesn’t say anything.

“You know that’s going to hurt. What the fuck are we even going to sell on that short of notice?”

“It’s not time,” he says softly.

“This is why we’re doing this. He’s completely lost it.”

“He’s busy with the Canada job, which you will be too once you take control. You know that, right?”

“I’ll work on Canada and you’ll manage Fed. I won’t ask you to torch everything.”

He grunts in reply. “I know a few people that might be willing to do some quick buys, but it’ll hurt.”

“Sell the fakes first.”

“You sure about that?”

“I’m sure. Sell the fakes. And make sure people know they’re coming directly from Oleg.”

Alex gives me a look before sighing and going inside. “Devious,” he says.

“I’d prefer something more direct, but this’ll work for now.”

Chapter 22

Carmie

Idon’t even know why I go back down there, but I find myself in the basement again.

I warm up on the treadmill and when I have a nice sheen of sweat, I start doing reaction drills. I practice lunges while catching a tennis ball over and over again until I manage to dredge some semblance of form out of my tired muscles.

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