Page 37 of Evil Beautiful

“You have your orders. I’m heading back to the hospital with Lex and Darren. Call me if you find anything.”

I forwarded several emails and signed contracts to my PA before I tapped the button that shut my computer down and watched as it disappeared into my desk.

My day was done. For now.

It was time to get back to my baby.

I needed to see him and reassure myself that he was in good hands.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Dominick

They were in one of the small conference rooms at the hotel. The men sitting across from me weren’t who I had expected. For one they weren’t Asian. For another they weren’t the people my company had been doing business with and with whom I had recently cut ties.

I had my suspicions but that’s all they were, suspicions.

Sergei Demidov Orlov and Claude Delamotte looked relaxed and friendly but that was most probably a smokescreen.

I was wary because of Sergei’s second name. He was connected to people I did not want to get involved with. Not in any way.

“What can I do for you gentlemen?” I leant back in my chair, seemingly relaxed while sipping my coffee.

The dark haired one sat forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he focused his attention on me.

“Our company has very recently acquired Singapore Imports and Exports. We noticed that your company has been trading with ours for several years but that you, as the new CEO, have indicated that you would be cancelling all contracts with immediate effect. We’d like to discuss your reasons for doing so and see if we can’t come to an amicable solution to continue doing business.”

Slowly setting my cup down I relaxed not giving away the tension running through me. I had to be careful how I worded my reply.

And then, once again, it hit me. The Maingarde Group was finally mine again, mine and Pixie’s, and no one was going to tell us how to run it. Not anymore. There was no need to sugar coat what I wanted to say.

“The Maingarde Group is a family concern that was used for less than legal enterprises by Winifred Harrison, the previous CEO, and her family. She and all those connected to her personally and to her family have been removed from my company and I am in the process of restructuring. I’ve cancelled contracts with several businesses until such time as the necessary investigations are completed. Once it’s done I will review all contracts and your offices will be contacted to inform you of my decision.”

Their faces gave nothing away.

Sergei Demidov Orlov, the older of the two, set his cup down before his cold blue eyes met mine. He was an imposing bear of a man with dark hair he wore in a short buzz cut. He had a thick, long beard and there was scarring over the left side of his face and down his neck. Tattoos were visible on his neck and the backs of his hands and they disappeared into the cuffs of his long sleeved button up shirt. Of the two of them he was obviously the man in charge.

And his next words confirmed my suspicions.

“I’m sure you are well aware of my family’s business interests. The Demidov Group is in consultations to take over the Harrison’s interests in several companies in the Far East and the US. Certain trades will be discontinued with immediate effect while others will be added and several others will be investigated. We have access to several shipping companies but none of those are family owned and we would rather do business with another family than with an impersonal group of companies.”

The Demidovs were a powerful Bratva family and not to be crossed. Did I really want to get involved with them? I was in the final stretches of ridding my company and family of Winifred Harrison and the Harrison Syndicate. I didn’t want our family’s company to be involved with another crime family. Not that we would ever be squeaky clean but we were small fry compared to the men sitting across from me.

Plus there was the on-going investigation by Interpol, the local cops and the FBI into my and my company’s involvement with the Harrison Syndicate. The bastards didn’t give a damn that I had been the one supplying them with information that advanced their investigations. As far as they were concerned I was a criminal who should be put behind bars rather than receive the recognition due to me for helping them.

As long as the bastards didn’t have any proof of criminal activity there was nothing they could do to me or my people.

I decided to lay it out for my visitors.

I was done having my companies involved in running guns and drugs. I didn’t want to even think about the human trafficking ring the hag had dragged us into.

“I don’t want to get my family’s business involved in something that might see us having to compromise on our morals any more than we had been. We’ve been forced to do so for too many years. The cancelled contracts all originated with Winifred Harrison. I have terminated all business under those contracts and will not reinstate them. Ever. Right now I’m under investigation by several law enforcement agencies, local and international, and it’s not a good idea to be seen doing business with me.”

It was the younger man who smiled and nodded.

“We understand your concerns and I can assure you we are not in the same business as the Harrison family. Sergei and I run the Far East branch of our family’s business. Our main business is tea but we also deal in spices, furniture and antiquities.”

That was interesting news. Very interesting. What were they hiding inside those shipments?

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