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“Good.”
I cut the call short. There were a lot of things that needed to be done before I could set foot in the auction house. Ilya’s job was to make sure Tobias Gilbert wasn’t wandering around the premises. Once the bastard was safely kept away, Ilya was to join me and watch from a distance.
Undoubtedly, Gilbert had spoken out. He thought his people were trustworthy enough for the word not to spread around, but I found it within hours. He was lucky I never killed children; otherwise, his would’ve been six feet under ages ago.
Ilya had sent him a strand of his daughter’s hair as a warning and watched as Gilbert wept. It was then that he realized he’d tried to play people who were above him, by a lot. He’d been quiet for the past few days, but the motherfucker was anything but trustworthy.
I went straight home to go over the facts I had on The Rapscallion.
In this world, he was considered a god. Someone who was beyond reach and never involved himself in affairs. Although many of those would have benefited him, not once did he make his presence known. People prayed for his help; it was like a cult. He was a mystery that I couldn’t wait to solve.
Most of the things I knew were all passed down from one person to another. They very well could’ve been made up.
Apparently, he had only two men working under him. Both of those men had a habit of doing a lot of things in The Rapscallion’s stead to keep his anonymity intact. For generations, The Rapscallion was the oldest son of the family, and the two men were close cousins that were personally picked by The Rapscallion in power.
However, that was where all the information ended. Not a single clue about which family he might belong to, who his associates were, anything. For all I knew, all of this information was a myth until I found out myself. It was motivating me to find out sooner. He could be a very big threat down the road, and I couldn’t sit back and watch that happen.
More than anything, I despised the son of a bitch for daring to lay his eyes on Ekaterina.
I wasn’t even confident in the physical features we were made aware of. Despite trusting Ekaterina’s word on this one, what the fuck was she doing meeting that man? It was too reckless, even for her.
And the way she spoke about him was irritating, as if she knew him on a personal level.
I pushed all of those thoughts aside. Tomorrow, I was going to her, and there was not a single place she could escape to. If I needed to, I’d build a prison around her, giving her just enough freedom to taste it, yet keeping her by my side for the rest of her life.
It didn’t mean that the anger I had for Ekaterina suddenly vanished. Somehow, I’d managed to keep it locked away. Her safety was my priority for now. Once I got a hold of her completely, it was up to me whether she lived or died. I’d never allow a man like her father, a pathetic pussy, to have a say in her life.
The night was dark, the mask was on, and I was waiting in the line.
From the outside, it didn’t look like anything illegal was happening. A venue was rented out, with tinted windows and a lot of security. No one would think an auction was being held; more like a celebrity event. People that were walking around didn’t even spare a second glance. They were used to this kind of thing happening on the daily, which was why it was a perfect cover.
It took me fifteen minutes to get to the front. The security guards scanned my invitation suspiciously but didn’t utter a word, since it was legit. They patted me down six times to find any weapons and sighed in disappointment at the lack of them.
A small gun and a pocketknife were hidden way too good for them to ever find it without a metal detector. Hence, I was able to waltz in.
At the entrance, I was given a seat number, and it matched the one Gilbert had told me about. The fun was about to begin.
Eleven more men were scattered around the premises, standing still whilst observing. Ilya was amongst them, not batting an eyelash as our eyes met. Waiters were serving champagne that tasted way too cheap for such an event, but alcohol was good for motivation, and I took the opportunity to grab two glasses. Both were for me.
I didn’t recognize anyone. Granted, everyone wore masks, but I was pissed that it was all unknown to me. A few people stopped in their tracks, frozen in place once they saw the skull mask on my head. My response was a tilt of my head with a light smirk.
People knew I was here and who I was, yet no one dared to approach me. By now, the word had spread that I worked with the Pakhan, and, as much as I hated to admit it, the power that came with that was pleasing.
“Please follow the security personnel and proceed to the showroom. The auction will begin shortly.”
The robotic voice rang through the speaker. I found myself to be the first one to step in, and I wasn’t surprised to see someone in the seat next to mine. He’d been there the whole time, avoiding the crowd.
My eyes were on him the entire time. Slowly and carefully, I sat next to him. He didn’t spare me a glance, and I couldn’t see his face. The man had a wolf mask on. It covered his entire face, aside from his eyes.
The room was poorly lit, with the exception of the stage that was too far away. The man wore all black: shirt, tie, suit, and shoes. He had leather gloves on, matching the color of his outfit, though it seemed to be more of a statement.
If I hadn’t known better, I would’ve thought he had a real wolf head on his face. The mask was done realistically and professionally. It looked real, from the hair to the teeth, and that was enough proof that this man was either The Rapscallion himself or one of his men.
However, I was getting skeptical. Tobias Gilbert said it was a Fox mask. Either he’d switched masks for tonight, or this was an entirely different person.
The person on the stage wore a mask as well. He started speaking, but my attention was on the man next to me, despite looking straight ahead. I couldn’t risk fucking this up. Aleksei had sent a lot of money, and I was going to bid only for things the man next to me bid on, just to see how far he was willing to go for a painting.
The first thing that was auctioned was a diamond necklace. However, it was impossible that it was a real one. The enormous TV behind the presenter showed pictures of it and then switched to a live stream.
