“My condolences for your loss,” he replies. “Business has been picking up for me. It looks like I may be getting a promotion soon.”
“That’s great, Patrick. I’m really happy for you.” We cross the street and start walking down the pathway in the park.
“Yeah, I think so. There’s just one more project I have to wrap up, and my boss says the promotion is mine,” he tells me.
“What kind of project are you working on?” I ask him. We stop at a bench and sit down.
“I can’t really go into details about it. However, my boss has directed me to bring in one last key player to finalize everything,” Patrick explains.
“Well that should be pretty easy. From what I know of you, you’re pretty good at getting people to do what you want them to,” I tell him.
“Exactly, Emma, and that’s why you’re coming with me to meet my boss.” Patrick reaches out for my arm and grabs it tightly.
“Patrick, what are you doing?” I ask him, trying to remove my arm from his grasp. I look for Igor to help, and notice that he is laying on the ground a few feet away, the third bodyguard I came with standing over him.
“I told you, I’m taking you to meet my boss,” Patrick says as he stands from the park bench.
“I’m not going anywhere with you. Let me go,” I demand, trying to shake off his grip.
“No can do, Emma. My boss has business with you, and you’re coming with me,” he says as he starts pulling me towards the road. “Ivan won’t be able to help you right now, either.”
“What did you do to Igor?” I look behind me at Igor’s form on the pathway. I hope to goodness he’s still breathing, because I can’t see him moving from here.
“Oh, he’ll recover. Just a little prick to help him relax.” A sinister smile crosses Patrick’s face.
“Don’t do this, Patrick, please.”
I look back at the guard who was walking with Igor. He’s now walking towards us while scanning the area to make sure we aren’t being watched too closely. A car pulls up to where we are, and I recognize it as the car I’ve been riding in this morning. Patrick opens the door and pushes me into the backseat.
“Where are we going?” I ask, trying to stay calm but failing miserably.
“You’ll find out. Now shut your mouth or I’ll shut it for you.”
I do as he says, my mind racing with possible outcomes of this situation. I thought Patrick was just a friendly neighbor.How long has he been planning this?
I have no idea where we’re going as the car pulls away from the park. Patrick pulls out a phone and makes a call to someone that I assume is his boss, letting him know that I’ve been picked up and we’re on our way.
“Ivan, help me,” I say under my breath as I finger the tracking bracelet on my wrist.
I look out the window as we drive away, not knowing what’s coming for me when we stop.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
IVAN
THERE ARE DAYS where I enjoy being thepakhan. I can delegate tasks to my brothers and other associates while keeping an eye on things. It makes my life easy. It makes the transition of power easy.
Today is not one of those days.
Today is one of those days that has me wanting to scratch out the eyes of the people sitting around this damned conference table. They really should pull their heads out of their asses instead of arguing with each other. It's not good for business.
To the public, I am a real-estate developer. It is important to be seen doing things to improve the neighborhoods and areas where we own properties, especially since we have amassed a lot of it lately.
We have an office building in town where we conduct non-bratvabusiness, and that’s where I am today with my brothers. We are meeting with city leaders and potential tenants to discuss the future of new properties in the Seaport District.
Several new tenants are sitting around the table, arguing with each other about how much space they need to occupy. They’ve been doing it for the last half an hour. I sit there and watch them, thinking that they’re all idiots and wondering why we need to do business with them.
I rub my temples with my forefingers, trying to ease the tension headache that is forming. My phone buzzes with an incoming call. I look down and see that it’s Emma calling, so I stand up to walk away from the conference room towards my private office.
