Page 13 of The Pakhan's Secret Baby

I push through my office door to see Devid, standing with his arms crossed over his chest and a stern look on his face.

His teeth are clenched, judging by the tension in his jaw, probably because he understands what a hit this is to my infrastructure.

We can't afford to flush that much product down the fucking toilet, and without a steady output, other sources will rise up.

When that happens our credibility diminishes and our authority is all but lost.

I won’t let that happen.

"Where is Daniil?" I stalk to my desk and sit down.

We've only just gotten the news of what happened.

My hunt is just beginning.

I'm not sure where it will lead me—-but hopefully to my product, or someone is going to have a very bad day.

"Downstairs. I told him to stay put, boss." Devid knows me well enough to know what I want and need, but he also knows when I'll need a moment.

This foresight on his part is frustrating, but needed.

If I had that man in front of me right now, I'd tear him limb from limb.

Devid has the wisdom to allow me a cushion, long enough to allow my rage to simmer to boiling anger rather than murderous intent.

"Bring him up," I order and my right-hand man turns and leaves.

My mind spins around the facts—that three hundred kilos of product just vanished into thin air.

I've been in this business a very long time, and we've had people attempt to steal from us before.

But never so brazenly—in the middle of the day in broad daylight.

And never three hundred kilos, worth more than two hundred fifty thousand dollars.

It's a lot to move in the first place, but pulling off a heist of that amount is ludicrous.

Dangerous, even.

When Devid returns, he has Daniil in tow, shaking like a leaf. He has no reason to fear me if he isn't part of whatever went down.

But I know why he's shaking.

He's seen me lose my temper before.

"Sit," I order. He ambles over and parks his ass in the chair across from me.

Sweat beads on his forehead as Devid shuts the door behind him, closing out the thump of bass from the club downstairs.

Daniil is a smart kid; he’s done a lot of good for me.

But he was running point on this; he should have protected this shipment better.

Whatever went wrong, there's a weakness and I need to get to the bottom of it.

"You knew the full route of that shipment," I tell him—as calmly as I can, but my anger bleeds through. "Can you explain to me how three hundred kilos of my product disappears?"

"I ran my end clean, boss." He's not flighty as he speaks. He holds my gaze, though the sweat on his brow is getting worse. "We did everything by the book. I don't know who found out it was on the truck, but it left the place clean like always." Daniil looks tired too. It's not an easy trip from Kolpino to St Petersburg, even by plane.