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CHAPTER1
Alexei
Uncontrollable rage furrowed inside of me, the beast’s claw ripping at my insides. I didn’t usually allow my fury to get to this point. It didn’t suit my business or my reputation. However, the urge to beat the man to death remained strong. Instead, I took a deep breath, holding it in while the pompous prick stared at me with hazy eyes.
In his quest to render my family obsolete, he’d made several missteps, which had allowed me to realize that he was on the take. While I’d located his offshore accounts, recent deposits indicating he’d fallen from grace, the amounts weren’t high enough to provide a clear indication just how far into the quicksand he’d been sucked into. However, my discovery had been the final prompt to dangle the bait I’d thought about for weeks.
Offering him a continuance of his life in exchange for leading me to his benefactor.
“You’re going to kill me,” Gregory stated matter-of-factly.
Instead of responding, I glared at the man standing in front of me, determine to control my bloody cravings to tear him limb from limb. Normally, by the time I entered a room, anyone considered an enemy had already succumbed to pleading for their lives. Gregory Hampton’s arrogance and self-assuredness prevented him from what I’d heard him call on television more than once ‘kowtowing to a lowlife.’
Even though he appeared collected, as if he didn’t have a care in the world, I knew better. Fear had a distinct odor, a combination of sweat, piss, and testosterone, the acrid stench lingering long after I’d handled a difficult situation.
I took my time walking closer, keeping my hands in my trouser pockets. “I assure you, Gregory, that if I wanted to kill you then you’d already be dead.”
His smirk was short lived but noticeable. I would enjoy destroying him slowly, savoring every moment of his demise.
He was considered the best prosecutor in New York, a man who scared the shit out of many of my associates. He was highly respected, well connected, and a pain in my family’s ass and had been for years. Until recently, he’d stayed in his lane, but the last few months he’d made it his personal vendetta to handle the prosecution of every single infraction involving my businesses that had crossed his desk. Almost all of them had resulted in some jail time, even for minor infractions, some the result of Gregory’s unscrupulous actions.
The man was as dirty as he claimed my organization to be.
I’d had enough.
“Are you trying to scare me?” he asked, his usually strong voice holding the slightest quiver.
“Are you frightened of me, Gregory?”
“Fuck you. You can’t touch me, and you know it.”
Chuckling, I shifted my gaze toward his attire. A tuxedo at four in the afternoon. His wedding day, the event of the season. I’d paid attention to his professional and personal life over the last few weeks, enjoying the show as he preened for the cameras. The media loved him. Unfortunately for his lovely bride, he could only love himself. Then I’d scrutinized every decision he made, the associates he’d communicated with, convinced I was right about his greed.
Everyone had a price.
By all rights, I should have taken him out weeks before, but it wasn’t in my best interest to start a war between what few members of law enforcement weren’t on the take and the Kozlov Empire.
I reached into my jacket pocket, pulling out the few pictures I’d selected to prime him as well as an email I’d been privy to, laying them out on his desk in random order. “It’s your lucky day, Gregory. I have a proposition for you.” I stepped away, moving toward the window and admiring the view of his backyard. He’d done extremely well for himself by using his influence in order to successfully blackmail very powerful people.
It was his day of reckoning, the man required to make a choice.
“What the hell is that?”
“Take a look for yourself.” I waited as he decided whether to take the bait. When he walked to his desk, a smile curled on my upper lip, but his hand was shaking as he selected one of the photographs.
“What the… Where the hell did you get these?” Now his voice held the kind of fear as well as understanding that he’d fucked with the wrong people.
“As you might imagine, I have various sources across the country and all over the world. They provide me with priceless information.” Every man had a secret, a platform of needs that eventually couldn’t be denied. Gregory was no exception. Unfortunately for him, he’d been careless in his activities, his greed and penchant for dark proclivities becoming his undoing. There was nothing I enjoyed more than delving into a man’s shadows.
The quiet in the room pleased me but I was running out of patience. Besides, I had a wedding to attend.
“What do you want?” At least he was finally resigned to the fact I had the upper hand.
“What do I want?” I repeated. “You’re going to leave town for two weeks immediately after I’ve left. During that time, you’re going to repent your sins. When you return, you’ll make a public statement that you’ve decided to step away from your role in law enforcement, which will give you time to seek counseling for various concerns you have regarding your mental health. Then you’re going to provide me with a list of names.”
“Names?”
“Of every man or woman who holds your lease in their hands.”
