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As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I knew I had fucked up. “Natalia, wait!” I call after her, but she keeps walking. I stand to follow her, but my father stops me.
“Let her go, son. You’ve got more important things to deal with right now,” he says before he shuts the door behind Natalia.
“Respectfully, you have four more hours before I no longer take orders from you.” I sit back down and run my hands through my hair. “How does two million dollars’ worth of product go missing from our warehouse without anyone seeing where it went?”
“It would appear you have a dishonest employee,” Rian says before leaning against the door. “Go handle it, and then all of this will be yours.”
Standing once more, I straighten my suit and head out of the office. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I scroll to Natalia’s name.
Please don’t be upset with me.
I will be back tonight.
I climb into my car and wait for a reply, shooting Finn a quick message to meet me at the warehouse. When it’s clear she will not be answering, I put the car in reverse and pull out of the garage.
As I drive, I try to think about the task at hand. Usually, I would send Finn or someone else to deal with it, but my father insisted it be me. Unfortunately, all I can think about is Natalia. I know she tried to hide it, but I saw the look on her face when I snapped at her. It looked as if I had slapped her.
It absolutely tears me apart inside when I hurt her. I’ll never forget the first time I hurt her. Dmitri and I were playing video games, and Nat wanted us to go to the movies. She sat around the room whining, and I yelled at her. She flinched but quickly regained her composure and walked out of the room. Dmitri kicked my ass for it after, and we didn’t speak for three days. I hope like hell that won’t be the case this time.
Pulling into the warehouse, I let out a low groan. I hate doing this shit. That’s why Finn does the majority of the dirty work. He doesn’t complain, though. I think he has a few screws loose. I just asked him to come along for moral support this time.
I walk into the warehouse to find Finn waiting inside. He already has the men responsible for handling the product lined up and waiting. When they see me, they all visibly straighten.
“It has come to my attention that we have a thief among us.” I come to a stop, taking a moment to look each man in the eye. “Now, we can do this the easy way and someone confesses,” I say, pulling my gun out. “Or, we can do it the hard way, and I will shoot you all.”
“Boss, we don’t know what happened,” one of the men rushes out, looking at me with pleading eyes.
“Someone has to know something,” I counter. “It’s not like the drugs just up and walked away.” I stand in front of the first man, the one who spoke up. “How do I know that you weren’t the one who took them?”
“I-I’ve been home w-with my daughter for the last week,” he manages to choke out. “She’s been sick.”
“It’s true,” Finn pipes up from beside me.
I nod and move to the next man in line. He hasn’t said a word and won’t even look me in the eye. “Do you know anything about what happened?” I ask and watch as his eyes shift back and forth nervously. Raising my gun, I place it against his forehead before pulling the trigger.
“Anyone else?” I ask.
“It was him,” the next man in line says, gesturing to the body on the floor. “He-”Bang. He drops beside the first guy.
“If anything is missing from this weekend’s shipment, you willallbe replaced,” I say, looking at the remaining men. They all keep their gazes forward and nod in understanding, the real threat in my words lingering in the air. “Now get back to work, and someone clean this up.”
Turning to Finn, I motion for him to follow me. “Man, I have to get home.”
“Hell yeah, you do. Natalia is going to be pissed,” he says as he looks at the time.
“She’s already pissed at me,” I sigh, looking up at the sky as we step out of the warehouse.
“No, I mean she will be exponentially pissed.” He stops short of my car and slips his hands in his pockets, looking as if he were debating something. Letting out an irritated sigh, he pinches the bridge of his nose. “She will kill me for telling you this, but you are supposed to be on a plane right now.”
“What do you mean?” I ask as I stop at my car and turn to look at him.
“She has a getaway planned for you two. I have everything covered for both businesses, so you better not give her any shit about going, either.” He claps me on the shoulder. “And, Dec, congratulations, Boss.”
After saying goodbye to Finn, I start the drive back home. Twenty minutes from home, I make a phone call, and five minutes later I’m pulling into the florist.
“Thank you so much for meeting me here so late, Lisa,” I say to the elderly woman opening the shop doors.
“Anything for you, Declan.” She turns and gives me a smile. “What are we looking for?”
