Page 21 of Weeping Roses
“You speak in riddles.” I scoff, and he surprises me by laughing out loud.
His men join in and I shake my head. “Perhaps the meaning has been lost in translation.”
I note the empty plates and enjoy a sense of accomplishment that I actually provided a meal that was edible for once and credit my aunt’s cookery bible completely for that. All it proves is that I can follow a recipe and picturing the apple crumble currently baking in the oven, I excuse myself.
“I’ll fetch dessert. It was the best I could rustle up given the supplies I had, but maybe your chef will resume business as normal when he arrives tomorrow.”
‘”It will be fine.” Valentin assures me and his men nod their agreement, leaving me with a deep sense of satisfaction that I’ve done something right for a change.
I begin to scoop up their dirty plates and Valentin says roughly, “Sergei and Viktor will help.”
They jump to attention and I say with a wry smile, “Always delegating, Valentin. Would it kill you to do it yourself for once?”
The room falls silent and I sense the nervousness of his men and, recalling our earlier conversation, I mentally thump my head in frustration. I disrespected him—again. This time in front of his men, and I’m strangely nervous about that.
To my surprise, though, he nods and says evenly, “I do a lot of things myself.”
He leans back and fixes a wicked grin on his face that only causes my heart to race a little faster because God help me. It’s like pouring petrol on my libido.
“So, Polly, you ask if I do anything for myself. Let me enlighten you.”
He regards me through turbulent eyes that contain a million deadly secrets and now I’m freaking nervous.
“When somebody displeases me, for example, I take great delight in dealing with them personally.”
My mouth dries as he says gruffly, “Anybody that goes against me, or my family, suffers a heavy price. “
He turns to Artem. “Do you remember Ivan Solvenko?”
Artem nods, his cool gaze mirroring that of his boss.
“He was a foolish man.”
“That suffered because of it.”
He turns back to me and says harshly, “Ivan decided that he wanted to operate his business at the expense of my own. He ran a drugs operation in a town that had no protection. Many of my family’s employees lived in that town and it began to affect their productivity. Many were too sick to work, and many were scared for their loved ones. Ivan decided to extort money from them and used force when necessary. My workforce was no longing operating effectively, the town was awash with drugs and intimidation and there were many ‘accidents’ that the police were too afraid to investigate.”
I lick my lips as I picture the scene and know for sure this Ivan was no match for Valentin and his men.
He carries on. “One night I paid Ivan a visit at the slum he called his headquarters. Along with my men, we secured every exit and disposed of his protection.”
“Disposed?”
I’m suddenly lightheaded as he leans forward and says calmly, “Yes, Polly. Every last man was disposed of, so Ivan could never intimidate again. We effectively closed down his business and destroyed every part of it. The money we seized was donated to charitable causes in the very town he destroyed. The equipment he used was smashed and the drugs he provided were burned. You may be wondering what became of Ivan Solvenko.”
I say nothing and just stare at him with the blankest expression I can, given the situation, and he laughs dully.
“That is when I decided to do my own dirty work. As his drugs burned, surrounded by the blood of his men, I sent every one of his body parts to the inferno, one by one. I am particularly proud that I used his own knife with which he murdered several of his own victims over the course of his reign of terror.”
I feel sick as he laughs softly. “It was a most satisfying experience for everyone he affected. Not so satisfying for Ivan, but shit happens when you take the Devil on in his own home. Ivan’s demise was a warning to anyone who considered it would be a good idea to mess with my family’s operation and come into our towns and persecute the good, honest, hard-working people who lived there.”
The room is silent as the men stop everything to give their boss center stage and he leans back and nods toward the dishes.
“I have earned my place in my organization, Polly. You see, I lead by example and I am not averse to soiling my own hands for the good of my family. If I choose to delegate some of those tasks, I believe I have earned the right. Now, is there anything else you wish to say, or shall we sample your sure to be amazing dessert before we all grab some much needed sleep, because I have a feeling that tomorrow will be an exhausting day.”
“Um–” I clear my throat, his story sure to color my nightmares tonight.
“Of course. Um, coming right up.”