In Bed With The Devil

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

Alex rolled his sleeves lightly as his eyes carefully studied the stack of new shipments that had just arrived to the workhouse. The men next to him stood at ease, eyes frozen, and not one word spoken as their boss looked through the cases carefully.

Slowly he unwrapped each case with meticulous ease, placing it on a weighing plate to find the exact numbers he wanted. The silence in the room was deafening, as each case was placed on the scale almost mirroring their lives hanging in balance.

Alex finally paused, his eyes squinted, there was a tear in one of the cases. He picked it up and just as he predicted, it was barely in comparison to the number to the other weighed cases. He sent each of his men a staggering glare, signaling the tear in the case and waiting for the perpetrator to come forth. No one came forward, not even Marco his most trusted aide,and he frowned deeply.

He left his newly wedded wife at home for this, early into his festive mood as he wanted to spend his honeymoon with her, the news of his prized shipment from Moscow reached his ears and he had to leave Olivia all alone. He was uncomfortable, leaving her unguarded with only Maria and Cillian present at the Villa. The shipment was just too precious and he needed all his men on guard, thus leaving his wife unprotected…for all he knew she could make another attempt to escape again.

He waited patiently for an answer, tapping the steel table as he studied each of their faces. Marco, unwavering as ever just like he thought…the others, not so much.

“Let’s play a game shall we?” He finally muttered, breaking the deadly air looming in the room finally. Still met with immediate silence he took a seat, “Let’s call it the missing granule.”

They all gulped hard, Alex loved the smell of fear that oozed out of them, except for Marco who was sure he was untouched, “Who tampered with my shipment?” He asked one last time, hoping he wouldn’t have to get his hands dirty since it was the morning of his honeymoon. He was in need of breakfast, and Olivia’s beautiful scent—oh how he loved her musk, it was an elixir to his dysfunctional self.

Still no response from any of the men. He looked up at the ceiling as he let out a breath of disappointment , it was such a shame too—he trusted these men, at least half of them anyway and they go ahead to mess with his livelihood knowing very well they swore an oath.

Breaking the Omertà was considered to be punishable by death, fortunately Alex was a more lenient don, he relished slow and gruesome pain, more than just shooting the heads of men who messed with him.

“Sergei come here.” He gestured the shortest of the bunch. Sergei was a new recruit, a Soldato, the bottom rat as the others would call him.

He walked over to his boss, almost pissing his pants with his eyes brimming with tears, knowing of his fate to come and Alex placed a hand on the nape of his neck caressing him gently.

“It’s okay Sergei,” he chided and leaned closer, “You’ll save everyone the trouble if you just come out and tell me who messed with the case.”

The Soldato braced a look at the men lined up in the room, his throat felt like the desert, “I swear on my mother’s life boss. I had nothing to do with the—

He let out a sharp cry as Alex sliced off his index finger with the boning knife next to the cases. The caress of his neck and the terror of what was to come took his mind away from his hands being gently placed on the steel table.

He squealed in pain, Alex kicked him in the stomach sending him to the ground with a loud thud on the ground. Sergei’s punishment already sent chills down the spines of the others, it was the perfect example and Sergei’s silence made him the perfect scapegoat.

“That’s one finger down,” Alex murmured as he grabbed a napkin from his pocket, wiping off the spackle of blood on his favorite knife. He was angry, not raging but angry enough to know when he was double crossed by one of his own—one defected case meant the whole shipment was void, hence making him lose on a lot of money.

Marco remained unfazed, his loyalty was always to his boss and if losing a finger was the price to pay then he would gladly do so. He stepped forward next, “I never touched the cases boss. I did as Instructed, I picked the shipment from the cargo plane and brought it to the workhouse immediately, I never touch—

“Shut up Marco.” Alex dismissed him with the wave of a hand, the words meant nothing to him, “Get Sergei a towel and tell him to stop whining before I cut off his tongue next.”

Marco nodded, taking heed of his boss’s words as he walked over to the wailing Sergei, helping him up in one hand and they both left the room with a trail of blood tagging behind them. Alex rolled his eyes in jest, all he did was cut the man’s finger and he was acting like his life was cut short.

Sergei was innocent, he knew that, still he wanted to show the remaining five what was in store for them once he fished out the betrayer, “Noe where were w—

His phone rung, cutting him off abruptly. His brows creased lightly as Cillian’s name popped up on the caller ID, “You better have a good reason for calling during work hours Cillian.”

“Yes,” the stoic housekeeper’s voice rang from the other side of the phone, “It’s a matter of urgency Mr Maldov.”

“I’m busy. This has to wait.”

Cillian pursed his lips as his eyes peered at the tied knots looming from the terrace rails, “I’m afraid it can’t boss…..your wife is gone.”