Page 3 of Cruel Russian Pakhan
I knew the risk. But I also knew what could happen if I didn’t act.
Dealing with Artyom was a gamble.
But it was one I was willing to take for the future of my family and faction.
I didn't know how uncertain the gamble truly was until three weeks later.
***
One week to the wedding
It was seven in the morning, and I was just about to step out of the house when my phone rang. The name that popped up on the screen was Timur Morovoz, my head spy. He only called when something went to hell.
“Speak.”
“Boss, Vera’s missing.”
I stared at the phone for a few seconds, the words striking like a slap to the face.
Then I brought it back to my ear, my voice frosty.
“What do you mean she’s missing?”
As soon as Artyom and I finalized the agreement, I made sure to have eyes on Vera. I needed to know where she was, who she was with, and what she was doing, twenty-four hours a day.
“It’s been a week,” Timur said. “Her last sighting was at a nightclub. She was with Kira.”
Kira was Vera’s younger sister.
My jaw clenched, fingers curling tightly around the phone until I heard it creak under the pressure.
Seven days. She’d been off the radar for a goddamn seven days and I was just now hearing about it?
Where the hell was she?
And more importantly, why the fuck hadn’t Artyom told me that my fiancé was in the wind?
Then it hit me. This wasn’t a random disappearance.
It couldn't be.
It reeked of manipulation.
If Artyom thought he could use his sister as a pawn to rattle me, he was about to learn just how brutal that mistake was.
“Keep me updated,” I growled, then hung up.
I stepped outside, clenching and unclenching my fists. If Artyom wanted a reminder of how ruthless I could be, he'd get one.
Now, this alliance would happen by my rules. I’d find Vera myself.
And this wedding?
It’d happen on my terms.
Chapter 2 - Katya
“You’ve got this, Katya Simoens!” I pumped myself up, locking the door behind me.
