Chapter 4

Anatoli couldn’t sleep. He was angry about what Violet had gone through, and all he could think about was revenge.

He wanted everyone who had hurt her to pay for what they had done. Since she’d been a virgin the first time they slept together, he wasn’t expecting to hear that she had been taken advantage of.

“I’m telling you this in confidence, Ryan. You need to know why I want to find these bastards, so don’t tell Kyle or Varina,” Anatoli said.

“I won’t say a word. Give me some time and I’m sure I can find the handler who was mentioned in her file,” Ryan answered.

“Thank you. I don’t want Violet to know what we’re doing. I want her to go on with her life and not worry about having to face her past. She deserves to be happy.”

Ryan nodded in agreement. He thought it was amusing how in love Anatoli was, even though he refused to admit that he loved Violet.

“You should marry her,” Ryan said.

“Marriage doesn’t work.”

“It does if you love the person. You need to make her an honest woman. She’s going to want that commitment from you soon.”

Anatoli let out a sigh. He knew Ryan was right. Violet had used it against him in their argument yesterday.

He hadn’t told her he loved her, and it bothered her. He had grown up in a home where those words meant nothing. The words were spoken in between his parents’ affairs.

“We’re fine the way we are,” he snapped.

“I’m just saying.”

“Are you sure you can do all this on the side without messing up what Max and Dimitri have you doing?” Anatoli asked.

“I’m sure, and they already know that I’m helping you, so it’s not an issue.”

Anatoli sometimes forgot that Ryan used to be someone he had to chase down because he did his job well.

“Good, don’t make me chase you and beat you. Those days are over.”

Ryan laughed, agreeing with him.

“Those days are over. Now they’re filled with babies and work.”

“The babies make everything worth it,” Anatoli said.

He loved having the children around. He loved the fact he could give them back and not have to take care of them like a father.

But part of him felt like he was missing something by not having children, although he would never admit that to the guys.

“Anyway, I’ll touch base with you next week unless I have something for you earlier.”

“Sounds good. Tell Varina hello.”

“I will. She wants to have a girl’s night with Kyle and Violet, so expect that sometime soon.”

“It’ll do Violet some good to get out.”

“I’ll let her know.”

***

Anatoli was outside, watching over the shipment as it was loaded into the warehouse.

He hated babysitting shipments; it took most of the night and usually involved rowdy boys who thought they were cool because they were working under the table.

This was typically reserved for new recruits, but lately, they’d been having issues with things being taken during the shipments, and Anatoli’s job was to figure out who was stealing from them.

He waited until they were inside and organizing everything before he left his car. He didn’t want to be seen snooping; he was hoping to catch the thief.

While the organization belonged to Max and Dimitri, he had helped them build what their father left, and he felt just as protective of it as they did.

“Dude, stop fucking around and just put them on the pallets,” one of the boys said.

“Are you telling me you’re not curious?” the other asked.

“Of course I am, but I enjoy having all my body parts. You know who we’re working for, right?”

Anatoli made his way around the boxes and listened to their conversation.

“I do, but I don’t care. They’re not here. It’s not like they can do anything to us.”

“They have their ways, so don’t do anything stupid.”

“I’m not afraid. My father has connections, and I bet he can make these people disappear.”

Anatoli rolled his eyes at the boy who thought he could do whatever he wanted without consequences. He was hoping the boy would give him a reason to release his anger on him.

“I’m not kidding. Don’t mess around with the Volkov family. I don’t care who your father is. So whatever you do, make sure it has nothing to do with me.”

“You need to chill.”

“Your friend is right,” Anatoli interrupted. “Don’t be stupid.”

“Who are you?” one of the boys asked.

“Someone who’s making sure you do your damn job. Is there a problem here?”

“No, Mr. Sidorvo,” the other boy answered.

“Your friend seems to know who I am. He takes his job seriously. What’s your name?”

“Cody, sir.”

“Well, Cody, I think you deserve something for doing your job, but your friend here is a different story. What’s his name?”

“Jason, and he hasn’t been doing this for very long, so he has a lot to learn.”

Cody was nervous. He knew not to cross the people at the top, even if his partner didn’t care.

“Doesn’t matter. He should know to respect his employers. Who is your father, Jason?”

Jason looked at Cody, then back at Anatoli before answering.

“Darren Huns.”

Anatoli smiled and placed his hand on Jason’s shoulder.

“I know your father. We’ve done business with him before. Are you the one stealing from us?”

“It was only one time. The person I was with before says he does it all the time,” Jason blurted out.

“Who were you with last time?”

“Some guy they called Nickels. I don’t know if that’s his last name or a nickname. It’s just what they called him.”

Anatoli took a knife out of his pocket and grabbed Jason’s arm.

“Please don’t hurt me. I promise I won’t steal again,” Jason squealed.

“You need a reminder to not take things that don’t belong to you.”

Anatoli began digging the knife into Jason’s arm, enjoying the pained sounds Jason made. When he was done, Jason had the word THIEF carved into his forearm.

“I can’t believe you fucking did this,” Jason cried out before running out of the warehouse.

Anatoli laughed and looked at Cody. “Keep up the good work. I expect you to tell us if anything is going on. I’ll check back with you next week.”

He didn’t give Cody a chance to answer. Cody would do what Anatoli wanted him to do, whether he wanted to or not.