The man in question sat behind his large dark wooden desk, his white collared shirt was unbuttoned, almost to his navel, like the fucking idiot he was. His dark hair was even messier than usual - as if he had just been fucked. Ravi was a good looking guy - I could admit that - but I had had to bail him out on a number of occasions on account of his cock. His beady eyes found mine in greeting as he barked orders down the phone before hanging up and giving us his full attention.
My men were under strain. I could see it sketched into each of their expressions, their postures tighter, reactions quicker. Everyone knew that we were on the verge of a war with Sergei. Lines had been drawn in the sand. Hell, up until a few weeks ago, Sergei had been one of us, so who knew how long he had been turning people from within - how many moles were in our fucking midst. Worse still, he knew how we operated because he had been an inside man. A fucking disgrace to us all.
“Pakhan,” Ravi greeted me formally, maintaining the hierarchical order of things. I simply nodded in reply, so tired of this shit and seated myself opposite him, the large polished desk between us. While I was the boss, or the Pakhan, this office was Ravi’s. This Club fell under his jurisdiction to run. All the Bratok had their own divisions to run, this was Ravi’s, and not only was he damn good at what he did, I also respected him for it.
Corinne seated herself next to me, and I watched Ravi’s gaze linger over her thighs as she crossed one leg over the other. Her face hardened as she caught Ravi’s lingering gaze, and I growled out, “None of that, Ravi.”
I shouldn’t have found comfort in her look of irritation - the fact that she did not want Ravi’s attentive gaze on her, but something about her rejection settled me. She wasn’t interested in Ravi ‘The irresistible.’ I grinned mentally, filing away that nugget of information to tease Ravi with.
Ravi raised his hands in the air in surrender - in jest really. “Apologies,” he looked sheepish in his reply, “but darling, you look good enough to eat and I’m a good looking guy,” he shrugged.
“This is Corinne,” I ground out and watched as understanding set in.
He looked at her again, only this time it was with awe and not lust. Keep it in your pants, mother fucker.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Vedman Corinne,” Ravi mock bowed from behind the desk.
Corinne’s spluttered laughter at his over-the-top act danced across my skin. I sat there like an idiot, momentarily stunned. Moody and sullen she was pretty, but smiling like this? She was goddam radiant. I didn’t miss the way Ravi’s eyes remained lit up with interest, fuck, after her laughter he was probably rearranging his cock.
I wasn’t an idiot, I could see the appeal of Corinne. But she was also a brat, testing and challenging me at every turn, and she didn’t fit in with this world. Doesn’t she? My inner voice whispered back at me, but I silenced that fucker fast. I needed someone who would follow orders in a crisis, not push back at me at every turn. And why the fuck was I thinking of someone long-term anyway - especially in Ravi’s office - and with Corinne of all fucking people.
“You requested this meeting, Ravi, what did you want to meet with Corinne about?” I steered the conversation back to business, my voice was gruff and thick. The sooner this was done, the sooner I could get her back home.
Ravi glanced at Corinne nervously, “Feeling desired yet, sweetheart?”
He winked at her, covering up his nerves. He fucking winked at her.
I growled in warning and finally, Ravi cleared his throat, getting the message through his thick skull, and I knew that whatever he was about to say was going to be fucking terrible. If he was nervous, or trying to shield me from rage inducing information, then it could hardly be good.
“Sergei is rolling out his own product,” his voice wavered slightly as if he feared that I would somehow hold him personally accountable. I wouldn’t - it wasn’t his fault.
“Go on,” I grunted. Corinne, to her credit, remained silent.
“Word on the ground is that he is calling his product Paradise, the catch phrase being ‘Paradise is forever, Euphoria is fleeting.’”
I grunted at Ravi’s information. Even I had to admit that that line of marketing was genius. It annoyed me how well thought out his plan had been. It would have been far easier to eliminate Sergei if he wasn’t so well organised.
“You may want to get a new marketing person,” Corinne chimed in.
I glowered at her. Did she have to be such a fucking brat - now? And in front of Ravi.
And true to form, she stuck her tongue out at me, chuckling at my expression. I was dealing with a fucking child. I clenched my jaw
“Anything else?” I asked, redirecting my gaze towards Ravi, all things unspoken hovering between us. We needed to find a way to eliminate Sergei. Ravi dug around in one the drawers in his desk before emerging with a small transparent bag, the white granules visible even from where I sat.
“I managed to snag some of their product so that we could compare.”
“Good job,” I exhaled. Grabbing the bag from Ravi, I watched him visibly relax.
“Can I hold that for a minute?” Corinne straightened at the sight of the product between my fingers.
Those were the last words I would have imagined coming from Corinne’s lips, “Just to see if I can pick up anything from it - residual energy, that kind of thing,” she quickly tacked on.
I smirked and handed the bag to her wordlessly as I watched her close her eyes, transported to places some of us could only dream about. What did she see? Was it like a film? Or simply flashes, a kaleidoscope of images? It was weird watching her sit in Ravi’s office with a bag of coke in her hands as she closed her eyes, trying to ‘connect’. Ravi, of course, was captivated by her, in awe of her mere presence. It didn’t help that she was feisty, beautiful, and our Vedman.
Just as quickly as her eyes shut, they flew open. The whites of her eyes were wide and panicked and I watched her throat bob as she seemed to struggle for air.
“What?” I barked.