Chapter 182

Konstantin:

“Are you sure about how honest they are being, boss?” Batrov asked, shaking his head in question.

“I know not to trust anyone, Batrov. But I have no reason not to trust him right now. Whether or not he is being honest, we will find out. But what is important now is what I am going to tell you.” I said, and he frowned in confusion. 

I needed to know whether or not Vladimir was being honest about Eleanor losing that child. If that was the case, then Killian was going to be slapped in the face by something that he loved deeply. A wolf losing his child, especially an Alpha, was something that I knew was a tragedy in their world. 

“What’s going on?” He asked, shaking his head in question.

“You are going to find out whether or not Killian’s child was alive or dead. Vladimir claims that there have been rumors about Eleanor losing the child, and I want to know how true they are.” I said, and he frowned. 

“How did he hear of these rumors to begin with?” He asked, and I nodded.

“That is another thing that you are going to find out for me. I want to know who is his inside man or woman. Why are they helping him and when he is contacting them.” I said, looking at my second hand who smirked, knowing that he was getting things his way. I understood his reason behind not wanting to trust my nephew, but he knew to be smarter about how he stated it. 

“I want things to be discrete, and I don’t want anyone to hear of them. If Vladimir knows that we are looking into what he is doing, then he is going to take more caution, it is not something that I want. At least I want to know what he is working on and why. I will choose not to question which side he is on, for now, but if I find that he is working with someone else…”

“Do you doubt that he might be?” Batrov asked, stopping me. I raised an eyebrow at him. He wasn’t one to stop me when talking. He knew not to do so, and he knew that it wasn’t something that I liked. 

“As I said, even you can be working against me if need brings to happen. It only depends on where your loyalty is, and I choose to want to trust that yours is on my side. Though I cannot be sure about my nephew. At least, not for now.” I said, looking down at my desk. The picture of him being as calm as he was when he knew that I could have shot Elena was one that didn’t escape my mind. It should have been proof to me that he was loyal, but something inside me told me that he might not be all too loyal to me. I just didn’t know what it was.

“Anyhow, find out about what I told you. And prepare the house for her arrival. I want her to be treated like the queen that she is, and with the loss of our daughter, I do not want any trouble. She might try causing some with Elena, leave it be as it is. I want to see what Vladimir would do when two women get in conflict. And you know, nothing is more vicious than a war of a mother being angry.” I said, and he frowned.

“But Elena doesn’t have anything to do with Renata’s death?” Batrov asked, shaking his head in question. “She might tell her that she…”

“Anger sometimes beats the order of reason. I am going to take advantage of that anger, and I am going to use it to my side. I will be sure to send Vladimir away when she arrives. It would give her time alone with Elena, and Elena would know better than to mess with my woman. Unless, of course, she wants me to take her life for hurting her.” I said, and Batrov smirked. It was going to be his revenge on Vladimir, I knew that well, and I was going to allow him that sense of victory, for now. He was benefiting me and I knew that as my second hand, despite his lower rank now, he was the one person that I could count on.

“I will have the maids prepare the room in silence. They will be sure not to show anything to Vladimir. He won’t know what hits him when it does.” He said, and I nodded. 

“Good,” I said, getting up from the desk. There was a little visit that I was going to need to make, and considering the fact that Vladimir wasn’t at home right now, it was going to be one that will leave a mark, at least, one that I need to be made.

I walked out of my office and up the stairs toward Vladimir’s room. Elena was there, she often stayed inside when Vladimir wasn’t here. And it was something that I found more amusing. At least, it allowed me access to my nephew’s room when I wanted to go inside. Not that I needed to.

I walked inside, not bothering to knock on the door, and though she had her back to me, I could tell by the way she tensed that she was aware that it wasn’t Vladimir.

“I must admit, you grew a lot of guts alongside my nephew.” I said, watching as she stood, turning to face me. Her eyes met mine for a moment before she looked down at her feet, avoiding my gaze. “I am curious, however, would you have the same guts if I choose to slit your throat here and now? Have him coming back to your corpse rather than a living slave inside his bedroom?” 

She didn’t respond. Instead, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. 

“I was going to sleep, Konstantin.” She said, and I chuckled as I walked toward her, my steps intimidating and slow. I grabbed a fistful of her hair and forced her to look me in the eye as I pulled my knife from its holster. The double-tip blade was sharp, and I knew that it would take ONE slit for her life to be taken away. 

“You can go to bed, but I am going to give you one small warning,” I said, extending the blade to her neck, making a small cut. “You dare challenge me again, whether or not you make it obvious, I will not care about Vladimir nor would I care about what he would do. I am going to shoot you in front of him.

“I did not challenge…” I pushed down, forcing her to fall on her knees before grabbing her chin, making her look me in the eye. 

“You talking back, sitting confidently, and even daring to look me in the eye is a challenge.” I said, my tone darkening. “And you can deliver the message to my nephew. I am sure that he would be hearing of it before he comes to me to argue. But you can tell him that I was teaching you a lesson, and I will be more than glad to do so again if I have to. Even if it means re-educating you considering that you are slowly starting to forget your manners.

I pushed her away, letting her chin go as I did before taking a step back.

“I’ll be waiting to hear from my nephew about this.” I said, watching as she gulped, knowing that this was a warning for both her and Vladimir. “And you know your fucking fate if I see such mistakes again…”