Chapter 93 Consequences
Alexei
Viktor was quiet for a while, and I thought he had decided not to pursue the matter and would just give me another assignment. Then gbam! the cane hit me on my neck.
"You touched her without permission." Viktor moved into view. His shadow stretched across the floor like something alive. "She kicked you. Threatened to tell Santoro. And you—what did you do?"
I was silent; I did not answer him.
"Answer me, Alexei."
"I apologised." The words came out strangled. "I backed off. I—"
"You grovelled. You beg. You allowed a street rat, who is unable to even see, to humiliate you. The cane tapped against the floor. Each strike punctuated his disgust. "Do you understand what that makes you?"
"I didn't want to compromise the operation—"
"The operation is dead!" His voice exploded through the space. "She told you never to contact her again. She cut ties completely. She purchased a gun through you and then disappeared. We have no leverage. No access again. No way into the Santoro organisation through her."
''We could try another angle: I will try to negotiate another way. 'I', I said desperately.
"We shouldn't need another angle. You were supposed to seduce her. Make her trust you. Get close enough to use her when the time came." Viktor crouched down. He was now at eye level with me. "Instead, you assaulted her in a bathroom and got yourself banned from her life. Seven weeks of work. Thousands of dollars invested. All of this was destroyed because you couldn't keep your dick in your pants.
"Father, I—"
"Don't." The cane lifted. Pressed under my chin. Forcing my head up. "You know what happens to men who fail me. "You know what happens to soldiers who can't follow simple instructions."
My throat constricted. "I won't fail again."
"You won't get the chance." He stood. The cane disappeared. His footsteps moved toward the stairs. "You'll stay here until I decide what to do with you. It could be hours. It could be days. Depends on my mood."
"Father, please. I'll fix this. I'll find another way."
"There is no other way. The girl won't see you again. She won't speak to you, nor will she give you the opportunity." He paused at the bottom step. "And even if she did—I wouldn't trust you with it. You've proven you're weak. Thinking with your cock instead of your head."
The door at the top of the stairs opened. Light spilt down. Bright enough to hurt.
"Wait—" I pulled against the restraints. "You can't leave me here. What if something happens? What if—"
"Then you die." Viktor's silhouette filled the doorway. "Maybe that would solve the problem. It would spare me the shame of raising a son under the control of blind women.
I moved with my knees and started begging him, "I'll do better. I swear. Just give me another chance."
"You had your chance. You squandered it." The door started to close. "Think about that while you're down here. Consider how a single moment of incompetence cost you everything.
"Father!"
The door slammed. The lock turned. The lock did not open from the inside.
Darkness swallowed everything.
I stayed on my knees, my wrists burning, my face throbbing, and tried not to panic.
He'd come back. Eventually. He always did. This was punishment. Discipline. A lesson about consequences.
He wouldn't actually leave me here to die.
Would he?
VIKTOR
I climbed the stairs and locked the basement door behind me. Triple-checked the mechanism. No chances. No mistakes.
Alexei would stay down there until he learned. Until the fear and isolation overcame any arrogance that led him to believe he could handle assignments without proper control, he would remain there.
My second-in-command, Dmitri, waited in the hallway. "How long is he staying there for?"
"Until I say otherwise."
"He's your son—"
"That's the sole reason he's still alive." I moved past him toward my office. "A soldier made that mistake? I'd put a bullet in his skull. But Alexei gets mercy. He gets a chance to reflect. He begins to comprehend the importance of discipline.
What about the Santoro situation and the girl?
"We move on. Find another weakness. Another angle." I poured vodka. Drained it. "The blind girl was a dead end anyway. Santoro's too protective. Even if Alexei hadn't fucked it up, she would never have given us real access."
"So we abandon that approach?"
"For now." I refilled the glass. "But the girl bought a gun. Which means she's afraid. Which means she knows more than she should. Which means she's a liability."
"To whom?" Dnitri asked.
"To Santoro. To herself. To anyone connected to her." I stared into the vodka. "Frightened people make mistakes. And mistakes create opportunities."
"You want surveillance?"
"Already have it. I have been tracking her for weeks through another source." I smiled. "Multiple players circling the same target. None of the players are aware of each other's presence. It's beautiful, really."
Dmitri shifted. "What's the play?"
"Patience. We watch. We wait. We see who makes the first move." I set down the glass. "Someone will break. Someone always does. And when they do—we'll be there to capitalise."
"And Alexei?"
"Alexei will remain in the basement until he is prepared to beg appropriately." Until he understands that failure in this family has consequences." I looked toward the door. I turned my gaze toward the stairs that led down. "He wants to be heir? He needs to prove he can handle pressure. He should demonstrate the ability to think strategically, rather than relying on emotions. It can be trusted with real operations."
"And if he can't?"
"Then I'll find another heir," I said without emotion. Final. "Blood only matters if it's strong. Weak sons are worse than no sons at all."
Dmitri said nothing. He's a smart man. Dmitri understood that silence was more secure than agreement.
I dismissed him with a gesture.
I sat alone in my office, contemplating the blind girl, my failed son, and the possibility that everything could still proceed as planned.
Alexei believed that his seven weeks of work had been in vain. He was wrong.
Seven weeks of surveillance, of tracking. We learned about Amelia's patterns, her connections, and her vulnerabilities.
That information had value. Even without access. Even without trust.
Now, I knew precisely where she would be. Who she'd be with. She would be at her most vulnerable.
And when the time came—when the opportunity presented itself—
Someone would make a move on that blind girl. Someone would try to use her. Someone would get greedy.
Maybe it would be Santoro's people eliminating a liability. Maybe it would be this mysterious third party my contacts had spotted. Maybe it would be someone else entirely.
Didn't matter who.
What mattered was being ready. Being positioned. Being patient.
The weak moved first. The strong waited. Let others expend resources and expose themselves.
Then struck them unexpectedly.
Alexei would learn that. Eventually. Down in the dark. Alone with his failures.
And I'd bury him alongside them if he refused to learn my way of working.