Page 53 of Claimed Gem
Ries followedthe sound of the men’s voices to the small boardroom, adorned with lush carpets and a dark wood table. He was pleased to see that he wasn’t the last one to arrive: Damon was. Nicolai didn’t seem surprised to see him there, but when Damon arrived a few minutes later, he clearly was.
“I thought you would have been celebrating with your girlfriend?” Damon murmured as he took a seat between Ries and Nicolai.
“There will be plenty of time for that later.” Ries smiled, anticipating. “Right now, we need to get our hands around this security threat.”
Damon’s eyebrows went up, and he glanced more carefully at Ries.
“I’ve heard about your problems. I’ve spoken to Alexi and our father, and we are willing to help. What do you need from us?” Leo asked, leaning forward seriously.
“Our shipments keep getting waylaid or going missing completely. We’ve lost over thirty shipments of freight in the last eighteen months, and three ships. The ships just disappeared.
“There were no signs of bad weather or catastrophic failures, they simply never arrived at their destinations. No distress calls, no nothing.”
“We have contracts to move and deliver freight, and these are seriously impacting our ability to meet those requirements.” Damon took a breath and then asked: “Have you enough shipping vessels that we could move our freight on Moustakas ships while we find and bring whoever is targeting us to justice?”
“Of course,” Leo assured him. The Moustakas fleet has a few ships to spare. “Do you have any leads on who might be behind these attacks against your family?”
Damon shook his head, “Not really…”
“That’s not entirely true,” Ries spoke up. “We believe a man named Dmitrius Yttrios is the one who hired Angelo to kill first me, and then my brothers. He also has ties to international smuggling, and a record of using stolen ships and inside men to do the jobs.
“The police in Stavros were following him, but shortly after Stephanie was kidnapped, the man boarded his yacht and fled Greek waters. They have a bulletin out for all ports in Greece to report in when his yacht comes ashore the next time.”
“Yttrios?” Damon queried sharply. “Why wasn’t I informed of this?”
“You didn’t ask, and we’ve not had the time for a chat. Anyway, the man has been smuggling all manner of things all over Europe and Eurasia.
“We believe he’s been using Kafatos Freight to do so for years, and it’s only recently that we’ve become aware of the situation and tried to stop him. With us out of the way, the company would go to the highest stockholder, as none of us have wives or children.”
Alexi and Leo shared a look and then Leo asked, “Do you have a name for the largest individual shareholder?”
“You already know who it is. Dmitrius has been purchasing every piece of our stock put up for sale for years. If he owned the shipping company, he could smuggle whatever he liked without fear of getting caught.”
“With those kinds of rewards available, I doubt he will stop,” Alexi informed them. “You must all remain vigilant and be cautious about any new ventures you undertake. Even if a new buyer begins to invest in your company – investigate them thoroughly. Dmitrius may move his activities to a false alias, or an ally, now that he knows he is under suspicion.”
“We know,” Ries nodded “My fear is that he might start targeting others as well. Your company could be next.”
“Then we need to find this man and take him out,” Alexi announced, drawing nonverbal agreement from everyone at the table.
“For now, we need to salvage our company and our client relations,” Ries surmised . “My security team is already working with Nicolai and the Greek authorities to track down Dmitrius. They’ll let us know when he resurfaces, and then we can hopefully catch him and put an end to this situation.”
“In the meantime, you will use Moustakas shipping vessels,” Leo asserted, “and we’ll all increase the security around our businesses, our families, and our homes. If this Yttrios fellow can target one set of billionaires, what’s to stop him from targeting the rest of us?”
“I’ll speak with Piotr this afternoon,” he continued, “and he and your security personnel can meet and get things sorted out. In the meantime, please stay as long as you like and enjoy everything Thessaloniki has to offer. Our home is your home.” He spread his hands wide, as though to encompass the rich estate.
“Thank you.” Nicolai stood up and shook both Leo and Alexi’s hands. “I’ll go and find Piotr now. Gentleman, we cannot thank you enough.”
“No thanks are necessary,” Leo informed him. “We may be distant cousins, but we are still family. And families look out for one another.”
Ries leftthe boardroom with Nicolai and they headed off to find Piotr, who at one time had been Leo’s head of security. They found him in the garden conversing with Chris and Stephanie.
Ries immediately pulled Stephanie into his arms and kissed her soundly, despite having an audience. He felt her blush with pleasure and embarrassment under him.
“What was that for?” she asked in a whisper, her face suffused with heat as she turned bright red.
“Because I felt like it,” he told her.
“Okay,” she told him, liking how things were going between them. “Chris was just making sure it was going to be safe for me to go to the beach with the other women.”