Page 14

The letter of resignation sits on my desk, taunting me with its crisp, impersonal lines. Jennifer’s words are simple, professional. She thanks the company for the opportunity, cites “personal reasons” for her departure, and ends it with the usual pleasantries. Nothing about the note should bother me—employees come and go all the time—but this… this is different.

I feel the weight of Oleg’s stare from across the desk. His silence is heavy, his expression unreadable, but I know he’s thinking the same thing I am.

“What are you going to do?” Oleg finally asks, leaning back in his chair, his eyes narrowed as if he’s trying to read my mind.

I don’t answer. The truth is, I don’t know. Jennifer leaving the company, vanishing without a trace—none of this makes sense. I thought I had her under control. After what happened with Russel, I expected her to come to me, to realize there’s no escaping me. I made that clear enough.

Now… she’s gone.

Oleg crosses his arms, a flicker of curiosity in his eyes. “What do you feel for this woman, Timur?”

I glance up at him, feeling the irritation rise in my chest. “What kind of question is that?”

He raises an eyebrow, not backing down. “You’ve been different since she came into the picture. Distracted. I’ve never seen you like this. So, I’m asking—what is she to you?”

I grit my teeth, annoyed by the question and the implication behind it. What do I feel for Jennifer? Lust? Anger? Possession? All of those things, maybe more. It’s like she’s gotten under my skin in a way no one else has, and I hate it. I hate that she left without a word, that she somehow slipped away when I wasn’t paying attention. I hate that the idea of her being gone makes me feel… unsettled.

But do I feel anything for her? I don’t know. Or maybe I just don’t want to admit it.

“I don’t feel anything,” I say, my voice colder than I intended. “She’s just an employee who decided to run. I’ll find her.”

Oleg doesn’t look convinced, but he doesn’t push the matter further. He knows better than to press me when I’m like this. Instead, he shifts in his seat, the leather creaking beneath him as he leans forward.

“If she ran, there must be a reason,” he says. “If you want her back, we need to figure out what that reason is.”

I nod, but before I can respond, there’s a knock at the door. One of my men steps inside, his face tight with urgency. “Sir, we’ve got a problem.”

I tense, knowing what’s coming before he even says it.

“Jennifer hasn’t been to her dorm or classes in the past couple of days,” he continues, his tone cautious. “We’ve checked all her usual spots, talked to her friends, but no one’s seen her. It’s like she vanished.”

A cold wave washes over me, but I keep my expression neutral, not wanting to betray the flicker of concern that sparks inside me. She’s gone. Completely?

“How long?” I ask, my voice sharp.

“Three days,” he replies. “We’ve been tracking her, but it’s like she disappeared off the grid. No phone activity, no credit card use. Nothing.”

I exchange a look with Oleg, who remains quiet, his eyes narrowing in thought. Three days. Long enough to make me wonder if she planned this. She’s smart—too smart, maybe. She knows how to hide.

“Find her,” I order, my voice low and controlled. “I don’t care what it takes. I want her back here, now.”

The man nods and quickly exits the room, leaving me alone with Oleg again.

Oleg watches me carefully, his expression unreadable. “You think she ran because of Russel?”

I shake my head. “No. It’s something else.”

“Maybe she’s scared of you,” Oleg says quietly.

The words hang in the air, heavy with truth. I can’t deny that possibility. I made it clear to Jennifer that she belongs to me. I didn’t think she’d actually run. I thought she’d know better than that.

“She has every reason to be scared,” I admit, leaning back in my chair. “That’s not why she left. There’s something more.”

Oleg tilts his head, considering. “What if she knows more than she lets on. I mean, she knows your Bratva; what if she’s been researching us?”

That thought makes me pause. “Maybe,” I mutter, the pieces starting to fall into place. “It doesn’t matter. She’s not getting away. Not now.”

I can see Oleg watching me closely, but I don’t care. Jennifer tried to run, and that’s not something I can let slide. She’s mine, whether she realizes it or not. And she’s going to find out the hard way that running from me is impossible.

“If she’s hiding,” Oleg says carefully, “where do you think she’d go?”

I don’t answer immediately, my mind racing through the possibilities. She could have left the city, maybe even the country. Jennifer’s not a criminal. She’s smart, calculated, but she’s not experienced in disappearing like this.

“I’ll find her,” I say again, more to myself than to Oleg.

I have to. There’s something about her that I can’t let go of, something that makes me want to keep her close. Whatever it is, I’m not done with her yet.

Oleg’s phone buzzes, and he glances at it briefly before looking back at me. “You sure about this, Boss?”

I stand up, my decision already made. “I’m sure. Jennifer’s mine. No one runs from me.”

Oleg raises a brow but takes his call, pacing the room with the same calm intensity he always carries. I can sense something is wrong before he even speaks. The air feels different, heavier. When he finally ends the call and turns to me, the look on his face confirms it.

“Boss,” Oleg says, his voice carrying a weight I don’t like. “We’ve got a situation.”

I lean back in my chair, eyes narrowing. “What is it?”

Oleg doesn’t answer right away. He takes a breath, his eyes flicking down to the phone in his hand. “The Italians,” he starts, “they found out about our upcoming project.”

The words slam into me, harder than I’d expected. This project was supposed to be airtight, secure. Only a few people knew the details, so for the Italians to have it? There’s no question—it’s a betrayal.

“They stole the idea?” I ask, my voice low and laced with anger.

Oleg nods. “They’re moving on it. Almost like they had our entire blueprint laid out in front of them. We’re looking into who could’ve leaked it, but….”

He hesitates. That’s never a good sign.

“But what, Oleg?” I ask, sitting up straighter, bracing for the answer.

Oleg clears his throat. “Other than our top officials, only one other person had access to that information.”

I don’t need him to say her name. I already know who it is. It doesn’t stop the surge of rage that rips through me when Oleg finally says it.

“Jennifer.”

Her name feels foreign on my tongue now, not the sweet distraction it was before. She’s the only one outside the inner circle who knew. She’s the only one who could have betrayed me.

“She wouldn’t—” I start to say, but the look Oleg gives me shuts me down. It doesn’t matter what I think. The facts are right in front of me. Jennifer had access, and now the Italians know everything.

The memories flash through my mind—how she left without a word, how she slipped away the morning after our night together. At first, I thought she was just scared, maybe embarrassed. Now it all makes sense. She was running, but not from me. She was running because she’d already betrayed me.

“She didn’t just leave,” Oleg says, shaking his head, his voice dark and sharp. “She played you.”

I grit my teeth, the weight of betrayal heavy on my chest. “She’s smarter than I gave her credit for,” I mutter, my fists clenching at my sides. “Not smart enough.”

“She left despite your warning,” Oleg continues, fueling the fire. “Now this. She had the information, and she leaked it. She knew the risks. She knew what would happen.”

“And she still did it,” I finish, my voice cold. It’s hard to believe she’d be so bold, but the evidence is there, staring me in the face. She’s no innocent woman caught up in something bigger than her. She knew exactly what she was doing.

“She also witnessed you kill Russel,” Oleg adds, his tone grim.

I don’t need the reminder. That moment replays in my head like a broken record, but hearing it from Oleg solidifies the severity of the situation.

“You know what that means,” Oleg says, his eyes steady on mine. “According to our rules….”

I know exactly what it means. She’s a witness. A liability. Loose ends aren’t tolerated in our world. I warned her, I gave her a chance, and she still chose to cross me.

“I’ll deal with her,” I say, standing up. My anger is cold and controlled now, simmering just beneath the surface. “I’ll find her, no matter how long it takes.”

Oleg nods, the unspoken agreement clear between us. She’s no longer just the woman I slept with. She’s a threat. A traitor. And there’s only one way this ends.

“I want every resource we have on this,” I order, my voice as sharp as the edge of a blade. “No one betrays me and gets away with it.”

Oleg leaves the room, his phone already buzzing as he starts the manhunt. I stay where I am, staring at the crumpled resignation letter in front of me. Jennifer’s neat handwriting now feels like a mockery, a taunt. She thought she could just walk away from me. That she could betray me, and start a new life.

She doesn’t understand who she’s dealing with.

I toss the letter into the trash, the rage that’s been simmering beneath my skin now boiling over. No matter where she runs, no matter how far she goes, I will find her. I will make her pay.

Jennifer Jewels is about to learn what happens when you play with fire. There’s no escape. Not from me.

Oleg returns just as I expected. “Everything’s in motion,” he says, glancing at me. “You’ll have her location soon.”

I nod once, my mind already racing with the possibilities of what I’ll do when I have her back in my grasp.

“She can’t hide forever,” I murmur to myself. Then louder, “When I catch up to her, she’ll regret ever crossing me.”

Oleg watches me closely, probably wondering how I’m holding up after this betrayal. It’s rare for someone to slip past my radar, let alone someone who managed to get this close to me. Jennifer played me, and that fact hits harder than I care to admit.

“She’s a loose end,” Oleg says, breaking the silence. “We don’t leave loose ends.”

I nod, but my mind is already elsewhere. Jennifer isn’t like the others I’ve dealt with. She’s clever. She hid in plain sight, charmed her way through the company, and vanished without a trace. I underestimated her once. I won’t make that mistake again.

“Do whatever it takes,” I tell Oleg, my voice low but firm. “I don’t care how far she’s gone. Bring her back.”

Oleg gives a nod, turning to leave. I watch him go, knowing he’ll get the job done. He always does. Still, something about this situation bothers me in a way that I can’t quite shake.

Jennifer wasn’t just a one-night distraction. She wasn’t just an employee who got too close. There’s something more, something beneath the surface that I didn’t want to see before. The thought of her out there, hiding from me—betraying me— doesn’t just spark anger. It fuels something darker, something more possessive.

I push those thoughts aside for now. I can’t let my emotions cloud my judgment. Not when she’s made a fool of me, and certainly not when she’s become a threat to everything I’ve built.