Protective

Meetings

Lana

I had been sitting in this meeting for about twenty minutes and I truly was unsure whether or not I was impressing anyone here.

Maybe one or two of my looks had made it into the actual magazine, but for the most part the rest had just been posted on the Icon's website and newsletter.

The pictures of my modeling other stylists stuff had made it into the magazine, however.

I tried not to think anything of it. After all, one or two looks was impressive for someone as young and inexperienced as me. Clearly Sage had some kind of faith in me, right now she was talking about me helping out at a fashion show coming up soon.

She also took my recommendation for Violette to join the next round of incoming interns. I knew she had some kind of faith in me but she hadn't really said so.

Which meant I didn't know if I was doing well or not. Believe me, I didn't need an atta-girl but if I was to make any improvement I needed the feedback.

But even then I could hardly focus on that knowing that my father was coming back from Russia tonight. I had been so stuck to the idea that when he came back that all of this would be over that I didn't even consider the possibility that Petyr might've left the country before my father could get to him.

The little freedom I already had would be stripped down to nothing. He might even make me quit this job.

Of course he was going to make me quit. The only reason I dared to even apply was because he wasn't even here. He hated this kind of thing.

My father always said that an industry that revolved around beauty was as useless as a pen without ink.

Maybe he had a point but it's not as if I got the fascination from thin air. I remember my mother loving the same things. She loved to take me shopping with her.

My earliest memories are playing in her closet and make up. Trying on her shoes and putting on her dozens of sunglasses.

I think that's why he indulged me from time to time. Buying me the latest clothes and accessories. If I circled it in a magazine, there would be a box with a bow on my bed.

I would have to ask Dmitri to help me convince father to let me keep this job. He trusted Dmitri's judgement more than mine, after all.

________
Yeremy

I didn't think it was necessarily a good idea that Mikhail had returned so soon. If he was here, then that meant that Petyr was here.

After bringing Lana home, I went to meet him at the airport with Dmitri on his orders. He was adamant that we had much to discuss.

"The Yakuza is the organization currently assisting Petyr," he announced, "That's why he has been able to dodge me so effectively."

"The Yakuza?" Dmitri furrowed his brows, "Whose branch?"

"Akio Hamada's branch," Mikhail said, "Apparently he and Petyr have been business partners for years."

"Regardless he's an enemy now," Dmitri said, "The entire Underworld knows we're after Petyr. Akio choosing to protect him makes him a problem."

"I agree," Mikhail nodded, "But we still may have to tread lightly. Akio isn't weak. We already have a war with the Callahan's and the De León's. We can't afford one with Akio unless we crush one of the others in some way."

"It's not going to happen while the De León's are still based in Spain. Manuel has the support of five major players in his country. The five families that support the De León's make it impossible to attack them in Spain," I shook my head, "The Callahans, however, aren't nearly as strong. They have less support in the States."

"He's right," Dmitri nodded, "We need to get the Callahan's under control, at least until we handle Petyr."

"I agree. We need the Callahan's temporarily under our thumbs," Mikhail leaned back in his chair, "The main family consists of Seamus, his wife Irene, his son Aiden, and his daughter Aileen. Their main trade is weapons."

"They run a major port in New York," Dmitri said, "We could stall their shipments for a while."

"That's not enough," Mikhail sighed, "It has to be one of the children. We take one for a while to order compliance."

Well that took a turn.

Holding someone hostage just for a chance to get Petyr felt so extreme. But it was clear to me that both of them were desperate. They should've caught him by now.

It had been years since Petyr sent that threat. People that threatened this family ended up dead in a matter of hours. That's how it was for a long time, but if they weren't careful their enemies would join together.

That's what happened to my father.

"Taking Aiden is a far greater offense than taking Aileen," Mikhail reasoned, "Aiden is his heir which is all Seamus truly cares about at the end of the day. I think it'd be best to target her."

"But what if he's not as willing to negotiate for his daughter," Dmitri countered, "It's pretty useless to kidnap her if he doesn't care."

"Even if he doesn't care, we took his daughter. He can't allow for us to keep her. It makes him 'look weak," Mikhail finished.

"Say we take this girl. What do we do with her once we have her? It's not as if we can just keep her tied to a chair in some warehouse," I said.

"We can keep her in the dungeon," Dmitri said.

"You have a dungeon?"

"He's kidding," Mikhail sighed while Dmitri snickered, "You raise a good point Yeremy. But I suspect we won't be needing to make long term plans for her."

"No, we do need to make long term plans," Dmitri retorted, "Who knows how long it'll take us to kill Petyr."

"If we take Aileen, to make the Callahan's back off, couldn't we also enlist them into helping us find Petyr?" I asked.

"No," Mikhail shook his head, "They can't be trusted. We can't let anyone know about Petyr. If our enemies were to be made aware of him, they would grant him passage just as Akio has."

"We shouldn't be keeping Aileen for more than a few months," he said to Dmitri, "Task Alexei with the kidnapping."

"I can do it—

"No. I need you focused on helping me find Petyr. While Yeremy protects Lana, I'll need the both of us focused on this," Mikhail said, "This bastard does not live to see next year."

- - End of Chapter - -