Leverage

Nikolai

I look at the video feed from my office above The Blue Indigo nightclub. I bought the club a couple of years ago when it was failing. Now it’s thriving. Mostly because I knew which clientele to target. Now it’s mostly frequented by students and staff from the local university. It’s another busy night tonight, but I only have my eyes on one person: Natalie Stromberg.

I’ve had my men trailing her for the last month, and she’s nothing if not a creature of habit. Tonight is Friday night, and that’s the night she always comes to The Blue Indigo with her friends, to dance the night away.

She’s wearing a dress that barely covers her. Gold silk with spaghetti straps. Her soft pale skin glistens under the bright lights, and her lightly tanned legs go on for miles.

Mousy blonde hair cascades across her shoulders. She’s barely wearing any makeup, because she doesn’t need it. Just a little pink lip gloss that seems to shine a little bit more every time she licks those perfect plump lips of hers.

I slowly lick my lips as I watch her hips gyrate on the dance floor. She laughs and points towards the bar.

She’s fucking gorgeous, and every male in the club knows she is. You can tell by the way they’re all undressing her with their eyes. If she were mine, I’d poke their fucking eyes out.

It’s a shame that her father is Michael Stromberg, because if she was anyone else’s daughter, then I might have left her alone.

But she isn’t. She’s his, and right now I need her as leverage.

I watch her as she walks towards the bar with a couple of girlfriends in tow.

Her hips sway, and I can imagine what she would look like naked.

My hardness presses against the material of my trousers, and I shake my head. That’s not what I’m here for. I don’t need to be distracted, at least not until I’ve set my plan in motion.

I turn my attention to the laptop screen in front of me. Time to make the call.

When the call connects, the man at the other end of the screen is scowling at me.

“What do you want, Vasilyevich? I told you, I’m not interested in doing business with you or your bratva.”

I smirk at him.

“Oh, I think you will, Mr Stromberg. After all, you wouldn’t want anything to happen to your pretty little daughter, now, would you?”

I play the feed from the club. Natalie is laughing with her friends and drinking at the bar.

I check my watch and count down in my head.

Three – Two - One.

My younger brother Aleksandr walks into the shot and starts chatting to the girls. His white shirt is unbuttoned, revealing his tattooed chest and a gold necklace with a sigil on it. He says something to them, and they laugh.

Every single member of the Vasilyevich bratva has that tattoo, and even if he doesn’t see the tattoo, the sigil on the necklace will let him know who’s currently chatting up his daughter. It won’t be lost on Michael Stromberg that his daughter is being targeted by my bratva, even if he doesn’t know that Aleksandr is my brother.

“You lay a hand on my daughter, Vasilyevich, and I’ll…”

I don’t let him finish. I don’t take kindly to threats, especially from a nobody like Michael Stromberg. He may have money and a fleet of ships I want to use, but he has no power. At least he doesn’t now.

“I don’t think you’re in any position to make threats, Stromberg. Sign the contract tonight, and I might just leave your daughter in one piece.”

He looks at the feed, then back at me, and his shoulders sag. He knows my threats are never idle.

“Ok, I’ll sign the contract. Just leave my daughter alone.”

I smirk.

“Oh, did I not say, Stromberg? That’s not quite how things work around here. You sign the contract, and you do everything I ask you to do when I ask you to do it. Once I know that I have your loyalty, then I might let your daughter go…Might.”

His eyes go wide.

“You don’t have her,” He growls

I lick my lips and lean towards the camera.

“Not yet, but by the time you get to her, she’ll be nowhere to be found.”

I tut.

“If she were my daughter, I would have kept her a little bit closer to home. Not two hundred miles away, where you can’t protect her.” – I chuckle – “After all, anything could happen to her, couldn’t it?”

“You Bastard…” he hisses.

I disconnect the call, cutting him off. I can’t help but smile.

He should have accepted my offer when I first made it. All he had to do was carry my guns using his ships; the ships’ manifest would say general goods or clothing. Items that customs barely ever check, and if they did, most of the guns would be in hidden compartments away from the prying eyes of officials. But he turned me down; a big mistake. No one ever turns me down without suffering the consequences.

Now it’s not only Michael Stromberg who will suffer the consequences, but his daughter as well.

He’ll do exactly as I say, when I say it, even if it’s not written in the contract, because now I’ll have a little leverage, and a very pretty little item of leverage she is too.

I make another call, this time on my mobile. It connects to two of my men who are also in the club; decoys.

As they walk towards the bar, they nod at Aleksandr, letting him know that operation Leverage is a go.

My two men, dressed in a way that makes them blend in, start chatting to Natalie’s friends, and soon they’re leading them to the dance floor.

Aleksandr keeps talking to Natalie, then he waves to the barman. Not just any Barman but a specific one; one who works for me.

He serves two drinks, and Aleksandr slides one across the bar to Natalie. She smiles and takes a sip; she says something, and Jake, the barman, says something to her, then she takes another.

My lips curve up in a devious smile. Now I just have to wait for the drug to take effect.

While I’m waiting, I ping Stromberg a text.

My man will be there within the hour. Sign it, and don’t even think about calling the police or sending anyone to the club. If you do, you’ll be sorry, and so will your daughter.

My man who delivers the contract will let Stromberg know in no uncertain terms that should he show any disloyalty or disobey my orders, It’s his daughter who will pay the price.

I have no intention of hurting his daughter. Not unless she defies me or tries to run. Not that she would get very far, but it might be fun to allow her a futile attempt. I do love the thrill of the chase.