Chapter 6 - Being Cautious

Thursday, February 18th. Control room, 12:56 p.m.

—Reiji, did you tell all this to Yaakov? — Alexei demands to know.

—Of course, Mr. Magnus. As soon as I realized that our defenses had been penetrated, I consulted with Chief Yaakov when he came that morning — admits the Omega, quickly looking for the recording of the conversation he had that day with his cousin —. If you want, I can show you the video. I know that you prefer that when something like this happens you be notified directly, but he told me that he was going to your office at that time and that he would personally pass the information on to you. That's the only reason I didn't call you, sir. Was I wrong?

Alexei can feel the concern in his tone. However, he could not care less about trying to be condescending to anyone as he was angry, his extremities feeling hot from the accumulated rage. Yaakov had been hiding the full facts from him, although he did not want to consider the alternative that his cousin would be capable of betraying him.

«In this lifestyle we've chosen, we can't really trust anyone», he thought of the words of his mentor soon after he was recruited.

He would have to face Yaakov as soon as possible.

—I need you to tell Yaakov to come to my office as soon as he arrives, Reiji. Straight away, to meet me. Do you understand me? And send me a copy of that recording — with a sharp voice and a defiant look, ignoring the previous question of the Omega.

—Yes, sir. Understood — Reiji was intimidated by the authoritative tone Alexei used and through the smell he emitted, he could tell the Alpha was really angry.

Without saying anything else or looking back, the Alpha left that place and headed straight to his office at a steady pace, all the information he received from Reiji leaving him distraught, deeply irritated, with the feeling that he would erupt at the slightest provocation.

It was obvious that Yaakov, when he went to tell him what happened, hid the most important details about the event of the alleged spy, or spies, and if what he wanted to achieve was not to worry him, it had the opposite effect. His lungs were congested against his chest cavity, he could feel the precipitous increase in his blood flow, and his fists were so tight that his knuckles turned white, with his fingernails digging into his palms, piercing the skin.

He could not tolerate being lied to, much less on a matter of such relevance.

«He better have a damn good excuse for this», he thinks as he walks into his office. The subordinates standing outside the door on guard. He heads for the minibar in the corner of the room and pours himself a glass of whiskey.

With the container half full with two ice cubes, he sits down on the desk chair and lights a cigarette. He takes a deep puff, expelling the smoke slowly as he wanders in his mind. He takes small sips of the liquor from time to time, watching the minutes tick away on his computer clock.

After an hour that seems to last forever, Reiji informs him through a message that Yaakov is already in The Mansion and on his way to see him. The Alpha straightens up and stares at the door waiting for his cousin to make an appearance.

He's upset and the fact that he had to wait a fucking hour for him has only managed to turn the annoyance into a fiery rage. After a few seconds, he hears the knocking at the entrance and without waiting for the invitation, Yaakov bursts in silently. He stops briefly, watching the Alpha with a hint of insecurity, who has him under the steely power of his gaze.

—What the fuck are you waiting for to close the damn door? — Alexei roars, with his eyes narrowed —. You have something to tell me, Yaakov, and before you even open your mouth, I advise you to think carefully about what you're going to tell me.

Yaakov just stands there in awe, eyes wide open. Then he nods, regaining some courage, and closes the door. He walks slowly towards Alexei to sit in front of him, but Yaakov is extremely nervous. He knew the Alpha would find out that he had withheld information from him, but he did not think it would be so soon. He felt incredibly stupid, he should never have underestimated his cousin's trickery.

—Listen, Magnus... — he managed to articulate without having the courage to look him directly in the eye, he noticed how his hands were shaking and sweat was starting to run down his sides.

—Fucking hell, Yaakov! — exclaims, violently hitting his desk, startling him —. You lied to me! — The glass he had there wobbled momentarily before falling to the floor, causing a clatter as it broke into pieces —. How could you keep such crucial information from me?!

Alexei objects, leveling his tone of voice at a deep, hoarse one. This instead of calming Yaakov, had the opposite effect, making him even more unsettled.

—You make me look like a fucking fool. Did you think I wouldn't find out? — the Alpha claims, snapping his fingers in front of his cousin face to force him to focus on him —. I remind you that I am the head of this damn organization, you owe me your loyalty and your sincerity as my employee. The fact that you are my family does not give you the right to make me look like a bloody incompetent. Do you understand me?

Yaakov nods, making a maximum effort to keep the look he felt piercing his soul. His wolf howled in pain at the coercion, subdued and helpless at the disconcerting power of his familiar.

—Speak and you better be goddamn convincing — Magnus warns him, putting his elbows on the armrests and crossing his hands over his stomach. Yaakov tries to stabilize his breathing. He needed all his willpower so that his voice did not tremble when he spoke.

—Magnus, my intention was never to inconvenience you, much less make you look useless in front of anyone. Not only are you my boss, but you're my family and I owe you my life. You gave me the reins of this job, which means that if any problem arises, I'm the one who has to solve it.

Patting himself mentally on the back for having managed to stand his ground.

—I thought about telling you, but then you told me that you were getting worried and that you had a bad feeling about the boat thing, I didn't want to add more wood to the fire. That's why I didn't tell you everything about the bastard who managed to infiltrate our system — he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He put one in his mouth and lit it, all under Alexei's vigilant scrutiny —. Today when I left, besides going to look for the truck at the workshop, I went with several of our men to visit different of our supposed allies, to see if I could find any clues about who might have broken through our defenses…

—And? — was interrupted, Alexei anxious to know what he had found out.

—I haven't managed to find anything yet. They've all had sufficiently credible alibis, it's not like I blindly trust every one of them, but I sent our men to watch them to clear up any doubts. And several of our most entrenched enemies as well. I'm confident we'll soon find some clues that will lead us directly to the culprit.

Magnus can't help but be disappointed and frustrated. Whoever had the balls and guile to get around his firewall was clearly interested in the merchandise that would arrive on Saturday.

—It seems to me that your procedure in this matter was not at all wise, Yaakov — he leans over his seat to rest his elbows on the desk —. Hiding something from me is not exactly the smartest thing you have done, what you are causing with that is to lose my trust in you. You know my patience is the size of a fucking graphite pencil and yet you thought it was fun to test me — slightly raising his eyebrows, grunting each word to emphasize his statement.

—What? Jesus, Magnus. You're wrong — Yaakov claims, already exasperated by trying to convince him —. I didn't do this to upset you, to test you, let alone challenge you. I just want you to understand that I can handle issues like this and that you can trust me to solve your problems — he runs his hand through his hair in an act of desperation, before dropping it tightly on his thigh —. I know what I did was stupid, I admit, I should never have kept something like that from you. But I wanted to show you that I am completely capable of keeping you and the organization safe.

Alexei remains silent for several minutes, carefully analyzing his confession. He still finds his cousin's behavior stupid and unwise, but he understands a little his actions. He had been in the same position with Yurik in the early years working at his side, constantly wanting to prove his worth and his fearlessness.

—I understand — concedes finally, after relaxing a bit —. But that doesn't change the fact that you were totally and irrevocably stupid — he points him out —. You should have told me, Yaakov. For your sake, I hope something like this doesn't happen again. You can prove your usefulness to me without doing such a stupid thing. You better not do it again. I don't give second chances. Nobody knows that better than you.

The lower-ranking Alpha is immensely relieved to hear the words of his boss, despite having culminated in a threat.

—I'm sorry, Magnus. You know I would never betray you. I owe you more than I can ever offer you — Yaakov admits, trying to make his honesty touch the other man.

—Stop talking nonsense and constantly reminiscing about the past — Magnus settles down once again, checking the time on his computer screen. They had spent forty minutes arguing —. In the end it would be best to postpone the business with Franchesco.

—What?! — Yaakov screams, jumping out of his seat —. No, Magnus! Come on, we can take care of that without any trouble. Our men are more than ready, no need to delay anything — tries to convince him.

—It's not the wisest thing to do, Yaakov — the Alpha says, raising his voice but not shouting —. I remind you that the spy, or spies, know what we're doing, so we can't take any chances.

—Damn it, Magnus. It may well be one person trying to fuck you over and get some money out of you. You've been working this out with Graziani for over a month, I don't think he'd be very happy if you backed out now — resting his open palms on the Alpha's desk, looking at him carefully to change his mind.

—I don't give a damn about Franchesco's feelings. I don't want to risk the lives of my men, nor bet my money on it — he strikes back decisively —. Maybe you're right and it's just one man. But what if it's not? If it's from another organization? — he points out, Yaakov seems to be thinking of an appropriate response to not throw everything away.

—Listen, don't let this become a bigger problem than it really is. We can handle it, our men are more than capable of the job, plus you have "The Gang". Remember? — doing the quotes with his fingers and looking at the Alpha with a mocking gesture —. Come on, Magnus. We can take care of this. In fact, I accept full responsibility if anything goes wrong, which I tell you in advance: it won't.

Alexei reconsiders, Yaakov can notice. He wants to trust in the success of the mission, but he still finds it too risky after all that has happened.

—I don't know, Yaakov... — articulates in a low voice.

—Come on, man. Trust me — using the last card up his sleeve —. Our subordinates are conditioned, all the arrangements are in place, all it takes is for Fred to finish the explosives and so...

—They're already finished.

—Shit, Fredek! — Yaakov shouts out in surprise —. I almost shit my pants from the scare you gave me! — He had even held his gun, ready to use it —. How long have you been there?

—I just walked in — shrugging his shoulders —. You were so engrossed in talking that you didn't notice.

—For God's sake, you must stop showing up like this all of a sudden, the next time I might accidentally shoot you — he accuses him, letting it go to further persuade Alexei —. You see? Everything's ready now, Magnus. It's too late to back out, we have to go through with the plan.

The Alpha sighs and prepares to light another cigarette. He wants to take his cousin's word for it and trust that everything will in fact turn out well, but at the same time avoid compromising the survival of his subordinates, as well as his reputation as a businessman.

—-I'll think about it — he offers that short olive branch, without really giving a concrete "yes" —. Arrange a meeting with the others for tomorrow, there I'll make my final decision. For now, let me talk to Fred — he gestures towards his brother, who is standing by the door with his usual neutral expression.

Yaakov oscillates, swaying uncomfortably, until he nods off without any other way out.

—All right, but before I go, I want to assure you again that everything will be all right. I promise. Leave it to me — pauses briefly before continuing —. You should relax a little, Magnus. Go out with some girl, you spend too much time focused on work, you need to distract yourself, if you know what I mean — finishes the last thing quietly and winks at him with a cheeky smile.

—No — the Alpha says —. I'm not in the mood. Besides, you know I've become very cautious about that whole thing. I don't want to fall into the same shit again — takes one last puff on the cigarette before putting it out in the ashtray.

—Come on, Magnus. Not all women are crazy — he giggles a little —. Besides, you don't have to make much of an effort to get company, since they practically rain on you, you lucky bastard.

Alexei smiles cocky. It was true, not many could celebrate the victory of rejecting his bewitching light brown eyes, the stocky, voluminous body, his slender dark brown hair, not to mention the advantageous inches of his cock. It is unusual for a Russian native to have such features, which is why he attributed his mother to being possibly a foreigner.

It's just a guess, since he never knew anything about the woman.

—Jealous? — with a soft tone, trying to hold back his laughter at Yaakov's annoying expression.

—Of course I am, asshole. I wish I had some of that. I mean, I'm not lacking, but I don't have a festival waiting to devour my sexy body either — raising one of his eyebrows as he gestures towards his figure, stating the obvious in his words.

—Does that mean that Lev isn't enough for you? — he asks, faking an expression of astonishment — Wow, I'll have to let him know about your decision, I don't think he would like to be the second choice.

—-Don't. You. Dare — Yaakov warns him with a grunt —. Leave my Omega out of it.

That's where Alexei can't hold back the laughter any longer and burst. After a few seconds of watching him laugh, Yaakov can't help but catch his laughter and ends up doing it himself.

—Well, that's enough bullshit — his cousin says as he heads for the door —. I'm going, call me if you need me again.

—Yaakov — Magnus calls him before he closes the door —. I hope there won't be a next time — he didn't need to add anything else in order for his cousin to know exactly what he meant.

They watch each other for a few seconds, then Yaakov nods and leaves, leaving him alone with his brother. Fred stands there unmoved, unflinching in his meditative attitude. Until he reaches his desk and places the wooden box he was holding on top of it, drops to a chair and crosses his arms over his chest.

—There are forty-five — he reports —. I'm here if you need more, then I'll go and prepare them — his tone is low and neutral.

Alexei nods. His little brother changed his attitude a lot over the years: from being an adorable, mischievous, happy and playful little fox, to a distant, stealthy and silent adult.

Although he clearly knew the cause of his abrupt personality alteration, he never knew how to deal with it. Sentimentalism was not his strong suit. He had forced himself to bury his emotions so much that he sometimes forgot they existed. «Maybe I don't even have any anymore», he thought briefly, not wanting to put any more effort into that disturbing approach.

—I think that's enough. Although I'm rethinking the whole business with Franchesco Graziani. I don't think it's wise to make it happen — their gaze never ceases, even in the brief moments when they are both mute.

—Why?

—Someone broke into our security system and had access to our data, and according to Reiji, was quite interested in the information we have stored about the embarkation — Fred seems to think of something for a moment, pursing his lips.

—I thought the men were prepared to face any scenario — he finally says.

—Yes, but it's still a risk I don't want to take. Would you? — pushes, try to get more conversation out of him.

—I'm not aware of everything. But don't you think backing out at this point would make you look like a coward?

Well, Alexei hadn't considered that possibility. His attention was on the possible betrayal by his cousin who did not evaluate the complexity of the matter and his brother, who did not know everything, had hit the weak point of his pride.

Alexei Magnus was not weak, he was not flexible, and he was certainly not a coward.

He worked hard to get to where he was, passing over many and not letting himself be bent over by the obstacles that stood in his way. On many occasions he showed his strength and incredible genius to lead in business and in combat. Yurik taught him well, after all.

He did not want to fall into the wrong position of making a foolish decision just to save his ego, he would have to evaluate very well his way of proceeding in all this mess.

—We'll discuss it tomorrow at the meeting I'm holding — he reveals at last —. I told Yaakov to take care of everything.

—-Perfect — Fredek nods as he gets out of his seat and heads for the exit —. I'll keep an eye out.

—Fred — his brother calls him before he can get away —. How are you?

The Alpha tries to make his tone sound as calm and unbiased as possible, hiding the slight hint of nervousness that he really felt at the time. Fredek offers him a view of his profile, without seeing him directly.

—Why you wanna know?

—Because I care, you're my brother, that hasn't changed — he stands carefully, circles the desk and rests his hip on the edge —. How are you? — insists —. Is there anything I can do for you? Have you taken your suppressors?

The Omega stays quiet for a short time. Then he turns around and faces him. His semblance does not show any expression as usual, but then a slight smile is drawn on his lips.

—Everything's fine. I'm fine, I don't need anything, and I got my suppressors with Lev's help, so don't worry. I spend my heat periods on my own, as usual. Anything else? — perseveres, taking up the closed and introverted gesture. The Alpha, resigned, sighs deeply before responding.

—-No. For the explosives, you don't need to do more, according to Yaakov they won't be needed. Besides, I haven't decided what to do yet. See you tomorrow at the meeting.

The Omega nods and leaves, putting his brother in an agitated sea of contradictory thoughts. Alexei spends the rest of the day trying to reach a course of action that will leave everyone happy, but above all: unharmed.

—Goddammit... What the hell am I supposed to do?