Roselle’s POV
“We’re here.” Sylvester looked ahead.
“This is the exchange point.”
The moment he finished speaking, I didn’t waste any more time.
I opened the car door and stepped out.
Several other cars had arrived with us from the estate.
One after another, the men stepped out, and I waited until everyone was out before moving toward the building ahead of us.
It looked like an ordinary warehouse.
But I knew better than to judge it by its appearance.
As I walked, my eyes constantly scanned the surroundings, searching for anything that seemed out of place.
There were several cars similar to ours parked nearby.
Which meant one thing.
The other Don had brought his soldiers too.
I kept my posture steady as I approached the warehouse, refusing to let my feet betray the uneasiness growing inside me.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was walking into this situation blindly.
Yuri had arrived on time.
He had already secured the area long before I got there, which meant he knew exactly what surrounded him.
I, on the other hand, was walking into his territory without knowing what waited beyond those walls.
I trusted Sylvester or at least, I believed he would never knowingly put me in danger.
But belief alone wasn’t enough in this world.
There were too many variables to ignore.
I silently made a note to myself.
Next time, someone would scout the area before I arrived.
I wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice.
“Mrs. Belladonna, welcome.” A man’s voice reached me the moment I stepped inside the warehouse.
His accent was unmistakable.
There was a distinct curl to his pronunciation, almost as though he added an extra r to nearly every word.
I looked toward the source of the voice.
A middle-aged man stood before me, surrounded by several well-trained men who looked remarkably similar to the ones following behind me.
I could immediately tell that he is Yuri Zaitsev.
I stopped a few feet away from him and met his eyes.
“Mr. Yuri, my apologies. I arrived a little later than the scheduled time. I had a few tasks to take care of first.”
His eyes narrowed slightly.
He had a large scar running along his jaw.
I noticed it immediately, but I made sure not to stare.
In certain circles, staring at a man’s scars could easily be interpreted as disrespect.
“It’s fine,” he said.
“I didn’t have to wait too long. As you already know, I am a busy person too, and I would really hate to be kept waiting for so long.” His tone remained calm.
He didn’t raise his voice.
He didn’t use any openly insulting words.
Yet I could still hear the condescension beneath them.
It had been a while since someone had spoken to me that way.
Apparently, I had missed it.
“So do well next time, okay?” He added
I almost smiled.
Instead, I held his gaze.
“Well, Mr. Yuri, you know these things aren’t always planned. I’ll certainly try my best to arrive on time, although I can’t always promise that.” I tilted my head slightly.
“You would understand that, wouldn’t you? As you said yourself, you’re a very busy person. Sometimes delays happen, and they’re not always within our control.”
I had deliberately put him in a position where refusing to agree would make him look unreasonable.
For a moment, he simply stared at me.
Then he nodded.
“That’s understandable.”
“Good.” I allowed a brief pause before continuing.
“So, shall we get to the purpose of your business today?”
“No, no, no.” He immediately shook his head, raising one finger.
“Not so fast, Mrs. Belladonna.”
I stopped. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
I hadn’t expected that response.
Yuri looked past me toward the men who had followed me inside.
“You see, I don’t conduct my business when I feel surrounded by people. Especially when the other person I’m dealing with has armed men surrounding me.” His expression hardened slightly.
“It makes me feel threatened.” He looked directly at me.
“So, before we begin our negotiations properly, I would ask that you send your men outside.”
Even without seeing Sylvester’s face, I could tell he was making an irresponsible request.
I just couldn’t understand why.
What was he trying to gain by doing this?
One thing, however, was certain.
Yuri wasn’t making a request.
He was making a demand.
The sudden tension that settled over the warehouse made it obvious that I wasn’t the only one who had noticed.
Still, I didn’t react.
I simply stared at him in silence for a few moments before speaking.
“When making a demand of that nature, isn’t it only reasonable that you do the same?”
His expression remained unreadable.
“You said you would feel threatened conducting business with my men standing behind me. So wouldn’t it make sense for you to do the same? Surely you didn’t expect me to send all my men out while yours remained here.”
“Mrs. Belladonna…”
“It’s Don Roselle to you.” I cut him off before he could finish.
The reaction was immediate.
I noticed the slight surprise on the faces of the men behind him.
Yuri’s expression barely changed, but his body went slightly rigid.
They were reacting to the fact that I had interrupted their Don while he was still speaking.
I didn’t care.
He had spent the last several minutes speaking to me with a condescending tone, deliberately reducing me to Mrs. Belladonna instead of acknowledging my position.
Now he wanted to strip me of my men as well.
I wouldn’t allow it.
This was a business meeting, and it was time he started treating it like one.
“Normally, the sellers I’ve dealt with in the past never make an issue out of this,” Yuri said.
“Even the previous Don conducted business with me in the same manner.” His eyes narrowed slightly.
“Or are you afraid?”
That did it.
Whatever politeness remained in my voice disappeared.
“Look here, Don Yuri.” My voice was calm, but there was no warmth left in it.
“I don’t care how you conduct your business or how you’ve handled your dealings with people in the past.” I paused, allowing my words to settle.
“But I want you to understand one thing.” I held his gaze.
“I am not Don DeLuca.” I took another slow breath.
“I am not like any of the other Dons you’ve dealt with before.”
The room remained completely silent.
“In fact, I want you to engrave my name so deeply into your mind that it stays with you for the rest of your life.” I paused again.
I noticed the irritation beginning to show on the faces of his men, but I paid them no attention.
“I am Don Roselle.”
My voice hardened.
“And whatever Don Roselle wants or says stands.”
I let the statement hang between us.
“Now, if you still want to do business and you genuinely feel threatened by my men being here, then it’s simple.” I gestured toward the entrance.
“I am a very gracious person. I will allow all of my men to leave this warehouse and wait for me at the cars.”
Yuri’s eyes remained fixed on mine.
“But you will do the same.” I pointed toward his men.
“All of yours will leave as well. No soldiers. No guards. No one standing behind either of us.” I folded my arms.
“Just you and me, handling the business.” I paused.
“But if that isn’t acceptable to you, then I think it’s time for me to leave.”
When I finished speaking, the warehouse seemed to become even quieter.
I stared at Yuri.
Then I asked the only question that mattered.
“So?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Business or no business?”
He stared at me for several long moments.
Then, slowly, a smile appeared on his face.
He lifted one hand and gestured toward his men.
They immediately bowed before turning around and walking away.
I did the same.
I turned toward my men and gave them a small nod.
Without hesitation, they followed Yuri’s men out.
Within moments, the warehouse was empty.
Except for me, Don Yuri… And the bags of money lying on the floor between us.
“I must say, I’m quite surprised by your personality.” Yuri leaned back slightly, a faint smile appearing on his face.
“But I approve.”
The moment his men left, I noticed the change in his tone.
The condescension from earlier was gone.
Not that it mattered.
I took a certain satisfaction in breaking a man’s ego, and Yuri had just become another addition to my collection.
“Your approval isn’t something I seek.” I held his gaze without looking away.
“Now, without further delay, as I said before, I am a very busy woman, and I’ve already spent far more time here than I initially intended.” I glanced briefly at the bags on the floor.
“So I’ll get straight to the point.”
I looked back at him.
“You have five million dollars in cash that you want exchanged for traceable money, and I’m willing to accept a thirty percent cut for the transaction.”
I remembered what Sylvester had told me.
The previous Don had only charged fifteen percent.
But I didn’t care.
If Yuri thought he could intimidate me with unnecessary tactics, then he had miscalculated.
I wasn’t the type to become intimidated when someone challenged my authority.
I became angry.
Now he has to deal with the consequences of his actions.
“Thirty percent?” Yuri’s eyebrows lifted.
“Isn’t that a little outrageous? I’m willing to give you ten percent. I could take this money somewhere else and get it cleaned for less than that, so I think ten percent is a very fair deal.”
“Twenty or nothing.” I didn’t hesitate.
“Don Yuri, I don’t want to waste either of our time. Twenty percent is the lowest I’m willing to go.”
He studied me for a moment.
“Let’s leave it at fifteen, then.”
“Then I’m sorry for wasting your time.” I turned around.
“Have a nice day.” I took several steps toward the exit.
“Wait.” He said.
I stopped but I didn’t turn around.
I simply waited.
“Fine,” he finally said.
“Twenty it is.”
A small smile touched my lips before I turned around and walked back toward him.
“Good.” I stopped in front of him.
“This will be the price we follow from now on. The next time you have a transaction, we won’t need to meet like this.”
I extended my hand.
“You’ll simply inform me that you have a transaction. I’ll give you a location. You will drop off the money and send me the account details where the clean money should be deposited.” I held out my hand.
He looked at it for a moment before taking it.
“You’re a bit difficult, you know that?”
I smiled.
“I’m very glad you think so.” I released his hand and stepped back.
“Send your account details to my people. They’ll return to count and verify the money in the bags. Once the amount has been confirmed, your clean money will be transferred to you.”
I gave him one final look.
“Have a nice day.” Then I turned and walked away.