Chapter 5
NADIR
I walk past Jess’s office the next day and have a peek through the blinds without her knowing. Burgundy is the color she’s gone for today. It suits her just as well as the black.
But not as much as the red tank top from six years ago.
She wears her hair in a clip, pulled tight away from her face. Sophisticated with an effortless beauty. She has the same flair from all those years ago. It made her stand out from the crowd in a very unique, striking way.
I’ve never come across a face like hers since, and I see a lot of faces, particularly women when I want them sucking my cock.
They take me deep, lathering me from shaft to tip in saliva.
I watch their faces carefully, studying their eyes, waiting for that hint of innocent playfulness that never comes.
Many of them try to act. But none of them ever look quite as delicious as Jess when I ruined her in the cabin bathroom, high in the air.
The playfulness is far removed from her eyes today, same as it was yesterday. Today I don’t even have the blush to look at. Her eyes are fixated on the computer screen, staring harder than what’s required when typing in your username.
Unless she suddenly forgot her own name, I have reason to believe that something is on her mind. And that something doesn’t have anything to do with me.
Her eyes dart my way, and my vision fills with blue. Weird. I wasn’t expecting her to notice me.
Jess opens the door and pops her head out. “Can I help you, Mr. Medvedev?”
“You’re getting there with the pronunciation.” I wink, waiting for her cheeks to change color.
But she seems to be more in control of herself today. Her eyes don’t change, and they don’t look away. They’re more mature, the angles in her face more pronounced. It all contributes to the self-assured, business look she has going on.
“I thought I’d pay you a visit to see how you’re getting on.”
“I’m doing fine,” she says, her lower lip tightening.
The red lipstick is impeccable, drawing even more attention to the area.
It would be inappropriate to get my mouth back around those lips.
But it’s inappropriate to own a business front to conceal my Bratva dealings, and I still chose to do that.
She pauses, then says, “Actually, before you shoot off, I’d like to speak to you about something.”
I walk into her office and shut the door behind me, expecting another bold statement addressing the elephant in the room. I’m happy for there to be more elephants.
“You know yesterday in your office when you said I should report any suspicious behavior?”
I close in. “Yes. What about it?”
“On my way to the restroom yesterday on the third floor, I saw two men exchanging a concealed item. They both had weird looks on their faces, like they weren’t supposed to be there doing that.
” Jess sticks her hands on her hips. “I thought I should let you know after our conversation in the office. By the sounds of it, you have zero tolerance for bullshit.” Her eyes flare wide, a hand slapping over her mouth. “Sorry, I shouldn’t swear.”
I narrow my eyes, needing as much detail from her as possible without making it obvious I’m concerned. “What did these men look like?”
“I don’t know.” Jess shrugs. “Normal, I guess.”
“Define normal.”
“Suit and tie…”
“Yes. What else?”
“I think they were both wearing cuff links.”
Panic over. Kozhikov men don’t care about details when it comes to putting themselves together for the day.
“Thanks for bringing this to my attention, Miss Rawcliffe. I will take care of the rest.”
“Don’t you want their names?”
“That won’t be necessary.”
“Then how do you propose to take care of it?” She cuts her gaze at me, confused above all else.
“That’s none of your concern,” I say, already retreating to the door.
“You have my email and work number if you need me, but only use me as a last resort. Go through your line manager first if you have any problems. And, Miss Rawcliffe?” I call her attention on a final note.
“Best not speak about our history to anyone. It wouldn’t bode very well for you, being a new hire. ”
“What makes you think I plan to do that?”
“I’m simply offering you a word of advice. You would be smart to take it.”
Jess looks at me pointedly from her desk, still refusing to sit. “And can I expect you to do the same?”
“I’m a man who doesn’t kiss and tell, Miss Rawcliffe. Your secret is safe with me.”
“Hm.” She furls her lip. “So is yours.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“What are you hiding?”
I reenter the room, studying her expression. Jess waits for me to answer, keeping her lips upturned and her eyes wide.
I didn’t expect her to figure it out just yet.
She needs to be more settled in the company before learning the truth.
“What makes you think that I have something to hide, Miss Rawcliffe?”
“Some of the clientele’s financial records are flagging as restricted. I can’t access them. Is there a reason for that?”
“There’s a reason for everything, Miss Rawcliffe. Let that be your first lesson in business.” I narrow my eyes on her again. “Leon tells me you have no prior experience in this industry, aside from a six-week online course you passed with flying colors.”
“Why are the records restricted?” she presses, determined as ever. “How am I expected to pitch deal flows to them and know what to say in team meetings if I can’t access everything?”
“You won’t need access to our big bankers’ financial records.”
“As an investment associate?”
“I like to take the burden off my team and handle the big clients myself. They tend to be quite relentless.” I search her eyes, glad to see the anticipation gone. “Are there any more questions, Miss Rawcliffe?”
Jess scans my face, like she’s trying to figure out the answers herself. “No,” she says, choosing to sit her beautiful ass back down.
I close the door, my groin shifting.
I know exactly what’s underneath that burgundy skirt.
I return to my own office on the top floor with some important business to carry out. A quick self-massage under my desk is well overdue, after finding out who my latest employee is.
I take my cock from my pants and let my imagination run wild. I’ve never had much of one, but the visions started yesterday when Jessy first stumbled into my chest, all red lips, flushed cheeks, and blue eyes. Chaos in the best way possible. I’ve been lacking that for a long while.
I picture her lips, the sight of her velvet pussy, and go irrevocably hard.
It’s not long before I’m finishing under my desk and quickly escaping to the bathroom to wash off.
That should keep me at bay for at least the next twenty-four hours.
I’m sure tomorrow will bring new problems, new outfits just as cock-teasing as the last two.
But I can train my mind and get used to her being here.
Jessy from the plane. The girl who looked and looked away, like I didn’t matter. The first girl I’d met who didn’t shower me with praise.
I put pen to paper and intend to keep it that way until lunch. One previous fling will not be the reason I lose my focus today.
BANG!
Anastasia collapsing to the ground.
Blood gushing from her heart…
The heart I promised to love for the rest of my life.
“I have to say, brother, I’m impressed how long you managed to keep this secret,” says my older brother, the gun still in his hand. “I knew you were hiding something, but I wasn’t expecting it to be a girl.”
My father watches from the sidelines, his gaze fixed on my older brother this whole time—the one he’s actually proud of.
“Sometimes it’s best to learn the hard way,” says Dimitri. “I’m sure you’ll be thanking me in a few years.”
“I loved her.” There’s no fight in me. Just raw pain, filling every artery and nerve.
“Ha!” Dimitri laughs, my father joining in with him. “Love? What you have here is a leech.” My brother rolls Anastasia over with his foot, tilting his head in assessment. “A pretty leech, but a leech nonetheless.”
I manage to channel the pain coursing through me into enough adrenaline, barreling forward to punch my bastard older brother in the face. But he catches my fist and drives me away.
“You’re out of control, brother, attacking your own. Who have you become?”
“I’ll show you control if that’s what you want.”
His laughter fades to a knocking on my door.
I find myself staring at a blank page.
“Enter.”
Leon strides in and shuts the door behind him, looking with me at the blank piece of paper. “What’s gotten into you this morning?”
“It’s called thinking,” I tell him. “You should try it sometime before hiring women who have no prior experience working in equity firms.”
“About that,” Leon says. “I never got the chance to ask you how you know Miss Rawcliffe.”
I tense my jaw. “We met briefly at a bar on the harbor. It was several years ago now. Not worth talking about.”
“I don’t know,” Leon says, inviting himself to a seat at my desk. “She looked pretty frightened yesterday when I mentioned your name in the elevator.”
“What about it? I tend to have that effect on a lot of people.” I drop the pen and give Leon my full attention so he can see that my face isn’t in the mood to chat this morning. “Is this the only reason you came here to see me?”
“No.” Leon takes a bottle of water from my fridge and unscrews the cap. “Another one of our extortionists was killed last night.”
“Where?”
“Roxbury. He was in the middle of a job when he was attacked. Some mudak threw a knife into his back.”
“Where is his body now?”
“I don’t know. My guess is at the bottom of the harbor. A team were sent to clean things up pretty quick.”
I sit back in my chair, the leathers squeaking. “What’s done is done. We just have to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Pass this message on to Sergey and tell him he needs to arrange a meeting with all of the other extortionists. He needs to make his team aware of what’s going on.”
I take off from my desk and walk toward the floor-to-ceiling windows. I’m in need of a cleanse. And the Boston skyline never fails to clear my head. “I need you to tighten up on security and make sure we have no Kozhikov men entering the building.”
“Da,” Leon says. “I’ll have a discreet word with security now.”
“One last thing before you go.” I turn around, putting my back to the city to catch Leon’s eyes. “Jess Rawcliffe signed the NDA, so she’s all cleared to know the truth about everything. But for now, if she probes you with any questions, answer them vaguely.”
Leon frowns. “Why, when she’s signed the NDA? Even if she decides to leave like some of the others, she’s still locked into the contract. She’d know better than to open her mouth.”
She wouldn’t.
I hardly know Jess, but I have a feeling she’s a big risk-taker.
All of my employees majored in finance and worked similar roles before starting work at my company.
Finance isn’t easy. To succeed in this industry, you’re expected to cross moral boundaries from time to time.
All of my employees, having previously worked in similar sectors, know that big money isn’t earned from playing fair.
Jess has only taken one online course. She doesn’t know any of this. I agree with Leon that she has real potential, but we must tread with caution to make sure her big energy doesn’t start working against us.
“Let’s settle Jess in a bit first,” I say to Leon.
Building an empire from nothing taught me something huge: not everyone is capable of achieving greatness.
My brother and father built something, but they never succeeded on my level.
Not everyone is born with fire in their belly.
Determination and hard work are things that don’t come naturally to most people.
The average person doesn’t just pass a six-week online course when they’ve had no previous training. Jess never went to college, according to her resume. She showed initiative in the course, her answers insightful, her suggestions on leveraging income really quite creative.
She was born with passion, and with the desire to do great things.
I need to make sure I train her onto the right path. If she wanders down the wrong path, it could end everything—Sterling Row Partners and everything else I’ve built here in the States after migrating halfway across the world to start over.