Chapter 5 - Rurik
Clem was fantastic in the meeting, just like I knew she would be.
I helped her hone her presentation and gave her a few tips for how to deal with Gavril, but it was really all her, shining like a star.
The only one in the sky as far as I was concerned, but my appreciation of her accomplishments had nothing to do with my personal obsession with her.
She had the research done before I ever asked her, and something like a gaming company would never have been on my radar.
There wasn’t a single doubt in my mind that she would find all the necessary information to get Koboyashi to sign with us.
Thanks to my Clementine, it was as good as done, and it was a great feeling to finally bring something substantial to Gavrik Imports.
And something else that felt great was the hug I couldn’t stop myself from sweeping her up into after Gavril left.
I couldn’t forget the warmth of her skin, the hint of subtle perfume, the squeak of surprised laughter as I twirled her around in victory.
When she left for the day, I couldn’t hold back any longer.
Not after finally feeling her body so close to mine.
All those evenings spent working so closely together to prepare for the presentation had led to this.
It was long past time. I knew her address, of course, but I had been refraining from driving by, hanging on by a thread as I let our story unfold naturally.
I had offered her a ride home a few times when our work kept us at the office past dark, and when she refused, insisting it wasn’t far, I always equally insisted she at least charge a taxi to the company.
The location of the Gavrik building wasn’t in a particularly bad part of town, mostly other businesses and a few retail shops, with the area being fairly dead after office hours, but I knew better than most how riddled with crime LA was.
Clem admitted to having a car but said she liked to walk for exercise, an excuse I knew was a lie when I saw an old beater parked outside the door of the shoddy apartment she entered that night.
The place was even more rundown and unsafe than the car.
Parking on the street, I got out and did a quick perimeter check.
No one stopped me to ask what I was doing, which meant the residents were used to big, scary men skulking around, something I didn’t like at all.
A bent chain link fence with several huge holes cut in it separated it from the dodgy building next door, and a few sorry weeds grew in cracks in the pavement.
Not an inch of grass to be seen, not even in the courtyard, which had a fountain that couldn’t have been turned on in decades.
Two neglected potted palm trees hung on for dear life by an arrangement of chairs and a table littered with soda cans and cigarette butts.
Wasn’t I paying her enough? I was aghast at how expensive this place was when I searched the rent prices on a property listing website. I had been breathing the rarified air of generational wealth too long, it seemed.
Clem worked too hard to have to come home to a place like this. It was all I could do to keep from pounding on her door and taking her away to the luxury she deserved, but I stopped myself before I got too close. She still didn’t know she was mine, after all. Not yet.
Walking around to the backs of the single-level apartments again, I found her window, the only one with tidy curtains instead of dented, crooked blinds or beach towels haphazardly hung across the glass.
They were parted just enough for me to peek in and see a tiny kitchen connected to an even smaller living area, with a single bed where a couch might be.
Everything was spotless and as nice as she could make it, despite the faded paint, cracked walls, and ancient linoleum that ran throughout the space.
She had added a few rugs and some cheerful seaside prints to the walls, and her laptop was open next to a vase of flowers on the tiny kitchen table, covered with a crisp, white cloth.
She had worked her magic as best she could, just like in my building.
A fist seemed to squeeze my heart as I took in the scene, knowing that this was how she lived when she didn’t have to.
A door opened, and she came out of the steaming bathroom, wrapped in a towel, rubbing at her long, black hair with another as it fell in wet strands down her bare arms.
My body tightened as she walked toward the bed, reaching for a bathrobe flung across the pale yellow spread.
Her skin was pale copper, her chest and shoulders rosy from the hot water of her shower.
My eyes roamed down her legs, droplets still beading on her smooth thighs.
Dropping the towel she used on her hair, she shook out the glorious strands and began to unwrap herself.
I stepped back abruptly, breathing hard. I wouldn’t go that far.
Hurrying back to my car, utterly consumed by her, I almost missed a call from one of my guys who helped keep my empire in Moscow in line. It would have been early morning for him, so it probably wasn’t an emergency, so I let it go to voicemail. If something was wrong, he’d call me back.
Clem was the only thing on my mind right now. Not just her silky skin, though that was a tough image to shake, and one that would stay with me for a long time. At least until I saw it again.
What bothered me was the place she called home. Not good enough for her by miles, and more importantly, not safe. I called up one of my cousin’s guards, who owed me a favor, and asked if he had time for a side gig.
“I need you to watch someone for me,” I said.
“What’d he do?” he asked, assuming I wanted dirt on an enemy.
“It’s a woman, and nothing. I only need you to watch her apartment when she’s in it.”
“Not follow her? No pictures?”
“None of that. Don’t let her know you exist. When she’s home, you keep her safe by any means necessary, that’s it.”
He agreed, and only when he arrived to take over my vigil did I reluctantly head home.
It was hard to sleep in my huge, luxurious bed knowing she was crammed against the wall on hers.
With hardly any sleep, I got up early, checked in with Moscow, then headed to the office to write a big check to leave on Clem’s desk.
Waiting in my office for her to arrive, I tried to focus on some invoices and reply to my cousin Aleks’s question about an upcoming family dinner, but my ears were honed in on the sound of her light, tapping footsteps in the hall.
A few moments later, she brought me my coffee, the exact way I liked it, and smiled the way she always did. She had no idea everything had changed.
“Too much sugar,” I lied, just to hear her try to suppress the cute huff she always made when I complained about something she knew was right. There it was, then she got back to work.
“What’s this?” she squealed a few minutes later, her head appearing around the doorjamb. She waved the check, a shocked expression on her face.
“A bonus for a job well done,” I said, looking back at my computer screen as if her smile wasn’t giving me extra life.
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“You went above and beyond, and worked countless extra hours. You can give it back if you want, though.”
Her quick burst of laughter made me look up. Her eyes were shining with gratitude, but that wasn’t what I wanted from her. Not even close.
“No, I accept it,” she said hurriedly. “Thank you.”
“The clock is ticking down to the Koboyashi visit,” I said. “Are we ready?”
I caught her scowl before I briskly looked away. “We will be,” she promised firmly, scampering back to her desk. A moment later, there was a flurry of keyboard taps as she started her new research.
I had no doubt at all that we would be. The guard I had put outside her apartment called me.
“Nothing last night besides a few minor drug exchanges,” he said.
“At her apartment?” I hissed. God, it was worse than I had thought.
“In the courtyard. Nobody went near her door, believe me. I understood the assignment. How long do you want me to keep it up?”
“As long as she lives there, and when she moves, too,” I told him. “Stay out of sight and protect her at all costs. Until I can take over the job myself,” I added, ending the call.
That moment couldn’t come soon enough.