Chapter Twenty Konstantin’s POV
Chapter Twenty
Konstantin’s POV
I stepped out of my office just as Alina took a step out of the library. Then she stepped back and shut the door.
“Now I know you’re avoiding me,” I said, entering the library.
She was sitting on the edge of the wide table, facing the door. Her hair was pulled back in its usual neat twist, and her black jeans and sweater looked good on her.
“Why do you say so?” she answered, crossing her arms.
“Are you not?”
“Not exactly,” she divulged. “I wanted to make it easier for you. You should leave.”
“Make what easier?”
“Do I have to spell it out?” she inquired, her voice a bit higher than usual. She was clearly getting annoyed. But I had no idea why.
“Yes, you do.”
She sighed loudly. “I'm saving you the stress of apologizing that it was a mistake and the headache of dealing with someone who can’t deal with casual sex like every other person.”
I was, indeed, taken aback.
I had guessed her avoidance had something to do with the intimate night we shared, but I never thought the reason would be anything like this.
I walked slowly towards her. “I guess you’re right to think that way. But you're wrong to assume it’s the truth. Because it’s not.”
She looked up at me as I stood in front of her. Her confusion was palpable.
“All I feel at the thought of that night is pleasure. No headaches. And certainly no regrets.”
“I…you weren’t…” she stuttered as I came to stand beside her, leaning against the desk.
“It was a great night. Not one I’ll forget. After ogling you for a long while, I left for work. I got back to meet a different, closed-off version of you.”
“I just thought it’d be easier not to talk about it,” she confessed.
“That used to be the plan after every sexual encounter. But with you, it wasn’t. I didn’t want it to be the last time because every part of it was magic for me.”
“For me, too,” she revealed, her voice just above a whisper.
I wanted to kiss her in that moment.
“I know our marriage is circumstantial. But I'm positive we can get to know each other. We can become friends despite this situation. I know I want to know you better. Every single thing about you. I don’t know how to do these things, but I want to try. I want us to give it a shot.”
“I want that, too.”
“So, friends?” I asked, holding out my right hand.
She placed her left hand in it. “Friends.”
“I understand that the investigations aren’t comfortable. But we’d just agreed to work together, and you just left.”
“Yeah,” she breathed.
I brought my hand around her shoulder and kissed her temple. “You smell so good. Have I told you that before?”
She chuckled. “I could say the same about you.”
I didn’t know what to call it. I wasn’t even sure I’d felt it before but it was right there inside my chest, and I loved the feeling.
**********
I was in my downstairs office when Sergei came to inform me that the forensic accountant had arrived.
We both stepped out of the office and were walking into the sitting room when the entrance doors opened, and Killian entered alongside a petite young lady who carried a black laptop bag.
In a blue shirt and black pants, she looked polished and smart.
“Boss,” Killian greeted with a respectful nod. “Here is she.”
I nodded in acknowledgement as I stood in front of them, with Sergei to my right.
“Mila Petrov?” I mentioned, and she nodded.
“Good morning, Mr. Lobanov,” she greeted, her voice sharp. She was petite, a few inches shorter than Alina, and her chestnut hair was pulled back in a ponytail.
“Good afternoon, Mila. Welcome,” I answered. “Konstantin Lobanov.” I nodded towards Sergei, “This is Sergei, and the man who brought you is Killian.”
She nodded.
That was when I turned towards the stairs to find Alina descending, her squinting eyes on us.
In a simple white tee and black joggers with her hair pouring down the sides of her face, she looked ravishing.
If she had come down earlier, I would have kissed her until we both couldn’t breathe before letting her feet get to the sitting room.
Fuck, if I had woken up next to her, I would have made sweet love to her before leaving, even if the warehouse was on fire.
“I thought you had left. That you were at work,” she said when her eyes met mine.
“Yes, I had some things to handle from here,” I answered as she crossed the distance from the stairs to where we stood.
“Good morning,” she whispered as I took her hand and turned back to the small group.
“My wife,” I told Mila, whose eyes were on Alina.
“The forensic accountant,” I told Alina. “Mila Petrov.”
I had recently mentioned to her that Roman had recommended a forensic accountant to me.
“Mila?” Alina asked the young woman. “Batch 6, Group 9?”
“I was wondering where we must have met,” Mila rushed, her expression softening into a wide smile. “Alina!”
Alina’s soft hand left mine as she embraced Mila.
“We met in a first-aid class many years ago,” Alina explained, smiling up at me as they ended the hug.
“Yes. What a small world,” Mila uttered.
“It is. I’m surprised myself,” I said before clearing my throat, taking Alina’s hand again.
“I believe my brother has explained the current status of things to you.”
“He did give me a basic explanation, yes. But nothing detailed yet,” she answered, nodding at me, her face back to being serious.
“Okay. Sergei and Killian will give you a detailed rundown after you’ve seen the documented facts. You’ll set up in my office here,” I told her, pointing to the door I’d walked out of on the left.
“Okay.”
“Is there anything you need?”
“I can’t say yet. Until I’ve seen the records and all,” she answered.
“Okay, then,” I answered, telling Sergei. “Help her set up.”
“Let’s go,” he told her, and she nodded. As she followed him, she glanced back at Alina, who smiled at her.
“Boss,” Killian uttered, nodding before following them.
I squeezed Alina’s hand in mine, effectively bringing her attention to me.
“We were friends back then. I can’t believe we met again. Here,” she gushed.
“Well, you’re laughing. That’s the highlight for me.”
She looked away before gazing up at me again. “Can you believe I didn’t know his name was Sergei until I heard you call him just now?”
“You didn’t?”
“I’m not always with you,” she pointed out, and I nodded.
“Enough talk about other people,” I remarked, moving from beside her to her front, lifting her hand to my lips and kissing it.
“I’ve not had the opportunity to greet you good morning,” I told her, my eyes boring into hers as I lowered my head. “Until now.”
My lips claimed hers in a slow kiss, and she melted into me, bringing a hand to my chest.
“Morning, baby,” I greeted, my hands brushing her hair down when we finally broke apart for oxygen.
The dreamy look in those brown eyes as she looked up at me didn’t leave my head for hours.
**********
“I can’t say she has found anything yet. But, so far, we agree on one thing: something is not adding up,” I told Viktor, leaning on Mikhail’s SUV.
I had gone to Mikhail’s warehouse for some business talk, only to meet Viktor about to leave. He had asked for an update on the forensic accounting ,and we were discussing it in front of the warehouse.
“Good.”
“She says we should have a direction in a day or two,” I told him.
“The audit must be clean, Konstantin. It’s beyond the corporate front.”
“I know, brother. We'll leave no stone unturned.”
“If the audit reveals anything that ties Alina to the leaks, you have to act,” he added.
I swallowed.
“Understood.”
“I’ll see you later, then. It’s getting late,” he said, walking away from the back of the car.
I had wished for a suspect not to be guilty for many reasons: they were so young, I couldn’t afford to waste a bullet at that moment, I didn’t trust myself not to mess things up because I was angry, the list went on and on. But, for the first time, I was making the same wish for one reason: myself.
I didn’t want to be without Alina anymore. I was enjoying knowing her as a person and not as a person of interest in Vitya’s acts; I didn’t feel like giving that up.
**********
I opened the door, and she was sitting in front of the dresser, brushing her hair.
“Hey! You didn’t even knock!” she called out as I stepped inside her room, a small smile playing on her lips. “What if I were undressed?”
“What if that was exactly what I was hoping for?” I shot back, shrugging.
She sucked in a breath and returned her gaze to the mirror in front of her. I chuckled at her reaction.
“You’ve not had dinner, have you?”
“Nope.”
“Have dinner with me,” I requested.
“Oh,” she said.
“What?” I inquired.
“Nothing. I just…I thought you just stopped by to say hi.”
“I want to eat with you,” I divulged.
“Okay,” she answered, looking up at me with a smile. “I'll be down in a minute.”
“No. We’re going together.”
“Okay,” she replied, chuckling as she dropped the hairbrush on the table and grabbed her hair to twist it.
“Leave it down,” I told her.
I love seeing it that way.
She bent her head to the side like she was trying to decode what I’d just said. Then she stood and walked towards me. I couldn’t hold back. I pulled her into me and pecked her lips.
“Dinner might get postponed if we stayed one second more with a bed in sight,” I told her as we walked out of the suite. “Not that I strictly need a bed.”
She looked down, and I could tell that she was blushing.
“Don’t be shy,” I whispered as we descended the stairs. “I mean, I’ve not even told you of my desire to take you to bed after eating with you. To make you come so many times that you’re too sated to moan my name.”
“Konstantin!” she chided, her tone low as she rushed down the stairs ahead of me.
I caught up with her and told her, “I'll behave, it’s just dinner.”
I could see her trying to hold back her smile as we approached the dining table, and I pulled her chair back.
“For now,” I added before kissing the crown of her head.
As Greta served us and we started eating, I noticed how slowly she ate. I also noticed her eyes flicking towards me as if to check if I was still there.
“This afternoon, I was watching some news about the Lobanov charities. I was wondering how the public doesn’t know it as a front. It’s the same name out there, you know. How hard is it to see a connection between the charities and the Lobanov Bratva?” she inquired.
“It’s more about the impossibility of coming out to say it than it is about knowing,” I told her. “You’re right, anyone could see us together and make a connection. But they can’t come out with such information.”
“At all?”
“It’s not possible. The more the person knows about how Bratvas are built, the less likely they are to think of sharing such information.
Now, if they have no idea of the Bratva and just see it as something the world should know about, they wouldn’t get past the local media before they got a warning. ”
She nodded in understanding before her face lit up. “I still find it hard to believe Mila is under this roof.”
“I see you both were fond of each other.”
“Yes! I can’t wait for all this to be over so we can catch up properly,” she answered. “She was one of my first friends in class. At first, I was surprised that she liked me.”
“Surprised?”
“Yes. I wasn’t, well, I’m still not the fun to be around, likable type.”
“There’s nothing not to like about you, Alina.”
“You’re just saying that,” she remarked.
“No, I’m not,” I argued. “I, on the other hand, am the one who should be surprised that you can bear spending time with me.”
She laughed.
“Yes, you’re not an open book and you sure don’t communicate like other people, but,” she placed her hand in mine, a calm look on her face, “it’s not surprising that I like spending time with you. You're not condescending or selfish, and that makes you more than good enough.”
The corners of my lips moved upwards, and I didn’t try to hide it this time.
“Oh, my God. I’ve never seen you smile,” she pointed out, grinning. “Looks damn good on you.”
“Trying to call me good-looking?”
She chuckled, and I brought her hand to my lips.
“Don’t get used to it,” I warned playfully.
“Now that I’ve seen it?”
I chuckled, “I love seeing you smile. And hearing you laugh.”
Her eyes locked on mine, but she didn’t say anything.
We continued our meals in silence until I said, “There’s a war creeping around us.”
“Clearly.”
“His network continues to crumble, but there are people involved who would stop at nothing to cover their tracks.”
She nodded in understanding. “Well, we have each other. We’ll wade through together and come out stronger.”
“You’re under my protection until all this is over,” I promised. “And under my control.”
“I’m tired of being controlled,” she remarked, meeting my gaze. “I'll help you, but on my terms.”
“You’re strong. Braver than one would have thought. That was one of the first things I noticed about you.”
She raised a brow. Then she asked with a small smile, “Do you want to know what I first noticed about you?”
“What?” I asked, genuinely curious.
“Your control. It’s beyond the authority that comes with your title, it’s…you. You move, speak, and operate as if there’s no reason for you to lose your cool. I admired that even when I hated you.”
She used hate in the past tense. There was no way I wouldn’t notice that.
“I do lose my cool at times.”
“You’re human, Konstantin. That’s normal,” she remarked before asking. “On a physical level, though, you know what I first noticed and liked about you?”
“What?”
“Your eyes. They’re so blue and beautiful. Especially when they’re not glaring or cold.”
I chuckled at the last part.
“I love your hair. Always have,” I confessed. “Especially when it’s down. Which it rarely is.”
She giggled, and I chuckled.
“How did you know I like carrots?” she asked.
“Liza brought them for you,” I answered. “So I asked her.”
“Wow. You see, this further proves my point that you have a way of—”
“Found something. You should see this,” Mila proclaimed, bursting out of the office and across the sitting room. She held up a flash drive. “It’s huge. And it implicates someone in the Lobanov household.”