7. Adrik
ADRIK
W e reached the estate, and I directed a few men to take Elena to one of the guest houses on the property. Multiple lodging options were available around the edge of the land we owned. While she wasn’t a guest, she wasn’t a ward or captive, either.
I stayed in the circle out in front of my father’s mansion.
My mansion.
Fuck, it’s going to take me a long time to get used to saying that now.
All that the Bratva owned was ours , my brothers’ and cousins’ and mine. But this residence was designated for the Pakhan, and soon, that would fully be my title.
The heat of the sunshine warmed my back, but I wasn’t motivated to rush into the shade and coolness of the house.
I stayed put, shoving my hands in my pockets while I watched the men escort Elena to where she’d be locked in as my…
guest? Something. I wasn’t sure how wise it would be to let her become my accountant, yet I lost the urge to hurt her or abuse her.
So far.
My brother got off the phone and came to stand with me, glancing in the direction of where Elena went. A few seconds later, Alexei joined us as well.
Mountains spread as far as the eye could see in the distance.
Smooth, stamped-concrete paths allowed a way for Elena to walk away.
Behind me, clean water tinkled and splashed in the large ornate fountain positioned as a central focal piece of this landscape.
My father had designed this home to be a grand, extravagant display of wealth and affluence.
But I wondered how she saw it. How Elena viewed it.
From the looks of John Morovov’s office and the financial firm’s building, she couldn’t be used to the finer things in life.
She looked like she was one of the finer things in life, gorgeous in a plain and unassuming manner that gave me the distinct impression that she was a natural beauty.
Long blonde hair, so light that it was more like wheat than gold, swayed over her shoulders as she walked.
She’d gazed at me uncertainly with clear, blue eyes I struggled to look away from.
Her unblemished complexion and high cheekbones had me guessing that she didn’t use makeup, either.
A natural.
As her slender figure became smaller and smaller in the distance, I couldn’t wipe her out of my mind.
How scared and confused she’d been in the backseat. How she’d dragged the tips of her unmanicured nails back and forth over the palm of her other hand in a nervous tic. How she’d sat there almost hunched over in that plain white blouse and simple gray skirt.
Elena hadn’t been raised with the finer things in life, and I was curious what she could possibly be thinking now.
What she could be thinking other than relief that I wasn’t shooting her dead on the spot, perhaps.
“What’s the plan?” Alexei asked.
“Not sure yet,” I admitted. “I’m curious about her offer to play accountant for us.” Meeting his gaze, I waited for his skeptical reaction.
He huffed and glanced at Maksim. “Seriously?”
Maksim shrugged.
“Morovov is trying to trick us like that ?” Alexei asked. “Fuck with our books and then send her here to spy for him or something?”
My brother shook his head. “It sounds like she’s the one who’s been doing all the books for her father there. She knows too much to have just been told about our accounts.”
“Oh.” Alexei smirked and mimicked me, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Then that also means she’s the one who fucked up that account and said that shipment couldn’t process due to insufficient funds.”
This time, I looked at Maksim. He was in the car with us. He’d heard her, too.
“I’m not sure about that,” he said.
It was good to know we still thought the same. “I’m not convinced she’s to blame.”
“You just said she handled the accounts at the firm.” Alexei fell into step with me and Maksim as we headed to the house. Elena was no longer within my line of sight and I wasn’t in the mood to bake under the sun out here.
“She did,” I replied.
“And she was adamant that she hadn’t changed anything,” Maksim added.
“Then why the fuck are you both not acting like she could be a threat, sent here to get insider intel?” he asked, indignant.
“Because I don’t see a single threat from her.”
Maksim nodded. “She’s scared, but I agree.”
Elena had acted as nonthreateningly as anyone could have in her position. Intrigued about her, I thought back to how she’d behaved. The little quirks and tells. The involuntary ways she held her body, how she spoke, and when she couldn’t be quick enough to mask her emotions.
She’d shown several. Fear, of course, like how her lip trembled.
Sadness, when she’d realized her father hadn’t bothered to refer to her by her name.
Confusion, when she likely wondered when she’d be shot in the head for a colossal financial mistake.
And the composure, too. She hadn’t broken down into a hysterical fit of tears.
She didn’t wail or cry or beg or argue or cause a tantrum.
Composed, but not calm. Afraid, but not panicking.
“She has been thorough so far,” Maksim said as I gestured for them to join me in the office. Maybe calling it the office instead of my office or Father’s office would remove more of that ache of loss.
“Very upfront,” I said, detailing some of what Elena had told us. Alexei listened all the way upstairs and until we were in the office.
“She could be making it all up,” he said, always the slowest one of the six of us to ever trust someone. “She could be telling a tall tale and making up every word.”
“Then we can test her,” I said as I took my seat and leaned back. “Like I said, I’m curious.”
Alexei dropped onto a couch and snorted. “Curious? What the fuck about? She’s obviously telling you what she thinks you want to hear to spare her life.”
I held up a finger. “I’m curious why Morovov was quick to give her away.”
“Easy,” Alexei said. “He knew that you were coming for blood. He didn’t want to lose any of his own and he sacrificed her instead.”
What kind of a fucking person could call themselves a parent and do that to their child?
I hadn’t spent much time thinking about starting a family.
I would—someday. Too much of my future had always seemed predetermined by the dominant fact that I’d follow in my father’s footsteps as the next Pakhan.
“You won’t have to convince me that John Morovov is a slimy, greedy motherfucker who’s looking out for himself,” Maksim said as I nodded with his assessment.
“But if she’s been running the books for clients like us and she’s been managing the finer details of accounting work, why would he want to give that up?” Maksim asked. He might have meant that as a rhetorical question, but it struck me as odd too.
“Who’s he going to have to replace her?” I wondered aloud.
“By giving her to you, he’s sacrificing not just his daughter but also the only person who managed top-secret accounts,” Alexei said, catching on.
“Fuck him,” I said. “We’re through with doing business with Morovov Financials.”
“Then who will we use instead?” Maksim asked as he shook his head. “I think it might be too soon to sever ties with him. We still need an intermediary to handle the books.”
“We have people who handle the books.” We had a crew of bookkeepers in the house. We had to. But there was still that extra layer between them and where money ended up. That was how we covered up the money trail. Our accountants gave Morovov what he needed to move the money where it had to be.
“Yeah. But with Elena here…” My brother shrugged. “And if she’s been doing it all this time…”
It was a huge leap of faith to take. A big trust to ask for.
She had to earn my trust. While she had been upfront and detailed, I had to know that she wasn’t here to thwart us.
She hadn’t been faking those tears she’d come close to shedding when she explained how she wouldn’t be using the Morovov surname anymore.
Her father had wounded her by sending her as a payment.
But that could have been part of an act.
“Either way this is set up to pan out, it’s a test,” I decided. “Morovov could have sent her to us with the hope that she’ll spy for him. Or perhaps he wanted to give her up because he’s blind to what an asset she is for him.”
The latter seemed more believable.
John Morovov hadn’t even told her goodbye. No tears shed from him. Not a hint of remorse.
And I bet she knows it.
I furrowed my brow, catching myself from thinking of how she perceived this situation. Her feelings and reactions didn’t matter. They couldn’t.
“Let me talk with her,” Alexei said. “Let me see what kind of a vibe I get from her.”
I nodded. “Go ahead.” I valued his input. “Bring Lev with you. Viktor and Nikolai too.”
Unlike the rush I’d felt to go address this failed shipment problem solo, I wanted to glean the reactions and assessments from those closest to me.
Already, this spark of intrigue was making me rethink my judgment where she was concerned.
For the rest of the afternoon, they went about doing just that, interrogating her and getting more of a feel about who she was and what she was responsible for at her father’s firm.
It was all recorded, and as I replayed the video that night, I felt validated.
She hadn’t changed her story. She was consistently as wary of my brothers and cousins as she had been with me. She hadn’t tried to twist her details or anything like that.
So, why did her father let her go?
Nikolai and Maksim lingered with me in the big house after we finished dinner. They seemed to be waiting for me to make a decision about her, but my youngest brother proved that he really did have a one-track mind.
“Just go over and seduce her,” he advised with a cocky smile. “See if that can get her to fess up to why she wants to be helpful.”
“I think it’s who she is,” Maksim said.
“A people pleaser,” I said in agreement. Her timid nature gave me that idea. Her lack of fighting back did too. “I’ll test her and see how she handles it.”
Maksim tilted his head to the side. “How?”
“I’ll give her limited access to some records. I’ll have one of the accountants change it up and see if she can spot the issue, or if she’s even as familiar with the files and books as she claims to be.”
“When?” Maksim asked, always prepared to act on a solution.
“Now. Tonight.” I paused, thinking it through. “No. We’ll have her work on it tomorrow morning. She’s got to be running on fumes.”
Nikolai laughed. “You care?”
“If she could be an asset rather than a burden, yes.” I gave him a stern look, daring him to question my authority.
Now if he or any of the others were to question me on this sneaking feeling of attraction, they’d be wise to call me out on it.
Nothing had changed to make me any more available to a woman, and I doubted that would be something I could capitalize on with her or anyone else I happened to encounter as I shifted into leadership.