Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Kazimir
“Fucking swine.”
My office door shut a few seconds after me, followed by the heavy pounding of shoes.
“That’s it? You’re not going to do anything?”
Ignoring the voice behind me, I made for the liquor cabinet, tracing the bottles till I found the one I was looking for. Macallan Valerio Adami 1926. Or, as Nikolai liked to call it, fire in veins.
I pulled it out alongside two glasses and proceeded to pour.
Nikolai snatched the first immediately after I was done, drained its contents and set it down for a second serve.
“They can’t get away with this.”
“I know.” I took a sip of the golden liquid, feeling its burn loosen knots I never knew existed. “But we can’t afford to make rash decisions.”
Nikolai stared at me like I just asked him to sit on his nuts. “This was the ultimate rash decision. If we don’t act, they’ll think we’re scared.”
I took another sip, this one glided smoother than the first, before leveling him with a gaze. “Are we?”
His answer was a large gulp of liquor. Moments like this reminded me how only Bratva blood can rule the Bratva world.
For all his bravery, loyalty and strength, there were moments that reminded me how different our orientation was.
Deep down, despite the meetings and his deep entanglement with my world, Nikolai was the same billionaire kid who made bank off tech and AI. There were details about my world that remained difficult for him to grasp.
“Svetlana is on her way.” His eyes snapped to mine. “We’ll discuss the situation when she arrives.”
“And you think she’ll be honest about hidden motives? The port is empty. This wasn’t a robbery, there was no breaking-and-entering. It was a clean wipe down and only two families knew about the cargo.”
“Which is why I’m giving her the opportunity to redeem her family.”
“And if she lies?”
I felt the muscle in my jaw tick. “Then it’ll be known she signed their death warrants.”
Nikolai settled onto the barstool, loosening his tie. “I just think it’s very convenient how the exact cargo missing were the exact ones responsible for the feud.”
“Which is why I’m open to a conversation. Mikhail is a lot of things, but he didn’t become my most formidable enemy by being stupid and careless.”
“You think he’s not responsible for this?”
I polished off the last drop of alcohol in my glass. “I think he knows better.”
My phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out to find a notification from Svetlana.
Tucking it back into my pocket, I returned my focus to a sulking Nikolai. “She’ll be here in ten. Get rid of the face.”
He blinked up at me like he was just realizing where we were. “Here?”
“Would you prefer your bedroom?”
His eyes trailed to the door at the left corner of my office, before returning to me with a raised brow.
“She’s gone.”
It was past two at noon, but I knew she left a couple of minutes ago to secure the space for my next meeting with a travel agent.
Nikolai’s eyes arrowed. “Gone gone or not here at the moment gone?”
“Why don’t you go take a peek.”
I was in the middle of a robbery and trying to figure out if someone was playing with me or if this was a meticulously executed setup. I needed my wits about me when Svetlana arrived. Genevieve was a distraction I couldn’t indulge at the moment.
A concept that would be totally easy if my cock didn’t light up like a fucking glow stick at the sound of her name.
“Remind me of her role again?”
Fuck the decision to keep a clear head. I’m going to be needing a shot for this one.
“Hoping to find the answer at the bottom of the bottle?”
“Hoping to get a bullet in your head?”
“It’s a simple question.”
I emptied the glass in one go. If there was something I hated more than her questionable presence in my life, it was talking about her.
On the obvious side, there was nothing to talk about. She was an employee I fucked once and helped out of a sticky situation because good pussy deserves appreciation.
On the less obvious side… hell I wasn’t even sure why the side existed in the first place.
“She’s my personal assistant.” Even the words sounded like a joke and left a funny aftertaste in my mouth.
Nikolai however decided it was the most hilarious thing he’d ever heard and threw back his head in laughter.
If I didn’t fight half the men in my family to make the Spanish-English piece of shit my Sovetnik, I would’ve put a bullet through his heaving chest.
“You refuse personal help all your life and when you decide to get one, you upgrade the leggy receptionist?”
“You’re welcome to take her place.”
It was taking more restraint to keep from breaking his jaw every passing second. It wasn’t lost on me how he described her as leggy. I’d spent a week holding myself back from reaching into those flare skirts of hers.
I would bet my life’s savings I would find her wet and ready, but after a lifetime of having women throw themselves at you, you realized it was all a transaction and I was yet to figure out her motive.
She went from bold and forward to not being able to look me in the eye and shivering like a fucking leaf in November when I touched her. That’s the type of shit I didn’t fuck with. Inconsistencies.
“I’m merely saying the change of heart was quite instant, especially since it happened shortly after she quit.” His chortling was gone, but the amusement still lingered on his lips. “Plus a woman cannot handle the position.”
“I thought you were a feminist?” I ignored the part where he looked her up.
“You know that shit doesn't apply here.”
“So you’re a hypocrite then?”
His retort died on his tongue and its place was a smirk. “You’re deviating.”
“And you’re begging to get shot.”
“So you’re fucking the staff.”
It was a final deduction with no room for argument. While my relationship with Nikolai didn’t require details, honesty was a crucial part of it.
And even if that were not the case, I still wouldn’t reduce myself to petty sins like lying. It was undignifying.
“Whatever happened to your no fraternization rule and how,” he made air quotes with his fingers, “fucking ruined the focus amongst staff?”
Fuck if I knew where all of that went. When I first saw Genevieve, she was perfect. Slender with boobs that poured out of her shirt and eyes that begged you to take her right then and there, but I saw the tag on her shirt and the thought immediately died.
But then she kissed me, and the little that was left of my restraint fell apart.
Common sense slipped through the narrow spaces in the elevator and the pent-up anger from dealing with stupid rich idiots took over, convinced me a fuck would smooth me out.
However, as impulsive and reckless as the decision might’ve been, I was clearly on a questionable decision-making streak because weeks later, I made the worst of them all. And now, all I did was sit behind my desk battling the urge to go into her little office and fuck her senseless.
Hiring her was a bad decision. Of that much I was certain, but wanting to fuck her again? Now that’s the part I couldn’t condemn.
I knew she would want it. I saw the way the pulse in her throat jumped when I was close, and she was doing a lousy job of discreetly squeezing her thighs underneath the table.
The door opened and for the first time, I was relieved to be confronted with the view of Svetlana and her interesting choice of outfit.
“Hey baby.” She bent to give me a full view of her boobs and planted her cherry-painted lips a narrow inch away from mine before turning to my companion. Her tone went flat.
“Nikolai.”
“Svet,” he responded with matching gusto. “Care to share the location of our cargo?”
“Certainly.” She got comfortable on the seat next to mine. What followed was pure venom. “Once your blood turns Russian.”
“Let’s save the blood details for a biology class,” I cut in before Nikolai could respond.
What he had in strength, Svetlana had in words. She could trigger a monk with a phrase. He was hardly a match for her in that department.
“I came as soon as I heard.” Her countenance changed when she faced me. “Father said it’s a setup.”
I cocked a brow, my tone flat. “Really?”
She reached out to dust an imaginary speck off my shoulder. “Of course it is. He owned thirty percent of the shipments and he vows to find those responsible.”
“He would?”
Her hand paused on my chest, curling back into her lap as her shoulders rolled back and her spine straightened. “You think I’m lying?”
The air froze on the chill in her tone. Behind her, Nikolai burned beams of laser through her head with his eyes. The tension in the room was low but palpable.
Her brow lifted slightly, waiting for the reply that would decide the fate of the coming decade.
I took her hand in mine, pressing my lips into the back while keeping my eyes on hers.
“Not at all, darling.”