by Roxie Rivera
Not at all used to being dismissed like a naughty child, I nevertheless slid off my chair and returned to the master suite. It didn’t take me long to unpack my one suitcase or the two boxes of tools and materials. I was examining the handbag I had been working on yesterday when Alexei appeared in the doorway of the bedroom.
“Stas is here.” He leaned against the frame. “I need to leave.”
Not wanting him to leave with all this tension existing between us, I set aside the handbag and crossed the bedroom. “Alexei, I’m sorry about what I said.”
“Why should you be sorry? You didn’t say anything untrue. I did get tired of the other women before you. Six months? Seven months? The flame burned out, and I sent them on their way.”
His description of his earlier relationships caused a painful clenching sensation in my stomach. Was he trying to tell me that I shouldn’t get too comfortable with him? That we were already running the clock on the expiration date for our new relationship?
He shoved off the frame and closed the short distance between us. “Do you know the friendship I’ve had with you is the longest I’ve ever shared with any woman? We’re closing in on twelve months, Shay.” He eyed me curiously. “All this time, you’ve had me right in the palm of your hand, and I’ve never even kissed you properly.”
That big, warm hand of his cradled my nape, and he slowly lowered his face, all the while searching my eyes as if looking for a sign that he needed to stop. Just before his lips touched mine, he whispered, “Is this all right?”
I clutched at the lapels of his suit jacket and lifted on tiptoes to meet his descending mouth. “Yes.”
Our lips met cautiously, but Alexei quickly took command. Eyes closed, I clung to his powerful frame and reveled in the wicked, wicked way he kissed me. When his tongue flicked against the seam of my lips, I answered his silent plea for entrance by shyly touching my tongue to his. He groaned, the low, rumbling noise reverberating through me, and tugged me tighter to his body.
With a little pressure, he guided me toward the closest wall. Trapped against his hard chest, I surrendered to his sensual onslaught. I slid one hand to his shoulders and combed the fingers of the other through his short hair while he plundered my mouth, taking and taking until I was shaking and breathless. The ache between my thighs left me quivering with need.
I shuddered as Alexei kissed the fingertip bruises on my throat and then skimmed his lips along my jaw. He claimed my mouth one last time and traced my swollen pout with his thumb. “I’ll see you this evening. Stay inside with Stas, and you’ll be safe.”
“I will.” Still a bit dazed from his kisses, I sagged against the wall. He backed away slowly and left the bedroom. Trying to get my racing heartbeat under control, I shook my head and touched my tingling mouth.
What have I gotten myself into now?
Chapter Nine
“Boss, you have a visitor waiting in your office.” Audrey, one of the weekend receptionists, greeted him with a cup of coffee and a stack of messages. “It’s An Trinh.”
An, the eldest daughter of Mr. Lu, the well-known importer and not so well-known underworld don, ran the legal side of her father’s business empire. She was very highly respected around the city and ran in some of his social circles. In a few short weeks, they would begin serving on the board of directors for the Chamber of Commerce, and both had entertained the idea of putting together an organization to support small businesses owned by minorities and immigrants.
But why would An be in his office this early on a Saturday morning? “Did you offer her coffee or tea?”
“Yes, sir. I made sure she was comfortable.”
Taking the coffee and messages, he gave Audrey a few quick orders for the morning. “Send one of our tow trucks to CleanRite to pick up a car from the lot. They’ll know which one it is when they see it. Have them take it to Merkurie Motors. Give the crew at Merkurie a call so they’ll know to expect it. Make sure they know I’m handling all the estimates and bills.”
“Yes, sir.”
He handed her his key fob. “Will you please grab the handbag and wallet on the front seat of my SUV? And bring me a new hire packet, too.”
“For a salesman?”
“No, for one of the hourly positions.” He needed to get Stas on the payroll by the end of the day. “After you’ve brought me the box and the packet, hold my calls until I’m finished with my meeting.”
“Yes, sir.”
Upstairs, he entered his office and found An sitting in one of the chairs across from his desk. Lithe and willowy, she eyed him with what could only be described as cool disdain. He didn’t let her expression intimidate or concern him. In all the years he had known her, she had never once smiled.
“Good morning, An.” He shut the door and shifted the items he held so he could shake her hand as she rose from her chair. “Did we have a meeting on the schedule?”
“No.” Her bony, fragile hand was cold in his, but she had a strong grip. He had a feeling men underestimated her all the time—and suffered for it. “But I thought this needed to be dealt with face to face.”
“All right.” He moved behind his desk and took a seat. Before he could ask her what they needed to discuss, she retrieved an envelope from her purse and tossed it onto his desk. He opened it and found an invoice for a new security system. Confused, he asked, “What is this?”
“The next time you want to take a bat to a bunch of thugs I suggest you check for security cameras.” An shook her head and played with the elegant gold band encircling her wrist. “You’re damned lucky that young kid with you knew the dishwasher boys who were working last night. They disabled the system before the police could get their hands on it. Unfortunately, their method of disabling was permanent.”
His stomach pitched at the mention of police. “I forgot the restaurant was under your family’s control. I didn’t mean to make trouble for you or your father, especially not now when he’s so ill.” Alexei hadn’t heard any news about the old man’s fight with cancer. “How is he?”
“He’s stubborn.” She clearly didn’t want to talk about it. “Look, I despise John Mueller and his ilk so I’m going to turn a blind eye to the mess you made in our parking lot. What really concerns me is the way you put yourself at risk.” She tut-tutted at him. “You’re smarter than that.”
“The circumstances were extreme.”
An actually smirked at him, her primly set mouth quirking up just a bit. “They usually are when a woman is involved.”
“I can’t argue with that.” Not wanting any bad blood with An or her father, he offered, “I am truly sorry for last night. I know how hard we all try to keep our illicit connections clear of our legitimate businesses. I should have contacted you, in person, to apologize.”
“We’re fine,” An assured him. “For what it’s worth, my father and I are willing to back you in whatever way that you might find useful in this matter. There is no love lost between my father and Mueller, not after that horrifying bit of business his people tangled us up in last year.”
Though he didn’t know all of the details, Alexei had heard the tale of Mr. Lu discovering too late that cargo shipments he had been hired to shepherd through customs contained cargo of a human variety. It had been a very public black eye for the old man, especially when he had been suspected of possible involvement in Vivian’s kidnapping.
Audrey knocked at the door, and he gave her permission to enter. She carried the box holding Shay’s handbags and the new hire packet to his desk. After whisking away An’s empty coffee cup, she left the office.
Setting aside the box and the packet, Alexei said, “Listen, I know some of our contracts are up for renegotiation in early January. For the trucking services my company provides for your restaurants and for the food and supplies the company I own with Nikolai ships out to your locations,” he clarified. “I’m sure we can take this favor,” he waved the envelope, “into account when we settle on new terms.”
&n
bsp; “I’m counting on it.” She gestured to the box on his desk. “Is that a handbag I see?”
“It is.” Smiling, he rose from his seat and started unpacking the box. “I actually planned to visit your office so we could talk about these handbags and wallets.”
“It’s a few weeks too early for Christmas so I’m assuming these aren’t gifts for me.” The faint smile on her face hinted at a mischief streak he never would have guessed she possessed. “This is lovely.” She picked up the larger handbag and ran her fingers along the blush pink Saffiano leather. “Who made these?”
“My girlfriend,” he answered proudly. Only a moment later did he realize what word he had used, not mistress or lover but girlfriend. It was a word that had always struck him as so very juvenile, but it suddenly seemed clean and new and entirely more suitable for Shay. Because no matter how hard he tried to shove her into that role, she was never, ever, ever going to the perfect little mistress. After all, this morning, his ptichka had shown him her claws with that six month remark.
“She’s very talented.” An examined the wallet. “Oh, look at how slim this is! The design is wonderful. Is she self-taught or did she go to college for this?”
“Both,” he said, running his fingers over the elaborate stitching on the clutch. “She currently sells her leather goods in an online boutique, but she’s planning to open a proper store front soon. I’d like to help her find a way to increase her productivity.”
“Well, she needs a team who understands leather goods and attention to detail,” An murmured. “Let me work my contacts. I’m sure I can get you some names by the end of the week.”
Alexei had suspected An would be able to help him. There were a number of small factories under her family’s control and protection that employed seamstresses and cobblers. Surely, a few of them had experience with leather goods. “I would appreciate it.”
“It’s no problem.” She glanced at her watch. “I need to go. My daughter has figure skating practice in half an hour, and I never miss it. I’ll have my assistant call you with those names. I’m sure you won’t have any trouble getting a production line set up.”
“I hope not.”
After An left, Alexei settled into his chair and went through the usual Saturday morning routine, holding a sales meeting and talking one-on-one with his salesmen and managers before returning calls and answering internal emails. When he had a chance, he dialed Fox, Kostya’s hacker who had set up the computer systems across his dealerships.
“Henhouse Security Services,” a sunny female voice answered. “Fox here. How can I help you?”
The name of her company brought a smile to his face. “Fox, this is Alexei Sarnov.”
“Oh! Hey, how are you? I was going to call you later to talk about the attempted hacking.”
An uproar of hooting voices and clapping erupted in the background. It didn’t take him long to figure out that she was standing in a room of raucous gamers. “Is this a good time to talk?”
“Yes, it is. Just…um…hang on a sec. I need get back into my office.” A door squealed loudly and slammed into place. “Sorry about that. We’re testing a new version for Maisie. Like you cannot even believe how gore-tastic this new zombie shredding version is!”
Having seen enough violence and bloodshed firsthand, Alexei didn’t need video games to give him a vicarious thrill. “I’ll pass.”
“Right. Um. Okay. So I spent the night clearing out all the malware and virues and all that awful shit that had attempted to infect your systems. It was all quarantined so no sensitive information was compromised. The system worked the way it was supposed to and saved your virtual backside.”
“Well that’s a relief.” He rubbed his sore neck. His days of sleeping on couches were long behind him and he was paying for it this morning. “Do you have any recommendations for preventing something like this in the future?”
“Vet your cleaning staff better?” she hazarded a smart-ass guess. “No, but really, Alexei? Shit like this happens. It’s just part of the business. Your best offense is a good defense. You just need to keep your systems up to date and well-protected. This why you pay me an outrageous amount of money every month.”
He finished off the last of his lukewarm coffee. “So I assume by the cleaning staff remark you know who was behind this.”
“I figured out the identity of the hacker who wrote this program before I heard the news that he had gone missing. His signature is one I recognize easily. Edgar has been a wannabe black hat for years. He’s good, but he’s not elite.” She sighed sadly. “That’s some bad, bad business there.”
Wondering if she was just as plugged in to the underworld as Kostya, her benefactor, he asked, “Have you heard who might have been interested in buying this stolen information?”
“I haven’t heard any specifics, but it’s a good bet they come from your old stomping grounds. Identity theft is big business over there. Would you like me to poke around and see if I can find out the name of the buyer?”
“No,” he said quickly. “I don’t want you to put yourself at risk. Let’s just leave this alone.”
“All right. I’ll probably swing by your dealerships on Monday just to take a peek at the systems again and run some diagnostics.”
“Thank you, Fox.”
“No problem.”
After she hung up, he drummed his fingers on his desk. He didn’t want to think that Nikolai might be more involved in this than he had initially let on, but it was entirely possible that Nikolai might know the identity of the buyer.
His cell phone rattled across his desk. Fearing it was Shay calling with a problem, he snatched it up and glanced at the screen. It was Nikolai’s name that flashed at him. “Hello?”
“Lyosha, can you get over to Kazimir’s? I’m headed that way to pick up something for Vivian. I need to speak with you.”
He pulled back his cuff and looked at his watch. “Sure. It may take me half an hour or more to get over there.”
“Take your time.”
As Nikolai ended the call, Alexei remembered the jewelry he had tucked into his handkerchief last night. “Shit.”
He quickly scrolled through his list of recent calls, found Shay’s number and hit dial. While he waited for her to answer, he logged out of the computer system and locked away the files on his desk. When she didn’t answer in time, the call went to her voicemail.
“Hi! You’ve reached Shay Sandoval. I can’t come to the phone right now. Leave me a message, and I’ll get back you!”
Although her bright voice made him smile, he didn’t leave a message. Why wasn’t she answering? Fearing the worst, he started to call Stas but Shay returned his call first. “Shay? Is everything okay?”
“Hello to you, too,” she said with a laugh. “Yes, everything here is okay. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. You didn’t answer, and I started to worry.”
“Alexei,” she murmured his name. “You shouldn’t worry so much. I’m safe here with Stas. We are working together in the kitchen. I left my phone in the bedroom so I had to run across the apartment. Now I’m all out of breath!”
He could think of a dozen ways he’d like to take her breath away, but right now wasn’t the time to indulge in fantasies. “Did the concierge send up someone for my suit?”
“No. Why?”
“I asked for laundry service. Will you find my suit in the closet please? I put your jewelry in a handkerchief and tucked it into my jacket pocket. I’d hate for it to get lost at the cleaner’s.”
“Oh. Okay. Hang on.” A short time later, she announced, “Found it! Thank you so much for bringing this to me.”
“I could tell it was important to you.”
“I don’t have much jewelry, but what I do have means something. The necklace and the hoops were a Christmas gift from my dad. He’s the only person who has ever given me jewelry.”
Instantly, Alexei knew exactly what he was going to do when he got to Kazimir�
��s. Not wanting to tip her off, he changed the subject, “So you’ve put Stas to work?”
“He’s really good at punching holes in leather. I might let him try grommets next. He’s been teaching me to count in Russian which has been cool.”
A zing of jealousy snapped through him. As childish as it was, he wanted to be the one who taught her how to speak his language. “Well I’m glad to hear that you’re finding him useful.”
“Shay, do you want to order something for lunch?” Stas bellowed in the background. “I’m starving.”
“You just ate three oranges and a banana!”
“Like an hour ago,” Stas called back. “Do you like Chinese? There’s a place a few blocks from here that’s pretty good. Or how about Thai?”
“Do you realize how loud you are?” Shay scolded Stas with a laugh. “I’m just in the next room, but you’re shouting so loud they can probably hear you down in the lobby.”
“I’m starving.”
“You’re a drama queen.”
“I’m about to start chewing on this leather. That’s how hungry I am.”
“Oh my God!” Shay laughed. “We’ll order Chinese, okay? Can I finish my call now?”
“Is that your friend? We can wait to order lunch until she gets here.”
“No, it’s Alexei. Now quiet down and get back to work.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“So anyway,” Shay said, returning to their call. “We’re good here. Kylee is going to come over later and spend some time with me. I thought we might take Stas and go see my car later?”
He noticed the way she phrased it as a question. “That’s not necessary. I had your car towed earlier this morning. I’m handling it.”
“Oh. Well…what am I supposed to do about the insurance claim?”
“There won’t be one. We’ll see what the car is worth and sell it. You can use the cash for your business.”
“I’ll have to use the cash for a new car. Well—not a new car. A used car that’s new to me,” she said.