2.
902 Words
Nina’s POV
The elevator doors slid open on the top floor and I found myself in a hallway made of glass and steel.
Everything was silent and clean. The kind of expensive that did not need to shout.
My heels clicked once on the stone before I slowed them on purpose.
A woman in a gray suit waited by a pair of heavy doors.
“Ms. Nina? Mr Volkov is ready for you.”
I nodded.
“Thank you.”
She opened the door and stepped aside.
The office was huge. One full wall was all windows showing the city under us. A long dark wood desk took up most of the space.
Behind the desk, a man in a black shirt stood with his back to me, looking out at the view.
Roman Volkov.
I stopped three steps inside the door and made myself breathe.
He turned. His grey eyes pierce through me like a dagger in my heart. I locked my knees and kept my face blank.
“Ms. Nina,” he said without smiling. His voice was low and professional. “Thank you for coming.”
“Mr Volkov,” I walked towards his desk. “Your assistant said this was urgent.”
“It is,” he pointed to a chair in front of his desk. “Sit.”
I sat but he did not sit. He circles the desk and leaned against the front of it, close enough that his knee almost touched mine.
His cologne envelopes me, it was similar to the one he wore that fateful night in Monaco.
Heat crept up my neck. I forced myself to breathe slowly.
“The situation is simple,” he said.
“Someone is trying to take my company. They released those videos to damage my name. The board is nervous. We have a major project in the pipeline. I cannot risk investors pulling out.”
“You’re sure the videos are fake,” I said.
He went still. His gaze held mine. Something flickered behind his gray eyes for just a second, then it was gone.
“They are fake,” he said flatly. “That woman is not someone I know.”
I kept my face blank.
Liar.
“If that is true,” I said, “they will not stop at one hit. First, we check for any way information may leak. You cannot let them get anything on you beyond the videos.”
Roman studied me. His eyes moved over my face slowly and carefully like he was looking for a crack.
“You sound like you know what you’re doing.”
“I do.”
“Will you work this alone?”
“I work best alone.”
Something that was almost a smile crossed his face. He pushed off the desk, walked behind it and hit a button on the phone.
“Bring the documents.”
The woman came in, dropped a slim folder on the desk and left.
Roman opened the folder and slid a single sheet of paper toward me.
I picked it up. It was a nondisclosure contract.
“This is an NDA,” I said.
“Yes.”
“I already signed your standard contract.”
“This is different. Whatever you dig up, it comes to me. No one else. I do not want the board to know about this and I do not want a leak to whoever this phantom is.”
I looked up at him. “That’s unusual. This affects the whole company. The board should know”
“No,” he put both palms flat on the desk and leaned in.
His shirt pulled across his shoulders.
“I want to handle this myself.”
“Volkov Corporation hired me. The proper report channel is leadership.”
“This is a special case,” his voice dropped.
“You have one hour to decide. You either sign it or I find another consultant.”
It was a challenge, he was watching to see how I would react.
I thought about walking out but I remembered the video, my bare body on the world’s screen.
I picked up the pen on his desk and signed.
Roman took the paper back. He looked at my signature and then at me.
“Your desk is down the hall,” he said.
“My assistant will give you a key card. You start now.”
“Now?”
“Is that a problem?”
“No.”
He held my stare. The air between us felt too thin.
“Get to work,” he said.
I stood, turned and walked out without looking back.
I took ten paces down the hallway before I stopped. I placed my palm flat against the cold wall and breathed in and out.
He did not recognize me. Or he did and he was playing a very long game.
I pushed off the wall, smoothed my jacket and walked towards the new office they had prepared for me.
Whether he did not know me or he knew me, I had a job to find the phantom and save the company.
And if Roman Volkov was lying to me, then I would find that out too. And I would be ready for whatever game he wanted to play.
I opened the door to my new office, sat down and opened the first file.
- Writer
