Chapter 13 Episode 13
1658 Words
The doors start to close and his hand flashes out, pushing themback. “And I’m upholding it,” he says.
I frown. “My sister is here?”
He looks at me like I’m stupid. “Where did you think she was?Maybe in my—”
“Do not say ‘s*x dungeon’ again. Now or ever.” I storm intothe elevator and plaster myself against the furthest wall fromhim.
“I was going to say ‘torture chamber’ that time.” He slides akey into a small door on the control panel and unlocks aseparate button labeled “Penthouse Suite.”
I shake my head. “Don’t say stuff like that. People might notknow you’re joking.”
Suddenly, I feel his body close to mine, his lips brushingacross the shell of my ear. “Maybe I’m not.”
I suppress a shiver, swallow my response, and stare straightahead. Don’t give him the satisfaction of your fear.
He steps back and regards me coolly. The elevator doors openthirty seconds later to a room very similar to the lobby. Thehardwood floors are a warm, rich brown and a wall ofunbroken window looks out over the Hudson.
It’s such a breathtaking view that I almost miss the lump ofteenager sprawled out on the chaise lounge.
“Hey,” Elise drawls, raising her hand in a lazy wave.
I blink away from the view and stare at my sister. For the firsttime in my life, I’m having an out-of-body experience. Myexpectations and reality are so far removed from each otherthat for a few seconds, I can’t reconcile them.
“Hey?” I screech, my eyebrows raised so high I’m sure they’llpop right off my face. “That’s what you have to say to me?After disappearing and scaring me to death, you say, ‘Hey’?!”
“Was I supposed to go with ‘Hello’?” Elise frowns. “Jeez,relax. What is your deal?”
I stomp across the room and kick her legs off the chaiselounge.
“Stop saying that,” I hiss. “What the hell, Elise? This is a littlefurther than the bodega on the corner, don’t you think?”
She’s frowning now, glaring at me like I’m the bad guy.“You’re the one who sent that random guy to the motel to tellme we were getting an upgrade. Ever heard of a phone call? Ithought I might be getting kidnapped or something.”
I hear Nikolai chuckle behind me, and I realize suddenly howmisplaced all of my anger is. I spin around to face him. “Whatdid you tell her?”
“Nothing.” He leans around me and greets Elise with a headnod. “We’ve never met. I’m Nikolai Zhukova.”
“Oh, the asshole owner?” Elise asks at once.
“My reputation precedes me,” he chuckles. He glances over atme. If he was a normal person, I’d say he almost looksoffended. “You must be the sister.”
“That’s me. My name is—”
“Enough.” I s***h my arm through the air. “Don’t tell himanything. We’re leaving.”
“Get your stuff, Elise,” I growl.
She stomps her foot on the wood floor. “No.”
“Elise” Nikolai infers smugly. “Pretty name.”
I ignore him. “Elise, do as I say.”
I sigh. That line is really getting old fast. “That may be true,but I’ve been working on my mom glare for moments such asthis. Don’t make me turn around and use it. Especially sinceI’d have to turn my back on Mr. Zhukova here. And he mightchloroform me if given the chance.”
Nikolai rolls his eyes, but doesn’t deny it.
“What?” Elise asks. “What is going on? I thought we werehere for your work?”
“You are,” Nikolai answers. “You both are. And you’re notgoing anywhere.”
“We already have a hotel room, thank you very much,” I yell.
He laughs. “Is that what you call that rat-infested shithole?”
Elise laughs with him, and I hate that it’s the first time I’veheard her laugh since she came to live with me. More to thepoint, I hate that he is responsible for it.
“At least we were safe there!”
“Safe from what?” Nikolai scoffs. “A long, happy life? I’msurprised you checked in without getting mugged. You’reguaranteed a case of ringworm if you use the shower.”
“Spoken like a true rich snob,” I spit. “You’re so used to yourivory tower that you have no clue how the other half lives.”
Suddenly, the annoyance on his face shifts into something else.It’s the same shift I’ve seen several times now. It’s like a cloudmoving over the sun. When the world changes colors and the
temperature drops. Everything is the same, but completelydifferent.
“You’re staying here now.” His voice is even, but there’s abarely restrained rage just under the surface. “I’ll send a carfor you in the morning.”
“Thank God,” Elise says, padding back into the living room.“This place is heaven.”
I watch Nikolai walk onto the elevator and turn to face me.Our eyes lock as he leans forward to push the button.
He winks as the doors close, and I shiver.
“No,” I mutter. “This is hell.”
Arslan knocks once before letting himself into my office.“Hey, I wanted to—”
“Lose a hand for barging into my office before I invited youin?” I interrupt.
He snorts. “Does Arnold let you talk to him like that? If so,he’s even softer than I thought.”
“Arnold is boring,” Arslan complains.
“Arnold is perfect for this front. People buy him as a VP.”
“I know, I know, it’s all about the outward image. Spare methe lecture,” Arslan sighs. He holds up his hands so I can seethe tattoos across his knuckles. “I don’t look the part.”
I shake my head. “That’s what you get for tatting ‘sandwich’across your knuckles.”
“I was eighteen. And it’s a good icebreaker.” He clenches the‘wich’ hand into a fist and smirks. “Good jawbreaker, too.”
I hold out my hand, silently asking for the dossier he puttogether.
“There isn’t as much out there about Belle Dowan as you’dthink,” he warns as he passes it to me. “She doesn’t have anysocial media.”
I drop the folder on my desk and flip it open. “If you rely onInstagram stories for your intel, you’re fired.”
“You can’t fire me. I know too much.”
“Don’t tease me with a good time, Nikolai.” He perches on thearm of the leather chair across from my desk. “But of course Ihave other sources. I’m a professional.”
“Then what did you find?” I ask, flipping the folder closed. “Iwant the elevator pitch version. I’m busy today.”
“Why do I even put the dossier together if you aren’t going toread it?” he grumbles.
“Because if you didn’t, I’d fire you,” I say. “And as you said, Ican’t fire you. So I’d have to kill you. Matter of fact, if yourannoyance outweighs your usefulness at any point, I’ll killyou. And if I’m just in a bad mood one day, I’ll kill you. So Isuggest you start talking. Before I kill you.”
“Ever the charmer,” he sighs mournfully. He starts to recite thefacts. “Belle Marie Dowan. Born and raised in a trailer parkoutside of Omaha, Nebraska, but moved by herself toOklahoma when she was eighteen. Her mom has a list ofarrests longer than my arm, all of them for drug use andpossession.”
“Her mother is a junkie?” I wince. “That would explain whyshe’s traveling with her younger sister. She’s probably takingcare of her.”
“Maybe,” Arslan says. “She studied accounting at Universityof Oklahoma and then took her current job with McCormanPartners Auditing. She’s fresh out of college.”
“Young,” I say absentmindedly. “She looks older, though.”
“Is that important?” Arslan asks.
I frown. “It doesn’t matter what she looks like.”
Arslan leans back, his arms crossed. He has a stupidexpression on his face, and I know that any second now, he’s
going to make me regret not kicking him out of my office andreading the dossier myself.
“It matters if you like her.”
I huff out a laugh. “‘Like’ her? Am I twelve?”
“No, you’re thirty-eight, and I’ve never seen you show thismuch interest in a woman before. It’s noteworthy.”
“She’s doing our audit and causing trouble. I have to showinterest in her to make sure the police don’t show an interest inus.”
He narrows his eyes. “Maybe it’s that… or maybe you want tofuck her.”
“Or maybe I already have,” I spit back.
A dopey smile spreads across Arslan’s face. I hoped myconfession would shut him up, but I should know my bestfriend better than that by now.
“Before or after you kidnapped her sister?”
“I didn’t actually kidnap anyone,” I say. “And it was before.Before I even knew she was going to be our auditor, actually.”
He frowns. “You spend a lot of time I don’t know about inOklahoma?”
“We met on the plane.”
“Oh.” Arslan nods and then the realization settles in. His eyeswiden. “You f****d her on the plane?”
“Yeah. Well, in the bathroom. I have some decency.”
“Barely,” he scoffs. “Holy s**t. I can’t believe the accountanthad it in her.”
- Writer
