Chapter 6 Episode 6
1619 Words
“And the ‘process’ will take you…?”
“Three or four days, at least.”
“I may not be some hoity-toity accountant like you,” he sayssarcastically, “but I am the Vice President of Financing. AndI’m fairly sure that the two days of familiarizing and threedays of processing… Well, that adds up to five days. Is thatcorrect?”
I grit my teeth. “Yes, it is.”
“Two days too many,” he snarls. “Three is what you get. Like Isaid, it’s not a negotiation.”
If I slap this smug man in his face, I’ll lose my job. Thenagain, maybe that isn’t such a bad thing.
But as soon as the thought flits through my mind, I see Elise’sface. And I take a deep breath.
“I understand you must have a schedule to keep,” I tell him,“and I’m sorry if my company is playing a part in making yourlife more difficult. That’s not our objective. But I simply can’tdo my job properly in three days.”
Arnold leans back in his chair. The springs squeal. “Now, wereach the heart of the matter—your job. I’m sure you haveyour own idea of what that entails, but I think I have a solutionthat will see this job done in three days. Would you like to hearit?”
No. Double no. Triple no with a side of “f**k you.”
But I nod. “Of course.”
He smiles. “Our company does a lot of business. Moneychanges hands. It moves from one account to another. We gainit, we lose it. That’s business.”
“That’s all businesses, as far as I’ve been able to tell.”
Arnold’s smile sharpens. “Yes. Well, it’s understandable, then,that some of that money might… disappear.”
“Disappear,” he repeats. “Get lost in the shuffle of things. Doyou understand?”
Holy s**t. Yes, I understand. I understand perfectly.
This man is embezzling from Zhukova Incorporated.
My neck suddenly feels very hot.
Roger never trained me to handle something like this. Thesekinds of issues would normally be discovered while we’re stillworking on the audit from our own offices. This isn’tsomething that would be uncovered this late in the game.
But I haven’t seen Zhukova’s files yet. Roger has.
Suddenly, realization dawns. No wonder that asswipe is inAruba.
He’s a coward. He knew.
I paste on a thin smile. “Disappearances like that are the kindsof problems I’m supposed to find and account for. That’s myjob.”
“Of course. You have your job, and I have mine. You’re goodat your job, I’m sure. And I’m good at mine. Would youagree?” Arnold asks.
I stiffen in the chair. The light from the windows seems like aspotlight now. Maybe that’s why Arnold keeps his blindspulled—so he can do his dirty deeds in the dark.
“That’s what I’m going to find out during this audit,” I say.
He laughs humorlessly. “Well, there’s really no need for it. I’lltell you what I’ve told every auditor we’ve ever had: I’m aprofessional. Nothing happens in this company’s accounts thatI don’t know about. So if you find unaccounted surpluses orlosses, you can assume I already know. There’s no reason toreport any of it. Business can sometimes be messy, as I’m sureyou know.”
He gave this same speech to Roger? To Georgia?
I study Arnold’s face, trying to decide if this is some sort oftest. He’s just staring back at me, waiting.
“What you’re asking me to do is illegal,” I say flatly. “I’mgoing to do my job exactly as I’ve been trained. And if you’vebeen doing yours, then there shouldn’t be a problem.”
He looks surprised I’m pushing back, but not rattled. I have afeeling it takes a lot to rattle a scumbag like this.
“You’ll do as I say or you’ll be replaced. I will send you homeright now.”
“You’re one of our biggest clients,” I blurt, even though I’msure he already knows.
“And what do you think would happen, Miss Dowan, if youlost your company one of their biggest clients?”
I blink at him. “Are you blackmailing me?”
“No. I’m simply explaining a logical series of events,” he says.“You refuse to do what I say, I’ll cut ties with your company,and your company will fire you. You look quite young, and ifyour naked ring finger is any indication, you aren’t married.How much in savings do you have set aside?”
The blow lands exactly as Arnold hoped it would.
I bolt out of my chair. “I’d like to speak with your boss. Now.”
“This matter is beneath him.”
“You’re beneath everyone. But that’s beside the point. I wantto see your boss.”
“Then I’ll wait,” I grit out. “Maybe I will get fired. But if Ilose my job, I’m taking you down with me.”
He chuckles. “You think you can get me fired?”
Well, I did… up until he said that with such a confident smile.
“If I tell your boss you are embezzling money, then yes, Ithink I can.”
“Okay.” Arnold stands up and walks around the desk. I flinchback, expecting him to attack me. Instead, he moves to thedoor and holds it open. “Come with me.”
Moving on shaky Bambi legs, I follow Arnold down thehallway to the corner office. The walls are glass, but all of thewhite curtains are pulled closed.
My stomach flips nervously. I technically don’t have proof thatArnold has done anything wrong yet. All I have is his strangerequest. But that will have to be enough. Enough to get theowner to let me go forward with the audit as it should be done.
And even if I do get fired at the end of this, maybe I can usethe evenings while I’m here to line up my next job.
Because I need a job. I need to take care of Elise.
Arnold raps his knuckles against the door. A muffled voicefrom the other side directs him to come in. Once the door isopen, the voice becomes clearer.
“What is it, Arnold?” The deep, velvet tones are melodic.
“Sorry to bother you, sir,” Arnold says. “But the auditorwished to speak to you.”
“I asked you to handle that.”
Something registers in the way back of my brain. A vaguesense of déjà vu. Of familiarity. But I’m too nervous to thinkmuch on it.
“She insisted.” Arnold steps aside and ushers me in. “I thinkyou’ll like meeting her.”
I stare at him as I pass, unsure what he means by that. Is hebeing sarcastic? Or is he making some locker room-stylesuggestion because I’m a woman? Either way, I want to kickhim in the balls.
But then the CEO speaks again. This time, there’s no door orwall between us. I hear him clearly.
“You’re right, Arnold,” he says. “Matter of fact, we’ve alreadymet.”
It hits me all at once.
I remember that musical voice in my ear.
I remember the warmth of his breath on the back of my neck.
I know who I’ll see sitting behind the desk before I even look,but I can’t stop myself from whipping towards him. Fromconfirming my own waking nightmare.
Handsome Russian Stranger Man is sitting behind a massivedesk in a seriously designer suit.
Nikolai’s mouth twists into a devilish smile. “Hello, Belle.”
If refusing to turn a blind eye to Arnold’s embezzling doesn’tget me fired, joining the Mile High Club with the CEO ofZhukova Incorporated will certainly do the trick.
That’s what got me in this mess in the first place.
“You two know each other?” Arnold asks, looking from me tothe auburn-haired beauty at his side.
Usually, I would have told Arnold to f**k off if he tried tobring an auditor in to see me. As if I have nothing better to dothan oversee drudgework. But then I spotted Belle on thesecurity cameras.
She’s changed since I saw her a few hours ago, dressed in atight pair of cropped trousers and a loose blouse, but Irecognized her instantly. So did my d**k.
“Of course. I make it a point to know the people who workunder me,” I say.
My double entendre isn’t lost on Belle. Her attention snaps tome.
“We met on the plane.” She grits out the explanationunwillingly, worried I’ll offer a more colorful one.
“Oh, yes. I’m well acquainted with Belle now.” With everypart of her.
The memory of her bent over in front of me has beenreplaying in my mind all morning. Her ass, red from myhands. The way she bit her bottom lip and frowned as shecame around my d**k.
Turns out there are some benefits of flying first classoccasionally instead of private.
“Then I guess introductions aren’t in order,” Arnold says.
“Actually, a refresher might be a good idea. We didn’t domuch talking.” I stand up and hold out my hand in Belle’sdirection. “I’m Nikolai. Nikolai Zhukova.”
Her nostrils flare, and I can tell Arnold is trying to suppress alaugh. Belle, however, looks pale. Worse than she did on theplane.
“You failed to mention your last name on the flight,” she saysicily.
She’s doing her best to remain professional. It’s admirable,really. The way she thinks she can control this interaction.
“It didn’t seem necessary. I assumed we were on a first-namebasis considering we—”
- Writer
