Chapter 14

Chapter 14OliviaIchecked my makeup in one of the decorative mirrors hanging by my desk for the dozenth time that hour. Then the clock on my computer for the tenth. Viktor was coming in to discuss the estate sale, which was opening this weekend.It was the first time that my coworkers would see us together. The first time that anyone who had met Michael would get a good look at Viktor. Those distinctive eyes of his that he’d passed down to his son, they couldn’t possibly be missed.There would be questions. If not today, then soon. At this point, it was unavoidable. My fault for bringing Michael to work. But what the hell was I going to say to everyone?Guess I’ll have to cross that bridge when I come to it. I fussed with my hair, the items on my desk, even my computer desktop. My hands wouldn’t stop moving, so I forced them into my lap and folded them.Viktor was on my mind more with every passing day. Every minute I spent with him, it seemed, the more he slipped into me—into my thoughts, into my body’s cravings. I’d dreamed of him just that morning and woken up reaching for him across my empty mattress.I’m an idiot, I thought as I struggled to double-check all the documents needed for the auction. I kept telling myself not to get stuck on a Russian gangster, but then let him live rent-free in my head more and more.“You okay?” Marcie had picked up on something, probably from my expression.I smiled tightly. “Oh, you know how it is, it’s been a crazy week. Had to drop off my car this morning for a service and pick up the rental, now I’m just stressing over the upcoming auction series.”“That’s new. You used to do that a lot in your first year, but you’ve been sailing through without a worry line for years now.”“It’s the client.” I weighed how much to tell her for a few moments. “He’s not particularly difficult, just…”Her eyebrows lifted. “Particularly hot? I saw the guy come in when he was looking for you.”I blushed before I could stop myself, and she chuckled. Then her face went thoughtful. “How long have you known the guy?”“Viktor? A few years, technically…”“And you’ve never flirted with him or anything like that?”She’d already figured it out. I should have guessed. Marcie missed so little that she probably could have become a detective. “I…well, he’s sure flirted with me. But not in a creepy way. Which is both great and really distracting.”“Have you ever considered going for it? I’m assuming he’s not married.”I hesitated. She was even more of a hopeless romantic than I. The more I told her, the more she would want to know. “If he’s married, he never wears a ring.” I touched my finger. “No tan line.”“Good sign,” she teased. “If you’re this preoccupied by the guy, I’d say go for it. Unless you have reason to suspect he’s an asshole under the looks and charm.”It would be easier if he was an asshole. But he had never been anything but charming, considerate, and seductive as hell. I resented how smugly assured he was of his power over me, but that was mostly because he was right. The guy could snap his fingers and I’d follow him to bed.“No. He’s not perfect…” Because he’s a criminal. “But he’s not a bad person.”And that was the craziest part. I had met guys with no parking tickets who were bigger assholes than Viktor, at least so far. Guys who verbally and mentally abused the women in their lives, or even slapped them around. Guys who were cruel and controlling as hell. Viktor was the first lover I’d had who had bothered to turn me on properly before plunging in.Tough not to get hooked just on the “not a dick but knows how to use his properly” energy.“So? Ask the guy out. It’s 2023, honey, he’ll love it.” She winked and I smiled awkwardly.“I’ll think about it. Meanwhile, did I tell you what happened last night at my apartment building?” Easier to pretend I had that worrying me as well, instead of it being Viktor all the time.“What was it? Not anything too crazy, I hope.” Her excited look turned to one of shrewd concern.“They arrested my downstairs neighbor’s ex on stalking charges and attempted breaking and entering.” I stifled a yawn. I had ended up short on sleep because of these shenanigans, but it had been kind of interesting, in a very creepy way.“Oh crap. She isn’t hurt, is she?”“Nah, he didn’t even get in through her window. That’s where the story gets interesting.” She nodded and I went on. “See, my neighbor was dating this neckbeard guy for about six weeks. You know the type, half in a games-and-anime fantasy world with no social skills or personal hygiene, gets excruciatingly weird and demanding around girls every time no matter how often it backfires on him?”Her worried look became exasperated. “Yeah. We’ve got a neighbor like that. Did he ask you for feet pics?”“Twice, once in front of her.” I winced at the cringiness of it all. “Anyway, she finally dumps this jackass after he throws a tantrum so loud that I heard every single word, and when he won’t leave her alone after that, she gets a protection order.”“Good on her.” She nodded her approval before tossing me a foil-wrapped caramel. “But that wasn’t the end of it.”“Oh, no. Nobody gets stupid-angrier than a stalkery guy who’s been told no, after all. So last night, super late, I wake up and there are cop lights flashing through my window. I get up and put on a robe so I can go investigate. They’ve got this guy in handcuffs, face down on the back of a cruiser, with his coat torn to hell. And he’s crying and thanking them and babbling something about his ex’s new boyfriend.”She barked a laugh. “Did the guy kick his ass or something?”“The creep was apparently breaking into her window with a gun and a knife on him when some guy he’s never seen before comes running across the street out of nowhere and comes after him. Chased him through a few yards, took his weapons away, and said he’d kill him if he came back around that building again.”Her eyebrows were creeping up again. “Oh shit.”“Yeah. I asked the girl about it, and she said she’s not even dating anyone and has no idea who the man was who protected her. One of the neighbors called the cops, and they found her ex’s gun on the ground outside. Then they found him half a block away having a panic attack behind a car.“He was so scared of the guy who went after him that he begged to be put in jail. Cops were happy to do it after they found out what he was up to before he got chased away.”“Sounds like he was planning to straight up kill the poor girl.”“Yeah, it’s the instability most of all that scares women off from these guys, and this is why. Some men, you can’t tell they’re going to be abusive or a danger to you until you’re with them. But a guy like that practically has abuser tattooed on his forehead.”“I think she tried pity-dating him.” Young girls always seemed to think they could fix guys or inspire them to grow up with enough love. Thank God some random man decided to step in.“Yeah. I wonder who the hell he was.” She scratched her chin, then unwrapped one of her caramels.“Only thing I know is what the guy said while he was being arrested. Dark hair, light eyes, nice suit, accent, gun.”“So, James Bond.” The corner of her mouth curled up and I laughed.“Whoever he was, we owe him one.”***I didn’t know what I was feeling when Viktor finally walked through the door. He had two of his brothers with him, the huge coarse-faced one who was almost always by his side, and another man, shorter than both of them but just as beefy, who was mostly watching his associate more than Viktor.The vibe between them distracted me a little from my confusing jumble of emotions. It seemed odd. Not like the dynamic I had seen between him and his men, and between his men, before. It almost looked like Viktor and the other guard didn’t trust his right-hand man so much anymore.I got up to greet Viktor and shake his hand, and all the words dried up in my mouth when he took my hand and kissed it instead. Just the lightest brush of his lips and I was a wreck. Damn him.I struggled for a moment, then pasted my smile back on and offered them a seat across from my desk. Only the big one sat beside his boss, the third stood near the doorway, alert as a Doberman. But again, his eyes went back to the big guy more than anywhere else.I was in a room full of mobsters. Killers. And one of them had way too much power over me.“I’ve already gone over the basic auction schedule with you, so today’s meeting is mostly about this weekend. The auction is all of your uncle’s lower-ticket items, so it will be mixed and open to the public. We get a lot of people at the public auctions, so I expect everything or nearly everything put out to sell. If not, we can find room for the unsold items on the rest of the schedule, unless you have another preference.”The big one adjusted his tie unnecessarily. His gaze floated from me to his boss to the window and back again. Nervous. But what about?There was a whole little drama going on in front of my eyes, but I had no idea what the context or details were. And I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.“That should be sufficient for a first run. The higher-ticket auctions are to be by invitation only?” Viktor glanced at the man next to him and his eyes narrowed just slightly.“Yes.” I produced a copy of the guest list for the second auction. “Book collectors, scholars, and anyone in the business of handling first editions who is established enough to be on the local radar. Please let me know if you want any alterations to the list.”“I want a dozen of my men included on the guest list. I don’t want us all coming in together. I will give you their names via email.” He sat back in his seat, his gaze flicking to meet that of the man beside him, who almost flinched.“Understood.” I suddenly realized that the man was at least a little drunk. I couldn’t smell it on him, but something in the stiff, nervous way he held himself told me. Drunk and pretending not to be.He considered the papers I had given him so far, then looked up again. “Will you be attending the auction?”“All of them. You’re my client, they’re my accounts, it wouldn’t be right not to be there.”He pursed his lips slightly with pleasure as if to hide a smile, his eyes hooding in a way that made them smolder even more. “Good. Is there anything else I should know about this weekend’s auction?”“Here’s a list of the staff working the event, including our house security and their photographs.” I passed him the printout. “I’ll be sending all of these via email as well.”“Good.” He peered at the list, and then set it with the other papers. “I am assuming your security people are armed?”“Armed, licensed, and bonded. We handle billions of dollars in goods yearly.” They all also wore concealable bulletproof vests under their suits. I had pushed the change a couple of weeks ago, claiming it was because of a deadly robbery at another auction house across town. Even if absolutely nothing bad happened at Viktor’s auctions, you really never knew.Marcie walked past my door with a stack of papers, glancing in just as Viktor looked up curiously. She caught sight of his eyes and almost dropped the stack before recovering, giving me a startled look and then continuing her walk.Well…crap. If she hadn’t realized Viktor was Michael’s dad before now, she sure as hell did just then. I coughed into my fist and plowed on.The rest of the meeting flew past in fifteen minutes. By the end of it, I was almost feeling hopeful. The auctions were going to have as much security as a bank between his men and our security staff. Hopefully, we wouldn’t need them. But if we did, I was confident we would be able to contain any problems.Like one of his guys being drunk on the job. And whatever else was going on in that situation. Sitting here watching it all play out reminded me of just how little I really knew about Viktor.“Well, I think that concludes things for today—” I began, but stopped short at the slight shake of Viktor’s head.“Not quite,” he said evenly, before flicking his wrist almost absently towards the man sitting beside him. “Brothers, please give us a moment alone.”The beefy man beside him shifted his tie once more and gave him a half-startled look, before the two men promptly left without a word. As the door swung firmly shut behind them, I noticed them stationed on either side of the frame in almost military fashion.“Um,” I managed after a moment, “is everything alright?”“Better than alright,” Viktor replied, and his smile widened and warmed his eyes. “Stand up for me, please.”I blinked. “Uh…”But when he just raised a brow, I found my body obeying him without conscious thought.He lifted two fingers and gestured me over with a decisive flick, eyes never leaving mine, and I felt an immediate heat flood my body and pool in my lower belly. Jesus, how did he always affect me like this when he barely even did anything?Once more my traitorous feet obeyed his wordless command, and when his fingers enveloped my wrist and tugged, I slipped onto his lap without any hesitation.“I…don’t think this is very appropriate for the office,” I managed to mumble, though I was caught entirely in his smoldering gaze.“No-one will enter,” he replied confidently. “Trust me.”“I do.” The words slipped from my lips unbidden, but the way his expression seemed to soften at hearing them made it so that I couldn’t quite regret saying it.“Good,” he whispered, before taking my chin between his fingers and drawing me down for a pantie-melting kiss.***I’m not in love with him, I reminded myself after we said our goodbyes and I watched him walk out the door. I barely know him. This is infatuation. I shouldn’t dress it up as anything more than what it is. Especially when Michael’s well-being still needs to be my first priority.I was still putting away my papers and straightening the chairs when Marcie came back, walking into my office with her eyes wide and her mouth just a little open. I sighed and braced myself for what was coming.“So, uh, when were you going to tell me that the rich Russian guy is Michael’s dad?” she asked as soon as she closed my office door.My smile was half wince. “When I figured out how the heck to talk about it?”She let out a little laugh. “Well, will you at least give me the basics?”“I met him back before he ever became a client. We had a one-night stand. I’d never done that before and I was embarrassed. We fell out of touch, and I let it happen. Then I found out I was pregnant.”Her eyes widened even more. “Does he know?”“He does now, that we’re back in touch. We’re figuring out what to do about it.” I sighed and sat back down while she grabbed the chair the big guy had been sitting in. “Whether we end up together or not, we’ll figure something out to benefit Michael.”“Oh man. Telling him after four years must have been awkward.”I laughed, some of my tension dissipating now that my sanitized version of the truth was finally out in the open. “You’re not kidding. I’m just really glad he took it well and wants to do right by his son.”“And you,” she reminded, as if I would forget.“And me. But we don’t know yet what that part’s going to look like either.” I couldn’t even figure out what I wanted it to look like. Friends and co-parents…with benefits? Love? Marriage? Ridiculous. The man lived in a completely different world than we did.But apparently, my body hadn’t gotten the message. And I was worried that my heart was just as stupid.