Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 103656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103656 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
She does try to push me away and even attempts to dig the pointy part of her heel in my shoe, but she’s as drunk as they come, so I successfully drag her out of the office.
“Boss.” Viktor watches the scene with wide eyes. “She threatened to have the Pakhan kill us if we touched her, so I couldn’t stop Miss Sokolov—”
“Obviously.” I glare at him. “No one is allowed in the office until I get back.”
Yuri starts to say something, but I direct my glare at him. “I mean it. If I find out anyone went in there, they better not let me see them again.”
“What is this about?” Rai grumbles like a spoiled rich kid, which she is, actually.
Not offering a reply, I pull her with me to a secondary office and shut the door behind us.
I might have accidentally—or intentionally—pushed Rai harder than needed inside, because she slams against the desk and hits her head on the lamp.
Propping herself up on the edge, she faces me with a death glare, a red bruise already forming on her forehead beneath the blonde hair.
She’s wearing a knee-length black dress that’s more suitable for a funeral than a club. White pearls don her neck, and she has on the makeup of a president’s wife. I know she tries hard to look older than she actually is, and she might manage to fool an outsider, but not me.
Besides, I’ve known her since her grandfather, the previous Pakhan, brought her to the organization when she was a preteen. We’ve never gotten along.
She has some of Yulia’s haughtiness, and anyone who resembles my mother, even the tiniest bit, has a special place on my hit list.
“What do you think you’re doing, Kirill?”
I lean against the door, legs crossed, blocking the only exit. “I should be the one asking you that, considering you chose to barge into my club.”
She folds her arms over her chest. “The club falls under the organization’s jurisdiction.”
“My jurisdiction.”
“As a member of the financial report team, I’m here for revenue control.”
“And when did you intend to do that? Before or after the hangover that’s waiting to happen.”
“I just…got a little carried away.”
“A little?”
“Okay, a lot.” She releases a breath, then narrows her eyes that look too much like her dead grandfather’s. “But that’s not what’s important here, is it?”
A muscle clenches in my jaw, but my expression remains the same. “Care to elaborate?”
“What…was that I just saw?”
“You’ve seen something? You sure it’s not just the alcohol talking?”
“I’m not drunk enough to start hallucinating. Are you perhaps…gay?”
Hmm.
From her point of view, I was bending over a man dressed in a suit on my desk. I was so busy thinking of how to make Rai believe she’s fucking crazy that I didn’t consider this angle.
It would be nearly impossible to make her go whacko, considering it would take effort, careful planning, and, most importantly, time that I don’t have.
“What if I am?” I ask casually.
“Nothing to it, I guess.” She lifts her shoulders, then smirks. “At least, that’s what I think. Everyone else in the organization, however, tends to be old-fashioned and close-minded. I’m not sure they would treat this information as neutrally as I do.”
“Your point?”
She uncrosses her arms and approaches me with confident ‘I’m in control of this situation’ strides, then stops a few paces away. “I can keep this a secret if you do something for me.”
I adjust my glasses. “Which is?”
“Vote for me at the upcoming meeting to become the executive director for V Corp.”
I burst out laughing. The sound is so intrusive and loud that Rai shifts from easy overconfidence to annoyed anger.
“What’s so funny about that?”
I raise a hand, pretending that it takes me more effort than needed to stop myself from laughing. “You. Head of V Corp. That’s what’s funny, Rai.”
“Granduncle is the head. I’ll just be the executive director.”
“Which is another word for the one who calls the shots. That can’t be you.”
“Why the fuck not? Because I’m a woman?”
“Because you still struggle with controlling your bursts of emotions, and the others don’t respect you.”
“That’s only because I don’t have a dick between my legs.”
“That’s part of the reason, but it’s not all. You can still have an imaginary dick and balls.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
I resist the urge to throw her against the nearest wall or actually shoot her to get rid of her once and for all.
The alternative is that I have to help this woman reach her ambition in exchange for keeping this whole situation under wraps.
I don’t even like Rai, not that I like anyone, per se, but the reason why I dislike her more than most is her holier-than-thou attitude and unbending personality that could be snapped like a twig.
It doesn’t help that she has a lot of moral ‘shackles,’ and I can’t possibly have her as an ally since we disagree on almost everything.