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“Ah, so we meet again. You never returned my calls this week, Aspen. I’m offended.”

She knew that he did business with Andrei Renoke. In fact Demyan was one of his main associates with family ties to a Russian organization centuries old. She wasn’t trying to piss off such powerful individuals. She was only seeking some revenge, though minor to alleviate the constant pain of bad memories she felt from her past. Scoring the construction job was huge. She needed to be smart, and to use her assets to save her from any potential harm.

She smiled at Demyan. “You knew I wouldn’t answer your calls. I told you, Demyan, I don’t date men I work with.”

“How about just sleep with them?” he asked, pulling her closer and letting his hand roam over her hips. At first she was going to pull away but then she realized that he was frisking her. He was checking to see if she was carrying.

Iakov approached and held his hand out. She knew he wanted her to give him her purse to check that, too. She did and he gave her a wink, looked her body over, and then checked her purse. At this point Demyan released her slowly but not completely. He turned her around and placed his hands on her hips as Iakov walked ahead of them through the crowded restaurant.

It was actually kind of weird how no one even glanced at them, or looked to watch as the men frisked hr. It was obviously not such a foreign sight.

She calmed her breathing best she could considering she was feeling pretty much on edge. The further they walked, the less and less people were around them. As they made it to the back hallway she realized that she may not be quite prepared for Andrei and this meeting. What could he possibly want from her for him to call this meeting? Was he intending on threatening her more? Perhaps giving her a beating? Maybe forcing himself on her? She didn’t think so. One thing she learned from studying Andrei for so long was that he was a planner. He never reacted on impulse and when he made a move or an attack it was out of the blue and unexpected.

No, he definitely had something up his sleeve and the fact that she was still alive said a lot.

Iakov opened the door and there was Gary Sparks, the CEO of the company she worked for, and he didn’t look too good at all.

She looked to Andrei who leaned against the desk with a snifter of vodka in his hand.

“Ah, there she is. We’ve been waiting for you, Aspen.”

He stood straighter, placed his drink down and Iakov gave her a small shove toward Andrei. She gave Iakov a dirty look and Demyan chuckled.

“What’s going on?” she asked, but Andrei eyed her over, took her hand and brought it to his lips and kissed the top.

“You look gorgeous as usual, Ms. Brooks.” He held her gaze, his expression from smug to a look of power.

“Iakov, a drink for Aspen please.”

He released her hand and led her to the chair in front of his desk and beside Gary Sparks.

“What are you doing here?” she asked Gary. He looked her over and then cleared his throat as he looked at Andrei.

“I was just negotiating the sale of Sparks Industries. Seems I’m going to retire a lot earlier then I originally planned,” her boss told her and she was shocked. Somehow Andrei bought out Gary Sparks’s business. This was a business many people were interested in taking over including her brother Porter, Storm and his team, as well as associates of theirs who had similar businesses in New York and Texas. Galvin Quarters had been negotiating the sale for years. They had Storm, Winter, and the gang introduce him to Gary two years ago. What kind of game was Andrei playing?

“I don’t understand. I mean you haven’t mentioned wanting to retire or sell the business.”

“Things change, Aspen,” Gary said and then stood up.

“Circumstances change. I already own a large number of similar companies around Chicago. By purchasing Sparks Industries, I gain a monopoly over the industry,” Andrei said and took a sip of his drink.

Aspen understood what was going on here. This had to do with his own sense of revenge and power. Andrei wanted to take over Nicolai Merkovicz’s territory, and that was some serious dangerous move on his part.

Aspen sat back and thought about what was happening and how she had to keep her mouth shut and not let on to how much she knew about the Russian mob families that ruled Chicago and elsewhere. Nicolai was not the kind of man to mess with, nor was his family. From her understanding there were men, family members embedded even in Andrei’s organization and he didn’t even know it. This was too much to digest.

“So why did you ask me to meet you here? I’m not a partner in Sparks Industries,” she said.

“I’m your boss now, Aspen, and there are certain things required of you in your new position.”

“New position? I don’t think so.”

“He owns the contracts now, Aspen. There’s no legal way out of this,” Gary said as Iakov motioned for him to leave the room. Aspen watched all concerned.

“You are going to be the new CEO of my company. I have a major project I want you to work on in taking over another small business I think will be a great new avenue for my new company.”

She stared at him and he smiled.

“You’re going to help me get the information I need to sabotage Pro-Tech Industries and take it over,” he said and smirked.