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I smile. “No. Even though I know you will enjoy it.”
“You’re insane,” she shoots back, eyes glittering, but I notice she has forgotten to fight back. Her hands are almost caressing my chest. I wonder if she can feel just how hard it is racing because of her.
“I notice you didn’t call me a liar though.”
She says nothing. Just stares up at me with those amazing sparkling eyes. They burn with blue fire and tell me a whole different story than her tongue is.
“Your colleague is just about to come into view. We don’t want her thinking you have a price, do we?” I let her go.
She has to sit on the bed to be able to catch her balance again, and it quite pleases me, I have to admit, to see her so flustered… so undone. I will see her naked and flushed on my bed. Sooner rather than later.
“I’m sure you have an impossibly busy day ahead, but perhaps tonight when you are lying in your bed alone you will put aside your bruised ego and reconsider my offer. There is much to gain and nothing to lose. It will be a brief liaison, butyou will enjoy every minute of it. See it as a reprieve away from your current life. Everyone needs one from time to time. This is your opportunity. You have my secretary's number.”
I stroll out of the room. All I have is her scowl and shock and fury, but that fills my lost soul with satisfaction.
As I reach the bottom of the stairs through the main open-plan living room, I see her colleague waiting on the patio. She smiles at me. Beautiful woman and she understands the game. How easy it would have been if it was her I wanted and not the spitfire upstairs. I nod at her and head out towards my car. My phone begins to ring, and I ignore it because I don’t want to spoil the delicious high I’m feeling.
Alexei pulls the front doors open for me as soon as he sees me approaching. Not until I am in the car and well on my way to the office do I pull my phone out of my pocket to see who called. I see Greta's name on the screen and frown. Before I call her back, she calls again.
“What is it, Greta?”
“I'm really sorry, Mr Ivanovich. You did inform me that you were taking the morning off, but a very urgent matter has just been brought to my attention and I thought I should inform you immediately.”
“I’m listening.”
“I just heard from Liam in the Paris office and Solov in Moscow has confirmed this information as well. It seems the National Crime Agency in London has asked the United States government to participate in their investigation into your affairs. Looks like your case is already on the table of the KleptoCaptureTask Force.”
My mood instantly plunges from fantastic to annoyed. The desire of Western governments to harass innocent but wealthy Russians in order to show Putin who is boss is getting tiresome. I’m not an oligarch, my wealth is not from ill-gotten gains, Ihave no political connections with the ruling power structure in Russia, nor have I dealings with her criminal underworld and yet I am being investigated like a common criminal.
“Why?” I ask, irritated.
“I don't know what damning information they think they have on you or where they are getting it from, but it seems whoever has been feeding it to them is also promising them that there are financial links to politicians in the U.S. It's been confirmed as of this morning that a new investigation has been opened against you by the Department of Justice.”
I look out of the window, unseeing. Damn them to hell. I am certain this witch hunt is linked to my family. I’m not them, but the inquisitions just keep coming. They will never find evidence for any of these wild accusations. They won’t because I have never bribed a politician in my life. Why would I? I’ve never needed the help of those corrupt creatures to make a buck. So they will never find anything, but perhaps they don't really need to—they just want to make a splash, drive fear into the other Russians who do have something to hide and frustrate me in the process. Bastards.
“Do you know who is dealing with it?” I ask
“David Madley from the US Attorney General’s office,” she replies.
I can’t help but scoff. “Madley from the Southern District?”
“That’s the one. Solov thinks it might be a good idea to set up a meeting with him, but I wonder if perhaps it would do us good to pretend to not know about their probing for the moment. This way it wouldn't seem as though we are on our guard.”
I consider her words. “I’m going to go with Solov on this one. Arrange a meeting with him for later tonight. At the club perhaps? I have a feeling he’ll like it there.”
“What reason shall I give him?”
“Just tell him that it is high time we catch up.”
“Alright, I will.”
“About Miss Fitzpatrick…”
“We’re still looking into her and her family, but something rather interesting has come up with regards to her father that you might be able to use as leverage. I will send you a report this evening.”
“Good,” I reply and end the call.
Chapter Eleven