Page 11 of Innocent Bratva Twins

Nico tugs his cellphone from his pocket. It’s been on silent, but I catch a glimpse of seven missed call notifications on his screen.

“Damn.” His brow furrows. “I’m really sorry about this. We’re having a major issue at one of our sites. I will only be a minute, but I need to take this call.”

“No, of course, go ahead. We understand,” Mr. Swan says, reaching towards the coffee and picking up his wife’s mug, setting it in front of her.

He puts one sugar in without having to ask, clearly knowing her preferences, and throws her a sweet smile.

I watch them with curiosity.

They work together, they live together, and they look utterly in love. The secret looks and small smiles—it’s actually really cute.

Nico leaves and while I don’t think they feel it, I am immediately awkward. Do I talk to them? Make small talk? Ask them about their interests.

Or do I wait it out in silence?

I busy myself with adding sugar to my own coffee and getting Nico’s coffee set up in front of his chair for when he comes back.

When that’s done, it’s back to being awkward.

I glance at my watch. It’s been four minutes.

Penelope glances at her watch, too.

“Honey, did you contact Devin?” she asks her husband.

“Not yet.”

“I’ll do it quickly now, make use of the time.”

She stands up and walks up and down the boardroom while she chats on the phone. She is elegant, and every movement she makes is feminine. I can’t stop myself from admiring her. She’s older, in her late fifties, but holds herself with incredible confidence and grace.

When the phone call is over, Nico has been gone for fifteen minutes, and I sense that things are not going well.

Mr. Swan stands up. “Let’s reschedule. Time is money. We can’t be expected to wait all day.” He looks disappointed. Bitter.

Mrs. Swan nods. "I agree. Emergency or not, we don’t have all day to sit around waiting. We have other presentations to see today, and I need to get to the attorney’s office.”

I stand up quickly. I have to save this meeting. If they walk out now, we’ll never get them back.

“Please, wait. If you allow me, I can go ahead with the presentation without Nico.”

The husband and wife team glance at each other. She tilts her head to the side and raises her brows. “I’m still keen to see the presentation,” she says.

Her husband nods. “Alright,” he agrees, taking his seat again.

Oh shit. What have I done?

I pick up the folder. No. Not the folder. I put it down again and pick up the remote control for the large screen on the wall.

Okay.

I can do this.

I’ve read that presentation a hundred times.

Flicking the video on, I know it will play at a certain pace, and I will talk over it, keeping time to the video. The only moments I might need to pause are if our clients have questions.

Holding the remote, I stand near the screen so that they can see both me and the screen.