Page 9 of A Vegas Crush Collection #2

terrifying and sexy

Boris

I try my best to concentrate on the menu, but soon realize it’s unnecessary when Talia begins to read aloud from hers.

“The garbage burger,” she says excitedly. “Yummy. Avocado, tomatoes, mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, onions, mushrooms. Sounds like heaven.”

“Sounds maybe like a belly ache.”

“Okay, how about the taco burger? Salsa, sour cream, taco chips, olives, onions.”

“Onions again? Before our very first conversation about my finances? I don’t think so, Talia.

” Teasing comes easily with her for some reason.

And that is strange for me. Georg would be the first to tell people that I am serious and the most loyal person he knows…

after I’ve eventually accepted someone into my world.

“Fine, killjoy. How about a classic cheeseburger with lettuce and tomato?”

The waitress comes with our drinks, a beer for Talia and an iced tea for me. She makes a face at my boring beverage choice and then rattles off her order, choosing the garbage burger without onions. However, she does order onion rings on the side, with a wink.

I shake my head and order the classic cheeseburger and French fries. When I look from the waitress back to Talia, she’s got her head tilted, her eyes narrowed, and her lips set in a line.

“What?” I ask after the waitress has gone.

“Are you illiterate, Boris?”

My cheeks heat instantly. How perceptive this young woman is.

And there is no judgment in her voice, only curiosity.

She genuinely wants to know about me. I am beyond embarrassed.

My first attempts to answer her come out in a lot of grunts and a shitload of ahs and ums. I bite my lip.

My heart feels like it might pound out of my chest and start flopping around on the floor any second. Fuck me.

And then she puts an end to the torturous loop of my stuttering by speaking again. Thank sweet Christ.

“I’m just asking.” Her voice is soft and kind as she looks intently up at me with her eyes, the color of the stormy sea.

“I need to know so I can be assured that you have a full understanding of everything we look at together. If something takes more explaining, that’s fine, but I don’t want you in the dark if we’re going to work together. ”

“I’m not,” I say quietly.

“Not what?”

“Illiterate.” I hate that word, even though I know she doesn’t mean it in a derogatory way.

“I can read, although not very well in English, as it is not my native language. My mother spoke in Russian to me from birth, so I learned that as well as being taught in Czech and English at school. It was never the speaking that was the problem for me anyway. It was the reading and the writing of the different languages that gave me so much trouble. But numbers? Forget it.”

“Dyslexia?”

“Yes. Small print makes it worse. Numbers might as well be an alien language. They float and move, and I just can’t get a handle on them. It’s always been this way. Also, the reason I struggled in school so much, but I’m not dumb.”

“I didn’t think you were dumb. Not for a minute. But do you read your contracts before you sign them?”

“Usually no,” I admit. “I’ll set up a call and ask for an overview. I pretend I am busy and don’t have time for a full review.”

“So, you have advisors you trust, then? To ensure you don’t get hosed?”

“Some,” I say, though I’m certain I just winced a little and gave myself away.

Talia levels me, her blue eyes bright and insightful behind her thick eyeglasses. My heart continues its crazy pounding beat behind my rib cage. I feel like I’m on trial.

“So…your contract with the Crush?”

“Didn’t read it,” I say, taking a sip of my tea. “Got the highlights from my agent, Scott Rose.”

“And your current investment strategist is in Russia?”

“Yes, in Moscow.”

“Do you have a current contract with this guy?”

“No paper. It is a gentlemen’s contract.”

Talia sits back and huffs, rolling her eyes.

“That is nuts, Boris. Seriously. Very risky. How much are they taking in commission and fees? What are they investing in? Are you at least looking at the numbers to see if the amounts go up or down each quarter? Are you making them review your portfolio with you periodically?”

I’m overwhelmed by all her questions. They are rapid-fire and her posture is just as aggressive as she sits forward, elbows on the table as she catches my gaze and refuses to let go.

Honestly, it’s terrifying. But it’s something else too—intensely sexy.

“I know the numbers are not where they should be, but they always tell me it’s the markets and everything will rebound. I have worked with them a long time.”

“Well, they’ve probably been ripping you off for a long time, then,” she says sharply. Talia pushes up her glasses and then holds out a hand. “Here. Gimme. Let me see those reports.”

I hand over the folder, and she proceeds to scrutinize each page, even pulling a pen out of her purse and making marks and circles. Her expression is intense at first, then changes. To something like shock or panic. Oh shit. She looks up and stabs me with dark eyes.

“Tell me.”

“Boris, does your ass hurt? Because these guys are totally screwing you.”