Page 10 of Forbidden Boss
Fifteen minutes later, the quiet is broken by the thud of footsteps. I look up just in time to see a group of men in dark suits striding down the hall, their presence heavy, their faces hard. They aren’t Levcon employees. At least, they aren’t men I’ve seen in my nearly two weeks here.
Except for Marcus. He’s the CFO, and technically my boss, although Lev has been making me report directly to him instead. Probably part of his dickish power trip.
They go straight into Lev’s office without knocking.
I sit frozen at my desk, the folder of numbers staring back at me. I thought this job was about money, about ledgers and clean sheets. But as the muffled rumble of voices rises, I realize I’ve stepped into something else entirely. Something dangerous.
And I’m not sure I want to know what.
By the time I get off the subway and trudge up the stairs of my apartment building, my head is still spinning from the nightmare of a meeting with Lev. My folder is clutched so tightly to my chest, it’s a wonder the cardboard hasn’t torn. Every word of his rage echoes in my mind.
He hadn’t just been angry. The reaction was too sharp, too heavy. It rattled me more than I wanted to admit, and the sound of the glass shattering afterward clung to me the whole ride home.
All I want is to collapse onto the couch with Susie, drink a cheap glass of wine, and forget the way Lev’s eyes burned when he ordered me out of his office.
But when I push our apartment door open, everything inside me goes still.
A man sits at our tiny kitchen table. He wears a suit, dark but not flashy, his tie loosened as if he has been waiting. His hair is close-cropped, his jaw clean-shaven, his expression calm in a way that immediately puts me on edge. His hands rest lightly on the table in front of him, palms down, his jacket pulled just enough to reveal the faint glint of a badge clipped to his belt.
“Who the hell are you?” I ask him sharply.
The man stands smoothly, pulling out a leather wallet and flipping it open. The gold shield catches the dim light of our overhead bulb. “Special Agent Cole,” he replies evenly. “FBI.”
My stomach drops. “FBI?”
He closes the wallet and slides it back into his jacket. “Yes, ma’am. I’m sorry to intrude, but we need to talk.”
Susie pokes her head out of her room, shooting me a panicked and confused look. I shrug at her and wave her back.
“Privately,” Agent Cole amends, louder than necessary, as if he can see Susie behind him.
She quickly retreats back into her room, but I know she’s standing by her door, listening as intently as she can.
Agent Cole’s mouth tightens, but his tone stays calm. “I’d like to keep this conversation professional, Ms.Gonzales.”
I feel my throat dry out, my pulse racing.
“What is this about?” I ask, sinking into the chair across from him, my pulse pounding.
He looks at me directly, his gaze steady and almost too sharp. “It’s about your employer, Lev Borikov.”
The room tilts, and I’m glad I’m seated. “What about him?”
Agent Cole’s voice lowers, his words precise. “As I’m sure you’re aware, Mr.Borikov is a very powerful man. In addition to running Levcon Industries, he is also the leader of a dangerous criminal organization.”
The words crash through me with the force of a storm. They don’t fit with the man whose cologne had lingered on my skin, whose hand had guided me through a dark hallway, whose mouth had claimed mine with a desperate urgency. They don’t fit with the cold CEO who barks orders across a polished desk. And yet, as soon as Cole says it, something inside me clicks into place.
The fury over missing money. The men in dark suits storming his office. The sense of command that went beyond business.
It all fits.
My heart pounds in my ears. “No.That can’t be right.”
Cole’s expression doesn’t change. “I assure you, it’s right. Lev Borikov runs a prominent Russian Bratva. Levcon is his legitimate front, but the money moving through that company funds racketeering, extortion, and arms trafficking. He is as dangerous as they come.”
I shake my head, clinging to the chair like it might anchor me. “I’ve only been there two weeks. You can’t be serious.”
Agent Cole nods once. “I’m afraid I’m very serious. And that puts you in a very precarious position, Ms. Gonzales. You work directly under him. You see his accounts. You are in a position to either help us or bury yourself alongside him.”