Page 49 of Forbidden Boss

“You won’t get away with this,” I shoot right back, braver than I feel.

He tilts his head and narrows his eyes at me, still wearing that self-satisfied smirk.

“I already have.”

He pulls at a panel I’ve never noticed and presses a button. The elevator moves again, inexplicably going down. B1 flickers on the screen. Then B2. When the doors open, I know we’re underground. I can smell iron and dust, metallic at the back of my throat. All I can see is concrete and fluorescent lights. And no guard.

“Walk,” he commands.

He takes my elbow, guiding me out of the elevator in a way that I’m sure looks polite. The pressure against my skin is anything but. We pass an empty glass security booth. The feed on the monitor loops an empty hallway. Marcus swipes a card, and wego through a door, where a black SUV waits with its engine running. The driver wears a cap pulled low so I can’t see his face.

“Marcus,” I plead, because I have no other moves left. “You don’t have to do this. Let’s just go back upstairs and wait for Lev. I’m sure this is all a mistake.”

He smiles coldly at me. “No,” he answers, and the word is almost gentle. “You just had to go and pull the wrong thread. You couldn’t leave well enough alone.”

Before I realize what’s happening, he yanks my bag off my shoulder. I grip the strap, an automatic reflex, but he’s much quicker and much stronger. Pain bites across my fingers, forcing me to let go. He throws the bag into a gray trash can, where it lands with a thud.

“Get in,” he says, opening the door to the SUV.

I know that if he gets me in a car and drives me to an unknown location, I’m as good as dead. My mind races back to every terrifying scenario Lev walked me through, trying to convince me of the importance of following his very strict guidelines. A lot of good those did.

He expected his enemy to be on the outside, to be with another Bratva or even with the Feds. I heard him and Yuri talking long and low about all the possible scenarios. And sometimes there was Marcus, in the penthouse or in Lev’s office, always part of the inner circle, always a fixture in the planning of my safety.

Marcus was trusted enough for my guards to stand down. I have no idea how Marcus will spin this, but I’m sure I’ll be long dead before Lev even suspects that one of his most trusted advisors is the man who’s stolen millions of dollars from him.

I plant my feet against the hard concrete, my last stand. He moves faster, though, shoving me forward into the car. I stumble, hitting my shin on the footwell, and brace myself against the seat. I try to regain my balance, to pivot and face him, to at least get some hits in. I don’t want to go down without a fight.

He anticipates my move and brings his palm down on the crown of my head. He grabs me by the collar, his other hand wrapping around my waist as he lifts me into the car. I struggle, channeling every ounce of strength I have into fighting him. He loosens his grip on my waist, and I feel him lift his arm.

The butt of the gun smashes into the top of my skull, and pain sears through my head. All the fight leaves me at once, and my body collapses. He lifts his arm again, and on the second impact, everything goes black.

22

LEV

Icheck my phone between the Chairman’s talking points, and Mari’s text pops up.

Need to talk to you. Right now. Call me ASAP

Which was followed by:

It’s urgent.

I text back that I’ll call in ten and pocket my phone.

I turn my focus back to the men in the room. It’s our quarterly board meeting. Legitimate businessmen sit around a long table in a private room at one of the Chairman’s restaurants. I find these meetings needlessly boring, but they keep Levcon running smoothly. They legitimize our business.

We’re wrapping up, so I steer the room toward a close. One of the bankers passes out a timeline for our next development, and a lawyer nods like we’re all friends. When the meeting ends, everyone stands. I shake hands and give my men a look that sends them into motion.

“We’ll have a call next week to go over these numbers,” I say as a parting word before I push past Yuri.

He watches me carefully. “Problem?”

“I don’t know yet,” I say, pulling out my phone and hitting Mari’s contact.

It goes to voicemail after one ring. That’s unusual for her. I try again. It goes straight to voicemail. I refuse to panic. She’ll call me back.

Yuri and my guards move me along a private corridor to a service elevator. Outside, the car idles, waiting for us. Once inside, I try her again and it also goes to voicemail.