Page 43 of The Fixer
“Thank you for taking the time to meet with me, Darren.”
My eyes narrowed into slits on Aleksander as alarm bells rang in my head.Darren? As in Darren Willians, the arms dealer?“Your trip from the Middle East wasn’t too terrible, I hope.”
“What do you want, Aleksander? You can get away with scrambling your lackies inside the Motherland at your discretion, but you don’t have that liberty with me.” Languidly sitting in the chair next to me, Darren shot Aleksander a pointed, nasty look.
The animosity he felt towards his boss was astonishing, but I kept my expression decidedly neutral.
Aleksander though, was cool as he leaned back to glance between Darren and I.
Now, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
His face was unreadable, his eyes showing nothing as he trained them on Darren. “As you know, I’ve been reorganizing my operations. Ophelia Cherinivsky already knows my plans, but you’re the first person I’m telling explicitly. Within the next 10 years, I’m going to run for Prime Minister of Russia.”
The declaration straightened Darren’s spine rigidly.
I had to admit, when Aleksander said it aloud, it had a different heaviness to it.
Stunned silence met him, and I inhaled deeply.
Darren suddenly found his voice, “Yeah… whatever you’re planning on doing with me…moving me…removing me. It’s not gonna happen, Aleksander. You may be the boss, but these people I deal with don’t trust easily. I’ve spent 15 years building my contacts. You’re not going to singlehandedly destroy it, just because you can.” Darren so casually denied Aleksander that it was obvious he’s done it before.
Rolling my bottom lip between my teeth, I tilted my head back to stare at a spot on the ceiling.
He went on, “I’m one of your strongest links to Ricardo Montoya in Spain. For that matter, I’mdefinitelyyour strongest link to India, too. I work for you simply because I was born Russian. You’re notmyonly option.”
“I’m aware of why you were put in charge of arms, Darren.”
Why am I here?Just as the question popped into my mind, I felt Aleksander’s intense eyes on me. My cheek twitched, and I inhaled deeply before lowering my gaze to meet his.
“What do you think, Ophelia?” Aleksander asked.
“I think this should’ve been an email. I’m not leaving Russia longer than I have to.”
My irritation prompted Aleksander to smirk.
My frown threatened to show on my face. “You’ve made your point. I know you and your dad conspired together to give you a pretext to destroy the families to secure yourself for elections. I know you’re not torturing Aleksi or Erik. I also know this strange rollercoaster of a campaign you’ve been waging against me to get me under your thumb, worked. What else could you possibly do to make me feel stupid?”
“You know… when my father told your boyfriend you made me look incompetent, you drew the exact opposite conclusion most people would.”
Irritation warmed my face, and I crossed my legs opposite.
Aleksander propped his elbows on his desk to lace his fingers. “Do you know the problem with plotting out my every expectation of other people? Those people surprise me sometimes. You surprised me, Ophelia, not because you figured me out, but how fast you did so.”
“Ah, wonderful. I came all the way here to get praisedin person.” Planting both my feet on the floor, I hoisted myself up to stand. “Next time, email me.”
Aleksander finally showed some emotion. He frowned, his brows furrowing as surprise flashed briefly in his eyes. “Sit… down.”
Blood drummed in my ears as threat seeped from Aleksander’s pores like hot oil. Slowly sitting down again, my knee cracked in protest.
His gaze pierced me, silently warning that this was not the time to get snarky. “You’re forgetting something important, Ophelia. I told you the day this was all set in motion that if you’re not useful…you’ll have to give me someone that is.”
Flames engulfed my lungs as he sat back, his sharp eyes flickering to Darren. Sucking in a shallow breath when Aleksander’s brow twitched suggestively, I ground my teeth hard. The tension buzzing along my skin only intensified when Darren glanced at me, and I clenched my hands into tight fists on either side of my thighs. “I’m tired of you, and I’ve only known you a few weeks.”
Real—or not— surprise flashed across his entire face at my low, slow admission.
All the anger bubbling in my veins just dissolved, leaving nothing behind but emptiness. My nails unhooked from my palms, my back slouching sharply. I ran both my hands up my cheeks and into my hair. “I’ll go to America for you, Aleksander Makovich, but consider it my parting gift. I’m not suffering through the intense emotions that I have because of you. I’m not sacrificing my relationship because of you. I’mtired, and you’re not going to push and push and push until I end up face first in the dirt…” When I stood a second time, I didn’t stand there like an idiot. My bare feet were caressed by the carpet.
Aleksander’s wide eyes followed me on my way to the door.