Page 22 of The Fixer

“Focus,” I interrupted. “We’ll need all of you out of the camera’s line of sight. You’ll need to be silent throughout the entire call. If you can’t be silent, leave,” I ordered while directing my gaze at Einri, who was feasting on the sight of my glittering body. Twirling toward the monitor, I moved to retrieve my phone before tilting my head as feet shuffled over the floor. Dialing Elias Volkov, I turned toward the table to shuffle through the papers on it, pretending to be oblivious to the video call as it came up on the screen.

“Hello . . .” Elias’s thick Russian accent filled the room, forcing me to spin around. “Chevelle Reed?”

“Oh, damn. Hey, Elias!” I stated, before yanking the lace robe tightly over my chest. “Ana, I said, wait until we’re dressed.”

“My bad, Chevy. I thought you said while we’re getting dressed,” she muttered before sliding in beside me. “Hey, Elias,” she flirted with her come hither tone. “It’s been a while. You never call us anymore.” The pout in her tone was believable.

“My mistake, ladies,” he groaned. Pushing his knuckles into his mouth as Rory came into view, he made an animalistic noise before swearing in Russian. “Big party tonight?” Elias asked with a slight pout in his tone.

“It’s always a party when we’re together,” Penelope announced as she entered the camera’s frame. “We don’t even have to go out to have one, Elias.” She leaned over, tracing her fingertips over my cleavage. “I mean, do we not look like fun?”

“You look like a lot of fun, Penelope,” he whimpered as Rory fixed the chains of glittering gems on Ana’s breasts. “You didn’t call me either, Chevelle. I thought you and I had something special.”

“Oh?” I asked, hearing the truth of his claim in his tone. Turning to face the almost seven-foot-tall Russian who’d helped me ruin his competition in a case, I smirked.

Elias wasn’t merely handsome. He was ruggedly masculine, with ink covering him from waistline to his chin. The man had no right to look so tempting when he was basically the devil in reincarnation. D’yavol was what he went by, which was fitting considering the prick could snap his fingers to take out anyone he wanted gone. Vibrant greenish blue eyes stared down at the parted robe with blatant lust glowing in their sea churning depths.

“D’yavol doesn’t do relationships,” I murmured with an impish grin curling my lips, which were lathered in a glossy sheen of crimson. “You are too much of a playboy for me, sir.” I drag out the title, knowing damn well he’d hear the purr of my husky tone through the call. “A girl like me? I need to know I’m the only pussy you taste when we’re together.”

“If you want monogamy, I’d give it to you, Chevelle,” he promised, which was total bullshit.

“And if I said yes to your offer, what happens then?” I countered, silently waiting for his reply.

“I’d give you the universe.”

“I don’t want the universe, Elias. I want forever, but forever is an awfully long time.” It wasn’t a lie. I craved to find one person I could unleash my inner desires on who wasn’t afraid of the darker, painful scars I carried. Elias was a contender, but he also was a slut. Not that I had much room to talk. I enjoyed fucking strangers I never had to see again. “I’d want a vow of fidelity, and your name written on cunt.”

“I’d be the only man to ever touch it again, darling.”

“Is that so?” I asked teasingly, flirting with him without faking it one iota. The man had women falling at his feet. He’d promise me the moon, but he’d take it back once he’d tasted the sin on my soul. It was just who he was. “I’m waiting, lover boy.”

“There’s nothing boyish about me, Chevy,” he returned huskily. “One-night with you and I’ll give you anything you want in return.”

“Tempting, but I don’t sell my soul to any devil. I sure as hell don’t sell my cunt to one, either,” I growled with venom buried in my retort. “I’m worth more than one-night, or some lousy debt owed, Elias.”

“I know you are,” he murmured thickly. “??????? ????? ??? ???, ?????? ???,” he continued softly, but there was truth and longing thickly embedded in his tone. “You are my first choice, Chevelle. My papa is after me for grandbabies, and you’d be a fierce, lethal mother for my children.” Smiling at his offer to be the mother of his children, I fought the blush slowly creeping up my throat. His expressive turquoise eyes shimmered as he watched me stick a finger in a lock of hair and slowly twirl it. I knew his every weakness, because I’d studied him for weeks before making a move to approach him with a business arrangement he couldn’t refuse. “You’d be lovely with my child swelling in your womb, ??? ??????.”

“I would be fat and miserable, but the result is worth it if the devil remains faithful,” I continued. “But that isn’t why I called you, Elias.”

“It never is, Chevelle. Neither is it by chance you appear in so little. You’re the female version of me, which I am fully aware of. So, what is it you really need from me?” he questioned, pushing his heavily tattooed fingers through his thick, ebony silken strands of hair. “Always business with you, no?”

“Not always,” I returned softly, with regret simmering in my chest. “But regretfully, this time it is. I want to know who you are placing on the roster for the upcoming presidency. You know who is running. I’m not betting, if that’s what you think,” I hurried out as his features tightened with suspicion. “You have my word that it isn’t to use against you, or bet the house with, D’yavol. I’m merely preparing for the campaign trail, and I’d like to know who I am up against.”

“I can’t help you.” He was lying, of course. Turning around, I leaned over the table to retrieve a letter his nemesis had written before I’d sent him to prison for life. My gaze settled on Raithe’s across the room, which caused my lips to part at the murderous visage. “Besides, I merely take bets for the election when it’s been announced who is running.”

“Don’t lie to me, Elias. I could end up the mother of your unborn children one day.” My entire body was strung up tight at the way Raithe’s rage simmered over me. I could taste it in the air hovering between us. He didn’t like me flirting with Elias, but then the devil wasn’t just any man. I actually would fuck him if given the chance. “I’ve heard Jeffrey Gordon is the democratic nomination, but he’s hesitant.”

“Jeffrey Gordon isn’t president material. He spends his time buried in underage cunts, and blowing thousands up his nose by the hour,” Elias snorted before chuckling. “He also owes me millions for his shit odds he enjoys casting his bets on.”Fact.There hadn’t been a single lie in his statement.

“Mikel Hamilton was their second pick, wasn’t he?” Grabbing a stack of files, I slid them aside ensuring Elias seen the label which held red letters over the manila envelope.

“That asshole isn’t worth their time,” he laughed outright. “He’d never throw his hat in for the presidency.” I paused as my eyes narrowed at his reply. He’d lied, but why?

“I don’t know. I actually think he’d be their top choice.” Lowering my head, I arched my ass as I retrieved another file.

“He isn’t someone they’d nominate,” he lied through his teeth. A smile curved my lips at discovering one choice so easily. “Fucking hell, Chevy. You keep bending over with that pretty ass and I’m going to make a mess like some untried youth at the detention center who just discovered his prick could throw up.” Fact. That reply made my eyes sparkle with silent laughter his bluntness.

“I told you I was working, D’yavol. I’m a very busy girl these days. That doesn’t leave the democrats with many choices, however. My money would be on Howard Graham, anyway.” Tossing a file aside, I slid the robe off over my shoulders as the girls began dressing into their shimmering evening gowns around me. “Spencer Sinclair would be a better option for the republicans, honestly.”

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