Page 14 of Tarnished Tyrant (Zhukova Bratva 1)

“You’ve worked on the audit prior to arriving here today, correct?”

I nod and then clear my throat. “Yes. I was one of… of many who participated in the early stages of the auditing process.”

This isn’t entirely true. Actually, it’s not even a little bit true. Roger kept all of the files in his office. He let me work on some smaller clients, but he kept Zhukova Incorporated for himself. Today will be my first time seeing any of the paperwork or numbers.

“Great.” He rifles through the folders in the file cabinet, pulling some out at random. “Then I’ll need the finishing touches on this nonsense completed in three days. No later."

Thankfully, he is no longer looking at me because my jaw drops. "Three days?"

“That was the previously agreed-upon arrangement.”

“Yes,” I admit. “I know it was. But—”

“You’ve had six weeks prior to this with our documents,” Arnold continues. “Did you do your job or not? I was under the impression that the week spent here was just putting finishing touches on everything.”

“We did our job,” I rush to explain. “It’s just that… the timeline was set when my colleague was going to be here with me. Now, I’m working alone.”

Arnold turns around and glowers. “That does not change the parameters of the job we hired you to do. Three days. It’s not a negotiation.”

I feel overwhelmed tears burning the backs of my eyes, but I refuse to cry in front of this man. Not on my first day.

“Arnold—sir,” I correct, “I may have misspoken slightly. My colleague handled many of the documents related to this audit. I’ll need at least a day, maybe two, to review the information he has put together. To familiarize myself. Then I can begin the process.”

“And the ‘process’ will take you…?”

“Three or four days, at least.”

“I may not be some hoity-toity accountant like you,” he says sarcastically, “but I am the Vice President of Financing. And I’m fairly sure that the two days of familiarizing and three days of processing… Well, that adds up to five days. Is that correct?”

I grit my teeth. “Yes, it is.”

“Two days too many,” he snarls. “Three is what you get. Like I said, it’s not a negotiation.”

If I slap this smug man in his face, I’ll lose my job. Then again, maybe that isn’t such a bad thing.

But as soon as the thought flits through my mind, I see Elise’s face. And I take a deep breath.

“I understand you must have a schedule to keep,” I tell him, “and I’m sorry if my company is playing a part in making your life more difficult. That’s not our objective. But I simply can’t do my job properly in three days.”

Arnold leans back in his chair. The springs squeal. “Now, we reach the heart of the matter—your job. I’m sure you have your own idea of what that entails, but I think I have a solution that will see this job done in three days. Would you like to hear it?”

No. Double no. Triple no with a side of“fuck you.”

But I nod. “Of course.”

He smiles. “Our company does a lot of business. Money changes hands. It moves from one account to another. We gain it, we lose it. That’s business.”

“That’s all businesses, as far as I’ve been able to tell.”

Arnold’s smile sharpens. “Yes. Well, it’s understandable, then, that some of that money might… disappear.”

“Disappear?”

“Disappear,” he repeats. “Get lost in the shuffle of things. Do you understand?”

Holy shit.Yes, I understand. I understand perfectly.

This man is embezzling from Zhukova Incorporated.

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