Page 16 of Tarnished Tyrant (Zhukova Bratva 1)

Moving on shaky Bambi legs, I follow Arnold down the hallway to the corner office. The walls are glass, but all of the white curtains are pulled closed.

My stomach flips nervously. I technically don’t have proof that Arnold has done anything wrong yet. All I have is his strange request. But that will have to be enough. Enough to get the owner to let me go forward with the audit as it should be done.

And even if I do get fired at the end of this, maybe I can use the evenings while I’m here to line up my next job.

Because I need a job. I need to take care of Elise.

She’s all that matters.

Arnold raps his knuckles against the door. A muffled voice from the other side directs him to come in. Once the door is open, the voice becomes clearer.

“What is it, Arnold?” The deep, velvet tones are melodic.

“Sorry to bother you, sir,” Arnold says. “But the auditor wished to speak to you.”

“I asked you to handle that.”

Something registers in the way back of my brain. A vague sense of déjà vu. Of familiarity. But I’m too nervous to think much on it.

“She insisted.” Arnold steps aside and ushers me in. “I think you’ll like meeting her.”

I stare at him as I pass, unsure what he means by that. Is he being sarcastic? Or is he making some locker room-style suggestion because I’m a woman? Either way, I want to kick him in the balls.

But then the CEO speaks again. This time, there’s no door or wall between us. I hear him clearly.

“You’re right, Arnold,” he says. “Matter of fact, we’ve already met.”

It hits me all at once.

I remember that musical voice in my ear.

I remember the warmth of his breath on the back of my neck.

I know who I’ll see sitting behind the desk before I even look, but I can’t stop myself from whipping towards him. From confirming my own waking nightmare.

Handsome Russian Stranger Man is sitting behind a massive desk in a seriously designer suit.

Nikolai’s mouth twists into a devilish smile. “Hello, Belle.”

If refusing to turn a blind eye to Arnold’s embezzling doesn’t get me fired, joining the Mile High Club with the CEO of Zhukova Incorporated will certainly do the trick.

Fuck me.

On second thought, don’t.

That’s what got me in this mess in the first place.

3

NIKOLAI

“You two know each other?” Arnold asks, looking from me to the auburn-haired beauty at his side.

Usually, I would have told Arnold to fuck off if he tried to bring an auditor in to see me. As if I have nothing better to do than oversee drudgework. But then I spotted Belle on the security cameras.

She’s changed since I saw her a few hours ago, dressed in a tight pair of cropped trousers and a loose blouse, but I recognized her instantly. So did my dick.

“Of course. I make it a point to know the people who work under me,” I say.

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