Russian Mafia Billionaire’s Secretary (13 page)

Alanna stifled a yawn and decided to go to bed, but as much as she wanted, sleep was elusive as thoughts of Alexander played in her head. She tried to replay every interaction she had with him, but the only ones that were the strongest were when he was flirting with her. She remembered sitting in his black office chair and how he’d threatened to spank her. The thought made her tingle all over again. Had she been blinded by her aching lust for her Russian billionaire boss?

Just hours ago she’d been in his embrace and hadn’t had a care in the world. She thought about him sitting in jail as she enjoyed the comfort of a soft pillow and warm comforter. Alexander wasn’t afforded the luxuries he was used to and she drifted off to sleep, concerned about how he felt.

The next morning, Alanna woke up and her thoughts immediately went to Anastasia in the bathroom during their first night in Florida. She thought about the cocaine she was snorting and the comments she made, but she never once mentioned Alexander’s name.

Alanna wanted to believe the best about Alexander, but his supposed wrongdoings weighed heavily on her mind. She always gave everyone the benefit of the doubt in bad situations, and she wasn’t going to stop now.

She sat up in bed and made up her mind.

“I’ll just see if there is anything menacing about Alexander myself,” she said to herself as she contemplated the situation. She knew in her heart that she’d only be satisfied if she found out the details for herself.

She picked up her phone and studied her news feeds to see if there was any information on Alexander Denisov. She found it odd that there was no mention of his arrest.

She sighed deeply. She had a lot to think about before Monday morning.  

Chapter Eighteen

Alanna walked into Denisov International Monday morning. She was intercepted by security before making it to the elevator with a message to report to Human Resources. Stepping into their office, she was surprised to be met by the company’s executive vice president.

Smiling at the older man, “Mr. Zarkov, it’s good to see you.”

Nodding curtly at her, “Ms. Vella. It seems that there was some trouble Saturday night?”

Cringing inwardly, Alanna realized that someone would have found out even if they did manage to keep it out of the news.

“Yes, sir,” she managed to say, wondering if she was about to be fired.

“Please, come with me. Our lawyer wishes to speak with you.”

With an audible sigh, Alanna followed him into the HR manager’s office where she spent the next two hours going over everything that happened Saturday from the time his door was broken down. Satisfied that she had told them everything, she was excused to return to work and warned not to talk about what happened with anyone else, particularly their clients.

“If anyone specifically asks what is going on, direct them to me,” Mr. Zarkov ordered, as Alanna nodded to him.

When she finally made it upstairs, it was after ten and she was startled that all the lights were on and there was a flurry of activity going on, as people she didn’t know were moving in and out of the offices. A bit annoyed that she wasn’t warned ahead of time, she was shocked to see Tristan step out of one of the conference rooms seeming to be directing all of the activity.

When he turned around, she spotted a badge clipped to his belt and fury began to build inside her.

“Alanna,” he began tentatively, just as surprised to see her. “I wasn’t expecting to see you.”

“Evidently,” she answered through gritted teeth, as she glared at the person sitting at her desk.

Walking slowly toward her as if she were a wild animal, “Come. Let’s go into Alexander’s office to talk,” he said calmly.

Nodding her head, Alanna tightened her grip on her briefcase and marched ahead of him into Alexander’s office. She stopped short, when she saw a man and a woman taking pictures off the walls and pulling the backs off.

“Get out!” she screamed as she fought the urge to cry.

“Can we have the room please,” Tristan asked as the two agents nodded their heads and quickly left the room.

Walking over to Alexander’s desk, Tristan sat down in his chair, as Alanna felt steam start pouring from her ears. “How dare he,” she fumed.

Before she could say anything, he looked up at her and realized his mistake. Jumping up from the chair, he moved around to the front of the desk and took the boxes off the chairs and put them on the desk.

“Please, sit,” he implored as he sat slowly down.

Walking toward the desk, she set her briefcase down with a loud thump before sitting reluctantly down in the chair. She continued to glare at him, as he shifted uncomfortably in the chair.

“So, um, I guess we need to talk,” he began as she crossed her arms and stared at him. “I’ll go first.” Taking a deep breath, “My name really is Tristan Avery and I work for the FBI. This is my first assignment, actually.” He looked at her, seeming to wonder if he should continue.

“As you know, Alexander was arrested on Saturday and…” before he could finish, Alanna interrupted him.

“So, have you found anything?” she demanded, hoping her curiosity didn’t come out in her tone.

Shaking his head, “No.”

“Then why are you still here? Is he still in jail? Why hasn’t he posted bail?”

“We aren’t finished looking, yet. Our sources indicate that he’s involved in activities associated with a recent influx of drugs from the Baltic.”

“And the bail?” Alanna was growing increasingly angry, as she fought to keep from screaming in frustration.

“We have seventy-two hours before he has to be charged and since he was arrested at night, it would be Wednesday morning at the earliest before he could appear before a judge to discuss bail.”

“So, all this really is a fishing expedition. Someone in law enforcement got a wild hair that because Alexander is a Russian billionaire that he must clearly be breaking the law and rather than catch him at any wrong doing, you’re looking to pin something nonexistent on him.” Alanna’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

As she spoke, she berated herself for being the one to hire Tristan. She searched her memory for anything that might have seemed out of the ordinary with him but nothing came to mind. How could she have been so blind?

Tristan seemed to read her thoughts. “Don’t blame yourself, I was at the top of my class at Quantico. I’m good at my job.”

Shaking her head, Alanna tried to fault him but she couldn’t. If Alexander really was guilty of what he was accused of, someone was bound to find out.

Sighing heavily, “So, what happens now?”

“We have the full cooperation of everyone here and I hope the same goes for you,” Tristan commented as he waited for her response. Nodding her head, he continued. “It will certainly save a lot of time if you’d give us access to Alexander’s personal computer.

Tilting her head, she looked at him, “I don’t have his password, he never gave it to me.”

Suddenly, Alanna had a thought. “No, it couldn’t be that simple, could it?” she wondered aloud as Tristan looked at her strangely. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts.

“Have you come across the invoices and shipping lading with a Russian word printed on it.

Nodding his head, Tristan excused himself and returned moments later carrying one of the invoices. Taking it from him, Alanna went to Alexander’s computer to try to figure out how to type in the Cyrillic word. Grumbling in frustration, Tristan asked her what she was thinking. Without answering him, she logged into his computer under her name and clicked on the internet icon. Typing in the word, “неоценимый”, she clicked on translate and was surprised to see that it meant “priceless.”

Frowning, she clicked on the “I’m feeling lucky” option and her search returned the name, “Anton.” Logging out as her, she returned to Alexander’s login and typed in “Anton” for the username. When she was prompted for the password, she entered “priceless” but before she clicked the next button, she looked at Tristan uncertainly.

“I’ve no idea if this will work,” she warned as he nodded at her in encouragement.

She laughed when the login continued, pleased at her own detective work but worried at what it all meant.

“Alanna, you’re brilliant,” Tristan told her excitedly as he called to one of the agents to begin downloading his hard drive. “How did you know?”

“I didn’t. I kept seeing it pop up on paperwork and I never did figure out what it meant. I was shooting blind here.”

“Well, you seem to have hit the target,” he complimented her, as she looked on, hoping that she didn’t cause more problems for Alexander. As much as she wanted answers, she didn’t want to see him hurt any more than he already was.

“Don’t you think it’s odd that he’d have his password printed on paperwork that others would see?”

Shrugging his shoulders as he watched the agent work, “More than fifty percent of people use the same password for all their logins. This isn’t much different.”

When the agent finished, he stood up and said something quietly to Tristan before leaving.

“So, what happens now,” Alanna asked.

“What did they tell you downstairs?”

“Basically, to keep it business as usual until they had more information.”

Nodding his head, “Well, then I’ll let you get to it. Most of our work is already finished here, so we should be out of here by noon.”

Alanna stood up and headed back to her desk. She frowned when she saw the condition of the reception area. Setting her briefcase down, she checked for messages and then spent the rest of the morning cleaning up the mess the agents left. When they left the building at noon, she called down to HR to see if they had anyone available to help her put the office back together. Sending up a small team of interns from the sales and marketing departments, they were able to put the file room back together before the end of the day, which helped her feel better.

The rest of the week was uneventful and Alanna felt as though she were merely going through the motions. So far, any news of Alexander’s arrest remained out of the news cycles and while some of the clients felt put out that they couldn’t speak with him, everything was being “handled,” as the VP put it.

By Friday morning, Alanna was sure that Alexander would have been bailed out by now, but he had yet to show up at the office and she didn’t want to call him. When she returned from lunch, she was surprised to see a bouquet of roses sitting in a crystal vase on her desk.

Opening the card that came with it, a card key tumbled out. Picking it up, she held it as she read the card but it was as mysterious as the sender.

Friday 5 pm

481 Eighth Avenue

Room 225

“Well, that explains the room key,” she said aloud, as she tried to figure out who the roses were from but she was fairly sure she already knew.

Chapter Nineteen

Alanna left work a bit early to go to her mysterious rendezvous. While she was almost positive that she would see Alexander, given everything that had happened this past week, she wasn’t one hundred percent sure. When the taxi dropped her off in front of The New Yorker, she smiled, now sure that it was Alexander. Walking inside the Art Deco hotel that immediately reminded her of their time in Miami, she took the elevator up to the second floor.

She hesitated outside the room, unsure what to expect. Would he be angry when he found out that she gave the FBI his password? Whatever happened, she knew that she had to find out the truth.

Taking a deep breath, she inserted the card in the electronic lock and waited for the green light. Pushing down on the handle, she opened the door and stepped inside. Looking around, she was surprised when she didn’t see him. Maybe it wasn’t him? Noise from what looked to be a balcony caught her attention and she looked up to see a surprised Alexander walk in.

Pocketing his phone, he walked toward her and she met him halfway, stepping into his open arms as he hugged her tight.

“I was so worried about you.” She cringed inwardly at the sound of her voice, which reminded her of scolding her three-year-old.

Stroking her back, he tilted her chin up and kissed her gently. When their lips parted, “I missed you, too. More than you know.” Stepping back from her, he rubbed his head. “Would you like a drink?” Not waiting to see if she would reply, he moved over to the credenza and began pouring drinks.

Setting her bag in front of her, Alanna sat down on the settee and watched him pour her drink. From where she was sitting, she could see his profile. While he was dressed casually in slacks and a Polo, there was definitely something off. He looked less put together than normal. While he had shaved, it wasn’t as clean as it normally was and his hair was on the messy side. Given the number of times he rubbed his head, since she arrived, she could figure out why.

When he turned to bring her the glass, she saw the fatigue. Taking the drink, she took a small sip and set it down. While she enjoyed a cocktail or wine, this one was much too strong. She watched as he sat down tiredly next to her. Seeming lost in thought, he drained half his glass before setting it down on the table.

Turning to look at her, he seemed surprised that she was watching him so carefully. Before he could speak, “When was the last time you slept?” she questioned, as he laughed.

“Since before our date. Do I really look that bad?” His rueful answer had her aching to comfort him.

“Well, since it’s been a week, you don’t look
that
bad,” she emphasized giving him a small smile. “But you don’t look your put together self. When did you get released?”

“Wednesday morning.”

“So, why are you here? Are you on the run?” Alanna wasn’t sure what was going on.

Alexander barked in laughter. “No, I’m not on the run, although I’m sure your government would like that. I tried to go home, but my place is still closed to me. Mara, my housekeeper, was able to get in to pack me a small bag but before she could grab anything else, the agent in charge, Francis….”

“Franklin,” Alanna corrected. “We’ve met.”