I grit my teeth when I see a dozen missed phone calls and text messages from him asking why I’m not answering. I can almost sense the panic through the screen, and I play a voicemail he left for me.
“Boss, I know you’re probably busy, but I need you to call me back,” Lev says, his voice tinged with panic. “Our guy inside the Petrov family told me about an attack they’re planning. I don’t have all the details yet, but there’s something about a stolen shipment. Call me.”
Fuck me. Just when everything was going well, the Petrovs decide to step in and ruin it. I don’t know a goddamn thing about this missing shipment, but I’ll make them pay for threatening me.
I look over my shoulder at Danielle toasting a marshmallow over the fire. Now that I have something to protect, I’m not going to sit back and let this attack happen.
Chapter 4
Danielle
I’min disbelief as I sit on the penthouse roof making a s’more as casually as anything. I just lost my virginity to a virtual stranger. Granted, this stranger invited me to live with him at his penthouse, but he’s a stranger, nonetheless. I can count the things I know about Ivan on one hand.
But even taking that into consideration, I don’t regret it. I wanted to sleep with him. Badly.
In hindsight, I probably could have told him I was a virgin. But he said it himself, he looked at me as this innocent, pure girl. I didn’t want him to think I was too inexperienced to go forward with something like that.
Ivan made it incredible, though. Of course, there was a little bit of pain at first, but I adjusted quickly enough, and my first time was memorable. It was better than I ever imagined it could be.
“I’m so sorry about that,” Ivan says as he comes back to join me. I already have a marshmallow toasted and on a graham cracker that I hand to him. He shakes his head and insists that I take it instead. “I have to handle some business. Let’s head inside and get you warmed up. This shouldn’t be long.”
I hold my hand out for him, and he takes it, guiding me to the stairwell that leads down to his penthouse. The warmth of the room immediately wraps around me, and I’m relieved to no longer be shivering from the cold.
Ivan walks me back to my room and gives me a quick kiss before leaving me alone. I have a million questions for him. He said he does something with shipping and investments, so what emergency work could he possibly have right now?
I want to know everything I can about him. When he comes back, I can ask him everything I want to know. As I shower and rinse the chlorine off my skin, I think about all the questions I want to know. Where did he grow up? Did he go to school in the city? Is he close with his family?
All questions I would consider asking a guy before even accepting a date from him. Apparently, with Ivan, I’m doing things a little backward.
I hop out of the shower and change into a pair of loose-fitting jeans and one of my favorite old turtleneck sweaters that always reminds me of home and nice, peaceful holidays with family.
I half expect Ivan to come find me before I’m finished getting dressed, but it appears he’s still busy with work. The past twenty-four hours have been such a mess that I realize I haven’t even been given a proper tour of the penthouse. I came in and went straight to my room, and other than the dining room, I hardly know my way around.
When I’m dressed and put together, I see myself out of the room and start wandering through the hallways to give myself a tour. The penthouse is overall minimalistic designed. It’s not surprising, knowing what little I do about Ivan. He doesn’t seem like someone who likes a lot of unnecessary things around him.
That being said, the things he does have are luxurious. I find a parlor room with an antique pool table in pristine condition, a bar in the corner of the room filled with expensive bottlesof wine and liquor. All the furniture is plush and perfectly upholstered without a single thread out of place. What little art hangs on the walls seems like it cost him an arm and a leg, none of it being something he picked up at Target like what I had decorating my walls in my dorm.
I walk around the penthouse for about twenty minutes, studying everything I possibly can. Ivan is still working right now, so I don’t really know what I’m supposed to do with myself. Should I just sit quietly in my room and wait for him? I’ve never been very good at that.
I grab a journal and leave a note on my nightstand letting him know that I’m going for a quick walk outside. This is such a beautiful neighborhood, and even though it’s a cold day, I can walk through Central Park and admire all of the lights with ease.
When I get to the elevator, I remember that Ivan had to punch in a code to operate it. Looking at it now, I can see there is a similar code panel to get the buttons to work just to call the elevator to head down. The stairwell is locked, too.
“Shoot,” I whisper to myself, looking around for a spare key or maybe even a sticky note with the code written down on it.
I don’t find that, so I head into the kitchen, knowing there’s bound to be some staff waiting there. Both Katia and Yuri are in the kitchen chatting with one another. When they see me open the door, they stand at attention and drop their conversation.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” I say, flashing both of them a smile. “Ivan is doing some work, and I thought I might go for a walk in the park while he’s busy. Can either of you tell me the code to the elevator?”
They look at each other for a moment, then Katia looks back at me, her lips pulled into a tight line as she shakes her head.
“I’m sorry, we can’t give that out,” Katia says. Looking at her, I can’t tell if it’s because she doesn’t want to or if she’s notallowed. I sense some apprehension in her eyes that makes my stomach twist.
“Um, okay. Thanks, anyway.” I wave timidly before walking out of the room and whispering to myself, “That was weird.”
I know Ivan is working, but I want to leave. I have every right to leave the penthouse, so it shouldn’t be a problem if I just knock on the door and get the code quickly.
Still, I find myself taking a deep breath as I navigate the halls to get to his office. I’m about to knock on his door when I freeze. I can hear his voice on the other end, sharp and demanding. It’s a side to him that I haven’t seen yet. With me, he’s been gentle and calm, but this is new.
