“Your choices are safety or danger,” he counters. “Those men at your office? They would have killed you without a second thought.”
“I need to go back to work,” I insist. “My business won’t run itself, you know? I’ve worked real fucking hard to get to where I am.”
“Yes, I know that,” he says sharply. His patience is wearing thin. I can see it in the tightening around his eyes. “But before you go around accusing me of wanting to burn yourcareer to the ground, accusing me of thinking I’m a paranoid fuck—”
“I never said you’re a paranoid fuck,” I say, pointedly.
“No, but you look at me like I’m insane when I tell you you’re in danger,” he frowns. “And I’m sick of it. It’s time for you to see exactly what’s going on, Gela. Because I can’t keep fighting you like this.”
He pulls up something on his phone, then slides it across the table to me. When I look down, I see a video of some surveillance footage from my office building.
I begin to watch. At first, everything looks normal. People come and go, as usual. But then, I notice four big, bulky men walk in, their necks etched with similar tattoos.
“Keep watching,” Valentin says.
The video jumps ahead. Now I see a woman I’ve never seen before entering my office suite. She's talking to my receptionist, who looks confused.
“Who is she?” I ask.
“Keep watching.”
The video skips again. The strange woman is now sitting atmy desk,talking onmy phone.My two account managers are nowhere to be seen.
“What’s going on?” I ask nervously, just as the video shows something that makes my blood run cold. All four of the men I'd seen outside are now in my office, talking to the woman. She hands them a file, and they leave with it.
“What is this?” I whisper.
“They're using your business as a front,” Valentin says quietly. “I don’t know for what, but chances are they need a legitimate front for whatever it is they’re doing.”
I look up from the phone, and my chest begins to cave in on itself. “What happened to my employees?”
“They’re safe and will be as long as they stay out of the way,” he finishes. “From what I can tell, this woman has fired them all.”
I feel sick. “This is insane. Who are these people?”
“The Zakharovs,” Valentin spits. “They’re a powerful family with their hands in everything from drugs to weapons to human trafficking. They own the goddamn building you work in. They’re the ones who sent those men to your office, remember?”
“They own the building?” I feel myself go cold. “And they just... took over my business? Just like that? Can they do that?”
“They've been watching you for a while, I believe. The attack the other day? That was just the beginning. They were planning to blackmail and force you to cooperate.”
“How do you know all this?” I push aside my plate, no longer hungry.
“I've been tracking them since they attacked you.” He looks away.
I stare at him, trying to process it all. Some goddamn criminals have hijacked my business, and there’s nothing I can do about it.
“This isn’t fair,” I say, holding back a sob.
“It’s not,” Valentin says, softly. “But now I hope you understand why I say it’s dangerous for you to leave.”
His gentleness soaks into my bones, then swirls into confusion.
“I still don't understand why you care,” I say finally. “Why get involved? Why risk your life for me, a total stranger?”
A strange darkness flickers in his eyes. Not the bad kind, but a very passionate kind that has me softening around the edges.
“Because people like you don’t deserve to suffer at the hands of people like them,” Valentin says at last. “You’ve worked hard. You shouldn’t have to face such setbacks due to no fault of your own, which is why I’ve been thinking you should still run your business.”
