And sadly, the home she was talking about was with her sister Luerna and her kids. Even though she hated Luerna’s husband, she had lived in that house her entire life. Now she wanted to crawl back to it.
Down the hall and in a back room, Maxim pulled Kira in, shoving her against the wall. Once the door was shut, a curtaindrew back to reveal the dancer from the stage. He was beaten. His eyes swollen, blood dripping from his mouth. Kira slapped a hand against her lips as she stared wide-eyed at the man.
Maxim walked up to him, a smirk on his lips. “I heard you had a question for me.”
The man made a sound, and Maxim had to bend down to hear it. “Why?”
“Why?” Maxim mocked, looking back at Kira. “Would you like to tell this man why he’ll wake up in the hospital with two broken legs in the morning?”
Kira yanked her hand down. “Because you are an asshole. I didn’t sleep with him. If you had just asked me–”
“And expect you to tell the truth? Something you are utterly incapable of.”
“Yes, he came to my hotel room. Yes, he’s a stripper. And yes, he kissed me and touched me in places that have never been touched. But I would not sleep with him. Because I believed that part of me belonged to you. Now I wish I had.”
Maxim smacked the dancer, and his blood splattered on the floor at her feet. “Anything else you want to say?”
Kira trembled, but the man being tortured in front of her gave her strength. “It doesn’t matter, does it? You don’t believe any of it.” Kira looked down at the dancer, but she refused to show any weakness. “I’m sorry you got caught up in this.” Kira swung for the exit, only to stop with her hand on the doorway. She caught herself on the wall outside, dizzy and slightly out of breath. A wave of nausea found her, and she squeezed her lips together as she swallowed. Over her shoulder, she forced out, “Emilio thinks you are an idiot. He plans to sabotage this contract and get you fired. If I’m to be believed.”
Kira gave a wicked smirk, using his doubt in her to cause doubt in everything else. She could destroy him. Didn’t he see that?His weakness was more exposed than his jugular. It was the first time she felt any sort of power, and it filled her with pride.
Chapter eight
Trust
Maxim chewed his lip as he rode the elevator. He was meeting his brother today to give details about Emilio. Lazar was the CEO of the company and stayed in the office on the top floor, while Maxim was the one busting his ass to get them reliable resources. But Maxim gladly took on the role.
After their parents died, Lazar, who was sixteen at the time, had to be the one to take over the family. And he did it without complaint. He worked hard for over twenty years. It was only right that, now that Maxim was older, he took on more responsibility.
Maxim adjusted the silver cuff at his wrist before he entered. Lazar was particular about how he wanted his men to look, having them dress in tailored, name-brand suits. Where Maximwas frugal with money, Lazar was loose, spending without care, if only to give the appearance of having more money than they did. His thought was that if people believed they had money, then they would be more than willing to support the company because they saw it had a great return on investment.
The theory hadn’t been proven wrong yet. People threw money at Lazar, hoping to double or even triple their investments.
The office had a grand fish tank in the corner with exotic fish that cost nearly a million dollars. All the furniture was made from pure leather, crafted from the finest skins. Maxim tried his hardest to stop his brother from overspending, but Lazar was always too eager to waste money. The man took what he wanted, and that was the end of it.
Lazar was smoking a cigar (expensive and exotic, of course) when Maxim entered. “Max!” He popped up from his chair. “Tell me we have new friends with the Italians.”
Maxim had hoped to have good news, and if Kira hadn’t said anything, he might have walked in with a smile on his face. However, Kira’s last words the other day had lingered with him. Thankfully, he had placed a recording device under the table and then hired an Italian translator to review the entire thing. “Not really.”
Lazar deflated. “I hate Italians. They think they are the only ones who know how to do business.” He sat in his chair, and Maxim tossed him the file so he could see for himself the double-crossing and the ridiculous amount of insults.
Lazar sat back.
Maxim knew that look. Lazar did not deal with disappointment well, and he certainly didn’t like to be insulted. “So that’s what they think, huh?”
“It’s not entirely untrue.”
Lazar scanned the words again, trying to find any factual statement in the lies, and slapped the paper down. “You did notmarry above your station. This family is worthy of Morozov’s money and attention.”
Maxim didn’t argue. But his silence only pushed Lazar. He blew out smoke, eyeing his brother. “Do you think you did?”
“I am no billionaire.” Maxim sighed, taking a seat. He had said this multiple times before, but it seemed now that Lazar finally heard him. This was his worry, that people wouldn’t respect him by marrying so far up the ladder. They would see him as a gold digger, a position traditionally reserved for women.
“What does that matter? You think money is what makes you worthy? Our family has consistently demonstrated that we are among the elite. We’ve been knocked down, but we always rise! Don’t you see? We don’t have billions, and yet we still outperform half of those billionaires who rely on stocks, bonds, and their family’s money. We made our fortune out of nothing! We are first-generation multi-millionaires. Do you know how rare that is? All these fucking families have been around for hundreds of years. But we-we are the new age.”
Maxim nodded, smiling, agreeing because disagreeing wasn’t worth the aftermath. But Lazar didn’t understand.
Lazar married his girlfriend immediately after high school. She was his equal. But Maxim had a woman who was so far above him that there was no ladder high enough to reach her. Not only financially, but also educationally. He had graduated from a random online school with a Bachelor’s degree in business, earning average and unremarkable grades. He didn’t know any instruments or languages. The only reason he was successful in his career was that Lazar didn’t allow him to fail.
