That’s admirable to me, sexy as hell, and it hatches an idea in my mind.
“One of my men disobeyed my orders at the last second, costing men their lives. How do you think I should punish him?” I ask her.
“That depends,” she replies, wetting her lips in thought.
“On what?”
“If he intentionally disobeyed you or if someone convinced him to do what they wanted instead, knowing he would take the fall.”
Huh. She’s not wrong.
“So, you think someone under him could be the traitor and are perhaps pulling his strings?” I ask.
“It’s possible. And if that’s the only mistake he made, listening to the wrong person, then he doesn’t deserve to die for it, right?”
“We’ll see,” I reply.
While I enjoy talking to her about business, I know I don’t need her advice or her ideas. I won’t even accept Dominik’s.
But what I think I do need from her is her presence.
It’s not doing my focus any good for her to be so far away from me while I’m in meetings. All I do is think about her and wonder what she’s doing, and obsessively sneak peeks at the camera.
But if she’s in the same room as me, that wouldn’t be an issue.
“You worked as a hotel manager before?”
Alina gets to her feet and takes a few steps closer to the cage door, chewing on another slice of her orange, and giving me an even better view of her entire beautiful body that’s filling out again. “How did you know that?”
“It’s my job to know details. I keep files on everyone we do business with, including family members. How do you think Dominik knew right where to find you that first night?”
“Well, that’s not creepy at all,” she mutters.
I tilt my head at her. “Your role at the hotel was in management, correct?
Alina stops a few inches from the bars, holding the other orange half in her hand. My eyes drop to her tempting cleavage pushed up in the corset, making me momentarily forget what we were discussing until she says, “Yes, I managed the front desk.”
No wonder she’s fine with sitting in one boring place for hours at a time. That’s exactly what I need from her. Although, she’ll need more clothing if others are present.
“Do you miss it?”
Alina shakes her head. “It was just another job. A means to an end. It’s not like I was doing anything important.”
She could be. She’s smart enough, more than interested, and she’s certainly determined when she puts her mind to something. I’ve seen that firsthand when she was half dead on the floor.
“I’m afraid you can’t go back to the hotel.”
“I know,” Alina replies. “Dom said one of his men turned in a notice when I disappeared. I’m sure nobody at the hotel was worried enough about my sudden absence to file a missing person report.”
If anyone did that, I’d have it quietly removed, but it wasn’t an issue. That does make me feel a flicker of sympathy for her.
“It’s not your fault that you had to live most of your life on the run.”
Alina sighs as she looks down to tear the orange slices apart. “At least I was free.”
“You have more freedom with me than you ever did with your brother,” I correct her.
Alina’s brow furrows. “That doesn’t make any fucking sense.”
