My expression darkened ever so slightly. “What can we do?”
She let out a soft sigh. “You could amend the wording to align the annex with the primary clause. Or reclassify the subsidiary before the next filing cycle. That way, the loophole closes. Easy peasy.”
I leaned back in my chair, watching her as though I was just seeing her for the very first time. She was sharp. Too sharp. And honestly, it unsettled me in a strange way. I masked my surprise, refusing to let her know that she’d impressed me in a way I didn’t expect.
“Next time, stick to filing,” I said coldly and went back to working on my laptop.
Her face twisted into a frown as she murmured something about my ingratitude and sheer arrogance. She was obviously expecting some sort of appreciation, but what she’d received was a cold dismissal. And that pissed her the fuck off.
Good.
A weird sense of satisfaction washed over me as I pursed my lips, suppressing the mocking smirk threatening to break free.
For the first time, I felt something crack in my control. And I knew instantly that trouble wasn’t far behind.
Chapter 7 – Emika
So far, living in this mansion hadn’t been as terrible as I thought it would be. Over the last week, we’d both stuck to the plan: husband and wife on paper, boss and assistant in real life.
He played his role well and hadn’t crossed his boundaries. Same as me. As his personal assistant, it was my job to schedule his meetings, run some errands, and follow him wherever he went—amongst other things, of course.
However, he didn’t always take me with him to every meeting, and I honestly couldn’t care less. He was doing me a favor anyway, because the fewer meetings I attended, the less work I had.
Nevertheless, I recently couldn’t help noticing a few small inconsistencies in his documents. Some things just weren’t adding up these days. There were very strange patterns in how he operated and ran his empire.
I was told that he was a businessman, one who ran a multimillion-dollar industry. And on paper, that seemed to be the case.
But what bugged me was the coded messages that kept pouring in and out of this mansion every now and then. Not to mention the vague talks about shipments and cargo that he always had with his men when I thought I wasn’t listening.
Each time I was working in his office and his lieutenant would walk in, Adrik would either ask me to excuse them or simply switch to Russian. At first, I didn’t think much of it until it became a habit, a pattern.
Yesterday, when Natalya and Hannah were cleaning my room, I asked a question that changed the atmosphere. Initially, Natalya was making fun of one of the guards and was cracking me up with her silly jokes. However, after I chipped in my question, an awkward silence fell.
I’d only asked if Adrik was secretly a drug dealer, and I asked that in the most humorous way possible. In all honesty, I didn’t expect them to freeze in place, considering the fact that I was laughing when I asked it.
The two girls exchanged glances and then, after a moment of awkward silence, Natalya let out an even more awkward chuckle.
“What? That’s insane. Pfff!” She flicked her wrist dismissively.
Hannah cleared her throat. “Yeah. Why would you think that?” She squeezed out a laugh.
“Right?” I indulged them, shifting my gaze across the two of them. “Silly me. I’m sure if there’s something shady going on here, you two would tell me.”
Natalya coughed for a moment, her hand tapping against her chest.
“Are you okay?” I asked her.
She nodded and cleared her throat. “Yes, ma’am. Something went down the wrong pipe, that’s all.”
“Hey, do you smell that?” Hannah asked, tilting her head slightly to the side. “I think something’s burning in the kitchen. I’ll go check it out.”
And that was how she vanished from the room.
The only logical reason why the two sisters acted suspiciously yesterday was that there was at least an atom of truth in my assumption. Why else would they have been so afraid that they had to come up with an excuse to literally run away?
Something wasn’t right about this place.
Something wasn’t right about his business, even though the records showed that he owned clubs, restaurants, and a security firm.
