I step inside, and her eyes immediately widen. I see the shock spread across her features, almost making it to her mouth before she shuts it all down and faces the other direction.
Good girl.
“Mr. Rogov,” says Charles, delighted. “Welcome. Please, take a seat.”
“Thank you.” I make sure to take a chair opposite Lauren. Now that I know she can handle herself well, I might as well make some light entertainment out of this, as long as Charles thinks we’ve never met.
“And who is your lovely associate?”
“Ah, yes, this is Lauren. She will be taking care of your portfolio.”
Lauren keeps her eyes focused on the laptop screen. Her old man has no idea that we’ve already…acquainted.
“Pleased to meet you.” I offer her my hand.
She looks up, meeting my gaze directly before glancing at my outstretched hand.No, I will not shake it, is what she’s thinking, but to avoid raising suspicion in front of her father, she knows she has no choice.
She shakes my hand firmly. “Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Rogov.” She smiles but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. As soon as she gets the chance, she drops her hand and returns to her laptop.
I cover my smirk, settling back into my seat. “The pleasure’s all mine.”
“So, Mr. Rogov,” she begins, cutting me off short. “I hear that you’re interested in having us manage some of your investments?”
“Correct.”
She returns to the laptop, her frown deepening. “Horizon Capital is your business?”
“Yes.”
Well, a business front.The investments are clean, the portfolio is respectable. It doesn’t tie to who I really am. That makes it the perfect cover. But they don’t need to know that, especially not Charles.
“Okay,” says Lauren, pushing the laptop away to leaf through some paperwork. “Let’s go over some of the basics.”
She keeps asking me questions. The right ones. She knows exactly what she’s doing. She’s smart, and I can’t help but be impressed.
I watch her turn the documents over in her hand, scanning the text. What a fucking woman. She’s brilliant. Good at her job. And let’s not forget about the way she carries herself, too. Considering she has recently just found out that she’s pregnant, she puts on quite the front. Also, she hid her surprise well when I made my unexpected entrance. Why is that? Why is she so good at putting on masks and pretending things are great when they’re not?
I guess part of the reason is that she has her job to distract herself with. She enjoys it—I can tell from the look in her eyes. Passionate people tend to have good posture and keen eyes. It’s a shame she’s under her father’s shadow—I think she’d do much better with a business of her own.
I watch her face and she knows I’m looking because her eyes do that thing where they stare at an inanimate object more intensely. It’s normally the ceiling or the floor, but today it’s the paperwork in her hand.
She’s uncomfortable. It’s entertaining. She sits rigid, her chin tense. Her nose tends to flare too, when I look at her for long periods of time.
I wonder if I’ll get a telling off for this.
I fucking hope so.
“Okay, Mr. Rogov, if you can sign and date here for me, please.” She hands me a pen, and I make sure to brush my fingers over hers as I take it.
Her eyes snap up to me in warning.
Clicking the pen, I scribble out my signature on the dotted line and hand back the document.
She forces a smile. “Okay, that’s all done.”
“Great,” says Charles, standing up to shake hands. “Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Rogov.”
I head to the door when Lauren pushes past me, opening it for me as a way to whisper something in my ear.
