Page 26 of Taken By My Grumpy Pakhan

The office began to empty and I seized the moment Nikolai pulled Kazimir aside to slip into my office.

My back rested against the door the moment it shut behind me as I tried to pull myself together. My breathing was still erratic and my body hummed from his touch.

I was hardly halfway through my first day and I had successfully made a fool of myself, soaked my panties, and shown my boss just how much his touch affected me.

My decision to hold it together and earn my place weighed on a plastic scale. This was going to be much harder than I thought.

Chapter Seven

Kazimir

“Fucking swine.”

My office door shut a few seconds after me, followed by the heavy pounding of shoes.

“That’s it? You’re not going to do anything?”

Ignoring the voice behind me, I made for the liquor cabinet, tracing the bottles till I found the one I was looking for. Macallan Valerio Adami 1926. Or, as Nikolai liked to call it, fire in veins.

I pulled it out alongside two glasses and proceeded to pour.

Nikolai snatched the first immediately after I was done, drained its contents and set it down for a second serve.

“They can’t get away with this.”

“I know.” I took a sip of the golden liquid, feeling its burn loosen knots I never knew existed. “But we can’t afford to make rash decisions.”

Nikolai stared at me like I just asked him to sit on his nuts. “This was the ultimate rash decision. If we don’t act, they’ll think we’re scared.”

I took another sip, this one glided smoother than the first, before leveling him with a gaze. “Are we?”

His answer was a large gulp of liquor. Moments like this reminded me how only Bratva blood can rule the Bratva world.

For all his bravery, loyalty and strength, there were moments that reminded me how different our orientation was.

Deep down, despite the meetings and his deep entanglement with my world, Nikolai was the same billionaire kid who made bank off tech and AI. There were details about my world that remained difficult for him to grasp.

“Svetlana is on her way.” His eyes snapped to mine. “We’ll discuss the situation when she arrives.”

“And you think she’ll be honest about hidden motives? The port is empty. This wasn’t a robbery, there was no breaking-and-entering. It was a clean wipe down and only two families knew about the cargo.”

“Which is why I’m giving her the opportunity to redeem her family.”

“And if she lies?”

I felt the muscle in my jaw tick. “Then it’ll be known she signed their death warrants.”

Nikolai settled onto the barstool, loosening his tie. “I just think it’s very convenient how the exact cargo missing were the exact ones responsible for the feud.”

“Which is why I’m open to a conversation. Mikhail is a lot of things, but he didn’t become my most formidable enemy by being stupid and careless.”

“You think he’s not responsible for this?”

I polished off the last drop of alcohol in my glass. “I think he knows better.”

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out to find a notification from Svetlana.

Tucking it back into my pocket, I returned my focus to a sulking Nikolai. “She’ll be here in ten. Get rid of the face.”