Page 52 of Taken By My Grumpy Pakhan

Goose pimples dusted my skin and I couldn’t tell if it was from the awareness of Collin’s eyes sweeping all over me or the now burning sensation from Kazimir’s glare, but something told me it was time to wrap it up.

Chapter Thirteen

Kazimir

The pencil I had been twirling in my hand through the course of the meeting snapped in two, but I hardly registered the jagged ends digging into my palms.

Who was that bloke and what could possibly be that funny? I had tried to ignore the whispers, but then came the chuckles and now she was full-on laughing. She’s never looked at me like that.

Did he just look at her lips? Dare he? Nah. She wouldn’t be that stupid. She knows who she belongs to and she knows I don’t share.

And how exactly would she know that? By making a fool of her in public?

The voice had been taunting me for days, but I could hardly see the problem. I am her boss and she reported late to work. I did what I should do.

You would barely spare another worker a second glance.

Another worker would know not to be late to a meeting.

But this one is your fault.

I didn’t get the time to argue my point when a snort reached me.

She had her palms covering her mouth while her shoulders shook, and the idiot next to her wore a smug smile of satisfaction.

As if that was not enough, she leaned into him to whisper something that caused his face to brighten like a fucking light bulb while his eyes swept through every inch of her.

It was a look I would recognize from a thousand miles away because I’ve been wearing the exact same one for months.

Had it been we were in a different setting, I would’ve gouged out his eyes and served them to her on a platter.

Eventually, her eyes found mine and I made no attempt to withdraw my stare or disguise the look in them.

She held my gaze for a brief moment before discarding me like a used towel and proceeding to stare at the bastard who was eye-raping her with doe eyes.

My blood turned molten in my veins, my vision darkened and all I could hear was the roar of blood in my ears.

I wasn’t a possessive man by any standard, but something about her brought out the primal beast in me.

Maybe it was the knowledge of being the first man to be inside her. Surely she must know the act alone made her mine, and there was no way in hell I was going to sit and watch… Did he just touch her arm?

“We’ll pick it up from here next time.”

The room went silent; Nikolai turned to me with a questioning look.

I turned to the blabbering intern. “You report back to Nico, and you better pray to whatever forces you hold dear that you find something worth the interruption. You can all leave.”

They all looked confused, but none dared to question me. I never stop meetings halfway; I’d stretch it till late night if needed, but I never cut it short.

The sounds of chairs scraping the floor filled the room as everyone hurried out. I waited till she stood.

“Miss Sinclair, sit.”

She paused, her posture becoming rigid. I could feel the air of defiance hovering around her and something stirred within me. I wanted her to try, to give me a reason to go as far as I wanted.

The doofus next to her whispered something into her ear and suddenly, her features relaxed and she lowered herself back into the seat.

My jaw tightened and it took everything in me to not fling the woman slowly gathering her files into her bag out of the room and slam the door after her.