Page 83 of Avenging Azalea

Laughing, I sat down at my desk and set out all the items from my old office.

“While you’re here and we’re alone, I wanted to talk to you about your plans to dismantle Mikhailov Enterprises.”

Nathaniel walked over and undid his suit jacket before sitting down.

“What do you want to know.”

“I don’t want you to do it,” I said, and his eyes narrowed. “Not because of Father. He deserves everything you want to do to him. Those businesses have thousands of employees with families that depend on them, and the rest of our family, who haven’t done anything to you, work there. Hurting the company puts too many innocent people at risk, and I know that is not your goal. All I’m asking is that you find a way to attack him personally.”

“Always the good heart of the family.” Nathaniel sighed and ran his thumb over his lip as he looked at me. “Did Ronan speak to you and ask you to talk to me?”

“We spoke, but talking to you was my idea,” I said.

“Of course, he ran to you instead of talking to me.” Nathaniel shook his head as he sneered in disgust.

“Don’t blame him, not about this.” Folding my hands on the desk, I figured this must be how schoolteachers feel. “Ronan didn’t ask me to talk you out of doing your worst. I see the bigger picture and what an ongoing war will do to everyone. You have to get past your anger enough to see that.”

He turned in his seat to stare out the window. The setting sun cast orange and pink rays into the room and on Nathaniel’s face. I could see all the old scars in him as easily as the one on his jaw that stood out in the light. The beating that caused that scar was the last time Father touched him. I was only eighteen at the time, but I’d dropped Father to the floor with a single punch. There were very few times in my life that I’d resorted to violence or threatening someone, but I did that night and would do it all over again.

I watched him as he slowly stood, grumbling under his breath. He seemed to be arguing with himself.

“You’re right. There are other ways I can make him pay. You can tell Ronan that the company is safe unless he comes after me, then all bets are off,” he said, rebuttoning his suit.

“I will, and thank you, but you could tell him yourself.”

“No, I think it’s best if I stay clear of him and Dimitri for a while. Don’t forget that tomorrow morning, we have a meeting at eight, and then I’ll take you out to the new distillery.”

“I get to see the secret distillery? Wow, I feel special,” I said, smirking.

“You should. See you tomorrow, brother.”

Nathaniel walked out, and I went back to work arranging the office. It was twice as large as my last one. A corner with lots of windows and a fantastic view of the water.

It was long past dark by the time the last of my books were on the shelves and pictures on the wall. Maintenance would’ve done it, but I’d always preferred to do this sort of thing on my own.

My door closed, and I spun around to glare at the intruder. I could tell by the look on Vera’s face that I wasn’t going to like why she was here.

“Just so you know, I normally have the dogs here with me. You’re lucky they stayed home today,” I said, picking up two of the empty boxes and walking them over to the pile I’d made for the cleaning staff.

“Good to know. I’m surprised you never called me back,” Vera said and stepped further into the office. “I even showed up at the house, but Fawn said you weren’t there.”

That was news to me.

“If Fawn said I wasn’t there, then I wasn’t. Do you need something?”

I sat down at my desk, and Vera followed, parking herself on the edge. She looked like she was auditioning for a part in an old Dick Tracy movie with the long trench coat and high heels.

“I was hoping we could talk,” she said, sliding around on the polished wood to face me. “I really do need something,” she whispered, her voice husky. I raised an eyebrow when she didn’t say more. “Will you help me?”

“You’ll have to tell me what you need help with first,” I said, but I had already gotten the drift.

I pushed my chair back to stand and put some room between us, but I wasn’t quite quick enough. Vera put her heel in the middle of my chest and pushed me back down.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Moving across the desk, she put one heel on each of the armrests and pulled the tie on her coat. She wore the skimpiest lingerie that I’d ever seen. Little strips of material covered her nipples and crisscrossed over her body, leaving nothing to the imagination. There were no panties, and I was left staring at her bare pussy.

“Vera, we discussed this. I’m not having sex with you until after we’re married,” I said and tried to move away again.