Just Business (Aegis Group Dangerous Ladies Book 1)

by Sidney Bristol

  Zasha ran back into the room clutching her tablet. On it was the latest animated release.

  While Konstantin got the movie set up Haley cleared the table and put away both the pizza and cake. Both would remain on this side of the wall seeing as Zasha had become an expert sneak as of late and was known to devour anything sweet left out.

  “Come join us, Haley.” Zasha bounced on her father’s pristine leather sectional.

  “I’m coming. I’m coming.”

  Haley slid onto the end closest to the door. Konstantin sat on the opposite end, his legs stretched out on the chaise portion. Zasha plopped down between them and wrapped herself in the fuzzy blanket.

  During the intro credits, Zasha tried to hide a jaw popping yawn, but Haley saw it.

  She glanced at her watch, then the movie.

  Fifteen minutes was her guess.

  Konstantin glanced at Zasha, then caught Haley’s eye. His twisted smile seemed to know what she was thinking.

  At least it was about Zasha.

  In the early days, Haley was fairly certain she’d shared some very adult thoughts with Konstantin. Nothing had happened, but sometimes the idea of what could have been was more than enough.

  She curled her legs under her and looked at the TV while her mind drifted away.

  Merida should have something to say about her upcoming wedding. Sure, she was doing a long engagement given that she and her fiancé had pretty much gone from friends to wholly committed to each other. But there were still plans to make. It was going to take a lot of lead time to get their entire group chat to one location.

  It had never happened. Not since the very early days when Haley had been in training.

  Zasha kicked her feet out, bumping Haley before settling them in her lap.

  Haley placed a hand on Zasha’s ankle, more in case the kid kicked. Haley had taken one too many kicks to the face to learn that lesson.

  What would it be like for all the girls to get together?

  Haley had met most of the girls at one point or another, and they did group video chats. But that wasn’t the same thing.

  Once she left here, she’d have a lot more flexibility.

  “And she’s out,” Konstantin whispered.

  Haley glanced down at Zasha stretched between them, head on Konstantin’s lap, feet on Haley’s.

  She chuckled and tugged the blanket down just enough to cover Zasha’s feet.

  “How long did she last?” he asked.

  Haley checked the time. “Eighteen minutes. I missed it by three.”

  He smoothed Zasha’s hair back. “I didn’t think she’d make it ten.”

  Haley swallowed and gave her heart a mental punch to keep it from fluttering.

  What was wrong with her?

  She wasn’t a kids and white picket fence girl. So why did the sight of Konstantin being so tender with Zasha get Haley all worked up?

  “Thank you,” Konstantin said, his tone serious.

  “Hm?” Haley perked up. Had she missed something.

  “I owe you and Ivana a lot,” he said softly. “You let Zasha be who she wants to be. I know her teachers think she’s developing slowly. I just... I want to let her be a kid for as long as possible.”

  Haley’s heart squeezed. “I get it.”

  And she did.

  Zasha had no idea the number of times they’d been in lock down or there was a credible threat against her because of her father. Very soon she’d come to understand those things, and it would all change. Zasha would go from child to adult very fast.

  But Haley wouldn’t be there for any of it.

  “She really admires you,” Konstantin said.

  “Don’t worry, I think I’m being replaced by her favorite streamers.”

  “Streamers?” He lifted his head and frowned at Haley. “Do I want to know?”

  “You should. She did ask permission to watch Viewer and you vetted it.”

  He squinted. “It’s coming back to me now...”

  “Heavily moderated internet streamers geared at kids. She has a classmate in her art group that does video games and he wanted more viewers. I told her to ask you, and you said yes. She’s been watching him nonstop.”

  “Because you told me it was okay,” Konstantin said in a slow voice.

  “I think my words were, it doesn’t pose a security threat.”

  “Which means it’s okay.”

  “Sure.” Haley shrugged.

  He turned the movie down. “Is this going to bite me in the ass?”

  “Yes.” She propped her elbow on the armrest. “She’s started talking about making her own channel.”

  Konstantin shook his head. “Oh, no. No, way.”

  “I agree, but I must also point out that kids aren’t allowed to have video or pictures of themselves on the streams. It’s just their voices.”

  “No.” His answer was fiercer now.

  Haley was inclined to agree. If Zasha were a normal child with typical concerns, it would likely be different. Any view into Zasha’s life from the outside could put her at risk. It was a line Konstantin would have to hold in the future, because Haley would not be there to help enforce it.

  As good as it felt to be in this little bubble right now, it was a lie.

  “I suppose we could cut this short and put her in bed?” Konstantin suggested.

  “I’m pretty sure she’s dead to the world for a solid twelve hours after all the sugar she’s had today.” Haley patted Zasha’s leg and only got a weak kick in return.

  “Alright, Sleeping Beauty.” Konstantin slid off the sofa to a knee, scooped Zasha into his arms and rose smoothly.

  Haley scrambled off the sofa and ahead of Konstantin, all while her heart pounded against her ribs.

  She’d let them in too far.

  Konstantin carried Zasha through the condo into her bedroom.

  Haley escaped down the hall into her room to compose herself.

  She was in love with Konstantin and Zasha. Everything about this job had gone too far, and that was why she needed out.

  A light tap at her door made her whirl.

  Konstantin stood there, filling up the doorway, peering around her one haven.

  “Teal,” he muttered, studying the far side. “I didn’t realize you were a plant person.”

  She’d been given the liberty to have her room painted and a small decorating budget. Her one solid wall was a goldenrod yellow. Her twin bed had a white, shabby chic headboard. Green vines hung down on either side from her shelf of plants that went around two walls. The comforter was some kind of quilt she’d been gifted by one of the girls. The rich turquoise, gold and maroon had faded over time.

  Right now the only light came from the lamp next to her teal chair and a string of Christmas lights she’d never taken down that hung off the plant shelves.

  “Uh, yeah.” Haley rubbed her palms on her hips, hyper aware of the temperature fluctuations in her body.

  She couldn’t keep doing this.

  “I guess now I know what to get you for your birthday.” His tone was teasing, but the way he looked at her wasn’t the same kind of playful.

  “Konstantin, we need to talk.” Haley didn’t quite blurt the words. They came out even and measured, but it wasn’t like she’d practiced this speech or anything.

  “About?” He leaned against the doorframe. “Any idea who our thief is?”

  “Not yet. They must have known when the security system was updating.” Haley hooked her thumbs in the waistband of her yoga pants at the small of her back. Shoulders back, feet slightly apart, she took a deep breath, grounding herself. “I’m going to be leaving.”

  Konstantin’s brows rose. “You are? When? For how long?”

  “For good. Not soon. I want to find our thief and then give you time to find the right person to take my place.”

  “No. Zasha needs you.”

  Haley mentally dug her heels in. “No, Zasha needs you. Her father. I’m just her bodyguard.�
�

  It was a fact, one Haley couldn’t keep straight. And that was why she knew she needed to leave. She wasn’t Zasha’s nanny or caregiver, and Haley certainly wasn’t Zasha’s mother. No matter how much a part of her had grown to want that, those were shoes Haley couldn’t fill.

  3.

  Wednesday. Home, Arlington, VA.

  Konstantin’s whole world just flipped into chaos. He gripped the doorframe with one hand while mentally trying to figure out a negotiating point.

  Haley could not leave.

  It just couldn’t happen.

  There had to be a way to keep her.

  He loved her.

  Zasha. She needed Haley.

  “You are more than her bodyguard and we both know it,” he said, his barely contained frustration seething inside him.

  Haley tilted her head to one side, her face as serene as always. She’d probably planned this mode of attack. “And that’s the problem.”

  “Why is that a problem?” He pushed off the doorway, but his long-enforced rules about keeping his distance from Haley stopped him from taking a step into her bedroom. “Zasha adores you.”

  “I’m an employee.”

  “So?” He licked his lips. Imagining their lives without Haley was not possible. There would be a void where she belonged. “What would it take to get you to stay? More money? More time away?”

  “This isn’t a money thing. You aren’t going to change my mind. This is about what’s best for me.”

  “How is abandoning us best?”

  Haley’s eyes flashed. “That’s not fair.”

  He bent his head.

  She was right.

  “I’m sorry,” he managed to say. He did mean it. At least a little bit of him did. “What am I supposed to tell Zasha? This is going to...”

  The tears.

  He could see them now.

  “That’s why I need to leave, Konstantin. Somewhere along the way things got too personal.”

  He clenched his hands into fists. “I fail to see how that’s a bad thing.”

  Haley’s serenity never budged. “I hope given a few days maybe you’ll see my side of things and understand. I want to do my job well, but... I can’t keep doing this.”

  He stared at her and wondered where had he gone wrong?

  When he’d realized how much Zasha was bonding with Haley, he’d changed how he interacted with her. Sure, living under the same roof with a woman he had intense chemistry with was difficult at times, but he’d figured it out. Maybe if he’d been a more generous boss or insisted Haley have more time off, they wouldn’t be here?

  “You won’t budge?” He desperately wanted to tell her he’d change her mind, but he knew better. Haley could out stubborn Zasha.

  “No,” Haley said.

  Konstantin turned and walked into his condo in a daze. He went into his office and poured another two fingers before tossing it back. The burn helped cut through the mental noise.

  What the hell were they going to do without Haley?

  He stared at the night sky and all the twinkling city lights while listening to the sounds from the other condo. A bathroom door closing. The whoosh of water. The door opening again, followed by the soft thud of Haley’s bedroom door.

  She was leaving them.

  Konstantin sank down into one of the leather arm chairs in his office.

  They weren’t anything to each other besides employer and employee. He’d been distant to enforce that concept to both of them. And yet, he knew Haley’s departure would hurt both him and Zasha.

  Their lives were perfect. Why did anything have to change?

  A soft voice in his mind whispered, You know why.

  Konstantin grimaced and glanced away from the night sky to the display of pictures his interior designer had put together.

  Ivana had raised Konstantin and his mother before him. He’d always seen her as a sort of grandmother figure in his life, probably because his mother had been in his life until about Zasha’s age. She didn’t have that though. No mother. Oh, her biological mother could still be out there somewhere, but he doubted it.

  The closest thing to a mother Zasha had ever known was Haley.

  Maybe he should have pursued her.

  To what end?

  To marry her and make her Zasha’s mother? And a target?

  He shook his head.

  There could never be a woman in his life. It was too dangerous. And Haley was too important to Zasha.

  Konstantin wished he didn’t understand Haley’s position. He wanted to be mad, to hold on to that anger because it was better than the alternative. But he couldn’t. Not when she was merely reacting to the situation he’d put her in.

  Once again, he had no one but himself to blame.

  He reached out and sat the glass on his desk, then slouched down.

  He had to try something. He couldn’t just let Haley go. If she went, the very least he could say was that he tried to keep her.

  How did he even begin to try to replace her?

  There was no one like Haley. She was damn good at her job. He’d worried about hiring a woman, but she’d more than proved over the years that nothing would get by her. And she did it all with a smile. Zasha hardly ever knew something was wrong, and that was a credit to Haley.

  Konstantin felt the lie of his reality shattering around him.

  Haley had taken the sad facts of their life and made a home. Under her supervision, Zasha had enjoyed as normal a life as he could hope to give her.

  What was going to happen without Haley?

  He’d have to hire Ivana some help. He wasn’t blind. There would be at least a new security detail for Zasha. And what else?

  Haley filled their lives out in all the ways they’d been missing. Maybe not his directly. They had an unspoken agreement to stay in their own lanes, but he felt her impact every day when he sat down to dinner with Zasha.

  How in the world was he going to replace Haley when she was irreplaceable?

  THURSDAY. HOME, ARLINGTON, VA.

  Haley eyed the two breakfast plates with a critical eye. Ivana had taken to supervising Haley making most breakfasts. Their cook handled lunch, snack time and dinner most of the week. The rest of it was supposed to be Ivana’s responsibility, but it was getting to be too much for the elderly woman to do herself. But today Ivana had wanted to make breakfast.

  The food was the same, but now that Haley had practice making the dishes she could see where Ivana was cutting corners to save her strength. Little things that added up.

  What was going to happen to her when Haley was gone?

  She hoped Konstantin was kind to Ivana, but that wasn’t Haley’s responsibility.

  Ivana waved at the tray, her mouth twisted into a grimace of irritation.

  Great, just what Haley needed to deal with today.

  She pasted on a bright smile and picked up the tray. “Looks good.”

  Here went nothing...

  Most mornings Konstantin and Zasha ate breakfast together. Haley had already mentally prepared for today to be hard because of the sugar overdose from last night. She hadn’t planned for how to deal with Konstantin following their surprise chat.

  It was bound to happen.

  That’s what she kept telling herself.

  Konstantin had reacted as expected. She didn’t fault him for being angry or trying to negotiate with her. He was a powerful, attractive man used to getting what he wanted, even if he wasn’t aware of that privilege. He’d been born an oligarch’s son. People had fallen all over themselves to do for him from the moment he was conceived. All in all, he was a reasonable man and Haley hoped that with a day or two he could understand her decision.

  But that would not be today.

  Haley stepped through the doorway, tray in hand, smile in place.

  “Zasha, breakfast,” she said in a song-song voice.

  Zasha grumbled from her nest of blankets on the sectional. She had her face poking out to watch the
cartoons, but that was it.

  Konstantin breezed out of his office, already pouring over something. His suit was neatly pressed and he wore the electric blue tie.

  Something was going down today. Haley might not know what, but every time she saw that tie he was dealing with big things.

  Konstantin glanced up and their gazes met.

  It felt as though a hundred thousand volts coursed through her in that instant. Her mouth dried up and she was fairly certain she couldn’t feel her toes anymore.

  “Good morning, Haley.” His tone was polite if a bit cool.

  “Morning,” she squeaked out and set the tray down.

  He took a step toward her, then another.

  She breathed in deep, savoring the smell of him. He was so close now she had to tip her chin up to look at him or else she’d be staring at that blue tie.

  “Did you happen to install that camera in my office?” he asked softly.

  “Yes.” Work. Right. “Did something else...?”

  Konstantin nodded once.

  “Shoot,” she muttered. Good thing she’d planned for a little time to go over house security, anyway. “I’ll look into it.

  He turned his attention on his daughter. “Zasha? What do you say to Miss Haley when she brings breakfast?”

  Zasha sat up, little wisps of hair sticking every which way. “Thank you, Miss Haley.”

  Konstantin sat at the head of the table, as was his custom. “That’s a good girl. Now, come have breakfast with me.”

  Haley retrieved the throw blanket and folded it while Zasha plodded to the table. “You have fifteen minutes before you need to go get dressed and ready for school.”

  She made the mistake of glancing over her shoulder.

  Zasha was poking at her food as expected.

  Konstantin stared at Haley, his gaze every bit as intense as before. He blinked and suddenly the shutters were in place once more. He leaned his forearm on the table, bent his head and said something softly to Zasha, who giggled.

  Haley used that respite to dart through the door, fleeing the room.

  She put the blanket on the rack of other throws in their living room then glanced around, searching for Ivana.

  The dishes were all still on the stove.