by Bella Rose
“I’m sure you’re the most loyal friend they have,” Emily agreed. Although she wouldn’t say he was the brightest.
“See you tomorrow.” Jacob gave a little wave over his shoulder before disappearing from the office.
Emily sat back in her chair, swinging side to side and gazing around at the richly furnished space. It was all dark wood, ornate carvings on the furniture, posh leather and fabrics, and of course, real art on the walls. Ivan had cultivated an image here. Yet the way he actually did business didn’t fit the profile at all.
Ivan was playing both sides.
Emily pulled out a sheet of fresh paper and picked up one of her favorite pens. She quickly began listing off things she knew about Ivan’s plan for her brother. He had told Emily that he only wanted to get back at Sergei for firing him eight years ago, and for saying that Ivan wasn’t good enough for his sister. Of course, Ivan held some silly belief that Sergei thought Ivan’s heredity was the issue. That it wasn’t just because Sergei was determined to sell Emily to some mafia-approved husband in order to gain a few inches on the mafia hierarchy.
She scratched a little star next to that item. Those facts needed to be checked, which would mean asking Sergei directly. That was assuming her brother would even be willing to give an honest answer.
Then there was the notion that Ivan wasn’t going to tell the boss about Sergei’s fudging the books and pretending to do more drug sales than he actually had. Emily had assumed that destroying Sergei on a personal level was more important to Ivan than destroying Volkov Real Estate. Now after talking to Jacob, Emily wasn’t so sure about that either.
There was really only one woman Emily needed to talk to about Ivan’s real motives. Standing up, she gathered her purse and wondered how a person went about finding an FBI agent.
***
Ivan spotted Sergei immediately on the street outside his largest arcade. Saying that Sergei stuck out like a sore thumb would be an understatement of massive proportions. He was dressed in a custom-tailored suit when all those around him were in casual wear. Plus, he was staring at Ivan as though he didn’t think Ivan would possibly notice.
Fyodr was one of Ivan’s top guys. He’d sniffed out Sergei within seconds of the two of them stepping onto the street corner. Fyodr jerked his chin, indicating Sergei. “Is that guy a cop?”
“No.” Ivan sighed. “He’s actually a made man. One of Yuri’s guys.”
“Wow.” Fyodr shook his head and turned his attention back to the map of their territory that he’d been discussing with Ivan. “He looks less criminal than most of the police officers that hang out around here.”
“I know.” Ivan grimaced. “I’m going to go find out what he wants. You give the guys their assignments for the week. Right?”
“Yeah.” Fyoder nodded. “Same as we discussed, right?”
“Yep.” Ivan left Fyodr and jogged across the street.
It was obvious that Sergei knew he’d been spotted. Still, he didn’t make any attempts to be nonchalant, to leave, or even to seem as though he had another reason for being in the area. He simply fidgeted uncomfortably, looking even more out of place in the process, and then stood his ground with his chin lifted.
“Sergei.” Ivan forced himself to be cordial. “Can I help you with something?”
“I was just coming to see what sort of business you run.” Sergei gestured to the arcade. “It looks rather low class.”
Ivan’s first instinct was to plant his fist in Sergei’s face just to take the snob down a few pegs. But that wasn’t going to solve anything. “The thing with selling drugs is that curb appeal really doesn’t matter.”
“Excuse me?”
“The first rule of business is to find out what your buyer needs, right?” Ivan said with forced casualness. “So if I’ve got access to hundreds of teenagers, then my biggest sellers are prescription painkillers and ADD medication. Plus, teenagers have cash. Most of my clientele have rich parents. They go to posh schools and play sports. They’re obsessed with increasing performance, mitigating injuries, and getting a better grade on their ACT than their neighbor.”
Sergei looked mystified. “You’re doing that much business in prescription meds?”
“Sure.” Ivan shrugged. “You have to get with the times. Illegal narcotics are still selling. I think they always will. But the big money is in prescription meds. Honestly, if you would switch to pushing that, I think your numbers would increase drastically. You’ve got access to these kids’ parents.” Ivan gestured to the kids going in and out of the building in groups of twos and threes.
“There are federal prescription laws involved in that.” Sergei looked thoughtful.
Ivan snorted. “Drugs are drugs. It doesn’t matter if they’re prescription or not. They’re all illegal if you didn’t get them from a doctor.”
“Why would you give me advice?” Sergei asked suspiciously.
That was the million dollar question, wasn’t it? “Because I think the two of us could be far more lucrative if we worked together instead of wasting our time trying to sabotage each other.” Ivan almost spit out the sudden bitter taste in his mouth. What was he thinking?
“I cannot imagine you to be so stupid as to think that I would work with you,” Sergei said haughtily. He crossed his arms over his chest, looking belligerent. “Soon enough, Yuri is going to get fed up with you and he’ll put you back in your place where you belong. Right now you’re earning big money for the organization. You’re like a trained monkey. Soon enough someone else will catch their attention and then you’ll be out as quickly as you were in.”
Ivan gnashed his teeth together. He would have immediately argued if it weren’t for Yuri’s very hard set down just that morning. “You are so certain that I’m less than you simply because I don’t know who my father was,” Ivan began slowly. “Yet you forget that I could take my businesses and my money and leave the organization anytime I wanted. I don’t have ties to hold me back. I could keep what I earned and stop splitting it with Yuri and his friends.” Ivan glared at Sergei. “Tell me. How long do you think it would take for them to discard you and come looking for me to beg me to bring my millions in revenue back to the organization?”
Without another word, Ivan turned and walked away from Sergei. Any remaining reservations about helping the FBI take down the organization were being peeled away by the behavior of those people he was actually protecting. Why should Ivan care about Yuri, or the rest of the bosses when they—and their minions—had proven time and time again that they had almost no respect for Ivan or what he could bring to the table?
But Sergei wasn’t done. He called after Ivan. “And I don’t know what you think you’re doing with my sister, but she’s going to marry Yuri’s son in three months. After that you’ll be nothing but a memory of this one crazy thing she did when she was young and foolish.”
Young and foolish, hmm?
Ivan was going to enjoy watching Sergei squirm as the FBI closed in.
Chapter Twelve
Emily perched uncomfortably on the edge of a chair in the reception area of the local FBI field office. The receptionist kept shooting surreptitious glances at Emily every few minutes. Emily had actually been a little surprised that Samantha had agreed to see her at all. Had their situations been reversed, Emily wasn’t sure what she would have done.
The receptionist had moved away from her desk and come to stand in front of Emily while she’d been daydreaming. The woman bared her teeth in what was probably supposed to be a friendly smile. “Ms. Volkov, Agent Bristo will see you now.”
“Thank you.” Emily stood up and followed the receptionist’s lead down a long, sterile white hallway. There were closed doors on both sides, but no windows to lend the unforgiving space a more welcoming air.
They stopped at a door labeled BRISTO. The receptionist opened it and gestured Emily through. Then she was gone and Emily was left to stare at Samantha Bristo for the third time in one day.
&
nbsp; “I’m pretty sure I did not expect to see you again today,” Samantha said pleasantly. “But since you’re here, you might as well go ahead and make yourself comfortable.”
“Thank you.” Emily sat in one of the chairs before Samantha’s desk.
The office was filled with typical clutter. The furniture was industrial metal and cheap particleboard. There were a few photos on the walls, but really not much in the way of personal touches. It was stark white—or dingy off white, really—and the carpet was dull brown and worn.
“They obviously don’t waste federal funding on decorations,” Emily commented. Then she realized how her words might be construed. “I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be rude, but I’m nervous.”
“Understandable,” Samantha murmured. “Why don’t you start with why you’re here?”
“I met Jacob today.” Emily really wasn’t sure why she picked that to start the conversation, but the expression on Samantha’s face suggested the choice had been a good one.
“Jacob has a way of letting the cat out of the bag without really intending to,” Samantha mused. She sat back in her seat and steepled her fingers together before her. “So I suppose that answers why you’ve come looking for me here.”
“Yes. He also mentioned that the three of you have known each other for many years, and that he makes a good living as one of your informants.” Emily cocked her head to one side and leaned slightly forward in her chair. “So I thought to myself, if Jacob is one of your informants, then it only makes sense that Ivan would be too.”
“And what do you intend to do with this information?” Samantha’s voice was careful. Her gray eyes were absolutely unreadable.
“I intended to ask you to please explain it to me,” Emily said earnestly. “I don’t have any intention of trying to use it against him, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Samantha seemed to relax. “You really like him, don’t you?”
“Ivan?”
The agent seemed to relax in her seat. “I don’t get you, Emily Volkov.”
“I’m not that big of a puzzle.” Emily looked down at her hands. She was nervously wringing them in her lap. She just wasn’t exactly sure why she felt so nervous.
“You had absolutely no reason to let Ivan convince you to become your brother’s savior, but you did.”
Emily opened her mouth to argue, but Samantha wasn’t done.
“Next you help Ivan willingly. You sleep with him. You’re obviously in love with him.” Samantha held her hands out in supplication. “I suppose I get it, but I’m not sure I’d ever take that kind of risk.”
“I don’t normally,” Emily said hastily. “And maybe that’s why I’m here. Eight years ago I took a chance on Ivan and I’m sure you know how that turned out.”
“Ivan said you were perfectly happy with your brother’s decision.”
She felt her gut tighten with tension. “Did he?”
“He said you never fought for him, or for the relationship the two of you had.” Samantha seemed honestly curious. She was resting her forearms on her desk. One eyebrow was lifted in question and Emily had the odd feeling that had they met under different circumstances, they would have been fast friends.
“That’s not true.” Emily thought back to that horrible time eight years ago. “My parents died when my brother and I were still pretty young. My brother took care of me. He considers himself as much of a father figure as a brother. The problem with that is he gets a little bossy sometimes.”
“And you let him,” Samantha guessed.
“Until Ivan, I’d never had a reason to care either way.” Emily heaved a deep sigh and put her hands over her face. “I didn’t fight as hard as I could have.”
Samantha made a low noise. “You didn’t fight as hard then as you are now.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because right now you’re absolutely aware that Ivan could be just using you to get back at your brother. And yet you’re sitting in my office because you still believe there’s a tiny chance he might love you the way you do him.”
Emily whistled. “If that’s the way you do your FBI interrogations, I’m pretty confident you’re good at your job.”
“Which also means I’m not going to let you distract me from my point,” Samantha retorted. “Do you love Ivan?”
“Yes.”
“Do you believe that you can convince him that love is more important than revenge?”
Emily squeezed her eyes shut. “Man, when you put it like that it sounds all sorts of stupid. But yes. I believe I can make Ivan see that love is more important than revenge.”
“I think you’re right,” Samantha confided. “I think he loves you. I also think he’s confused as hell about that and what it means for his plans.”
“So what do I do?” Emily asked, feeling almost desperate.
“You’re a woman,” Samantha pointed out. “You use what God gave you and convince that man he can’t live without you.”
***
Ivan stomped out of the elevator and strode through his apartment as though he were a man on a mission, which he was. He was on a mission to find out what in the hell Emily Volkov thought she was doing going to the FBI offices to talk to Samantha. Was the woman insane? Did she have no idea what that could cost them all?
Emily looked up when he stormed into the office. His dramatic entrance didn’t seem to bother her, though. She barely spared him a glance before returning her attention to the ledger on the desktop.
That was when he noticed that the usual stack of manila envelopes that should have been present after one of Jacob’s deliveries was gone. “Where the hell is my money?” he snapped.
She raised an eyebrow, silently chastising him for his grumpy behavior. “The money is in deposit envelopes, why?”
“You’re done with that?” He could barely get the words out. “It usually takes me until after dinner to get through that crap.”
“Oh I’m not saying it wasn’t a bit confusing at first, but once I figured out the numeric code it was fairly straightforward.” She shrugged. “I’m just reconciling the accounts now.”
“Oh.” He felt strangely deflated. Where was the righteous anger he’d been experiencing less than ten seconds ago? Emily had gone to see Samantha. Right? He sucked in a breath and held it in his lungs for a moment. “You had no right to go to Samantha’s office, Emily. That was very dangerous.”
“I cannot imagine how so. Nobody would have occasion to know anything about me in conjunction with you. It’s not like I wrote a memo on my concerns and passed it around the bureau field office.” She frowned, looking rather disgruntled. “You’re being very rude, you know.”
“Rude,” he muttered. “You prance into an FBI field office and now you’re complaining that I’m being rude about it.”
“I didn’t prance. I simply wanted Samantha’s opinion on a few matters.”
“Like?” He was having trouble believing that this Emily was the same Emily he’d known eight years before. “I don’t remember you being this irritating before.”
“Maybe that’s because I was more like a doormat than an active participant in my life.” Emily finally put down her pen and stood up. “Seriously, Ivan. Admit it. You thought you were going to intimidate me into coming here on some bullshit pretense about saving my brother. Then you would woo me back into your bed and boom! Your plan for revenge would be well on its way.”
“So why did you even come here if you know all of that?” he demanded. Ivan took a step toward her and put both hands on the desk. He leaned over until he could inhale her wonderful womanly scent. “Or should I be concerned about your ulterior motives? Do you have an agenda? Maybe you’re trying to sabotage my business to help your brother.”
She actually rolled her eyes. “First of all, Sergei doesn’t need my help. Secondly, I do have an agenda.”
“You do?”
“Yeah.” She stood up, grabbed the collar of his shirt, and kisse
d him square on the lips. Then she pulled back and smiled. “I wanted to get you into bed.”
Nothing could have shocked him more. But by then he was no longer thinking with his brain. His cock had taken over completely. Emily shoved the ledger out of the way and climbed up onto his desk. She was on her knees with her skirt rucked up to the tops of her thighs.
“Don’t look so surprised,” she said huskily. “Sometimes when a woman knows what she wants, she isn’t willing to take a chance of letting it slip through her fingers.”
He had no chance to respond. She flung her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a deep kiss. Her tongue thrust its way between his lips and rubbed enticingly alongside his own. He couldn’t help but respond. Sliding his arms around her body, he angled his head and began battling her for dominance.
The ebb and flow of their kissing mimicked the erotic love play from the other night. Ivan’s cock grew hard and insistent behind his fly. Emily pressed herself against him and the tops of her thighs rubbed his crotch. He groaned, wanting more. In fact, he wanted everything. But the minute he had resolved to take what he wanted, Emily took him by surprise again.
She climbed down off the desk and knelt at his feet. Ivan tried to speak, but he was tongued tied watching her gaze up at him with a look of pure female lust on her face. Nobody had ever looked at him that way before. Then she unzipped the fly of his pants and drew his cock out into her hand.
Her touch was soft. A low groan escaped his lips as she stroked him so carefully from base to tip. Then as he watched, she put her lips on the tip of his head and gently sucked him into her mouth. The sensation was exquisite. Her clever tongue swirled around the sensitive flange and delved into the tiny hole at the end. Then she caved in her cheeks and sucked hard.
Blood rushed to his groin and Ivan had to grab the desk to keep his knees from buckling. She reached around and cupped his backside to pull him deeper into her mouth. The action sent his cock thrusting to the back of her throat. He felt her swallow and shivered as his balls drew up tight. A shot of heat left him panting and he knew he was going to come any second.
