Loving Leo (The Romanovsky Brothers Book 3) (6 page)

An hour later, Jessica waved good-bye to her waiting room buddy, Sue, who gave up and rescheduled her interview when it appeared the war between Reggie and the Romanovskys was going to stretch into the afternoon.

Jessica waited until the elevator doors closed behind Sue to look back to the office, feeling like she was watching a foreign film.  She couldn’t hear a word they were saying behind that glass wall, but somehow, she
understood.

Jessica straightened when, just minutes after Sue threw in the towel, Reggie King yanked open the office door with a force that sent his unbuttoned suit jacket flying open. He tugged it back into place and went to leave, but someone inside the office reclaimed his attention.  This time, when Reggie fired back, their noisy disagreement carried down the hallway.

Watching this, Jessica shoved her hand into her pocket and fingered the strip of adhesive transmission devices she always kept on her.  The devices were small, round, and nearly invisible to the naked eye.  They stuck to clothing with ease, had a ten meter range, and uploaded to an internal memory drive the moment they picked up any audio.  Those sticky little bastards had closed so many cases for Jessica, she’d lost count.

After exchanging a few more choice words with the brothers, Reggie finally left the office.  He moved down the long hallway that led to the waiting room, staring at the floor as he snatched at his jacket.  Above his head was a sign for the bathrooms.

Jessica leapt from her seat and moved to the wall, ensuring Reggie couldn’t see her.  She picked up her pace and circled the corner at top speed, just in time to run smack dab into his hard chest.

She made a production of tumbling to a heap on the marble floors, throwing in a high pitched yelp for good measure.

“Whoa.” Reggie bent down with her as she fell, taking gentle hold of her arms.  “I’m so sorry.  I didn’t see you there.  Are you okay?”

Jessica clutched the flaps of his jacket, planting the adhesive tracker to the expensive fabric with ease.

“I’m fine,” she said.  “Grace has never been my strong suit.”

“I’m Reggie King.”

She took his outstretched hand, drank in his smile.  “Ashley Williams.”

“I hope I didn’t hurt you, Ashley Williams.”

“Totally my fault.  Nature called.  I’ve been waiting hours for my interview, and couldn’t hold it any longer.  All I could think about was getting to the bathroom.”

He stood, helping her to her feet with the hand he still clutched.  “Please,” he said, his deep voice curling into her like butter as he motioned to the bathrooms.  “Don’t let me stop you.”

Jessica moved backwards, holding his eyes, stumbling over her heels.

“This company will be mine soon, and I hire pretty.” He winked.  “So let me be the first to tell you, Ashley Williams, the job is yours.”

Her mouth dropped.

His smile broke into a laugh before he turned a corner and disappeared out of sight.

***

Minutes later, Jessica was admiring her reflection in the bathroom mirror, silently giving herself props on how good she looked in that gray skirt suit.  It wasn’t her style, she preferred comfort over class, but she couldn’t deny that she cleaned up well.

She cradled her cell phone against her shoulder as she washed her hands.  “Chet, I have transmitter number five on Reggie King. I got it on his lapel.  Camera seven is ready for activation in the bathroom.”

“In the
bathroom
?”

“Not in the stalls, just the sink area.  You’d be surprised how many people carry on private conversations in public restrooms.”

“You’re a machine.”

“You ain't seen nothing.  Gotta go.  Still working on Val.”

“Call me when you’re done.”

“Bet.” She disconnected the call, straightened her suit, and hurried out of the bathroom, gasping when she came face to face with the receptionist.

“Miss Williams… you do know that’s the men’s restroom, right?”

Jessica exhaled.  “Of course I do, but by the time I realized my mistake, I was about to ruin my skirt.  A toilet is a toilet, right?”

“Good point.  And good timing. Mr. Romanovsky is ready for you.”

Fucking finally.

“And I’m ready for him.”

The receptionist nodded for Jessica to follow her down the hallway just as Gary, Leo and Roman were leaving the office.  The receptionist greeted them all by name as they passed.  Roman looked, but didn’t speak.  Jessica realized, for the first time, that pretty boy had yet to say a single word to her.

“Yo.” Gary offered a halfhearted smile, following close behind Roman.

Leo lagged behind, hands in the pockets of his gray suit, staring at the floor.

He gave the receptionist a distracted greeting, but when his eyes met Jessica’s, his mouth fell open and then curled into a smile.

Jessica slowed her stride, holding his eyes.  Her heartbeat faltered when Leo brushed the tips of his fingers against her waist—the part of her waist that had left her crying out in pain in the bathroom the night before.  His touch lingered, and he didn’t remove his hand until he absolutely had to, looking over his shoulder to hold her eyes as they passed each other.

Jessica turned her body to follow Leo’s gaze, watching him take a shove from Gary once he made it to the end of the hall.

“She hasn’t even got the job and you’ve already got your crusty mitts all over her.  You’re a harassment lawsuit on legs.  What the hell is wrong with you…?” Gary’s voice trailed off as they disappeared around the corner.

Stumbling backward, Jessica didn’t even realize she’d disappeared into another world until she slammed into a wall.  She yelped, faced forward, and realized that wall was called Val.

Leaning against the open door of the office with the audacity to look inconvenienced, he lifted an eyebrow, as if
he
were the one who’d had to wait two hours for this interview.

“Miss Williams, sir,” the receptionist said.

“Thank you, Tamika.”  Val watched Tamika go before stepping into the office, giving the glass door a halfhearted push while looking over his shoulder.

Jessica had never been one to wait around for a man to be chivalrous, so she had no problem catching the door he’d given that half-assed push and opening it herself.  Still, she couldn’t help but make note of what a massive prick this guy was.

Sure, he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.  His company was being ripped out from under him, he had a baby on the way, an emotional fiance, and there was also the pesky little fact that, ten years ago, he’d murdered that fiance’s parents.

Jessica nearly clicked her tongue.  Yes, Val Romanovsky certainly did have the weight of the world on his shoulders, more than enough to put any man on a quick train to Douche Bag City.

It astounded her that he was able to peel himself out of bed at all. Let alone shower, dress himself, and join the rest of the world as a normally functioning human being.

He could write a book.
How to Keep Getting Out of Bed (Even When You’ve Fucked Shit Up Beyond Human Comprehension).
Jessica could already see it on all the best seller lists.

How had this guy not exploded?

She had a feeling he was closer to explosion than he’d ever been in his life.

He took a seat at the head of the boardroom table, scowling.  He gazed up at her from under his eyelashes when he realized she was still standing at the door, and motioned to the chair next to him with an open hand.

No apology for being hours late for their interview.  No inquiries into her physical well-being.  Was she hungry?  Thirsty?  Surely she had to be, after waiting so long?  None of those questions came, because Val Romanovsky didn’t give a shit.

Men on the verge of explosion rarely did.

She crossed the room, taking the seat opposite him and watching him flip through her “résumé.” While he was distracted, she pulled a pen from her blazer and placed it on the table.  She made sure his eyes remained lowered as she clicked the pen open.  A red light illuminated, confirming that her “pen” was activated and recording.

After giving it his attention for all of two seconds, he flung the résumé aside and threw open her portfolio, tossing the pages with such haste he couldn’t possibly be giving any of it a real look.

The FBI had contracted a
real
graphic designer to put the portfolio together, and having seen all of it herself, Jessica became annoyed as he hurried through it.  It was beautiful work.

Val gave up halfway through, slamming the portfolio shut and clasping his hands on the table.  His eyes met hers, and that uninterested gleam was back.

“Look, I’m not here to waste your time.”  He motioned to the portfolio.  “I like what I see.  You have a good eye, and frankly, my brother and
fiance will never get out of my ear if I give this job to anyone else. Tamika should have your new hire paperwork ready.  You start today.”

Jessica sputtered as he stood tall.  “Um… that’s it?”

Val re-buttoned his jacket and moved to the door.  This time, he did hold it open for her, hitting her with those impatient eyes when he saw she was still sitting.

“I’ll walk you to your desk,” he said.

Jessica’s heartbeat tripled.  “I’m sorry, my desk? I thought Zoey said this position worked from home.”

He sighed.  “Fifty percent of the positions at this company work from home, but every employee has a desk that is their own.  Even if they never utilize it.”

Her heartbeat slowed.  “Oh, I see.  That’s nice.”

His eyebrows rose, and he motioned to the door he was still holding.

Jessica hurried over, leaving her pen behind, which was still recording on the table.  If she was lucky, Val would claim it and put it in his pocket.  Maybe he’d even take it home with him.

“Thank you, Mr. Romanovsky, I’m so excited to be part of the team.”

The only thing Jessica Borgia was excited about was testing out that giant slide.

Oh, and watching Val Romanovsky burn.

She was really excited about that one too.

***

After showing her where her desk was located, Val pawned Jessica off on Tamika, who gave her a grand tour of the office.  An hour later, clutching the copies of her Novsky new hire paperwork, Jessica said good-bye to Tamika and stepped onto the elevator.

She jabbed her finger into the button for the lobby without relent, knees dancing. Reggie King had exited Novsky over an hour ago.  She was sure Chet had already gathered invaluable information from the device she’d planted on him.  She exhaled in relief when the elevator doors began to slide closed.

“Hold the elevator!” a male voice cried.

Not a chance.

Her knees bopped.

“Hold the elevator!”

Jessica shook her head, tapping her teeth. The excitement lighting up her face and claiming her bones dissipated when, just as the elevator doors were inches from sealing shut, a hand zoomed into the space left between the doors.  A Rolex flashed under the elevator’s bright lights as the doors jolted to a stop, and then slid back open.

Leo appeared, biting the inside of his cheek, a thick eyebrow raised high, fighting a smile that was already there.

A smile teased her lips at the sight of him.

Beer Belly Borgia.

And, just like that, her smile vanished, replaced with a deep scowl.

Never fucking forget
her mind screamed.

“Thanks for holding the elevator,” he said, stepping in.

She pointed to the doors.  “I’m sorry, were you asking me to hold it?”

“Only screaming at the top of my lungs.”

“I must not have heard.”  She held her breath, because his wonderful scent had swooped in and surrounded her.  It wasn’t strong, but somehow, still snuck up and took hold, lingering in the most pleasant way.

He held her eyes while leaning over and pressing the Door Close button.

“Hold the elevator!” Another plea, female this time, rang out.

Never breaking his gaze from Jessica’s, Leo pressed his thumb into the Door Close button with more vigor, picking up his pace when the female voice rose to glass shattering levels.

“Hold the elevator!
Really
—?”

The last thing Jessica saw was a manicured hand reaching for the doors, reaching for
dear life
, just before they sealed shut.  The elevator descended, and Leo faced her, pushing his hands into the pockets of his slacks.

She risked a look at him. “That was very rude of you, closing the doors on that nice young lady.”

“Like you weren’t about to close the doors on me, leaving me in the dust just like I left her in the dust.”

Jessica faced him.

“If I hadn’t made it in the nick of time, you would’ve thrown me to the wolves too,” he said.