Russian Mafia Billionaire’s Secretary (7 page)

Checking in, they were informed that the rest of their party hadn’t arrived yet, so they approached the bar, where he ordered drinks for the both of them. She’d promised herself that she’d keep the drinking to a minimum during these work events as she didn’t want to embarrass herself or Alexander in front of his clients. 

“Cheers,” he said with his raised glass.

“Cheers,” she answered as she sipped the drink. Looking around the room, she was taken in by the décor, which made her feel as though they stepped into the 1920s. She felt his eyes on her and turned to look at him.

“You look lovely this evening, dear Alanna,” he said charmingly.

“Thank you. You look handsome, as well.”

“For the Mafioso,” he added with a wide grin.

Shrugging her shoulders, “That sounds so limiting. I’d say you represent more of the male population other than the mafia,” she told him blandly, as he started laughing.

At that moment, some of their guests arrived and they took their glasses and went to join them.

“This is my lovely, executive assistant, Alanna Vella,” he introduced her to a man whose beard was salt and pepper colored and well maintained.

“Alanna, this is Mr. Maksim Angeloff and his lovely wife, Anastasia,” Alexander told her as she offered them both a smile.

“It is lovely to meet you, Alanna,” Maksim told her in a heavy, Russian accent.

“It’s nice to meet the both of you as well,” she said in response. At that moment, the rest of their party arrived and Alexander excused himself to go meet them.

Turning to see the other couples walking into the restaurant, she was glad that Alexander had told her to go shopping. These women looked glamourous, as they laughed and kissed everyone on the cheek.

Nodding to the maitre’d, Alexander led everyone to the back of the restaurant where they had a large table in a private room. Standing by the door, Alanna smiled and introduced herself to everyone who walked in. Once they were seated, she joined Alexander at the head of the table.

“These are all of our investors from Russia,” Alexander whispered into her ear, as servers brought Champagne to everyone. 

“A toast!” Alexander called out, as he stood to welcome everyone. Shifting back and forth between English and Russian, Alanna was only able to understand the English portion as the guests nodded at his words. As everyone raised their glasses in toast, Alanna did the same, taking a small sip of the sweet, bubbly drink.

After a couple more toasts, the investors quickly turned their attention to Alanna.

“So, you help Alexander manage his business and you’re gorgeous,” one of the investors said aloud with a grin on his face. His wife elbowed him, as she scowled at her husband.

“Yes, I handle the day-to-day requirements for his busy office.”

“Do you like the work?” another investor asked.

Nodding her head, she answered their questions. Pausing, she took another sip of her Champagne and asked herself why he needed her there. Since he was conducting most of the discussions in Russian, she didn’t see how her presence was necessary as she didn’t feel she could contribute in any sort of meaningful way because of the language barrier.

She placed her glass down on the table and studied the faces of the investors that sat around the table. A cold feeling came over her and she felt like something was off about the entire situation. Most of the time, the men at the table rambled in Russian, and for the most part, Alexander didn’t bother to translate, instead, responding back in Russian.

“I’ll be right back, I’m going to use the ladies’ room,” she whispered to Alexander and rose from her seat. He stood up with her and the rest of the men followed suit. Two of the other women at the table also stood and offered to walk with her to the bathroom.

Alanna slid inside one of the bathroom stalls and closed the door. Through the slat, she noticed one of the Russian women placing something on the sink. The woman leaned down toward the counter and Alanna heard a snorting sound. She stared at the woman through the door when she realized that she was taking too long, so she hurried up.

“I wish Anton would get the better stuff in his shipments and not this garbage,” the Russian woman complained as she touched up her makeup.

The other woman came out of one of the stalls and agreed with her, commenting, “I stopped touching that crap months ago.”

“Can’t you get your husband to get better quality? This stuff wears off too quickly and I end up with a headache.”

Shrugging her shoulders, the woman replied, “He’s grown much too greedy in his old age. All he cares about is profit.”

Alanna had no idea how to respond to either of them and simply kept silent while she washed her hands and checked her hair and makeup. This was one of those times where she dearly wished that conversation was taking place in Russian. They left the bathroom together and Alanna sat back down next to Alexander unsure what to say.

When they returned to New York, she planned to check the shipping logs for someone by the name of Anton. It was one thing for an investor’s wife to do drugs in the bathroom, but she had no idea what she would do if the drugs were shipped through Denisov. She loved her job but she didn’t think she could stay there if the company was involved in illegal activities.

As the night went on, Alanna maintained some semblance of small talk with the investors, but her mind was elsewhere trying to remember what some of the shipping manifests looked like. Were drugs being shipped through Denisov International? If so, what else was he bringing in illegally? Guns? Something worse?

Toward the end of the night, Maksim leaned toward Alexander. “She’s pretty and smart; you should marry this one.”

Chapter Ten

“Ah yes, she is a dangerous mix of intelligence and beauty,” Alexander revealed, as he turned to look at her in admiration. Alanna felt her cheeks heat up as she hastily grabbed her wine to mask her discomfort. While she enjoyed his compliments, being singled out at the table made her uncomfortable.  

As the night went on, the conversation became more animated although the majority of it took place in Russian. Tuning them out, Alanna studied each one in turn. Whether they came from money or were self-made, the women happily flaunted their wealth based on the amount of gold and diamonds they were wearing. Anastasia appeared to be the wealthiest if the size of the diamonds on her fingers was any indication, which was surprising given the number of times she excused herself to go to the bathroom most likely to get or stay high, she thought. She wondered if the men were equally enamored of drugs or if it was only the women.

Alanna felt lonely in a room full of people. While she didn’t think they intentionally meant to leave her out, no one made any effort to translate what was being said. As the alcohol continued to be served, the men grew increasingly loud and boisterous, while the women chattered amongst themselves in a lower volume. She became alert when Alexander stood up, holding his glass high. Giving a small speech in Russian, he concluded when he said, “Vyp'yem nashego uspekha,” and everyone cheered.

Maksim caught her look and leaned across the table, “Roughly translated, your Alexander was toasting to our success,” he told her as Alanna began to stammer.

“Um, he isn’t
my
Alexander,” she emphasized, not wanting him to think they were in a relationship. Shrugging his shoulders, he winked at her before turning to speak with his wife.

Additional rounds of what sounded like toasts were made before the evening drew to a rapid close. Having no idea what anyone was saying, she continued to drink with everyone else and by the time she was ready to go, she was well on her way to intoxication having long given up the pretense of remaining relatively sober in the event she was needed.

When Maksim attempted to order more wine, he was informed by the restaurant’s manager that they were closing. Alexander offered an exorbitant amount of money for the restaurant to remain open, but the manager cited state regulations. Grudgingly, he and Maksim acquiesced, as the party finally concluded, albeit several vocal protests. From the amount of alcohol everyone drank, she wasn’t surprised at the number of people who were staggering as they walked out of the restaurant and she hoped that no one drove themselves.

As Alanna climbed into the back of the waiting car, she didn’t slide over fast enough before Alexander tumbled in behind her, landing face first in her lap. The heat from his hot breath did things to her, but she wasn’t interested in a drunken romp in the backseat of a car. When he didn’t move right away, she tapped at his shoulder and waited patiently for him to sit up. Straightening out his jacket, he tilted his head against the back of the seat and closed his eyes.

“My apologies, Alanna. I didn’t intend to drink so much, but we had much to celebrate. Business has been good.” Laughing, he waved his hand toward her, “Actually, we didn’t drink as much as we did the last time we got together, but that was Moscow and the restaurant would not have dared to shut us down with the amount of money we were spending.”

Nodding her head, she turned to look out the window and was surprised when he placed his hand on her thigh. Turning to look at him, she resisted the urge to remove his hand. This was not how she wanted their first time together to go. She watched, unsure what to say, as he patted her leg. Before she could say anything, the car pulled up outside the hotel.

Exiting the car, Alexander staggered briefly, but quickly corrected himself. Placing his hand at the small of her back, he escorted her into the lobby. The sound of his phone had him fishing into his pocket. Retrieving it, he asked her to wait as he stepped away to answer the call.

Standing impatiently in the lobby, Alanna took several deep breaths. She knew that she was still drunk and given the lateness of the hour, fatigue was scarily bearing down on her as she fought the urge to sit down. Deciding to head to the elevator, she had just reached out to press the up button when she felt Alexander standing beside her.

Looking at his stormy eyes, “Is everything okay?”

Shaking his head, “Nyet, there was a problem with customs. I have someone on it. Nothing to be done now. Come, it’s late.”

Taking her hand, they entered the elevator, which lifted them swiftly to their floor. Walking into their suite, he turned to her, lifted the hand he was holding and kissed it.

“Thank you for joining me, Alanna. I’m sure you have questions but they will have to wait. We both need rest.” Without waiting for an answer, he staggered off to his room.

Chapter Eleven

The next morning, Alanna woke with a groan. Opening painfully, dry eyes, she blinked at the bright morning sunshine. Reaching her arm out, she felt around on the side table until she found the glass of water she had placed there before going to bed. Lifting her head, she took small sips, spilling some on her face in the process. Using it to her advantage, she rubbed at her eyes before sitting up.

Fumbling for her phone, she looked at the time. It was almost ten.

“Crap, why didn’t my alarm go off?” she muttered, as she stood up. Staggering into the bathroom, she grabbed her toothbrush and shed her clothes before stepping into the shower. Turning on the water, she yelped at the sudden cold, but then moaned as the water heated. Standing under the showerhead, she let the heat of the water wash away the night before.

Once she felt decidedly better, she began to berate herself for drinking too much last night. What if she had been needed? Granted that didn’t turn out to be the case, but things could have been different. Well, then she would have stopped drinking if there was something going on worth her time, she reminded herself. Shaking her head, she stepped out of the shower having decided that she would apologize to Alexander. Assuming he wasn’t still in bed with a hangover.

She was surprised when she smelled coffee. Towel drying her hair, she ran a comb through it before pulling it back into the towel to finish drying. Throwing on one of the plush hotel robes, she stepped out into the shared common area to find Alexander freshly showered, casually dressed and digging in to a hot breakfast.

Seeing her, he motioned for her to come join him. The smell of coffee was too much to resist and she gratefully accepted the full cup he handed her. Sitting down across from him, she tucked the robe around her oblivious to the look he gave her. Taking a long, slow sip, she closed her eyes, enjoying the taste.

“Oh, that’s good,” she said aloud before taking another sip. She looked up when he chuckled, but instead of answering her unspoken question, he merely returned to eating. “With everything you had to drink last night, how is it you aren’t hung over?” she demanded, as she took in his fresh appearance.

“Russian genes,” he answered her with a grin on his face, as he bit down on the sausage he was eating. He laughed at the look she gave him. “Practice?” he ventured, as he seemed to gauge her reaction.

Lifting her coffee cup in his general direction, “Well, that I might believe.” Spying a pair of well-used sneakers on the floor. “Have you been running?” she demanded, staring at him with renewed admiration.

“Only, as far as the beach. I knew a man, years ago, who swore that the best cure for a hangover was a swim.” Sitting back in his chair with his coffee cup, he took a sip. “And, as you can see, it works.”

Shaking her head, Alanna leaned forward to see what there was to eat. “I’ll pass. Anything that requires going outside first thing in the morning is a no go for me.”

Realizing that she was hungrier than she thought, she reached for two pancakes and some bacon. Pouring on the maple syrup, she dipped her bacon into it and took a bite, moaning as she did. Not realizing how sexy she looked, as she ate, she was surprised when Alexander began coughing.

Jumping up, she patted him on the back, as he continued to cough. When he calmed down, she went to sit back down but he stopped her.

“Wait.”

That one word held her frozen in the spot as she felt her body tremble at his tone of voice.