Chapter 39
Snow was starting to fall with some force when Deva parked her car in front of the building housing the Magnus, Christiani & Zayne law firm. She had lost some time in traffic and wanted to get there before those assholes left for the day.
Leaving her car in a no parking zone, she dashed in. In the huge lobby, she barely slowed down to check the floor before skidding to a halt before the elevators.
They had the entire fifteenth floor, and when the elevator doors opened, Deva zeroed in on a very blond, Barbie-like receptionist.Classic!
Smashing the letter on the desk in front of Blondie, Deva waited for the dumb blonde to look at her.
“I want to talk to the person in charge of my account. Now!”
The poor woman blinked her baby blues at her a few times before finally looking at the paper.
“You want to consult with one of our experts?”
“No! I want to meet the person who sent me that letter. Is that too complicated for you to understand?”
“No, ma’am. Let me check the account number.”
Deva ground her teeth as the woman tapped her electric blue lacquered nails on the keyboard.
“Oh, I can find your account, but it’s not linked to anyone of our people in particular.”
It was the final straw, and Deva lost it. “Are you kidding me? I asked a simple question. Who sent me this goddamn letter!”
“I did,solnyshka.”
Deva tried to swallow a whimper of anguish at hearing that familiar voice behind her. Taking a deep breath, she clenched her fists and schooled her face before pivoting. Nothing really helped when she saw Aleksei standing there in a charcoal gray three-piece suit that fitted his muscled fighters body like a glove. The cobalt blue shirt and tie set off his mercury colored eyes. His inky-black hair was slicked back. And there she stood, frozen, impossible for her to deny the pull. Fighting it as much as she wanted, it was there, alive and consuming her. But she wasn’t about to revisit her old heartbreak. Instead, she forced her mind to focus on what brought her there in the first place and was grateful when anger flooded her lust.
“Don’t call me that. Ever again! And I want to know what this is all about.” She brandished the letter under his nose.
Unfazed, Aleksei gestured toward the hallway. “Let’s discuss it in my office.”
Bad, bad idea, she thought. Being alone with the man was the last thing she wanted, but Deva wasn’t about to have an argument in front of the baby-doll receptionist.
Aleksei’s office had one wall entirely made of windows, offering a breathtaking view of the city slowly being veiled with swirling snow. She entered and looked around, definitely impressed. Gerasim had been right when he’d told her his nephew had a successful career. And when she looked at him, with his expensive suit, and the tattoos on his neck and on his wrists and hands, she didn’t know if he looked more dangerous now or when he was fighting in a cage.
“May I take your coat?”
“You are about to take everything else I own, why wouldn’t I give you my coat too?”
Now hot as hell, she started to unzip her coat while trying to pull her scarf off. Nervousness, anger, and clumsiness turned her scarf into a snake, almost strangling her while she ran the zipper onto the red wool, jamming it.
Deva fought for a while, not looking at him until a shadow blocked the light.
“Let me help, Deva.”
“No!” It was childish, but she knew that if he reached for her, her heart would open up and bleed like a torrent again. The walls she had built around herself were fragile, ready to crumble, and they needed distance, protection.
Instead, she leaned forward and pushed the coat and scarf over her head like a sweater, letting everything plop on the floor in a heap of red.
A little out of breath, she straightened up, running her hands through her crackling hair and pulling at her sweater. Once the static settled, Deva looked back at Aleksei. He still stood no more than six feet away. Without a word, he crouched down, picked up her discarded coat and hung it on a hanger behind the door.
“Red suits you, Deva. Especially on your cheeks.”
Oh no, he didn’t just go there!“Stop this garbage. What is going on? Why did I receive this letter? I have paid everything that I could pay, I didn’t take any of the money my father left me. Do you think that if I had any sort of money, I wouldn’t use it? Get a nicer couch, instead of having one with springs sticking out and creepy crawlies lurking inside?”
Aleksei ignored her outburst and turned to look at a file on his desk. “Some new information popped up. That’s why a new audit is required.”
