Page 28 of The Bratva's Hostage

“And the profit? What’s in it for me if I agree to do this?” she asked me.

That’s my girl.

I grinned widely. She knew exactly what this would mean if this deal worked out. “The profit will go sixty-forty. We will take sixty percent and you will take forty.”

Elena shook her head even before I finished. Gone was the sulky, annoyed young woman, and in her place was this calculative enchantress. I could see the numbers dance around in that pretty head of hers.

“Hahaha, you are kidding me. No, it’ll have to be fifty-fifty. If we’re going to be partners in this, then it must be equal. Fifty-fifty or there’ll be no deal at all.”

Fuck me! Her tone bore no room for discussion. Her voice was very commanding. I smirked, my cock stirring as I watched her. She was feisty and clever. She had a head for business, that much was clear.

“How about I add an extra five percent to your share?” I said, enjoying the business mode she was in, although I was prepared to settle for the same percentage of profit she was asking for.

Her eyes squinted in a glare, and she folded her arms. “You need me for this to go smoothly and without hitch, else you wouldn’t have signed me on without speaking to me about it first. Fifty-fifty or nothing.

I believe that is fair enough, Maksim. If you have a problem going equal with me, then I will walk away from the deal in front of the Phillips, and you can find a way to sort the mess out yourself. Although I doubt, they will be willing to continue doing any business with you if they think that you don’t have a handle on your wife.”

I chuckled, her threat was valid and yet, I couldn’t get out of my mind how beautiful she was with a serious expression, her eyes boring into mine and her lips set firmly as she waited for my response.

“You have yourself a deal,” I said, bringing her hand up to my lips to seal the deal. Was that a smile on her face?

The car ride to the hotel I booked for us was spent in a much better mood than earlier. Although she still wasn’t very chatty, this time, it wasn’t because she didn’t wish to speak with me, but because she was conducting her research on the Phillips brothers.

I ordered room service as she continued to peruse through the information I’d gotten on the brothers.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner? I could’ve looked through it to find a way to make sure that we get this right,” she said, not looking up from the files.

I smirked at her sudden seriousness. “What? You think I’m not capable of closing this deal without your help, princess? I find that quite insulting.”

“What? I wasn’t trying to be-” She stopped when she saw the smile on my face and realized I was merely teasing.

“I just want to be prepared. I cannot walk into this meeting without having any background information. We go as two companies working together. I need to know everything about them.”

I nodded. “Such a smart woman. You’re right. I should have told you earlier. I simply wanted to make sure that the deal pulled through before anyone else found out and cut in between.”

Chapter 14 – Elena

I sat with Maksim at my side, a blank expression on my face as we waited for the Phillips brothers to finish their deliberations and make their decisions. I watched them from behind the glass window as they moved towards us. I couldn’t hear anything they were saying, and it was difficult to read their lips.

Maksim had gotten straight to business the minute we arrived at the meeting room, listing off the advantages of collaborating with us, dispelling their fears about us being unable to work together considering the Russian mafia and Italian mafia were always at each other’s throats.

The meeting was short but straight to the point, the brothers remained quiet as he spoke. This was the first time I saw Maksim in business negotiations, and I couldn’t stop admiring him. He exuded such presence and his statuesque posture such confidence, that it sent a shiver down my spine.

He tapped my hand and smiled at me, making a motion for me to calm down.

Has he figured me out so easily or is my face not as stoic as I thought it was?

He gestured at my shoulders as if he could read my mind, I relaxed and let them drop loosely just as the doors opened again and Phillips stepped back into the boardroom.

“Alright, my brothers and I have come to an agreement, and we will accept your offer. Of course, we still hold some reservations since this is the first time, we’ll be doing business together, however, we have chosen to go ahead with it in good faith,” David Phillips, the older of the brothers said.

“The new contract will be drawn up for you to sign and then we can begin with our alliances,” another brother added.

I let out a sigh. It felt like this was the first time I drew breath since the meeting started. This was a big contract, and it would bring a lot of money to all parties involved, even better, it was the first time in history that there would be a deal between the Russian, Italian, and Chicago mafia.

So many changes were happening in such a short time, and I only hoped it would be what we needed.

“Excellent. We will be expecting it. Thank you for your time,” Maksim said, standing up. We shook hands with the brothers and prepared to leave when David stopped us.

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