Page 20 of Blood Mosaic

Oleg watched through the two-way glass of the mirror in Elene’s conference room as papers were spread out over the table and Elene’s secretary—Maria? Margret? He couldn’t remember—talked the little wolf through the intake paperwork that would make her officially Oleg’s property.

Not property exactly, but once she’d signed those papers, she was well and truly part of his world, which made her fair game for all sorts of interesting possibilities.

His fingers itched as the fire under his skin begged to come out, just to play a little bit, but he pushed back his instincts. Light like that might betray his presence.

Someone cracked open the door. Oleg glanced over his shoulder and saw Mika with his second-in-command, another water vampire named Oksana.

Oleg snapped his fingers and motioned them in. “Get inside and close the door.”

Mika walked to Oleg and Oksana shut the door behind them.

“What’s happening?” Mika asked.

“She’s signing her intake paperwork for Elene.”

Mika glanced at the mirror, then at Oleg. “And you’re watching this why?”

Oleg cocked his head. “She’s interesting.”

Oksana peered through the glass, seeing Tatyana for the first time. “She looks like Luana, doesn’t she?”

Mika made a rumbling sound in the back of his throat. “She’s not Luana.”

“Obviously not,” Oksana said. “But she does look a little bit?—”

“It’s not the resemblance that makes her interesting.” Oleg wished both of them would keep quiet. “The more I look at her, the more I see the difference. The coloring is the same.” He shrugged. “A bit around the eyes. But her mouth, her personality—completely different.”

Mika nodded slowly. “Yes, she seems rational and not insane.”

Oleg’s lip curled. “Did you have something to tell me?”

Mika reached his hand out and Oksana handed him a file. “We found more on her father after you and I spoke last night. He’s Czech—no known relation to Luana’s people—and was in Sevastopol on holiday when he met her mother. Basic sad tale for the woman. He has his fun and takes off home. She’s left with a baby and no father. End of story.”

The end of the story on paper, but Oleg had a feeling it was more complicated for the human in the ice-blue suit.

Tatyana examined everything. She noticed everything. She’d glanced at the two-way mirror more than once, and he suspected she knew she was being watched.

She asked question after question, but there was nothing to detect. There was no secret agenda—at least not on paper.

Tatyana Vorona was agreeing to a contract to be a paid consultant for SMO International, a forensic-accounting consultant to be specific. She would receive a base pay, lodging, and a meal stipend while she was in Odesa along with a percentage of monies recovered during her employment.

She would pay taxes on it. She’d have part of it deducted for SMO’s mandatory investment program and would be covered under the company’s standard employment benefits and obligations umbrella while she was a contractor.

His little wolf could pick apart every contract he handed to her, and she would find nothing that went against the law.

“She likes rules.” Oleg fixed his eyes on her as she read through the last bit of her contract. “She likes order and predictability. She’s ambitious but a little bit afraid of it. She wasn’t raised to think much of herself, but she does and she’s not sure how she feels about that.”

Mika leaned against the wall and looked at Tatyana. Then at Oleg. “How much time have you spent watching this woman?”

He caught Oksana’s smile, even though she tried to cover it, but the vampire said nothing.

“Enough to read her.” Oleg was fascinated by Tatyana’s mouth. It was wide and expressive. She didn’t conceal much even though she probably thought she did. Her mouth told every story. Annoyance with the rote corporatespeak that Elene’s secretary was spewing. Awareness of the bag that carried her computer and papers. She kept glancing at it with a small frown. Not unhappy, just serious.

“She doesn’t know how to find that money,” Mika said.

“How do you know?” Oleg kept his eyes on Tatyana but raised an eyebrow. “She knows more about computers than either of us. She might find it.”

“It doesn’t matter if she does. As of tonight, she is bait for Zara.”

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