Page 14 of Bought By the Bratva

“I think so,” Nadia replied, lowering her gaze to the floor.

As they approached me, I wrapped my arm around her, heading for the check-out counter. “Excited to start tomorrow?” I asked as I paid the bill.

Nadia smiled and nodded as we headed out and went home.

Chapter 8 - Nadia

It was fate that his secretary had to go on pregnancy leave. It offered me the ideal position to access everything. I wasn’t a hundred percent sure Abram was telling the truth, but he appeared genuine when he made me the offer. It would only be temporary until I found work.

Even though it was my third day already, I was still enthralled by the majestic beauty of the office building; I stumbled out of the elevator, almost losing my balance. Abram grabbed my arm, steadying me as he spoke. “Are you okay?”

Straightening my pantsuit, I smiled at him. I felt my cheeks heating up but spoke confidently, “Yes, thanks. I think I hooked my heel on the elevator. I’m good now.”

He nodded as he led me down the corridor to his office. The work was a bit harder than I expected, but I felt sure I was getting the hang of things. The first two days felt like an eternity as I learned the ropes.

By the third day, I knew where everything had to go and what to do. I knew I had to be good at my work and keep up appearances. I had to show him I was a good secretary. Sitting back in my chair, I took a deep breath. This day was almost over. But I felt I had accomplished something today.

I sat thinking over everything I had discovered in the last couple of days. I had no idea how his family could run so many illegal operations and still run legal businesses as well. Taking the heap of paperwork from the inbox on my desk, I tried to get through filing them quickly.

The work wasn’t going to do itself. Smiling, I got up and headed to the filing room. Once everything was filed, I headed to his office. “Ready to go?” Abram asked as he came out.

Nodding, I felt drained and just wanted to sleep. The next two days were just more of the same. Every morning, I came in and found another pile of papers. I had no idea where it all came from. But every morning, the box was full. The work kept me so busy, I barely had time to snoop. I knew I would have to get something soon. My family weren’t patient people.

I had just started sorting through the papers when my office door opened. I hadn’t noticed him getting up and coming in.

“Abram,” I breathed out as he stopped next to my desk. “Was there something you wanted?”

“I have an urgent meeting,” he said, smiling. “But it shouldn’t take all day. I’ll be back soon. Will you be fine on your own here?”

Getting up, I placed a hand on his chest as I replied. “Yes, of course. You go to your meeting and don’t worry about anything. I’ve got this.”

Abram stared at me for a moment before nodding. “Okay, but you have my number. Call if anything comes up,” he said as he walked to the door. Turning, he smiled broadly at me. “You can also ask Alice next door,” he added, then disappeared.

This was the opportunity I had been waiting for. With Abram out, I had the entire office to myself. I could now search to my heart's content. Who knew what I might find hidden? I waited a few minutes to ensure he didn’t forget something and returned.

Walking to his office, I stood with the door open. Looking back at the elevator, I saw it stop. There was no sign it was coming back up, so I entered his office. The desk drawers weren’t locked. They only held notes, some mailcorrespondence, and odd things. There was nothing of interest in them.

Sitting down in his chair, I turned in a slow circle. If I were him, where would I hide important documents? There had to be something somewhere. I checked behind the paintings for a safe but found nothing. I pulled each book on the bookshelf out and placed it back. I saw no hidden doors or triggers to anything.

I was about to give up when a thought came to me. Maybe in the file room? Leaving his office I quickly walked down the short hall and entered the small room at the end. Would he have important intel just lying around? I couldn’t be sure. But he might, if he didn’t suspect what I was doing here.

Standing at the door, I scanned the room. I have only been inside here twice the entire week. Most of the time, Abram collected the files from me at around four and stored them himself.

There was a row of filing cabinets against one wall. Against the back wall was a small table with one chair. I scanned the names on the cabinet doors. I tried each drawer. Every second one was locked. This surely held private information he didn’t want me to see.

The previous times I had been here, Abram had been with, and there was no time to look around. As I walked closer to the table, I noticed the last drawer wasn’t closed properly. Yet, it was locked as the steel half-moon that locked it stood out like a shiny new toy.

Glancing back, I slowly pulled it open. One of the files had only been placed back halfway. This was surely the reason it didn’t close, I thought as I pulled it out. Abram must have been in a hurry when he replaced it. Looking at the folder name, I knew I had hit the jackpot.

Not knowing how much time I would have; I moved to the table and opened the folder. There were notes about a shipment of guns coming in with dates, times, and locations. I scribbled them down quickly and shoved the paper into my bra before returning the file.

I had just closed the drawer when I heard his voice booming through the small space. “Can I help you find something?” Stumbling back, I felt the table behind me and sat down on it.

My heart felt like it was trying to escape the confines of my ribcage as it slammed, beating so rapidly. I hadn’t expected him back so soon. “I came to put some files away,” I huffed, trying to control my breathing.

Looking down at my feet, I got an idea. “My feet were burning, so I sat down for a moment. I’m sorry, I’ll go back to my desk,” I spoke softly, hoping he wouldn’t notice the panic I felt rushing through me.

As I was about to slide off the table, he came up to me and bent down before me. Gently, he removed my shoes and started massaging my feet. “It’s okay,” he whispered, glancing up at me.

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