Page 175 of Dirty Grovel

“I have a little work to do,” he murmurs into my hair.

I groan, digging my nails into his back and pulling him closer to me. “Can’t it wait?”

Oleg chuckles. “Possessive little minx,” he says affectionately. “Don’t worry, I only plan on moving to that table.”

He points to the patio table sitting a few feet away from the chaise lounge.

“Hm. I suppose I can deal with that.”

With a kiss on my forehead, he extricates himself gently and settles himself at the table with his laptop.

I give the screen a little peek over his shoulder, but I can’t understand a damn thing on the spreadsheet he’s looking at.

Still, I can read the header at the top of the page.

Pavlov Industries Board Directives

“I thought you resigned from the board?”

“Kicked out, more like,” Oleg corrects. “But when they asked me to come back, I resigned. Oksana still sends me details of every board meeting, though.”

“How’s she doing… running the whole company I mean?”

Oleg scoffs. “Please. She was born to run Pavlov Industries. The woman is a shark. And she has help. She knows that keeping me in the loop is necessary for the survival of Pavlov Industries. They’re going to need a bailout soon enough.”

“A bailout?” I ask, sitting up.

He nods triumphantly. “The decisions Boris made just before he kicked the bucket have come close to bankrupting the company. They’re going to need a wealthy investor to save their asses.”

“Enter… Oleg Pavlov?” He laughs in confirmation and it dawns on me. “That’swhy you resigned when they asked you to join the board again. You have bargaining power now.”

“Precisely,” he says. “I took my surveillance tech public a mere ten days ago and already, I’ve made billions.” He points to the spreadsheet on his screen. “These are the list of clients who have already purchased their own surveillance systems from Oriana Tech.”

My jaw drops as I scan through the numbers. “Oh my God… Oleg… that isinsane!”

“Like I said, I have the power now to save or sink Pavlov Industries.”

“What will you do?” I ask, admiring the gleam in Oleg’s eyes.

I love how he loves me. I love how kind and gentle and tender he can be in quiet moments with me.

But I also love the beast in him. The ruthless businessman, the hibernatingpakhanwho lies in wait, poised to strike.

“I will give them a choice,” he declares. “If I’m going to bail out the company, I want fifty-one percent controlling shares. I want to be reinstated as CEO and I will have unilateral veto power when it comes to any board decision.”

My eyes go wide. “So basically, you will have all the power.”

“Well,wewill have all the power.”

“What do you mean?” I frown.

“My first action as CEO of Pavlov Industries will be to appoint new members. One of whom will be Artem. The other will be you.”

“Me?!” I squeak.

“Yes. You will also get twenty-one percent of the shares. That will give you a sizable income every month.”

“Oleg, that’s really not necessary.”

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