Page 23 of The Payment

Chapter Nine

Tatiana

Two weeks later, TAPUnited Logistics, Lovell Street, Boston Logan International Airport...

The top floor of TAP’s headquarters stretched across an entire wing of the modern building.Glass-walled offices created an illusion of openness while maintaining privacy.Sunlight streamed through floor-to-ceiling windows, casting long shadows across polished marble floors.The space hummed with quiet efficiency as employees moved between workstations and meeting rooms.At the center, the boardroom commanded attention with its curved glass walls and sleek furnishings.

Tatiana noticed Levin’s jaw clenching as he walked beside her.His fists opened and closed in a nervous habit he had developed since learning about Jarek’s deception.The past weeks had only intensified his protective instincts toward her.Levin Jackson, COO of TAP, had elected to move to Boston and run the headquarters with her rather than managing the Atlanta division.Being at the center of where all the decisions and development happened was to him like a delicious cuisine.He had watched her build TAP from nothing, admired her determination, and celebrated every victory with her.

"So, are you ready for this?"he asked in a voice tight with concern.

“Bolton Enterprises might be our benefactor, Lev, but it’s just another meeting.They hold no power.They’re an investor offering an influx of money and only expect a return on their investment.They’re not here to tell us how to run the business.”

“With all due respect, Tat, I don’t share your sentiment.If it’s only just another meeting, why the hell are we about to face a conglomerate of six representatives?”

“Lev, please stop worrying.You know who Bolton Enterprises belongs to, and besides, we made damn sure there were no loopholes in the contract.Our management and ownership of the business are one hundred percent secure.”

“I still can’t fucking believe that motherfucker deceived you like that.He seemed so genuine about his feelings.”He glanced sideways at her.She got the impression he had a desire to punch Jarek in his perfectly composed face.“Are you sure you’re okay?He’s not...hurting you in any way?”

“Since that would be the only way I could walk away from the farce of a marriage before the five-year timestamp, he wouldn’t dare.”She tapped him on the shoulder.“Stop worrying about me, Lev.I can take care of myself.”

“The dark circles under your eyes tell a different story.”

“I didn’t say it was a walk in the park, my friend.”The sigh drifting from her lips sounded forlorn.“It’s not him keeping me awake.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“My grandparents brought me up, loved me, and taught me good values regardless of the criminal world they live in.To realize after all of that how they have been deceiving me, how cruel and viciousDedushkareally is—murdering people, selling drugs to kids, while promising me they’re only involved in white-collar crime.Worse than that, forcing my parents to leave me behind...I can’t...I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to forgive them.”

Tatiana's throat constricted as she spoke about her grandparents.The betrayal cut deeper than any business setback ever could.They had shaped her entire world—taught her to read, to dance, to negotiate.Every childhood memory, every life lesson, now felt tainted.Their silence spoke volumes.No calls or even a text message to find out if she was coping in a forced marriage of their doing.The truth burned in her chest.She had been nothing more than an investment, a carefully groomed pawn in their criminal chess game.

“Have you spoken to them since you left Atlanta?”

“No, and since neither of them even bothered to contact me, I assume they never truly loved me.It seems I was nothing more than another of their long-term projects designed to improve their criminal footprint.”

“How sure are you that your loving husband isn’t the one keeping them from you?”

“He might be, but for some reason, I doubt it.Besides, I could contact them without his knowledge.No.”With a grim smile, she shook her head.“Their silence is a warning, Lev.I know Gregor Polov well enough to realize he has something up his sleeve.I just don’t know if I should warn Jarek.”

“It must suck to be the meat in the sandwich,” Levin said as they approached the boardroom.“My opinion, for what it’s worth.If you harbor even the slightest suspicion that whatever your grandfather is planning could endanger your life or the welfare of our company, I suggest you tell him.”

“You’re right, as usual.I’ll discuss it with him tonight.”Tatiana’s lips twisted into a grimace.It wasn’t a prospect she was looking forward to.Her cheeks still heated like a hot tomato every time an unwanted memory of how she had completely submitted to him on Valentine’s night flashed through her mind.So much for her resolve to keep him at a distance.

What worried her was why he hadn’t demanded his conjugal rights since, especially since he refused to let her move out of the master bedroom.She never knew when he came to bed but in the morning, the signs that he had slept beside her were there in the tousled sheets and the dent in the pillow.It had become a ritual that she went to bed long before him since her dear husband was a workaholic.Not surprising, since he had a massive portfolio of legal enterprises as well as the criminal underworld to run.

A thought crossed her mind.“Not in this fucking lifetime,” she growled under her breath.If he kept his distance expecting her to make advances toward him, he was more delusional than she imagined.She might have let her desires run free that one night, but she’d rather fill up her bedside drawer with dildos before she degraded herself by asking him for sex.

“What was that?”Levin asked with his hand on the handle of the glass door.Through the thick glass wall panels, Tatiana took stock of the Bolton Enterprises representatives quietly talking with Brendon Hunter, the newly appointed CFO, and Desire Ballot, the Sales and Marketing Director who also joined them from the original Atlanta office.

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