Page 43 of His Smile
“Do you think he is going to really go over it like hesaid?” Rahina asked Mosca, who was opening the fridge and grabbing two beers.
She was turned around on the sofa staring at the lieutenantfrom over the back of the sofa with her chin resting on the top.
Picking up the pizza box from the counter with one hand,Mosca carried the two beers in the other hand as he walked around the couch.Setting the food and drinks on the quartz gray coffee table, he sat down.
“Alexei will do it,” he confirmed.
Earlier that evening, after her meeting with Dante, she hadcalled Mosca in a frenzy. She needed a lawyer or someone who could look overher contract before she signed. The last time she signed a contract, she hadher dad and uncles all look it over. Her joining the Company had turned into afamily event, but this time she wanted to do this on her own. She wanted toshow them and herself she could face and handle problems on her own and withouttheir input. Mosca had told her to hold on, and he would call her back. Afterten minutes of sitting in her car, still in the hotel parking lot, Mosca hadcalled her back and told her where to meet him.
Alexei’s office downtown was located nearly at the top of alarge skyscraper. On the first few floors, the building was lively and full ofeateries, shops, and people walking about, but as the elevator took them up,Rahina could feel the stark change in the atmosphere. Seemingly decorated withan austere palette, the office seemed to be encased in glass. To large glassdoors with simple gray etched letterings to a glass receptionist desk with onlya few stark white desk supplies decorating the surface, Rahina couldn’t helpbut feel cold when she walked through to Alexei’s office.
“He didn’t seem very willing,” she mumbled, placing a fewslices of pizza on a plate and handing it to Mosca.
“He and Roman are just at odds right now, but it doesn’tmean he won’t do as he promised. He will have your contract back to you bymorning with any notations.”
Rahina did feel a little better at the confidence Mosca hadin Alexei, although she still couldn’t help but think of Alexei’s final wordsto her.
She and Mosca were just turning to leave the man’s officewhen she thought of something.
She turned back around to the man behind the desk. “Andremember do not tell Roman about this."
“No,” Alexei responded flatly.
Shocked, she blinked for a moment before reacting. “Wait aminute I am serious, I want to be the one to tell him about my world stoppingsuccess, not you.”
“Then you should have told me before I agreed to help you soI could have told you no.” The man’s face held no trace of emotion, just rigid,uncompromising indifference.
“So, does that mean you are going to ruin my surprise?” shepressed.
Alexei gave her a long hard look before answering. "Ifthe topic comes up, I will tell him about my involvement."
Reading through his purposely vague wording, she smiledbrightly. “Ok good, the topic should not come up, but maybe try not to talk tohim if you don’t have to,” she offered.
Alexei responded with a derisive snort.
"You know for someone so handsome you sure have a badoverall attitude and your super domineering," she knew she was pushing herlimit with the man, and she could feel Mosca step closer behind her, no doubtto probably drag her away before she really pissed off the man.
Alexei let out a harsh dry laugh. "That's comicalcoming from the women dating Roman."
“What does that mean?"
She saw the man’s golden eyes look behind her toward Mosca,sensing a nonverbal dialogue being exchanged.
"What?” she turned to Mosca who looked at her with adeceivingly innocent face. He said something, she just knew he did. “What doyou mean by that?" She repeated to Alexei.
Turning his back on, her Alexei walked away. "We aredone here, Miss Chopra."
He was such an asshole.
Taking a bite of her pizza, she searched through the guideon the large TV mounted above the equally large fireplace for something towatch.
“Why wait to tell Roman?” Mosca finally asked after a fewmoments of silence.
Taking a sip of the bitter beer, she balanced her plate onher lap and stared at the two dogs through the window who were currentlystaring at them and their pizza with a look of betrayed longing.
“Because I don’t want to share my good news with hisvoicemail or in a text.”
They had both received texts earlier that morning from Romanstating he would not be able to call them for the next few days. Messages fromDimitri to Mosca relayed that whatever deal they were doing over there on theisland was getting a little hectic, but not to worry it was getting handled.But she still worried. Here, Roman’s life seemed so calm and uneventful it washard to believe he was some sort of kingpin of crime as he and others aroundhim claimed. Not wanting to admit it, Roman had been right, she really didn’tknow what she was getting into. She supposed she had viewed him something akinto her father, the type of criminal that dealt in just theft but as she walkedinto Alexei’s grand office and listened to Dimitri’s cryptic relayed messagesher mind began to broaden in realization. Imaginations of Roman filteredthrough her mind as she pictured him actually using the gun he kept holsteredto his chest. She imagined the large smiling man running and shooting on thesun-soaked island caught in a movie like shootout. Naturally, her thoughtsturned dark as she thought of him getting shot, and her heart clenched in fear.Sitting here in this giant house, next to another man who devoted his life toillicit gains, and imagining the terrible scenarios she felt foolish and scaredall at once.
