Bratva Boss’ Baby by Winter Sloane

Chapter Nine

“So, how’s your new job working out?” Gina asked her.

Ava kept her cell phone pressed to her ear while she furiously inputted some numbers into her spreadsheet. “It’s no honeymoon, I can tell you that. Viktor said his previous accountant had his own system, but honestly? I think the guy didn’t know what the hell he was doing. I have to start from scratch.”

“Sounds tough. So, anything else happened between you and your new boss? You’re not keeping anything from me, aren’t you?” Gina pressed.

This time, Ava looked over her shoulder, at the glass wall that separated her desk from Viktor’s office. Initially, she found it strange that Viktor had an entire office floor above one of his strip club. She thought it would be noisy downstairs, but she was wrong. Viktor had lined the entire second-floor walls with some kind of special material that cushioned noise.

Viktor was seldom at his desk. He went out for meetings all the time. Katya mentioned he visited his other businesses from time to time. That made sense.

“These are the reports you asked for,” Katya said, placing a stack of files on her desk.

Katya’s desk and her desk were positioned together. At first, Ava had the impression the tall and icy blonde didn’t like her, but over the past two weeks, Katya and she had begun taking their lunch breaks together. Viktor’s assistant was blunt, made her opinions known, and didn’t fall for anyone’s bullshit. Ava admired that a lot.

Having a thick spine seemed to be a requirement if you worked for Viktor. Dangerous and strange men frequently stopped by Viktor’s office. Thugs in suits were the words Ava used to describe them. They looked like they could easily break an average man in half. Ava noticed Viktor’s visitors sometimes gave her curious stares, but none of them tried anything with her. She certainly had questions about the company Viktor kept, but he didn’t pay her to be nosy.

“Thanks,” she said. Ava plucked the folder on the top.

“Katya, is Viktor in his office?” asked a familiar man’s voice. Pavel. Viktor’s brother. Ava wasn’t sure what to think of Pavel. He was the only one in Viktor’s company who seemed brave enough to flirt with her.

“Viktor left earlier this morning for an important meeting,” Katya said.

Pavel swore in Russian. Viktor did that too whenever he was stressed or something wasn’t working out, she noticed.

“Doesn’t he trust me, his own brother, to watch his back?” Pavel demanded, leaning a little close to Katya’s desk for Ava’s comfort. She busied herself with her reports, although she was intrigued about where this particular conversation was going. Why was Pavel so worried about Viktor? Viktor had just gone to a business meeting.

“He took Motya and Olaf with him,” Katya said.

The blonde gave Pavel an icy stare, then nodded toward Ava’s direction. More secrets? Ava sensed people sometimes carefully worded their sentences around her, like they were keeping some big secret they didn’t want her to know. At first, Ava wondered if she was being overly paranoid. Now, she wasn’t too sure.

Pavel followed Katya’s stare. Noticing Ava, he gave her a big grin. “How’s my little accountant doing?” Pavel asked her. His change of mood disturbed her a little. Truth be told, Ava was a little wary of Pavel. He reminded her of a big predator who loved playing games.

“I’m not your anything.” Ava looked from the dusty folder and back to her spreadsheet, checking the numbers there.

“You know, at first I didn’t understand why Viktor was so taken with you, but I’m beginning to see it now. You look adorable when you furrow your brow in concentration like that.” Pavel sat on the edge of her desk, his stare unnerving.

“Don’t you have more important things to do than harass the accountant?” she asked him.

“But it’s so fucking fun,” he said. “What are you going to do, report me to Viktor?”

“I’m tempted to.” Ava bit her lip.

She told herself she wouldn’t allow Pavel to get to her. He was harmless, just another one of those guys who liked bugging the women in the office. Except instinct told her it wouldn’t be wise to piss him off. Pavel gave off the same dangerous vibe as Viktor, except unlike Viktor, he didn’t seem to have any boundaries.

Pavel chuckled. Ava squirmed in her seat as he leaned forward and gripped her chin. “Oh, sweet, poor Ava. I’m his brother. I’m blood, and you? You’re just an employee he fucked once. Which side do you think he’ll take?”

She shoved him away, which only made him laugh all that harder. Pavel still didn’t release her.

“Pavel, stop joking around. Viktor wouldn’t like this,” Katya said in a stern voice.

“Viktor’s not here.” Pavel’s penetrating stare made her ball her hands into fists. Punching her boss’s brother wasn’t the wisest course of action, but Ava had no choice. God. She hated bullies. They’d hounded her throughout high school and made her life miserable.

Before she could deliver a swift blow to Pavel’s groin, someone grabbed the back of Pavel’s shirt and bodily hauled him off her desk. Viktor snarled, shoving his brother against the closet wall. Ava barely recognized him. Viktor looked like an enraged animal. Eyes narrowed, hair disheveled. His suit looked untidy, covered in dust and dark spots. Blood? Ava shook her head. Her imagination must be going on overdrive, and yet she hadn’t imagined that whiff of copper coming from his direction.

“Stay away from what’s fucking mine.” Viktor emphasized each word with a painful blow.

Both men were about the same height and body mass, but Viktor seemed to move with inhuman speed. Pavel couldn’t seem to dodge his blows. Every muscle in Ava’s body froze in place. She thought Viktor would deliver one blow and walk away. Pavel and he would laugh off the incident after Pavel apologized to Ava. Viktor’s punches were relentless. Brutal. Her stomach heaved. Ava could throw up. She’d only seen violence in movies. Real life was ugly. Incomprehensible.

Pavel spat out blood and tried to fend off Viktor’s blows.

“Stop it,” she whispered. Ava glanced at Katya. The other woman was witnessing this shit show unfold but Katya only stared blankly at her computer screen. Ava wouldn’t be getting any help from the other woman. She seemed interested in staying out of the fight. If Ava was smart, she’d mimic Katya too, but surely, this wasn’t normal.

Ava dragged herself out of her seat. Fear dogged her every step, but like hell she’d allow Viktor to kill Pavel right in front of her eyes. Viktor wasn’t stopping. Even as Pavel slumped against the wall, his eyes glazed, and with his blood pouring from his broken nose, Viktor seemed far from done. Gathering courage, she ran up to Viktor. She grabbed his arm.

“Stop. What do you think you’re doing? He’s your brother. Isn’t he the only blood you have left?” she yelled at Viktor.

Viktor froze.

She could see the muscles in his neck bunching up. His closed fist looked bruised, covered in blood. Pavel’s blood. The sight made her sick to the stomach. Who was she kidding?

Deep down, she must’ve known something was wrong with this job. Some of the numbers on the reports Peck left behind didn’t make any sense. When she questioned Katya about some of those unaccounted-for assets, Katya told her to keep the information to herself. To do what Viktor hired her for. The money had been too good. The salary allowed her to keep her apartment. Ava was able to continue supporting her mom.

“Viktor don’t do this, please. It’s all a misunderstanding. We were just joking around. He didn’t mean me any harm. It’s just something we do,” she whispered. Right now, Viktor terrified her. She’d just witness him nearly beat his own brother to death, and for what? Because he thought Pavel was threatening her? Mine. That was what he called her. This wasn’t right. He had no right acting all possessive and psychotic because Viktor had no claim to her. Wasn’t he the one who made it clear that there was nothing between them?

“Something you do?” he repeated, looking from Pavel’s broken face and back to her. Viktor’s face became unreadable. Bloodless. “Does he flirt with you often?”

“No, it’s not like that at all. We’re just … friends.” That word sounded a little odd on her lips, but she desperately needed Viktor to believe there was nothing going on between Pavel and her. “So, Viktor, please. Release him. I don’t really understand what brought this on, but he’s your brother. Doesn’t that count for something?”

Viktor released Pavel, much to her relief. She looked at the other man, expecting to see nothing but hatred burning in Pavel’s eyes. He flashed her a grateful look. Ava took a hesitant step backward as Viktor turned his full attention to her. He didn’t say anything.

“He needs medical attention,” she said.

“I’ll make sure he gets it,” Katya said, suddenly standing beside her. “It’s okay now, Ava.”

Katya took her arm and led her back to her desk. The other woman gave her a susceptible nod. “You continue your job. This will all be fixed.”

Viktor slammed his office door shut, making them both jump.

“I can’t go with you to the hospital?” she asked Katya.

“No hospitals. We have our own on-call doctor.”

Katya’s words puzzled her. Katya phoned someone. Ava recognized the big, tattooed, and golden-haired man who appeared in the hallway. Motya. Another one of Viktor’s associates. Motya took one look at Pavel, then swore. He didn’t ask Katya any questions. The two of them hefted Pavel and started for the stairs, leaving Ava alone in the office space. Alone with Viktor.

What the hell was going on? Nothing made any sense in this place. This couldn’t be normal. Her hands shook on the keyboard. She tried to go back to work, like Katya suggested, but her brain refused to work. How could she pretend everything was normal after what she just witnessed? She stared at the spot on the wall where Viktor had pummeled his own bother into a pulp. The flecks of drying blood there turned her stomach.

Should she call the cops? And tell them what? That she suspected her boss was a criminal and oh, that he nearly killed his own brother? God. What kind of mess had she gotten herself into? She should’ve known Viktor’s job offer had been too good to be true.

Ava thought back to his numerous visitors. She always thought they wore ill-fitting suits. No doubt those tailored suits cost thousands. To Ava, their clothes didn’t quite fit them because it felt like they were trying too hard to pass for normal but weren’t succeeding at all. She thought it had all been in her head, but maybe it wasn’t.

She looked furtively at Viktor’s door. Just who was Viktor, and what kind of business did he run?