Page 95 of Beguiled

Others who would do so to keep me from enjoying it again.

There was another war brewing and once it hit, it would take all I had to keep her safe.

CHAPTER 21

Saige

“We still think of a powerful man as a born leader and a powerful woman as an anomaly.”

Margaret Atwood

I’d been blessed to have some of the finest professors in the world when attending Columbia. They’d come from all walks of life, not all simply number crunchers. That was part of the beauty of being in the trenches with some of the most brilliant people I would ever meet. They had diverse backgrounds and experiences.

Each one had challenged me in ways that were thought provoking, forcing me to search deep within my soul. While numbers were black and white, they also told a story every single time.

Given my naughty proclivities in searching Stash’s computer, instead of being professionally punished, he’d provided me with additional data that would help create a more accurate report.

As I squirmed in the seat, I was reminded the physical discipline would stay with me for a long time, enough to remind me that he was the man in charge.

The quote had been one I’d thought of after he’d dropped me off at my apartment. It had been a favorite of one professor, her teachings on the philosophy of power more important at this point in my career than I ever would have believed. She’d preached that women were less emotional than men because money and power didn’t sway them as it did with men scraping and scratching to get to the top.

She’d provided weeks of examples of some of the most ruthless men in business, also considered highly successful. Yet in their personal lives they’d achieved nothing, in her opinion as well as others. Balance, she’d said. Without it, every success was short lived and easy to erase.

Maybe that’s one reason I was determined to highlight certain advantages with my proposed ideas. Some were very simple. Purchase stocks in other companies, some that might seem bizarre to many but would create the kind of monopoly masterful billionaires wished they’d had years before.

In doing so, the Chertov Corporation would quietly diversify while also being a silent influence in politics, real estate, and more than just New York City economics. Granted, taking the stocks public was risky, but doing so would allow the company to become even more solvent, investing in other companies. If carefully done, that alone would boost the stock value, thereby making the initial investors and stockholders happy.

A true win-win if handled correctly.

All on the up and up, completely legal and inevitably deadly to smaller organizations.

Only not in the way the Bratva might typically handle their business objectives.

As far as enemies, the list I’d created was longer than I’d hoped. Without additional information, I doubted I could peg just one as being an entity they should keep an eye on.

Except… my mind continued to go back to the Chertov Revenge file. If only I’d had more time to satisfy my curiosity. At some point, I’d need to confess I’d searched that file as well.

As I peered out the window, I pressed my hand against the glass. Maybe I was hallucinating or embroiled in some wishful thinking, but it appeared my boss had turned stalker, keeping a watchful eye on me. After he’d dropped me off, he’d been slow to drive away. He could have simply driven around the block.

Why would he do that?

To ensure no other man put his paws on me? Yeah, right, although his behavior had been very possessive. Even his parting words had been like a man who’d been in a relationship for a long time.“Tomorrow, we talk about where we proceed. Without interference from anyone else.”

That was a man possessed if I ever saw one.

He also acted as if I needed to be careful in that there were enemies everywhere.

Lock your doors.

Don’t open your windows.

Don’t go out once safely tucked away inside.

I’d even had to ask him three times about going home, he’d been so reluctant. Who’d tried to kidnap me, or had I been the intended target? Or nothing more than a witness someone would try again to eliminate?

Stash had made me nervous with his straightforward talk about monsters eager to destroy everything he and his family had worked to build. Maybe that’s why the first thing I’d done after getting home was search the internet using his brother’s and cousin’s names as keywords.

Backing away, I shuddered as I’d done when seeing the dark car parked on the street hours before. Every day I learned something new about my handsome boss.