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Chapter 1
Stepan
"Would you stop scaring the new recruits off? It is not exactly easy to find decent employees nowadays."
Groaning, I ran my hands down my face. It would be much easier to run the company if Lev wasn't scaring away nearly every new hire during their orientation period. "You're not the one who has to shift through all these applications, nor are you the one sitting through hours of interviews." He should have to suffer with me, considering his position in the company, but he always had a damn good excuse to disappear nearly every time we had an interview.
Okay, it was partially my fault, too, since I stuck the new people with Lev, but I only did so because he's the next big guy in the place below me. Also, as much of a loose cannon as he was, Lev was ironically the best employee around the place. He was just a little rough around the edges and below the surface… and maybe just overall very rough.
"Well, if they can't handle me, then they can't handle the company, simple as that. Besides, I'm doing you a favor by getting rid of them before they become your headache. I mean, you really want to go through all the trouble of paperwork and having them integrated only for them to quit 'cause they don't got the walk to back their talk and shit?" Well, he had a good point there. I would rather deal with all of that sooner than later.
Lev went with the trial-by-fire method and threw people right into the fray while I eased people into things after telling them everything upfront. But hey, if they survived Lev, they'd definitely survive working at the company long-term.
With a sigh, I quickly dug through a stack of paperwork to pull out the file of my next interviewee. But before I could look past the first page, Lev snatched the file from my hands. "Oooh? Mixing it up now, huh? You know I won't take it easy on them just because they're a girl." Lev chuckled deviously with a knowing look at me.
Sighing with a roll of my eyes, I glanced up at him tiredly. "Would it be too much to ask you to dial it back half a notch?" The last thing I wanted was a lawsuit because of Lev's antics.
"Oh come on, she's applying to be a field worker, she needs to know what she's getting into. Not like we'll take it easy on her if we hire her and she decides to stay." Lev remarked as he tossed the file back onto my desk
Before I could get a glance beyond the applicant's name and work history, I was interrupted by a knock at the door. "Come in!" I half shouted, sighing as I set the file down and stood up.
The door quickly opened, revealing one of the assistants who worked the desks on the ground floor. "Mr. Volkov, Hanna is here for her inter-"
Before the assistant could finish her sentence, Lev tersely interrupted her. "You!"
I had to peer around the assistant to see whom Lev's attention was directed at. I had to see who got that reaction out of Lev. Much to my surprise, my eyes met a petite Asian girl who was probably half Lev's size. I thought the assistant was small, being skinny and 5'6, but this woman was probably around 5'0 and equally thin. Although there was this charm to her petite appearance, I couldn't quite put my finger on it.
I had a feeling there was more than met the eye with her, a feeling that made a faint smile curve at my lips when I noticed her flipping Lev the middle finger from behind the assistant. It was a subtle gesture that could've been easily missed if I hadn't paid close attention to her. What amused me more was the innocent smile she kept on her face when she flipped him off.
"Lev, behave," I warned Lev when he started grumbling about payback under his breath in Russian.
"Welcome, please, have a seat, and excuse my brother. He's had a rough day. I'm Stepan, owner and CEO of Volkov Services Inc." I smiled friendly when I spoke, gesturing at the open seat across the desk with an open hand. "Seems like you have met my brother and co-owner already. Have you two met?"
"I'm Hanna. It's nice to meet you both." The woman introduced herself with a polite smile before sitting down across from me. "I have come across your brother on some occasions, but I've never had the pleasure of personally knowing him." Her taunting eyes drifted over to Lev, her lips curling up a little more to fit her playful eyes.
"That little… I swear to God, Stepan if you hire her…" Well, clearly she got under Lev's skin in a good way, from my point of view.
Lev wanted to pounce on her, but not in his typical 'I'm going to slit your throat' kind of way, more of an 'I'm going teach you a lesson' kind of manner that was playful in nature. Which I found amusing because not many people could bother Lev in such a way, let alone dare to taunt him.
"How do you feel about working with him? You two aren't on bad terms, are you?" I purposely ignored Lev, who was being rather vocal about not hiring Hanna.
I almost wanted to hire her to spite Lev, but that would just be careless because it would reflect poorly on the company if she weren't a good fit.
"We don't necessarily have bad blood, just, our encounters with each other have been… less than ideal." Hanna smirked slightly with a playful and mocking voice as her eyes flicked from me to Lev, "He's just not too happy about me beating him to a few bounties, that's all. It's not like I have anything against him, so I really don't mind working with him. Besides, I can handle my own against him." Her last statement could have been laughable if it weren't for the daring and determined look in her eyes.
It was the way she held herself that also held my interest. She brought meaning to the saying 'small but mighty,' in my opinion. If I hadn't glanced at her resume, I would be doubtful about hiring her for our field position, especially after seeing her in person.
Shoving my thoughts away, I asked the most important and mundane question in every interview ever. "Why do you want to work here?" I asked while leaning forward and propping my elbows onto my desk.
"Your company has a stellar reputation for providing multiple high-quality services to clients who constantly boast about what they receive. The company's mission statement about providing excellent quality services beyond client satisfaction is something I appreciate and always try to strive for in my own work." Her answer was somewhat typical. At least she got points for mentioning the company's mission statement because it meant she did some research into my place.
"I noticed a hole in your work history. It would seem that you haven't held down a job before, just independent work. Could you please explain and elaborate?" Hiring her with no evidence of her work ethic and habits from past employers could be risky for me.
It would have been one thing for her to have no work history if she were some young teenager, but she was 23. It wasn't impossible for someone her age to never have a job before, but she didn't look like the spoiled rich brat who cried to their parents about everything.
There was another big hole I could spot after looking at her resume again while I waited for her to answer me. I wouldn't touch on this hole, though, not yet, anyway.
"As you can probably see from my resume, I have nothing beyond a high school education, and even that is incomplete. There aren't many places willing to hire someone who didn't even finish high school. I have held odd jobs here and there before, but I funneled all my time and energy into bounty hunting and private investigating because I found myself to be highly proficient and successful with those two careers. I have been working independently for a while, but I applied to your company because I am ready and need a great workplace to commit my time and energy to. A place who is willing to invest their time and energy into helping me grow and better my skills so that I could benefit them." Though confident, I could pick up on her nervousness as she spoke.
