Page 113 of Taken By My Grumpy Pakhan

“Was there something else?” He finally glanced up, and there was something warm hiding behind the usual sharpness in his eyes that made my stomach flip.

“No. Nothing.” I turned and walked out before my face could give anything away and Nico’s hawk eyes managed to put two and two together, but I caught the ghost of a smile pulling at his mouth just before the door closed.

I walked straight to Caroline’s office, opening the door without knocking. “Hey.”

She and Rose practically jumped apart like they’d been caught in the midst of something scandalous.

I walked over to them, my eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Care to share?”

Rose looked at Caroline and let out a defeated sigh.

“So, you must not breathe a word of this to anyone.” She walked up to me, holding her phone to me.

My heart dropped to the pit of my stomach when I saw the image displayed on the screen.

“Trust me, I was twice as shocked when I saw it.”

Caroline’s voice was a muffled background noise buried deep beneath the heavy thudding in my ears.

The image was blurry and if I weren’t in it, I would’ve been very confused about the details.

“A dinner date is the world’s renowned preliminaries for a one-night stand, but an opera? A private one at that? That’s an intentionally curated plan.” Rose shoved the picture further into my face like I couldn’t already see Kazimir’s form shielding my smaller frame.

“I just want to know who she is and how she was able to talk him into an opera date,” Caroline replied.

“Who knows, maybe her pussy is made of gold.”

The statement and the laughter that followed forced me back to the present.

“You okay, Gen?” Rose peered at me. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous.”

Panic jumped in my throat and I was about to get defensive when I remembered they didn’t even know it was me.

“Jealous?” I cleared my throat. “Why would I be jealous of an opera date?”

“Because he beat up a guy and threw him out of work for you?”

“Not again, Rose,” I groaned.

“She’s right.” Caroline chuckled. “But it’s nothing to worry about. He’d probably be with another one by the weekend."

Rose let out a sigh of agreement while I tried to rein in my emotions.

“I still think an opera date is a sign. He never does that.” Rose finally pulled the screen from my view.

“How did you get that?” I finally asked when I recovered from my shock.

“There was a private viewing at the Opera and someone was able to sneak a shot.” She pouted at her screen. “Too bad it is a blurry one. It’s been a while since he was out with a woman. Would’ve made for hot gossip.”

“Hopefully someone got a better shot,” Caroline sighed.

“Kaz—the boss said you have some instructions for me?” I changed the topic immediately before I passed out from gossip-induced anxiety.

Caroline gave me a thorough perusal before speaking. “You good?”

“Came in late and now he’s on my ass,” I said the first plausible lie in my head.

Caroline’s eyes widened slightly as she rushed back to her laptop. “You should’ve led with that.”