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He places the last one then sits back to survey his handiwork.
“Much better,” he says with a small smile. Despite the situation, I find myself giving him a small smile in return.
My eyes open,but otherwise, I remain unmoving, staring at the darkened ceiling. Dmitri’s smile hovers at the front of my mind. There was a specific smile he always wore whenever he fixed something, whether it was one of us or a squeaky door or an appliance ... He was always in his element when he was fixing things.
I don’t particularly like how much I’ve been dreaming about my childhood lately and wonder what’s triggered it. It’s not like this job hasn’t always been stressful, though I suppose the past few months have been more trying than usual. The contracts and governments hanging over my head are never far from my thoughts, but I push them from my mind as I bring a hand over to the side table and grab my phone, quickly pulling up my calendar.
“Shit,” I mutter as my eyes scan the day. I quickly dial Hannah, still laying in bed.
“Morning, ma’am,” she answers on the first ring.
“Have my breakfast sent up to my room. I’ll be eating up here today.”
“Done,” she replies only a second later. “Should I come get you before your meetings?”
“No, you keep working on getting me the rest of those names for the acquisition team. I’ll come to you once I’ve finished.”
“Anything else I can do?”
I think about it for a second and realize I’m going to have to have someone tend to Sin today, too, if I want to keep him locked up without him becoming a corpse. A slightly insane idea occurs to me, and the corner of my mouth turns up.
“Actually, yes. I’d like you to move the meeting room.”
“To?”
“The other office.”
I can almost feel the hesitation rolling off her, and I smirk to myself.
“No need to do much prep, a few extra chairs, and switch it on the schedule.”
“Done,” she replies after another beat. “Anything else?”
“No, that’s all for now.”
I end the call and sigh, putting the phone back. Meetings with clients all morning … one of my absolute least favorite parts of this job. At least with the board members, I can, to a degree, be myself. But the ruthless and savage people who make up our clientele is another story completely. They do not fear me, not like they should. I get begrudging respect from some, but many of them despise me as much as I do them. I hate having to suck up, fucking having to sell CASH-ULTY as though we aren’t the best of the fucking best in the market.
You want a body, in pretty much any shape or condition, you come to us. Simple.
For many years, we managed to keep my identity a secret, or rather, my gender. A way to get us off the ground better without the sexism involved. It worked, too, until a leak several years ago revealed that a small, red-haired woman was head of the largest international human trafficking organization.
You’d think running this place as well as I do would demand some respect, but it's a constant uphill battle.
The board is behind me one hundred percent. At least, these days. They see how well I take care of business, and their bank accounts reflect it fairly. Those who work close to me are paid and paid well, never given a reason to look elsewhere for a paycheque.
Though we are the best, that doesn’t mean we don’t have competition. And today’s meetings will determine several large contracts that I would be delighted to hold. The only problem is the people I generally need to meet to be able to get those contracts and how I will convince them that we are the best way to go.
The corner of my mouth turns up at the thought of how my ‘office guest’ will be received by the clients. Obviously, I’m hoping that keeping him in there will benefit me. After all, I can’t torture prospective clients in order to gain fear and respect, but I can show them the ills of those who do wrong me.
Already in a better mood than when I woke up, I swing my legs over the side of the bed and head to my bathroom for a shower.
Chapter 10
Sin
Another twelve hoursor so go by. Or that’s what my mental clock is telling me. After a few hours, I was able to calm myself enough to doze off, so at least I’ve had some sleep. Still, my body is starting to feel the effects. Luckily, my mind is as sharp as always.
I hear footsteps down the hall, but not the trademark sound of heels. When the door opens a moment later, there’s a pause before several individuals enter and start moving around the room.
