Russian Billionaire's Virgin Secretary (3 page)

As both women looked up, he smiled. “I will give you some time to get acclimated and to read over the first three projects. I will see you in my office at ten to discuss.” Without waiting for a response, Vitaly left.

“Is he always so-”

“Abrupt?” At Sarah’s nod, “Sometimes,” Laurel answered with a chuckle. There are times that I think he forgets to speak aloud and simply assumes that we can read his mind.”

“How long have you worked for him?”

“Since they moved to this building, two years ago, and it was rough in the beginning. There were a number of nights when I went home in tears swearing that I wouldn’t come back. He can have quite the temper and you don’t want to be on the receiving end, but as fast as he blows up, he’s over it. And well, the pay and benefits are fantastic. Okay, I’ll let you get to it. If you need anything, let me know.”

As Laurel left, Sarah began reading through the files. While logistics was VIC Enterprises primary business, Sarah was surprised to find out that Vitaly owned several nightclubs, including the Casbah, restaurants and several small software firms all along the Tech Corridor. He was in the process of expanding his logistics firm to the east coast. He had already set up an office in New York and was in negotiations with the port authority in both New York and New Jersey. Smiling to herself, Sarah gathered up the files and headed to Vitaly’s office.

The door was open, but he was on the phone. Knocking quietly, she waited until he acknowledged her before coming in and sitting down. His conversation appeared animated, but since Sarah didn’t speak Russian, she didn’t know what it was about. As he got off the phone, Sarah discretely watched him, as he seemed to shake himself off before joining her.

“Have you reviewed the files?” he asked without preamble. At Sarah’s nod, “Good. And what did you learn?”

Sarah wasn’t sure what to think. She was embarrassed about what happened on Friday, but today Vitaly was all business and from the looks of things, the entire event had been forgotten. Giving herself a mental shrug, she determined that she would do the same.

“Well, I didn’t realize that there was more to your revenue stream than logistics and when I looked at the other businesses, they didn’t make sense.”

“But?”
he prodded.

“But they do. The entertainment businesses are ideal locations for client and vendor locations. And the software companies are all working on applications to strengthen your position in the industry. On paper, they look varied, but in reality, it’s all very calculated and
…controlled
.” Sarah’s voice trailed off unsure where to go from there.

He hadn’t expected her to show up on Friday as he had already excused his staff for the remainder of the day. It was the anniversary of his sister, Anna’s, death and he tended to drink himself to oblivion. His mother had blamed him for her death. It had been a particularly cold winter. As the oldest and thirteen, it was his responsibility to watch his little sister when his parents were at work. Tired of being cooped up in the house, he suggested that they go out to play. Anna had just been getting over a cold and they played outside for hours until their mother came home and screamed at them to get inside. That night, Anna had a fever and by morning, she was coughing. Three days later, her fever had yet to break and the doctor said that she had pneumonia.

This went on for weeks and every night Vitaly would lie next to her as he read her stories. Most of the time she slept or coughed. Eventually, Anna was admitted to the hospital where she died. After that, his mother barely spoke to him and his father eventually arranged for him to go live with his uncle, so he could learn a trade.

He had been drinking for a while when he heard someone get off the elevator. He was surprised when it was Sarah, as he didn’t expect to see her until Monday and certainly not in the state he was in. He was embarrassed that she had seen him like that, but he was determined to forget it ever happened.

As Sarah spoke, Vitaly admired her prowess. He’d only given her thirty minutes and in that time, she had picked up on things faster than some members of his management team. And he liked her choice of words. He did like to be in control. Actually, he demanded it. To lose control would leave him open to exposure. That had already happened once over a woman and he almost lost everything. He was not going to allow that to happen again. He didn’t work this hard and take this many risks to lose everything. He had vowed that he would not allow that to happen again, and he almost did on Friday.

He had gotten lost in his thoughts and was surprised when Sarah touched his hand lightly. As he stared at her, she blushed quickly removing her hand, but her touch created a warmth that he hadn’t felt in a long time.

Changing the topic, he brought up his expansion on the east coast, as Sarah shared her thoughts on it and the difficulties he was having navigating around the port unions. As she talked, he again admired her thought process. She became more animated, and he became distracted at the rise and fall of her chest. Her blush had spread down her neck and chest giving her a rosy hue that he found delightful. He admired the swell of her breasts and was distracted as she shifted exposing more leg.

He stopped her mid-sentence as he moved an errant strand of hair off her face and tucked it behind her ear. When she looked up at him, her blue eyes seemed to grow large as he watched awareness creep across her face. Smiling down at her, “Did you pack a bag as Laurel suggested?”

“Ye…yes,” Sarah managed to say.

“Good, go get it. Wheels up in two hours.”

“Where are we going?”

“New York. I like your ideas. We can continue this discussion on the plane, now go.”

As Sarah rose, she paused. “I didn’t think to include a coat.”

Vitaly quickly dismissed her concerns. “We can pick up anything you may need when we get there. Now go.”

As Sarah left, Vitaly notified Laurel that they were leaving and to make the necessary arrangements with the flight crew. He was planning to go there later this week with the rest of his team, but the thought of spending the flight time alone with Sarah prompted his change in plans.

*****

Sarah retrieved her overnight bag from her car and quickly returned to her office. Unsure what to bring, she asked Laurel for help. Together, they gathered the New York files along with her laptop and charger.

As they boarded the plane, Sarah was surprised that they would be the only ones on board other than the flight crew and one attendant. As she went to take a seat, she admired how opulent the interior was with its plush leather seats that swiveled and reclined.

As the flight crew was gearing up for takeoff, Sarah realized that she needed to let Mia know what was going on. Since she didn’t want Vitaly to hear their conversation, she quickly texted her roommate.

Going to New York for work. Not sure when I’ll be back.

Did you bring condoms?

Sarah couldn’t help snorting at her friend’s response, which caused Vitaly to look at her. Trying to hide her embarrassment, she mumbled something about letting her roommate know that she would be gone before turning her phone off and putting it away.

Chapter 5

As the plane took off, Sarah looked out the window at the disappearing city. While this was not her first time on a plane, she had never flown like this before. She was surprised when the flight attendant brought her a glass of champagne. Raising her eyebrows at Vitaly, he moved to sit closer to her.

“I thought a bit of celebration was in order,” he said as he raised his glass in toast.

Smiling, Sarah raised her glass in toast before taking a sip.

Oh, it was delicious, Sarah thought. The few times she drank champagne, she wasn’t impressed, but this was wonderful and not at all like the vodka. As she drank, Vitaly asked her questions about her life and soon they were engaged in an animated conversation. As he topped off her glass, Sarah realized that the bottle was empty and his glass had remained relatively untouched. As the bubbles tickled her nose, Sarah giggled before looking at him accusatorily. “You’re getting me drunk.”

“Yes,” came his even reply.

“Why?”

“To even things up from Friday. And, to make you more compliant.” As Sarah started to protest, he grabbed her glass and set it down. Taking her hand, he tugged her up and toward him. “Straddle me,” he ordered.

Without thinking, Sarah straddled him across his lap as she put her hands on his shoulders for support. His hands slid slowly up her thighs, as he closed his eyes, enjoying the silken feel of her skin.

“You are so beautiful,” she murmured as she lightly traced the lines of some faint scarring along the left side of his face. Turning his head, he kissed the palm of her hand as Sarah caught her breath. The butterflies in her stomach were in overdrive, as she was drawn in by the brilliance of his brown eyes.

Leaning down, she couldn’t resist placing a kiss on his lips as his hands cupped her hips. Sliding one hand to her lower back, his right hand came up to grab her hair. At Sarah’s gasp, he forced her to tilt her head before kissing her hard.

Sarah was caught off guard at the sudden force and ineffectually pushed against his chest. Her efforts caused him to tighten his grip in her hair, causing her to yelp, as he deepened the kiss. Sarah’s hands soon found their way around his neck as she tangled her fingers in his hair encouraging him to keep going. At his groan, he pulled her tighter against him as she started grinding against his erection. Tugging at her jacket, he quickly pulled it off and tossed it aside. He slipped the camisole straps off her shoulders as the tops of her creamy-colored breasts were exposed over her bra. Rubbing his thumbs over her nipples, she caught her breath as they strained against her bra.

Before he could go further, his phone rang. Smiling at her, he set her down in the seat across from him before getting up to answer it. After dealing with the call, he turned back only to find Sarah curled up on the seat asleep. As he covered her up with a blanket, he made a mental note to not give her so much alcohol.

*****

Sarah woke when she felt the landing gear engage. Sitting up, she was surprised to see that she was covered in a blanket. Looking around, she saw that Vitaly had moved over to one of the tables and was going through the files she had brought with her.

Seeing her sit up, Vitaly smiled. “Good, you’re awake, we are landing soon.”

Sarah wasn’t quite sure how to respond as she straightened out her clothes and brushed out her hair. As she looked out the window at the Manhattan skyline, she remembered kissing Vitaly. As her face flushed in embarrassment over this happening again, she hoped that he didn’t think that she was that easy. As she licked her lips, Vitaly eyes darkened as he remembered their kiss. While he was annoyed that she had fallen asleep as he had hoped to enjoy what she had to offer, he realized that he had given her far too much to drink and that was his mistake. He was completely enchanted by this little blonde and he was looking forward to having her. He watched as she touched her lips with her fingers, as she smiled to herself.

As they disembarked, a Town Car pulled up and the driver got out to load their bags into the car. The drive into the city was spent in silence as Sarah stared out the window.

“Is this your first time in New York?”

“Yes,” Sarah responded enthusiastically. “I’ve always wanted to visit.”

“Well, we will have some time while we are here, I will take you to my club.”

Before Sarah could reply, they pulled into a parking garage. As they walked to the elevators, Sarah realized that they weren’t in a hotel. “Um, aren’t we staying in a hotel?”

“No,” came Vitaly’s curt reply. “It’s inefficient. I spend enough time here; it made more sense to purchase an apartment.” At Sarah’s sudden look of discomfort, he squeezed her arm lightly. “Relax. It has three bedrooms.”

Sarah still wasn’t comfortable sharing an apartment with her boss. Especially after what happened between them, but she wasn’t sure how to respond. While she understood the logic, there was an intimacy associated with an apartment that made Sarah nervous. When they got upstairs, he showed Sarah to her room. As she walked in, Sarah noticed clothes hanging in the open closet with tags still on them. As she turned to ask Vitaly about it, he was one-step ahead of her.

“You had said that you didn’t have a coat. Since I didn’t want to take any chances on anything else, I had Laurel send over your picture to a personal shopper along with your basic size. She took care of the rest. You are free to use anything in the closet and drawers and if there’s anything that you like, you may keep it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some things to do. We have a semi-formal engagement this evening, so be ready by seven.”

And then he walked out, shutting the door behind him.

Chapter 6

Sarah wasn’t sure what to say. She had the distinct feeling that she was being manipulated and she didn’t like it one bit, but she was completely overwhelmed at how fast everything was moving. Only a week ago, she was thinking of cancelling her interview and now she was in New York. Grabbing her phone, she hoped to catch Mia. Lisa and Chloe were with her, so Sarah found herself filling her friends in on everything that happened. She was glad that her friends couldn’t see her when they were hooting and laughing over the kiss and her falling asleep.

At Chloe’s urging, she surveyed the closet and drawers giving her friends an inventory of what she found. When she pulled open one drawer, she grew silent as she took in its contents. At her friends’ urging, she described the beautiful silk and lace lingerie.

She was interrupted by their muted chatter. “Hey, I can’t hear you. What’s going on?”

As the girls got back on the phone, Mia spoke up. “Listen, girl, it sounds like this guy has some plans for you. Now, if you’re okay with that, that’s fine, but we think that you need to show him the spitfire we know that you can be and give him a taste of his own medicine.”