Maksim: A Dark Mafia Romance (Akimov Bratva), Nicole Fox [love letters to the dead txt] 📗

That’s when it hits me with enough force that I take a step back. When he picked me up, his truck smelled like blood because he’d either been involved in this violence or he helped his men get out of it.

“Let’s go,” he says, moving past me. I grab his arm. He’s moving so fast, I stumble as he pulls me forward. He spins around, catching me around the waist before I fall. He pulls me upright, his hands lingering above my hips.

“I just—” I start. “If you need to stay here, I understand.”

“I’m not doing anything for them by sticking around,” he says. “I didn’t hire these doctors because they’re second-rate. They’re good at what they do and they know what I want. That’s all that matters. Let’s go. I want to finish this before the end of the night.”

He leads me out of the basement. As we cross the back parking lot, a woman in black slacks and a white blouse stops and waves at us.

“Mr. Akimov, what a pleasure to see you. I didn’t know you were stopping by today,” she says, touching one of the thin gray streaks in her hair. He forces a smile. To other people, it might seem genuine, but there’s a faint tension in his jaw and it doesn’t reach his eyes.

“I was just visiting Mr. Sugihara,” Maksim says. “He mentioned last time that some of the housekeeping staff bothered him in his room, despite the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign and after he explicitly asked for privacy, so I was reassuring him we wouldn’t make the same mistake again.”

Maksim and I stop a couple of feet in front of the woman. While she appears to be in her fifties, she still has a youthful vibrancy to her.

“Oh, I’m so sorry about that, Mr. Akimov.” Her forehead furrows in genuine concern and her hand presses over her heart. “I will make sure nothing like that happens again. I know Mr. Sugihara is important to us. I’ll talk to housekeeping to see what happened.”

“There’s no need to talk to them. I already did. The situation has been dealt with,” Maksim says. He gestures to me. “Michelle Knapp, this is Cassandra. She’s considering writing an article about the Akimov Suites. Cassandra, Michelle has been the front office supervisor since the hotel opened.”

“Wow,” I say, shaking her hand. “You must have seen quite a bit.”

“Hotel business is always interesting,” she says. “But the Akimov Suites is by far the best hotel I’ve worked for.”

Maksim abruptly turns. I follow his gaze to see the scarred man several feet away. “Cassandra. Michelle. Excuse me for a moment,” Maksim says. He quickly walks toward the scarred man.

I turn back toward Michelle. “He must be a fascinating man to work for.”

“He’s always been a great boss,” she says.

“Really?” I ask. “I’d heard from some other employees that he could be harsh—even violent.”

Her jaw slackens for a second before she closes her mouth, which creases into a frown. “I honestly have no idea who would say that. He’s a great boss. I can’t believe anyone would talk badly about him. I had my reservations in the beginning—for a long time, I wasn’t certain if his generosity was compensating for a personality flaw or if it was all a façade, but I know it’s not now.”

“How can you be certain?” I ask.

Her voice turns colder. “Because a couple of years ago, he paid off my granddaughter’s medical bills. I know the rumors about Mr. Akimov. I’m certain that you’re eager to write him up as a villain, but I hope your article looks at more than the rumors about him. I hope you show some measure of restraint and don’t partake in yellow journalism.”

I take a deep breath. I could tell her a million things that could ruin her view of Maksim, but she’s already poked a hole in my view of him. I saw him show kindness toward Lily—someone who could do nothing for him—and he has also occasionally showed me a gentler side, but I never imagined he’d be the type to pay off an employee’s medical bills.

“My article will be comprehensive,” I manage to stammer.

She glances past me as Maksim returns to my side. He gestures between the two of us. “Did you two schedule time to talk to each other?”

“No, I have enough,” I say.

“Great. It’s good to see you, Michelle. Is your granddaughter well?” Maksim asks.

“Yes,” Michelle gushes, beaming. “Thank you so much, Mr. Akimov.”

“Of course. Have a good day.”

He puts his arm back around my waist, guiding me toward the truck. I turn my head, watching Michelle head toward the hotel.

“You paid her granddaughter’s medical bills?” I ask. I feel his hand shift against my hip.

“Michelle is excellent at her job. I didn’t want her to go searching for a second job to pay for the bills, so I covered them.”

I lay my hand over his hand that’s on my hip. “That’s generous of you.”

“It’s not generosity.” He pulls away from me, unlocking the truck doors. “It’s just good business. I need good employees that are loyal to me. She will always be loyal to me now.”

I get back into the truck. As he starts it, I imagine Michelle finding out the truth in my article. She’ll hate me, but if it’s the truth, her hate will be unfounded. It will be hatred that should be placed on Maksim for not being who she thought he was.

“She didn’t tell me anything, if you were thinking she might let something slip about your operation.”

“I didn’t think she would,” he says, pulling out of his parking spot. “She might notice some strange occurrences, but, like I said, she’s loyal to me. I can tell her that I talked to the people in housekeeping and I know she won’t double-check if I talked to them because she’s loyal. She definitely won’t tell a journalist about anything strange.”

“Then, why did you want me to talk to