Chapter One
The loud chime of the alert on her computer caused her to jump and drew her attention back to the clock on her desk. A few clicks and the alert was gone and she was back to staring at the door, willing Greg to come through it. Ellie had told Greg last night he needed to come in early so they could go over the proposal for the meeting today. Considering the proposal had his name on it, he should at least know what was in it. He had promised he would, but the meeting was in only five minutes and he was nowhere to be found. Despite the fact she was very much in love with Greg Turner, she was extremely angry with him.
This meeting was so important, it could very well save the company, and still Greg was acting as if it was no big deal. How could he be so irresponsible? Steeltech was a small company, with barely one hundred employees in the Alexandria, Virginia, based company. Everyone in this company was family, and the economy was too poor to send their employees out into it without trying their hardest to save the company. Her thoughts spoken aloud by Connie, the receptionist for Steeltech.
“Ellie, everything is ready, except for your Greg. Did you see the gossip column on the internet this morning? Out with Kayla Donahue, all over D.C., into the early hours of the morning. He’s leaving the worry all to you, again. The conference room is all prepared, the proposals are there. Everything is ready, except your Greg. You were up until the early hours of the morning finishing that proposal, and Greg won’t know what’s in it. You know Greg has a hard enough time coming in by noon; why would you schedule the meeting at eight in the morning?”
“I didn’t schedule the meeting Connie. When Mr. Grinker’s office called, they gave the time for the meeting as eight; it was a statement not a question. Please, don’t harp.”
Greg strolled through the door, casual and carefree. As she always did, she smiled when she saw him. Despite her anger, his sparkling blue eyes and devil-may-care grin always got to her.
“No need to panic, ladies, I’m here and ready to go. Ellie, love, could you please get me a cup of coffee, black and strong. Are Richard and Thomas here?”
She did her best to keep the irritation from her features, of course, Richard the company’s CFO was here, and Thomas the VP of sales was here. Everyone had been here for over an hour, except Greg. “We have three minutes, Greg. Please look over the proposal before the meeting.”
“I’ll be in my office, come and get me when they arrive. Don’t want to look too eager, if you know what I mean.”
Panic at Greg’s attitude shot through Ellie, and she closed her eyes and counted to ten as she took deep breaths. Counting to ten was working, so she kept counting. She was still counting almost a minute later when she heard Connie clear her throat before saying her name.
“Ellie, Mr. Grinker and his party have arrived.”
Ellie opened her eyes, and was trapped in the gaze of the most devastatingly beautiful man she had seen in person before in her life. Eyes the color of burning amber met hers with an intensity that trapped her breath in her chest. He was tall, at a few inches over six feet, and overwhelming with large broad shoulders, his build reminded her of a boxer. Hair the color of bittersweet chocolate, framed a face that belonged on billboards. A roman nose, obviously broken once and reset, fit his aggressive jaw and carved-from-granite cheekbones. What struck her the most was his beautifully shaped lips and she couldn’t stop the thought of what it would be like to kiss those lips. She blushed to her roots as the thought completed itself, and although she wanted to be the one to break the connection, she simply couldn’t. Finally, he broke the spell and stepped farther into the room.
“Greetings, Ms. Shaw, I am Dmitri Markhoff. What a pleasure it is to meet you.” He held out his hand to hers. She ignored it and the way her body reacted to his rich deep voice, which carried just the slightest trace of an accent. It stirred something in her that made her fight to keep her body in check.
“I know who you are, Mr. Markhoff. What are you doing here? The meeting was to be with Annatoli Grinker, not you.” Not Dmitri Markhoff, one of the biggest names in takeovers and acquisitions, mainly of the hostile variety. He had started in oil, and there were whispers of illegal dealings in Russia, but when he had made enough money, he escaped to New York twelve years ago—where Wall Street loathed and feared him. He had the ability to take a company in a state of near total collapse, turn it around again, often for next to nothing, and sell it off either as a whole or in parts.
In the last five years, he had extended his reach beyond New York into London and Germany. At the age of thirty-seven, he was firmly in the billionaire sphere and there seemed to be no stopping him. He was the last man a floundering company wanted to see. Even as the words were out of her mouth, she was mortified by the rudeness of them. But he only smiled, before pulling back his outstretched hand.
“Mr. Grinker is an associate of mine, and although he is here today, this meeting is with me. So, why don’t you notify Mr. Turner I am here so we can begin the meeting.” The words were lightly spoken yet the command was clear.
The moment he was out of the room, air rushed back into her lungs and she spun on her heel to get to Greg’s office. She opened the door without knocking. “Greg, we have a problem. Dmitri Markhoff is here. It was a set-up, Grinker works for Markhoff.”
Greg popped up from his desk and seemed to sway as he went pale. “Christ, it’s all over now.” He ran a shaking hand through his rumpled hair.
“Greg! Isn’t there some way—”
“Don’t be stupid, Ellie. If there was some sort of way, we would have found it before now. We’ve been hanging by a string for over a year now, and Markhoff is here to cut us loose. It’s no surprise really; the only surprising thing is th
at it’s taken him so long.” Ellie was shocked by his harsh tone and the look of relief that was coming over him. “There’s really nothing more left. Just know that you can always count on me for a shining letter of reference. Let’s go, old girl, you might as well see it through to the end.”
Ellie followed in a haze of pain, she just couldn’t believe it was all over. She couldn’t believe how well Greg was taking it. Entering the conference room, she saw that Dmitiri Markhoff had taken the seat at the head of the table. He was staking his claim already. All the chairs were taken except the one beside him. She should have been sitting there. Right behind Greg as she always did, to the side and ever so slightly behind him, in case she needed to whisper something to him or confer on an issue.
She flinched to see Markhoff stand as she entered the room and his men follow suit. Embarrassed, she was quick to move to her seat and careful not to look at or touch Markhoff as she sat down. The moment she was seated everyone sat back down.
“Let us begin. The reason for the meeting today is to inform you that as of close of business yesterday, Markhoff Enterprises owns a controlling interest in Steeltech and will now be taking over the running of this company. For the time being, everything will remain as it is. For the next two weeks, my people will simply review the day to day operations and then submit to me an overview. At that time changes might occur, for now, there will be no change in the day to day of this company, except for you, Mr. Turner. Mr. Grinker will see you to your office and allow you a few minutes to gather your belongings. That will be all.” He spoke further in Russian to Annatoli Grinker and then stood. Everyone else stood as well and shuffled out of the room.
Ellie, however, was still in shock and found it difficult to comprehend the complete change in her world from just a few short sentences. At last, she found the strength to stand, but found her way blocked by Dmitri Markhoff. He was mere inches from her and her whole body seemed to go haywire, completely overwhelmed by him, he was too big, too powerful, too close.
“Please, Ms. Shaw, sit back down. I would appreciate a few moments more of your time. Thank you,” He said as she all but plopped back into her chair, her legs unable to hold her up. “With the termination of Mr. Turner’s position, your position will also come to an end. However, fortuitously I am in need of a PA. My normal PA has, as of a week ago, taken leave to await the very imminent birth of her first child, and her replacement has not worked out as I hoped. Therefore, after reviewing your qualifications, such as your ability to speak Spanish and German, and the fact that you did your best to hold a crumbling company together for the last three years as your boss did his best to tear it down, your tenacity and drive will do you well in this position.
For now, it will be for the three month period that Sonia has taken for maternity leave. After that, I am sure I can find you a position with my company. You will be on call for me twenty-four hours a day and by my side most of your waking hours. For this, you will be paid five times your current salary, which was frankly embarrassing considering your true worth.
Go back to your desk and clean it out. Evan will see you to your home where you will pack a suitcase and enough things for about a week, make sure you also pack your passport. I will meet you at the airfield. We have to be in the air in the next hour to be in Miami for a meeting I have there.” He called to Evan and spoke in Russian before standing, effectively ending the discussion.
Her mind spinning like a top, she followed Evan to her office and was surprised and crushed to realize Greg was already gone. How could he just leave without telling her goodbye? Would she ever see him again? Her hands shaking, she gathered up the pitifully small amount of personal items she had and placed them in the bag Connie brought to her. Following the silent Evan out of the office, she forced back tears as her now former co-workers waved with looks of sadness on their faces.
The drive to her small apartment was made in silence. With a quick, “I’ll be right back,” she let herself out of the car.
She opened the door to find Pam at the kitchen table and her heart sank, not again.
“Ellie, you’re home early.” Her roommate’s smile was guilty.
“I just came home to pack a case. Tell me you didn’t get fired again, Pam.” This would be the fourth job in eight months.
“I didn’t get fired, I quit! The bastard had it in for me, Ellie, I am telling you it wasn’t my fault. He never spoke to the other girls the way he did to me, always sneering at me and giving me the hardest jobs. Don’t worry, I’ve got a line on a job already; I’ll go down and see about it next week.”
Ellie groaned, how could Pam be so irresponsible? Pam was her best friend, her only friend really and she owed her so much, but there were times when it was downright exhausting being her friend and roommate. If it wasn’t for Ellie’s steady paycheck they would have been kicked out long ago, and that, really, was why she was taking the job, she told herself. She needed to ensure she and Pam still had somewhere to live. With the economy being so bad, she couldn’t afford to say no to a job, even if it did include being with Dmitri Markhoff nearly every waking hour and besides, it was only for three months.
Her stomach did summersaults at the mere thought of Dmitri Markhoff and she did her best to shake them off. It was Greg she loved, if she happened to be even slightly attracted to Dmitri Markhoff it was just hormones and chemistry and it would pass. She had loved Greg for seven years, there was no other man for her. “I have to pack a bag; come and talk to me while I do it. Steeltech has been taken over and Greg removed. The new owner needs a PA and has given me the position, for now. I have to leave and will be out of town for a little while, I’m not even sure for how long.”
Taking the worn and hardly ever used suitcase from the back of her closet, she grabbed her usual skirt suits, several camisoles, and two blouses to go under the jackets. With a frown, she wondered about any down time at all and just in case threw in a pair of jeans and a few tee shirts. After tossing in several handfuls of underwear she shrugged, it seemed like enough.
“Wow, how exciting! Who’s the new boss?”
“Dmitri Markhoff, and it’s not exciting, it’s terrifying, and I just feel so bad for Greg and Jasper. I can’t imagine how Jasper will react to hearing how the company he built and loved was taken over by some corporate raider.”
“Ellie, Greg hates that place; he’s hardly going to miss it. And Jasper is in the wilds of Africa playing the big game hunter. If he was so concerned about his company, he wouldn’t have left it to Greg. I mean, I like to go out and have fun as much as the next person but even I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the amount of partying Greg does. This is a good thing Ellie, a change of scene and an all-expense paid one, at that.”
“It’s not like that Pam, you don’t understand Greg.” Heading into the bathroom, she grabbed her necessary toiletries and jammed them into the bag that had carried her things home. After tying a hopefully secure knot, she tossed them into her suitcase. The honk outside signaled her time was up. Grabbing her passport, she made her way to the door and with a last hug from Pam was outside.