Chapter 2: Alexander Volkov

Phillip Bura sat at his father’s extravagant desk in the overstuffed chair tapping his expertly manicured fingers against the arm rest, as a dark looming figure sat silent and still across from him. Phillip tried not to sweat as the old analog clock his father insisted on keeping made every second sound off with an ominous tick. “I assure you Mr. Volkov, my sister is usually very punctual. The passing of our father has taken quite a toll on her.” he began to explain, while fidgeting in the dark red leather chair he was perched in, like a rigid child waiting to be disciplined. The man across from Phillip only gave a slow nod and continued to sit in silence, making Phillip swallow his anxiety as he tried to hide the constant wiping of his clammy hands on his pressed slacks. Phillip licked his dry, thin lips and continued to fill in the silence. “You know how sensitive these women can be. I tried to explain to her that business needs to continue, but as you can see-.” Phillip let the statement hang in the air as Alexander Volkov tipped his chin back and looked straight into Phillips soul. 

“The passing of family, especially a father, is a time of mourning for all.” he stated in a calm, almost cold tone. “The fact that she is female means nothing Mr. Bura, I assure you.”

Although Phillip did not utter a word after the exchange, Alexander could feel the unpleasant energy pouring off the young man in front of him in thicker streams than the sweat that was currently dripping from his forehead. The swift padding of bare feet on the marble floor alerted Alexander to the incoming presence of the woman they had just been discussing. Although, the Amazonian specimen that flew past him, skidding to a stop next to her brother, was not what he had been expecting when he had first laid eyes on Bura’s son. 

The Volkov and Bura families had been doing business together for more than five generations. Although Alexander had grown up remarkably familiar with Phillip Sr., the two had never been close friends, nor had their children ever met. Alexander felt some small semblance of sadness and guilt when he thought about how much his family’s business actually depended on the modest but lucrative Bura empire, and what he had allowed Bura to turn it into before he died.  He adjusted his position in the chair he sat in as he looked up into the strangely hopeful and honest spring blue eyes of Victoria Bura, before he slowly rose to his feet. Pulling down the front of his suit jacket with such a small but sharp motion, the material made a snapping sound. 

He offered the beautiful woman in front of him his hand. “Alexander Volkov.” he announced. Victoria shook her head as she reached for his outstretched fingers. Vic squeezed his hand and offered a bright smile just before Alexander grunted in discomfort and almost yanked his hand backwards. As Victoria opened her mouth to apologize for crushing his hand, two large silent intimidating freight trains for men came rushing her way. Victoria took a half step back and started to squat defensively when Alexander lazily waved his hand in front of them. “No need gentlemen.” he smiled.  Vic’s mouth fell open as five fingers and just as many syllables stopped the two raging males now looming behind their visitor like a pair of raging bulls ready to strike at the snap of their master’s fingers. 

Phillip once more broke the silence by scrapping the large chair he sat in on the freshly polished floor before he stood up in a haste that could only be described as frantic. “Well, I have several other meetings to handle today Mr. Volkov. If you will excuse me, I believe my sister can help you with whatever you need.” Phillip gave his sister a sideways look and pursed his thin pale lips at her attire, “even if she can’t seem to dress for a professional meeting with one of our fathers oldest and dearest friends and clients.” he continued. With the very subtle nod of Alexander’s head, Phillip dashed past the three menacing visitors and all but ran toward the exit. 

“Permission to speak boss?” one of the large goons grumbled. Vic watched with interest as Alexander seemed to almost smile as he once more took his seat before waving gracefully toward the man who spoke. “Please, Rocco.” he said in an almost velvety calm tone. Vic snapped her mouth shut as she suddenly realized she was still standing there half defensively with her mouth wide open. “That little shit needs twelve years for abandoning his sister with the likes of us.” the man Vic could now identify as Rocco grumbled. She snorted before rolling her eyes and plopping sideways into her father’s chair. “They call you Rocco cuz that's all ya got upstairs there, sunshine?” Vic quipped as she tapped two knuckles against the side of her head and winked at the fuming bodyguard. Alexander let a few loud bursts of laughter leave his well-disciplined person before tipping his chin toward Rocco. “That’s a good one eh, Roc?” he chuckled then shook his head. “No, my dear. I’m afraid my oldest son was given the honor of his grandfather’s name, much like you and your brother were blessed with family names.” he answered. Vic snorted before she sat up straight in the chair but leaned back against the plush cushioning with a lazy familiarity. “Sorry if this is rude Mr. Volkov, but you do not look old enough to be grumpy goat Gruff's dad. And for the record, my parents were unoriginal and ridiculous.”   Vic shook her head violently, letting the long blonde braid at the top of her head sway back and forth like a golden pendulum. “My mother’s name was Victoria, so I am Victoria.  My father named my brother after himself, that's sort of nuts, and a little creepy if you ask me.” she rattled on, until she noticed the two goons standing by were flexing the thick muscles in their forearms and necks with an almost irritable tick. “Do- do they need to sit down?” she asked, earning yet another belly chuckle from the man sitting across from her.           

“That’s a wonderful idea boys, why don’t you have a seat.” Alexander purred and at first Vic smiled, but soon felt the atmosphere in the room change as Rocco and his yet to be named counterpart stalked forward until they were both perched on the edge of her father’s desk.

“I see.” Vic said with a calm but dark tone. She tried not to let her shame show as she sat forward with squared shoulders and folded her hands into her lap. “How much did he owe you?” she asked and was rewarded with the human bookends chuckling darkly. Vic didn’t look up, but she watched Alexander Volkov through her peripheral as he sat forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “Your father was indebted to me for exactly seven billion dollars Miss Bura.” he finished. Vic took a long deep breath before she nodded. “How long do we have?” she asked, and Alexander answered with a villainess chuckle of his own. “You misunderstand my reason for our face-to-face Miss Bura. If it were simply a matter of money, I could have had this conversation with you over the phone, from the comfort of my own home.”  Victoria swallowed hard before raising her head to stare Alexander directly in the eye. “Then what is it that you want Mr. Volkov?” She tilted her head to the side when Alexander’s eyebrow arched high into his hairline. “I’m sorry if you don’t like the way I speak to you. I don’t believe in beating around the bush, and if you don’t want money then you obviously want something else. I seriously doubt you came to tell me that you are forgiving my father’s debt out of the kindness of your heart, because you and my old man were actually some kind of old friends as my dipshit brother seems to believe.”

This time it was Vic’s turn to snort a small laugh as she watched the two human gargoyles on her father’s desk with their mouths open and their eyes wide. However, her humor was short lived when the silent partner finally spoke, “Let me fuck some of that attitude out her smart mouth, boss,” he said with an unsettling predatory gleam in his eye. Vic shot forward over the long desk and grabbed a large ornate letter opener before holding it in the bodyguards’ face. “Only if I get to fuck you with this first.” she hissed through clenched teeth. Vic’s heart was pounding. She knew she shouldn’t be threatening this man’s bodyguards, considering one of them was his son. She didn’t want to think about who this one might be to him, but his threats were clear, and she intended hers to be the same.

Vic stood frozen with the edge of the letter opener poised to strike the thick, pulsing vein in the side of the other bodyguard's throat when Alexander let an ominous laugh crawl past his lips like a lazy growl. Vic let her eyes dart toward the still calm man. The instant she did, she realized her mistake was too little, too late. Rocco grabbed her wrist and snapped the dull but effective blade from her hand before yanking her forward across the desk. Vic let her arm and torso stretch over the desk before she twisted and swung her legs up over her head before kicking both men away from her. Vic stood in front of Alexander and began to ball her hands into fists as the two behemoth men began advancing on her from either side.  Once again, Alexander held his hands out and the advancing human death machines stopped in their tracks like trained dogs. Alexander smirked as he stood and was now nose to nose with Vic. 

The dark confident man took his index finger and placed it firmly under her chin. “I want you Victoria Bura…although I have heard you prefer Vic. And then of course, there are those that call you the ghost.” he finished in an almost calm whisper. Vic’s pupils looked like they were almost breathing with the amount of blood being pumped through her body from the mixture of physical threat and unspoken truth.

The same vulgar guard stepped closer to Vic with a strange almost soft curiosity in his face, “Ah you gotta let me fuck her now boss, the ghost is a chick! That's a better kept secret than man eating pigs!” He laughed, and Alexander shot him a stern look. “Rowan,” Volkov barked, “just because the young lady was brought up around pigs doesn't mean you need to replicate their behavior.” he chastised and as the guard stepped back with what could only be described as a grown man pouting, Vic bit her bottom lip trying to suppress a laugh. “Boars.” she blurted, earning the eyes of all three men in the room. “The fuck?!” Rocco asked his father, and Alexander dipped his head respectfully. “My apologies Miss Bura, but we have gotten grossly off topic, let me explain myself.” he began. Although Vic did not relax much, she did lean back and rest her butt on the top of her father’s desk while she waited for him to speak. 

“I have purchased your father's businesses, both of them. As a courtesy to the long-standing business our families have shared, I plan to keep you and your brother involved in the business. The unfortunate truth Miss Bura is that they now belong to me.” he finished. Although Vic’s heart broke into seven billion pieces and sank into her stomach, she held her head high and her shoulders square as she addressed Alexander Volkov. “I will need clarification on what you mean by you want me, Mr. Volkov. As you can imagine I am surprised that you know who I am but try to understand that rowboat over here makes me a little nervous with his insinuations.” Vic briefly glanced toward the still grinning Rowan, “Like I might have to rip his testicles off and show them to him, so he understands that you don't just touch things that don't belong to you.” Although Vic spoke to and never took her eyes off Alexander Volkov, her words were meant for the man she now knew as Rowan.