Claire let the subject drop for the moment, but Darcy knew this wasn’t the end of the conversation. As they caught up with each other, Darcy moved around, handing items for Claire to stack, essentially putting her friend to work now that she’d shown up. They talked all afternoon and caught up on the latest happenings and potential wedding dates, all of which needed to be worked around their friend Emma’s schedule. Or more specifically, when Emma’s daughter might decide to enter the world. Emma was now married to Dharran, Sheik of Sundab and living a deliriously happy life in some far away exotic land and loving her husband completely.
Darcy was sad when Claire had to leave, but Claire promised to have her over for dinner to meet Mitch in the next few days so they could get to know each other better. Darcy laughed and shook her head. “If you love him, I’m sure he’s amazing.”
Claire hugged Darcy goodbye but gave her another warning before getting into her Mini Cooper. “Please be careful. I know why you do the night club scene but there has to be a better way. I get nervous each time you head out.”
Darcy smiled at her friend, truly grateful for so many wonderful people in her life who were concerned for her safety. “I know. And I promise I’m very careful. I have a full staff, body guards and drivers who are looking out for me, not to mention the night club managers who wouldn’t dare have anything bad happen that might create negative publicity for their business. I’m their advertising and stamp of approval.”
“There’s no such thing as bad publicity,” Claire warned, giving Darcy a hug before getting into her car and driving away.
“You have a phone call, Darc!” Dave called from the lobby area. “It’s Betty.” He looked at her with a shake of his head. Covering the mouthpiece, he looked at her sternly. “Don’t do this one, Darc. We don’t need the money and you lose too much weight when you have to go out. It’s too soon since the last job and you haven’t had time to recover.”
Darcy grimaced but took the phone, sitting down behind the now empty receptionist desk. “Hi Betty. I’m out of circulation for a while so whatever you’ve got for me, it will have to wait.”
She listened for a moment, her eyes widening in surprise. “Why so much?” she asked, a nervous, clammy feeling coming over her for some reason.
Dave and Matt both stopped and watched her, instantly alert, which made several dogs and the kittens also stop. The smaller ones looked around curiously while the larger ones took their cue from the humans. Within moments, everyone was on high alert, simply because of the sudden tension in Darcy.
“I don’t know, Betty. Why don’t you e-mail me the contract and I’ll look it over. This is one of those too-good-to-be-true deals that I’m always nervous of.”
She listened for a while longer then shook her head. “Are you sure my father or brother isn’t behind that ridiculous amount?”
After a few more “yeps” and “uhhuhs”, Darcy hung up the phone and looked at Matt and Dave, both of whom were waiting to hear the news while saving kittens from being trampled by the bigger dogs. The kittens were growing, but still weren’t stealthy enough to avoid some of the clumsier moves of their canine companions when they became excited or agitated.
“Don’t keep us in suspense,” Matt called out, scratching Fred’s ears to relax him since he’d started to howl his displeasure at the tension level. Fred instantly stopped, leaning against his scratcher’s legs but kept a wary eye out for anything changing. Ginger nudged Dave’s hand, demanding equal attention and even Moxie seemed a bit more alert even though he was still laying down attached to an IV on his personal doggie bed.
“They’re offering three times the normal amount,” she explained.
“Don’t do it,” Matt instantly commanded. “Your instincts are never wrong so something has to be weird with this situation.”
Dave was already nodding before Matt had even ended the sentence.
Darcy thought about it and nodded, agreeing with their assessment. “You’re right. That’s too much money for an event, and it’s even out of the country.”
“Definitely don’t go.”
Darcy agreed. “You’re right.” She called Betty back immediately and gave her the news, being firm about not participating in this contract. Betty tried to argue, but Darcy was firm. Something was fishy and there was no reason to step out on a limb when there was danger in the works.
Chapter 5
Sergei couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The mercenary piece of useless fluff Darcy DiAngelo had refused his offer! Unheard of, he thought with mild frustration, which for him was a pretty major event. He put his hands on his hips, completely oblivious to the soothing view from his office which laid out all of St. Petersburg below him.
He listened with patience as his assistant, Dorothy, explained that Darcy DiAngelo wasn’t available for possibly the next several months but would be in contact with him as soon as there was an opening in her schedule.
“Where’s Nicolai?” he demanded.
The wary assistant fiddled with her notebook, a sure sign that the impressively competent woman was nervous about answering that question.
“He’s disappeared.”
“Where has he gone?” Sergei demanded.
Again with the fiddling. “His secretary said he would be gone for the next several months. Almost the exact same wording as Ms. DiAngelo’s assistant.”
Sergei was dumbfounded that Nicolai would do something so idiotic. The younger man knew what happens when people rile Sergei’s temper and it was never good.
“Triple the offer,” Sergei commanded with grim finality. “And find Nicolai. Get Jim Wilson on it,” he ordered, referring to his international head of security. “Once he’s found, I want that idiot under guard until the wedding.” Without another word, he walked out on his assistant, leaving her flabbergasted at the amount of money she was going to offer a woman for a one night stand. She was still a bit miffed that she was acting as a sort of pimp, not understanding why she was being tasked in this way. Her skills were well and above this type of activity, but if Sergei needed something, it was her job to ensure that everything went according to plan.
She didn’t understand why he needed to pay someone for their company, she thought as she lifted the phone to make the required phone call. Sergei wasn’t handsome so much as attractive and alluring. He had that “Come here, if you dare,” type of look about him. And the women all came. Flocking to him, actually. Some of them even competing with each other in embarrassing ways to gain his attention. He had to fight them off and it wasn’t just his mind boggling bank account balance, or the astonishing power he wielded through the various companies he owned across the globe, although she was sure there was plenty of that to attract the female butterflies that flitted about him whenever he went out in public.