MAXIM
"How do you know about Ava?" Maxim asked quietly after a long moment.
Even though Genevieve was dangerous in her own right, she still paled a bit when Maxim directed his cold gaze at her.
"I listened in using the intercom. You forget to turn it off sometimes, like earlier today."
"So you spied on me," Maxim said in a dangerous voice.
"It's not spying, Maxim," Genevieve said firmly, standing her ground. "I just listen in sometimes... to better anticipate your needs."
Her explanation didn't soothe Maxim's anger any. To him, it sounded like an excuse for Genevieve to entertain herself by listening in on his conversations.
Maxim took a breath to calm down a bit, reminding himself that he'd promised himself he wouldn't be one of the people to hurt this woman.
"Don't do it again," was all he said in response, his voice leaving no room for disagreement.
"Of course," Genevieve said in an even tone.
Looking into her cold brown eyes, Maxim wasn't sure he could believe her.
Not wanting to dwell on the issue, he resigned himself to the uncertainty. He then put the documents on his desk before starting to scribble his signature on them.
"So what's the deal with this Ava woman, anyway?" Genevieve asked quietly. "Is she really one of the few women in the world who don't want to be with Maxim Holloway?"
Maxim, who'd been furiously signing, stilled his movements again.
"What did I do now?" Genevieve genuinely asked. "You didn't say we couldn't discuss the subject."
"I shouldn't have to. My love life is none of your business, Genevieve," he told her, looking at her with barely concealed annoyance.
The woman simply shrugged her delicate shoulders.
"I'm sorry. I'm just curious about her. She sounds interesting."
Maxim gave her an annoyed look.
"Don't you have something better to do than gossip with me, your boss? Something like, I don't know, doing your actual job?" he said, handing the documents back to Genevieve, who took them stiffly.
"Not to sound ungrateful or anything, Maxim, but the only reason I'm gossiping is because the job that you gave me is getting really lame and boring," she said.
"It's not supposed to be exciting. It's a job," Maxim told her.
"I'm just saying, maybe give me another job like you always do. One with a bit more... action."
"I thought you were already getting "action" with the HR manager and our financial director," Maxim told her casually.
Genevieve looked a bit surprised to hear Maxim say this, but she quickly hid it.
"That got old quickly. But you know that's not the kind of thing I'm talking about."
Maxim gave her a pointed look.
"Oh, I know what you mean. But unfortunately, I've got nothing for you right now," Maxim told her honestly.
Genevieve didn't look convinced by his words or maybe she just didn't want to believe him.
"Really? What about that accountant who betrayed you? Don't you need him... handled?"
"Levi already took care of that," Maxim told her calmly.
A look of annoyance came over Genevieve's features when she heard this.
"Ugh, Levi. He gets all the good missions."
Maxim pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head at the girl's words and antics.
"You know, Levi didn't always do this. He had to start at the bottom in this organization, doing menial tasks like you."
"In that case, I'm surprised he didn't die of boredom," Genevieve said. "And a little disappointed. I mean, he's awful."
Maxim closed his eyes for a moment, getting impatient with the woman.
"Hey, I just thought of a fun mission for you. You can go get my coffee in the company kitchen."
Genevieve, who had been about to get excited when she heard there was a mission, frowned at Maxim's last words.
"You are also awful."
"I know. Which is why I advise you to stop annoying me," he said.
Genevieve looked ready to give one of her sassy replies when both she and Maxim heard a knock on the door.
"Come in," Maxim said in a deep voice after a moment, grateful for the opportunity to talk to anyone else besides Genevieve.
After he spoke, the door opened and Levi tentatively stepped inside, carrying a red file.
Maxim cursed internally when he saw the file, knowing it contained more work for him.
Damn it.
Honestly, when was he going to get a break?
Levi entered the room, momentarily glancing at Genevieve with disapproval when he saw her leaning against Maxim's desk.
Genevieve simply smiled at him to let him know that she didn't care.
If it wasn't already clear, Levi and Genevieve didn't get along despite working for the same man, largely because of their different personalities.
They simply tolerated each other for the sake of their organization and Maxim.
"Good morning, sir," Levi greeted him.
"Morning, Levi," Maxim acknowledged with a nod. "And let me say, thank you for knocking before you came in."
Levi looked lost when Maxim said that, not expecting or understanding his words. But the guy found himself feeling extremely validated nonetheless.
At the same time, Maxim gave a pointed look to Genevieve, who got his meaning and rolled her eyes.
"I-I have something for you, sir," Levi said, shaking off his momentary confusion and getting straight to business.
"So I noticed," Maxim said dryly. "What is it?"
Levi hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"Forgive me for speaking out of turn, sir, but I feel like this is something we should be speaking about in private," he said, looking pointedly at Genevieve.
She stared back at him, a frown forming on her painted lips.Maxim knew that Genevieve didn't like the implication that Levi thought she couldn't be trusted despite working for them for more than a year.
Maxim shook his head at Levi's statement.
"Genevieve has proven herself loyal to the organization enough times. She can stay and hear what you have to tell me," Maxim said.
At this, Genevieve flashed a triumphant grin at Levi, who had to fight to keep his face neutral in the face of this annoying sight.
"Why so quiet, Levi? Maybe you disagree with Maxim?" Genevieve asked with a deceptively innocent expression.
"Of course not. He's the boss," Levi replied in an even tone.
Maxim looked between the two of them once, recognizing the childish tiff in front of him.
He sighed.
None of them realized that it wasn't exactly that he trusted Genevieve that he'd told Levi that she could stay. He just needed her to feel important enough to continue behaving herself.
" Levi, just say what you came to tell me already," Maxim ordered him.
At this, Levi immediately turned to Maxim, ignoring the more irritating Genevieve.
"Im here to give you an update on the Robert Lannister investigation, boss," he said.
Maxim raised his eyebrows at that.
After getting his memories back about Ava, he'd pushed this particular situation out of his mind.
And although he didn't want to do any work, he was glad that his employees were still focused on the issue, unlike their distracted boss.
He nodded at Levi.
"Brief me quickly," Maxim instructed him.
The giant man nodded.
"Our people went through Robert's life with a fine-tooth comb and found a few interesting things about him."
"Like?" Maxim prompted.
"Like he'd started gambling in casinos a lot lately and was deep in debt because of how often he lost. Suffice it to say, He owed a lot of people money, at least until he turned you in. After that, all his debts were paid practically overnight,including the mortgage to his house where his wife and children stay. And a hundred thousand dollars was paid into his wife's account."
Maxim raised his eyebrows at that.
"So someone paid him off in exchange for him turning me in."
Levi nodded.
"That's what it looks like."
A rush of fury went through Maxim at this tidbit of information.
He hated when his people turned on him.
After all, he treated all his employees well. Okay, maybe not well, but definitely better than most people in his position. He also paid generously, took care of his people's families, and made sure they wanted for nothing.
To think that one of them had betrayed him because they'd gotten too greedy..
It was an insult.
He was glad he'd gotten the traitor killed. Now he just had to do the same to whoever had orchestrated the betrayal, Maxim thought.
"And who was this benevolent benefactor of Robert's?" Maxim asked in a quiet voice. "Who was paying him?"
Levi's expression remained impassive, though there was a faint nervousness in his voice before he answered.
"The payments came through cryptocurrency, so we have no way of knowing."
Levi had to fight to keep his face neutral as Maxim fixed him with one of his infamous glares.
"So even after doing all that, you don't know who's plotting against me and my organization? We're actually back to square one?" He said unhappily. "Levi, I expected a lot better from you."
"I agree with Maxim. Poorly done, Levi," Genevieve commented, shaking her head theatrically. "But luckily, I have an idea that will save the day."
Maxim and Levi both turned to look at the secretary in surprise.
She continued speaking.
"Let's just bring in the accountant's wife and make her tell us who her husband was working with."
"I already thought of that," Levi told her quickly. "I went to her place and asked her about it. The woman said she didn't know."
"People lie all the time, Levi," Genevieve said, rolling her eyes. "Unless you apply pressure. That's when they start to crack, right, Maxim?"
"We can't 'pressure' anyone in this case. Robert's widow is seven months pregnant with his child," Levi said to her immediately. "And for the record, I believe her when she says she doesn't know anything."
"What do you think, Maxim?" Genevieve asked, turning to him with a hopeful expression. "Should we be softies about this or should we do whatever it takes to try and protect ourselves?"
Maxim was quiet for a moment, seeming to consider both their words.
"I think that I trust Levi's judgment about this,"Maxim finally says. "If he believes her, then it's good enough for me. Besides, we can't terrorize a pregnant woman, at least not based on a hunch. We're criminals, not monsters."
He looked at Genevieve when he said that last part.
She stared back at him quietly, but a flash of something went through her eyes.
Maxim wondered if it was anger or something else when Levi spoke again.
"Thank you, sir," the man said, somehow resisting the urge to spare a gloating look at Genevieve. "And I think you'll be happy to learn that I may have learned something else to help with the investigation. I would have said it earlier, but someone interrupted me."
Levi glared at Genevieve for a moment before turning back to Maxim.
Maxim gave him a curious expression.
Levi continued.
"The thing is, after the whole Robert Lannister situation, I've been looking into some of our other employees to see if we might have another traitor in our midst."
"And was there?" Maxim asked quickly.
Levi nodded.
"It turns out there's someone working for you who's been receiving large payments through cryptocurrency for months. And not only that, but the payments were all linked to the same anonymous wallet as the one that was paying Robert."
"So who's the traitor?" Genevieve asked, cracking her knuckles.
In response, Levi simply handed Maxim the file.
"It's all in there for you, sir."
Maxim took the file from him and opened it.
He froze as he saw the name on the documents.
In all his life, Maxim had never imagined that someone so close to him could betray him like this.
"So the butler really did do it," Genevieve said with amusement, also looking at the file.
The documents had the name of Maxim's butler, Albert Wayne.
After reviewing the file, Maxim closed it firmly, an emotionless look on his face.
"Bring him in, Levi. Let's see what he has to say when we present him with our findings."
Even though he didn't want to work, Maxim knew he had to take care of this. He also comforted himself with the knowledge that he had the entire weekend to handle it. Then he could get back to Ava.
"Can I lead his interrogation, boss?" Genevieve asked quickly, getting Maxim's attention again. "Please. You know I can handle it."
Maxim looked at the girl.
As much as he wanted to do this himself, he knew it was wiser to let her take the lead. Otherwise, she might focus her energy elsewhere and create trouble for both her and him.
"Fine, Genevieve. But you'd better bring your A-game."
This time, her smile was genuine.
"You can count on me, boss. I'll have that traitor singing all his secrets to you in no time."