Russian Mafia Billionaire’s Secretary (12 page)

She nodded to show him that she understood his words. He hit a button on a recording device that he pulled from his inner pocket. His tone was professional and no-nonsense. She’d never dealt with the FBI before but in watching everything that was going on, she felt like she was on some sort of television show rather than real life.

“Please state your name for the record,” he told her.

“Alanna Vella.”

“And your occupation,” he said.

“Executive assistant to Alexander Denisov at Denisov International,” she said in response.

“What do you know about Alexander Denisov?” he asked her.

“Alexander Denisov is the CEO of Denisov International. He’s originally from Russia. Thirty. Has a sister.” Alanna wasn’t sure what he wanted her to say.

“Do you have any knowledge of any criminal activities that Alexander Denisov has been involved with?”

“Criminal activities? No!” she answered adamantly. He placed his ink pen flatly on the table and studied her face.

“Alexander Denisov is a very dangerous man.”

“What are you talking about? He owns a shipping business.”

“Which has heavy dealings in stolen merchandise, drug trafficking, money laundering. Do you have any idea who you’ve been sharing a bed with?”

“That’s none of your business!” she shot back, as she blushed.

“It IS my business, Ms. Vella. You two aren’t married. Therefore, you could be compelled to be a witness for the D.A. when we take him to court.”

“Wait, what?” Alanna’s head was rapidly spinning and she felt as though she was going to faint. Or throw up. Possibly both. She leaned forward, as she waited for the queasiness to subside, but it wasn’t stopping as she massaged her temples.

Agent Franklin continued, “You need to understand that Alexander Denisov is not who you think he is. He’s an integral member of the Russian mafia.”

She stifled back a laugh at his suggestion, but he didn’t appear to be amused in the slightest. At first, she hadn’t been sure she heard him correctly. She stared at him, willing him to crack a smile and tell her it was all a joke. That this was some elaborate gag and there were cameras hidden around the room.

“The Russian mafia…in New York City?” she questioned him. “Really?”

She stared at him in disbelief.

“Mr. Denisov is a very dangerous man who will be going to federal prison for a very long time,” he informed her, unmoved by her reaction.

“A dangerous criminal?” she asked him as she repeated his words.

“Alexander Denisov has been involved in a series of crimes involving his international drug trade and money laundering,” he went on as he shuffled some paperwork in his folder.

“Is this some kind of sick joke?” she questioned him.

“This is serious, Ms. Vella. What can you tell me about his business dealings?” Agent Franklin asked her as he picked up his pen from the table.

“I already told the other officer what I do for him. I don’t know anything about these other business dealings you keep hinting at,” she told him.

He stopped writing and slammed the pen on the table in anger. From the look on his face, he hadn’t believed a word she said and was convinced that she was covering for him. He exhaled deeply and pulled out several photographs from the folder and slid them over in front of Alanna.

“What’s all this?” she asked him as she studied the pictures. One was of Alexander standing on the docks appearing to yell at someone. Another showed him shaking hands with a man she didn’t recognize him.

“This is your boyfriend dealing in shipments of drugs using Denisov International as a cover,” Agent Franklin noted. She picked up each of the pictures and looked at them closely.

As she studied the photos, something about them didn’t seem quite right. While there wasn’t anything obviously criminal about them, Alexander didn’t look himself. “Maybe he knew he was being photographed,” she thought to herself as she looked at them.

No matter what, someone had clearly gone to considerable trouble to take the pictures, but they didn’t incriminate Alexander in the slightest. She shook her head at the images as she placed them back where Agent Franklin had them.

“These photos don’t show anything of the sort,” she shot back.

He stood up and paced the floor in front of the dining room table.

“We have all of his bank statements and we know that he spends millions of dollars a month on his international drug trade,” he told her coldly as she watched him pace. “He’s a very clever man when it comes to covering his tracks.”

“Am I supposed to believe that he’s some kind of international drug kingpin?” she questioned him. “Besides, if he’s as clever as you say, how is it you were able to figure it out from his bank statements? This sounds more like a fishing expedition than the truth.”

None of it made any sense to her. She’d been through the contracts and shipping manifests, there was nothing out of the ordinary, let alone anything to do with drugs.

“Make no mistake, Alexander Denisov is a very dangerous man,” he told her point-blank as he stopped pacing in front of her. “He’s been funneling drugs into the country since 2012.”

A tear escaped her eye as she studied the photos, trying to make sense of them.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” she said as a flood of tears rolled down her cheeks.

“I understand that this all must be overwhelming,” he sympathized. “But if you don’t offer your full cooperation, Denisov will be back out on the streets in no time. You don’t want that on your head.”

She sat there staring blankly at the fireplace. She nodded in response, but wasn’t sure how she felt about the whole situation. How could he have kept such a big secret hidden away from her? Was the entire company involved? Did others know what was going on? She flashed on Anastasia doing drugs in the bathroom in Miami. Did Alexander know?   

Agent Franklin took a piece of paper from his folder and pushed it in front of her. He placed the pen on top of the paper and looked up to where their eyes met.

“Please write out your official statement for the record and sign and date it at the bottom,” he instructed her.

As she wrote her statement on the paper provided, he placed his hand on her arm and stopped her.

“You should know before you continue that it is a felony to make a false statement to the FBI,” he advised her.

“I’ve no intention of doing anything of the sort, Agent Franklin, and kindly remove your hand,” she declared. She continued writing her statement as he watched her closely. She scribbled her signature on the bottom of the document along with the date and slid the paper back to him with his pen. She’d had enough and just wanted to go home.

He took the document and looked it over and when finished, “Will this be your official statement?” he asked her, exasperated. 

“Yes, it is my official statement because it’s the truth. I don’t know anything about his supposed criminal activities,” she said, angry at his persistence.

He slid her statement into the folder he brought with him and turned the recorder off with an impatient snap before pocketing it.

Standing up, he reached into a different pocket. “Here, take this and please call me or anyone at the Bureau if you can think of anything that might help our case,” he said as he placed his business card on the table in front of her.

She looked down at the card on the table but didn’t bother to pick it up.

“So, what happens next?” she wondered aloud, as the agent moved to the door. 

“Much of that is up to you, Ms. Vella.”

Agent Franklin’s words replayed in her head and she questioned how long it would be before Alexander was out on bail.

Getting up from where she had been sitting all this time, she moved toward the now broken door. Grabbing her purse on the way out, she nodded to the officers milling around the apartment. Moving swiftly to the elevator, she took it down to the lobby and asked the doorman for a taxi. 

She jumped as she felt a presence behind her. Turning around quickly, she saw an officer as he stood there with an apologetic look on his face.

“Sorry to scare you there, miss,” he said.

“It’s okay,” she told him as she looked toward the street for her taxi to arrive.

“I just wanted to see if you were okay,” he offered politely.

She turned to face him and smiled at his gesture, but nodded yes to let him know that she was fine. The only thing she wanted to do in that very moment was leave as quickly as possible so she could mentally put all of the pieces of the puzzle together.

“Okay,” he said as he turned away to rejoin the other officers.

She stared blankly at the street lights as the taxi driver drove her home. Her mind was filled with questions that she didn’t have answers to. How had she not spotted any suspicious activity? Did she even still have a job to go to? How long would it be before she saw Alexander again?

Tears fell from her eyes as she extended a twenty dollar bill to the driver and exited the vehicle.

Chapter Seventeen

As Alanna walked toward her apartment, she worried about what to tell her sister. Alyssa was notorious for figuring out when something was wrong and she was relentless when it came to getting answers. Both traits that would make her a good lawyer someday, but she wasn’t up for her sister’s inquisitiveness now.

“Here goes nothing,” she told herself quietly as she fumbled with her keys before walking into her apartment.

Her first thoughts went to her son, Roman, and she hoped he was tucked in tight in his bed. She wanted to sneak in and head directly for her bedroom without interruption. Her nerves had been on edge since she saw the officers swarm the place with guns. Alanna wanted that mental image erased from her mind and had lied to herself that a good night’s sleep would do the trick.

She took a deep breath as she closed the door. Quietly, she turned and locked the door, but sensed movement behind her. A lone tear dripped from her eye and hit her cheek. She stood there as the floodgates opened and tears ran down her face. Alanna stood there, frozen, as she hoped the movement she sensed was a figment of her imagination.

“Hey, I thought you weren’t going to be home until tomorrow morning,” Alyssa joked. “What happened to Mr. Wonderful?”

Alanna turned to see her sister standing there and Alyssa’s face instantly shifted to one of concern when she saw that something was wrong. She rushed to hug her. Holding her tightly, Alanna cried into her sister’s shoulder, as Alyssa rubbed her back.

“What happened?”  

“Alexander was arrested tonight. They came in with guns; I was so scared.”

“Oh my God, are you okay?” Alyssa asked. Taking her hands, she walked her over to the dining table and pushed her down into the chair.

“I was just going to make a cup of tea.” Turning, her sister fussed in the kitchen as she opened and closed cabinets. Pouring the hot water into two cups, she turned and joined Alanna at the table.

“So, let me get this straight, your boss was arrested while you were at his place?” Alyssa questioned her in disbelief.

Nodding her head, Alanna played with the teabag, dipping it in the cup. “It happened after dinner. We were in the living room. Suddenly, there was a loud noise and the room was filled with men dressed in black brandishing guns. Next thing I know, Alexander is in handcuffs and I’m being questioned,” Alanna recalled.

Alanna scanned the place for Roman’s tiny, rosy-cheeked face. She hoped that the sound of her frantic voice hadn’t awakened her son.

“Wow, did they say what he did?” Alyssa asked.

“At first, I talked to an officer, but then an FBI agent came in. The agent told me that Alexander was involved in some kind of international drug trade. He also mentioned something to do with money laundering,” she recalled.

“International drug trade? Money laundering?” Alyssa questioned her. “What in the hell?”

“That’s what the agent said.” Alanna shrugged as she remembered what Agent Franklin told her. She recalled her own disbelief at the man’s words. “Honestly, I didn’t believe it at first. I’m not sure I still do.”

She wiped the tears from her eyes and cleared her throat. “I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Alanna added. She looked down as the pain welled up inside her.

“I guess you’ll probably have to find another job,” Alyssa offered as she sat down next to her sister.

“That’s not what I mean,” Alanna said and stared off into the distance. It dawned on her that her situation with Alexander had not only blurred the lines of professionalism, but it crossed the barrier into something more personal for her. If she were honest with herself, she would admit that she never had these kinds of feelings for anyone, not even Roman’s father.

“Oh God,” she realized. “I’ve fallen for an international criminal.”

“Well that definitely presents an even bigger problem,” her sister said calmly.

“Maybe I was too blinded by his charms to see the big picture?” she questioned herself. “Maybe it was all there right before my eyes?”

“I wouldn’t beat yourself up over it if I were you,” Alyssa stated plainly. “There’s really nothing you can do about it now.”

“Maybe,” Alanna reasoned as the events of the evening played out in her head all over again. She thought about Agent Franklin’s questions and how she felt that it had to have been one huge misunderstanding.

“I don’t think the FBI would’ve swarmed his place and arrested him without some solid proof that he was up to some shady business,” Alyssa commented. She rubbed her sister’s arm as she tried to console her.

“True, I got the impression that some of what was going on was assumed. That maybe they didn’t have as big of a case as they wanted. The agent kept pushing me to say things that weren’t true. I mean, even the photos didn’t look all that suspicious,” Alanna recalled.

“That’s interesting,” her sister said curiously. “Maybe they’re trying to build a case and they jumped on things before they had all the evidence.”

“I think I’ll find out for myself if there’s any truth to the situation. I’ll go back to the office on Monday if I can and check through the invoices and any other records I can find. There has to be something there that will either condemn or exonerate him.”