He thanked Sasha and then was back on the phone. “Did you hear that?”
“Yes, I heard it,” I retorted dryly. “He thinks them smoking hot and doesn’t know much at all.”
“I wish I was in the club that night,” Sergei responded. “Check out the footage I sent you. Maybe something helps.”
“Will do, brother,” I told him. “I’ll call if we need anything else. Thank you.”
Ending the call, I turned to my laptop in front of me and clicked the email from Sergei, and along with Nikolai we studied each surveillance snap. The first video showed Anastasia with her girlfriends entering the club, their security guard discreetly away.
“She was kidnapped with her security guard around?” Nikolai scoffed, and I couldn’t agree more with his sentiment. It made for a very incompetent security guard. Sasha mentioned they were there with a guy but I’ve seen enough bodyguards in my lifetime to know that was what he was.
In the live footage, Anastasia Manciatti looked like a femme fatale. What was worse, it wasn’t intentional on her part. She ignored glances thrown her way, focused only on her friends. Her stride was confident. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her slim figure in golden shorts and slim black tank top that barely covered anything.
“How the fuck did they get into that club?” Nikolai muttered to himself, his eyes glued on the screen watching the three women. But just as Sasha said, the footage showed them talking to the doorman, then all three laughed and they were let right in. As they passed him by, he stared after them… no, not at them, he stared at their asses. The security guard that was with the women barked something and his eyes snapped to him.
In the next video, Anastasia was on the stage with her girlfriends singing. I watched hypnotized as she took the offered microphone with a playful smile, amusement in her eyes.
“This song is for all you cheaters out there,” her voice was soft and warm. It soothed like warm milk with honey and at the same time, the sound of her voice excited like husky whispers of a lover. My cock twitched and she wasn’t even in the same room.
For Christ sake, I better get a grip!
She was a spoiled, rich princess who probably got her way since she could point her finger. People from her social circles were the worst kind… backstabbers, users, killers with clean hands. They didn’t care who or what happened to people they double-crossed as long as they got what they wanted.
Just look at what happened to Nikolai’s sister. The man that killed her moved in the same circles as governors and senators, probably the very same circles as Anastasia Manciatti’s family. His sister’s killer got away with it without even being questioned as a possible suspect although he was the last man to be seen with her when she was alive.
I focused on the screen. All three women were beautiful but Anastasia was the one that captured my gaze. I couldn’t tear my eyes off her. She was bathed in the light, her sparkling shorts capturing all eyes. She strutted on that stage like she owned it.
And her voice... Jesus! I could fucking jerk off just listening to her voice. Her voice was melodious, soft, and heartbreaking. Each word she sang in that voice of hers held so much emotion, like the song was written for her. Lost in it, she was unaware of everyone staring at her with their mouths open. Every man in that club hungered for the woman that sang and danced with such passion.
Both Nikolai and I watched in silence. The three women sang on that stage, holding hands. Obviously they were close to each other; they moved sensually and in sync. It could not have been the first time they’d sang that song together. The other two women chimed in perfect tune and sync. I would have said it was rehearsed if I didn’t know for certain this was impromptu. It made me wonder why the state’s attorney didn’t mention the other two women.
The moment the song was done, the three women embraced, like they were sharing a secret they didn’t want the world to know. I wished the audio would have captured what they whispered to each other.
One of the men from the band approached her. Whatever he said, Anastasia threw her head back exposing her graceful neck, and laughed carefree.
Goddamn it, the woman was sexy as fuck!
I clicked save, unwilling to debate why, and moved on to the next recording. She danced with different boys from the band. She flirted lightly but kept her distance. She needed a man with a firm hand, not a boy. Someone that would rock her world. Did she have one already? I would guess not since she danced and flirted with all these men. Or maybe she was a flirt by nature and was used to men falling at her feet. I had no doubt she was used to being pampered and getting her way.
“I would fire that security guard,” Nikolai spat disgusted and I followed his gaze. He moved to the next video on his phone. “Click on the next one so we can see it better on the laptop.”
Another save to my secured personal drive, moving onto the next footage. I had to agree with Nikolai. That security guard would have to go. They danced together sensually, his eyes hungry on her. Reluctantly, I had to admit they looked good together. She was comfortable with him, free with her smiles, and when he pulled her closer, she didn’t pull away as she did with others.
“Find out everything you can on this guy,” I told Nikolai without looking away from the screen.
I didn’t like his hand around her waist, their bodies touching, and her happy smile as she gazed at him. I watched her as she nudged him towards her girlfriend. She must have not been very possessive since she never spared him a second glance once he started dancing with the other woman. I watched her discreetly exchange keys with her friend, then pretend to go to the restroom. She knew exactly how to sneak out, which told me she had done this many times before.
Was she a spoiled rich little princess, I wondered.
In another thirty minutes, Nikolai ran a separate check on her. I wanted to have as much detail about it all. At twenty-five, she had finished her medical degree and her residency in record time at Johns Hopkins. There were a few articles on her, calling her the youngest promising surgeon in the country. Her free time was given to the pediatric section of the hospital with burn victims. She spent summers in the Hamptons with her grandfather. Some short-term relationships... a lawyer, a doctor, pediatrician, CEO of one of my competitors but nothing permanent.
Why was that? Was it because she was hiding her relationship with her security protection?
“Did you find out anything on the security guy?” I prompted Nikolai.
“I did,” he handed me a print out. “He’s worked for the family for the past ten years. He’d completed special ops training right out of high school and was a Navy SEAL sniper. Got out of service after six years… battle injury. He is clean.”
I glanced at the paperwork and he was right. This guy had nothing to do with it, so I threw the folder to the side and glanced back to the information on Anastasia.