Chapter 28: Chapter 28

Maksimillian

I made some calls to my cousin and had emergency meetings with our staff. I asked for the papers to be sent to my official email, so that Mr. Korhonen of Korhonen Steel Ltd. and I would sign the contract in the next two days. He was going to make it a big event.

By the time I was done with work, it was already time to get ready for dinner with Mr. Mäkinen of Finnkin Industry. While on my way to his home, in the backseat of the rented car, I received a report from the security details of Aunt Marisha through email. I would receive this type of report at least once or twice a day, unless there were important ones that happened or were happening. As for emergency ones, my line was kept open for it.

I read the detailed report quickly.

“Subject A went to have breakfast at 09:37 with Subject New. Subject A ordered smoked ham, sunny sideup, zacusca, sliced tomato, a few pieces of sliced cucumber, green onion and toasted bread with black coffee, whereas Subject New had mashed potato and sausage with fresh orange juice (Main conversation topic: You).”

I scoffed upon reading the first part of the report. I couldn’t believe Aunt Marisha and Zenovia went to have breakfast together and talked about me. I wondered why my aunt approached Zenovia. Maybe she wanted to know more about her, since I housed her in my suite. A lopsided smirk then appeared on my lips, before I continued to the next part of the report.

“Subject A and Subject New went back upstairs to their respective suites at 10:06, came down together at 10:30 and went to Râșnov Fortress.”

I learned that they had a tour guide while exploring the citadel, had a refreshment at a bar-terrace, talked more about me and my aunt learned that Zenovia wanted to become a painter. They went to do archery, where Zenovia wasn’t good at. My aunt beat her everytime. Well, my aunt was an athlete, so it was only natural. She had a fair share of callus, which she had scraped then and had some therapy to keep her hands soft before marrying her late husband. She only picked the bow and arrow once in a blue moon after that.

“Current status: Subject A and Subject New went back to their respective suites after early dinner at 18:58. Will send an update later.”

I shoved my cell phone in the secret breast pocket of my dark blue three-piece suit. I checked my watch; it was 7:35 PM. I was told dinner was at 8:00, so I had more than enough time to get there.

***

Dinner with Mr. Mäkinen, his wife and two children proved to be enjoyable. His modern manor made of glass and concrete was beautiful. It had three stories, and they had no neighbors to keep their privacy. The premises were surrounded by a high fence and were filled with CCTVs. There were a couple of guards at the front gate and a handful around and inside the house.

It took us more than a couple hours to dine, talking about some personal things about me, the business and my family.

“We heard you’re a very busy man, so it was a great surprise to hear you were coming over yourself to have a meeting, Mr. Usmanov,” Mr. Mäkinen said truthfully.

I nodded. “I thought it is very important to meet you myself, considering the pickle I’m in,” I humored.

He laughed, as well as his wife, who was a blonde. She had blue eyes, too. So were their two sons that were ten and twelve years old. Their bald middle-aged butler, on the other hand, was in and out of the dining room to see to it that we lacked nothing and that our needs were satisfied.

As for my bodyguards, they stood just right behind me, which the couple understood very well. As it was, their own bodyguards were not far away from us, too.

“Arvo, enough talking about business,” his wife, in her late thirties, gently chastised him, touching his arm.

I smiled at the woman who was seated across from me at the rectangular glass table; her two children were to her left, eating silently. Aside from my lihapullat (Finnish meatballs) plate with mashed potatoes, gravy, cucumber pickles and lingonberry jam, a lot of food was served in front of us. These were mainly Finnish dishes, such as lohikeitto (creamy salmon soup), bread, whole fried Baltic fish with garlic sauce and some desserts like runebergintorttu (a small, cylinder-shaped treat with a combination of almond flour and wheat. This cake had strong flavors of ginger and cardamom, with the essential addition of a dollop of raspberry jam that was enclosed by white icing) and mämmi (a traditional Finnish porridge or pudding typically seasoned with dark molasses syrup). I just knew from the look of them as I studied the menu back in my hotel.

I turned my head to the left, where Lotta’s husband was seated, at the head of the table.

“Why don’t we ask him about his personal life, which the media haven’t so much to report about?” She turned to me with a coy smile, batting her blue eyes.

‘What’s going on here?’ I mused.

Well, she was pretty and sexy, I must admit. However, I wasn’t attracted to her the way I would have in normal circumstances. If she wasn’t married, that is. I had no problem with women’s age even before I met Zenovia, for as long as I could just fuck them without any responsibilities afterwards.

I pulled my mouth down and curtly nodded to her. “Well, what would you like to know, Mrs. Mäkinen?” I asked with a formal tone before glancing at her husband, who appeared to be interested as well.

“If you have a future wife that we know nothing about,” she answered bluntly with a little careless gesture of her dainty well-manicured hand. I noticed her long nails were painted with pink.

I chortled softly. I did see it coming, noting how she looked at me. “Well, that… remains to be seen. I’m working on it at the moment, you see?”

Her mouth formed into an “O,” while her blue eyes rounded. She then turned to her husband. “What did I tell you? There’s nothing on the news about his personal life, Arvo!”

Her husband just shrugged. “He’s being careful not to spill anything about his private life, Lotta. It’s good that he could keep it at that.”

“May we know who she is?” Lotta further asked me. Her excitement seemed to die down. However, she tried to keep her lively aura, to be the perfect hostess.

I glanced at Arvo first, and he shook his head. I thought it would be better to keep Zenovia out of this. Not that we had a deal. Even without it, I would still keep her identity in the dark as much as possible.

“Well, I should keep her identity hidden. You’ll know in time,” I replied without offending her.

Lotta asked me about my cousin and my aunt after that. “What about your parents’ deaths? I heard it’s still an open case,” she probed.

“Yes, but there’s no progress. Just like my grandparents’ or my uncle’s,” I answered with a heavy heart.

My grandparents’ deaths were already a cold case, but I had my parents’ and my uncle’s kept open. I had a private investigator look into them. But so far, there was nothing new. No leads had turned up just yet. Still, I didn’t want to give up.