I saw the couple who lived there rush down the hallway, several bags in tow. They were talking excitedly among themselves.
Fuck.
"Something smells good," Nikolai said, then asked, "Did you make enough for two—" Before he could finish, I slammed the door shut in his face and locked it.
I heard a light chuckle from the other side of the door and moments later the door to the neighboring apartment was opening and closing.
So much for thinking I'd won the battle.
I returned to my dinner but couldn't force any of the food down. My brain threatened to scatter into a hundred different directions, so I did the only thing that I could do. I focused on something that was almost as important as the deal I'd been working on, if not more so.
My next move against Nikolai Fucking Falkov.
I might have lost this particular battle, but I would win the war.
Chapter 7
Nikolai
The man was as stubborn as they came.
I learned that over the next few days as I stuck to Jude Archer like glue.
First off, the man was a master at the silent treatment. When he'd come out of his apartment the morning after I'd shown up informing him I was his new neighbor, he hadn't said a word to me despite the fact that I’d been camped out by his front door. Fortunately, Mike had been able to provide someone to back me up overnight so I’d been able to sneak in a few hours of sleep, but since I hadn’t known when Jude would get up, I'd positioned myself outside his front door long before dawn had started to break over the horizon. And it had been none too soon because he'd appeared a mere twenty minutes after I'd taken up residence.
I’d nearly swallowed my tongue at the sight of Jude in his snug running shorts and T-shirt. I'd seen a brief flicker of surprise when Jude had spied me waiting outside his door, but he hadn't said anything. He’d merely put his earbuds in, hit something on his phone and headed for the elevator. Since there’d been no hope of asking him to wait for me while I went to change my own clothes into something more appropriate for a run, I'd been forced to follow him in my dress clothes. My hope that he'd only run for a handful of minutes had been dashed pretty quickly. We’d spent an hour running through Central Park at a good clip.
By the time we’d returned to his building, I'd been drowning in sweat and more than a little irritated at the fact that I'd looked like a fool running around Central Park in my dress shirt and slacks. Thankfully, I’d had a few minutes to clean up while Jude had gotten ready for work. I’d felt like a drowned rat from speeding through my shower so I could get back to his door before he left for work. Jude, on the other hand, had looked as put together as ever. Even with it being a Sunday, he'd been dressed as if it were any other workday.
Jude hadn't argued with me about taking a car to his office building, but that might've had to do with the fact that he hadn’t been speaking to me either. I’d spent the entire day just like the one before—in his waiting area trying to do business from my phone.
Monday and Tuesday had been exact replicas of the previous days. Under normal circumstances, I would've had someone to relieve me throughout the day, but I didn't trust Jude not to ditch any security team I put on him.
The fact that Hayes had made it so I could move into the apartment next to Jude's had been completely unexpected but extremely useful. When I’d called Hayes the night Jude had told his doorman to keep me off the property, I'd expected Hayes just to make a call and request that I be given permission to be on the premises. But he’d taken it a step further and made arrangements to buy—yes, buy—the apartment next to Jude's. It was a testament to how much Hayes cared about Jude. I tried not to give too much thought to the idea of Jude and Hayes together because it made me angrier than I would have liked. I had nothing against Hayes; I just wasn't liking the idea of anyone putting their hands on Jude. That was the problem with being on his six twenty-four seven.
Now, as I finished up my