The Last Kolovsky Playboy Read Online Free PDF

do no wrong.’
    ‘And Aleksi?’ the press officer had asked. ‘We should give an indication as to his health—assure the shareholders his return is imminent.’
    But instead of moving to communicate Aleksi’s chances of full recuperation, Nina had chosen the ‘no comment’ route. Sitting in on the meeting, Kate had been stunned to hear his own mother’s words.
    ‘Without Aleksi at the helm,’ Nina had clarified, ‘Kolovsky can do no wrong.’
    Two hours later, Kate had made the call to her boss.
    ‘It’s Nina you want to keep sweet! Not Aleksi!’ Lavinia broke into Kate’s thoughts, and suddenly she’d had enough.
    ‘Actually, it’s you I feel sorry for, Lavinia,’ Kate shot back. ‘We all know what you have to do to keep in with the boss—I can’t imagine the taste of Nina after Aleksi!’
    ‘You’re shaking,’ Aleksi noted as the coffee cup rattled to a halt on his desk.
    ‘Don’t give yourself the credit!’ Kate blew her fringe skywards. More than anything she hated confrontation, yet it was all around, and she simply couldn’t avoid it any longer. ‘I just had words with Lavinia.’
    ‘Not long ones, I hope,’ Aleksi said. ‘They’d be wasted on her.’
    ‘Oh, they were pretty basic.’
    For once, there was no witty retort from Aleksi. The walk had depleted him. His leg was throbbing, the muscles in spasm, but he did not let on. Instead he took a sip of his brew and finally—after weeks of hospital slop and maids in the West Indies attempting to get it right—finally it was. He liked his coffee strong and sweet, and was tired of explaining that that didn’t mean adding just a little milk. Aleksi liked a lot of everything. He took another sip and leant back in his chair, returning her smile when she spoke next.
    ‘The place is in panic!’ Kate gave a little giggle. ‘I had a frantic call from Reception to alert me you were on your way up, and then the place just exploded! I even saw Nina running for the first time.’
    ‘Running to delete all the files she is so busy corrupting,’ he said cynically.
    ‘She wants Kolovsky to do well.’ Kate frowned.
    ‘Money is her only god.’ Aleksi shrugged. ‘Three more months and there would have been no more House of Kolovsky ,’ he sneered. ‘Or not one to be proud of.’
    ‘Things aren’t that bad,’ Kate answered dutifully, but she struggled to voice the necessary enthusiasm. On paper everything was fine—fantastic, in fact—but since Levander had returned to the UK and Nina had taken over things were fast unravelling. ‘I should never have called you.’
    ‘I’m glad that you did. I’ve been on the phone with Marketing—“Every woman deserves a little piece of Kolovsky!”’ Aleksi scorned. ‘That is my mother’s latest suggestion. Apart from tampering with the bridal gowns and Krasavitsa, she is considering a line of bedlinen for a supermarket chain.’
    ‘An exclusive chain,’ Kate attempted, but Aleksi just cursed in Russian.
    ‘Chush’ sobach’ya!’ He glanced down at the coffee and found she was setting out an array of pills beside it. ‘I don’t need them.’
    ‘I’ve looked at your regime,’ Kate said. ‘You are to take them four-hourly.’
    ‘That was my regime when lying on a beach—here, I need to think.’
    ‘You can’t just stop taking them,’ Kate insisted. She had known this was coming. Even in hospital he had resisted every pill, had stretched the time out between them to the max, refusing sedation at night. Always he was rigid, alert—even when sleeping.
    So many hours she had spent by his bed during his recovery—taking notes, keeping him abreast of what was going on, assuring him she would keep himinformed but that surely he should rest. She had watched as sleep continually evaded him. Sometimes, regretfully almost, he had dozed, only to be woken by a light flicking on down the hall, or a siren in the distance.
    She had hoped his time away in the Caribbean would mellow him—soften