Indulgence: A Russian Mafia Romance (Grekov Mafia Book 1) by Jacee Macguire

CHAPTER ONE
     
    It was a quarter ‘til eight and I was standing in line with several of my fellow coworkers, waiting to go through the security checkpoint in the lobby. From the looks on some of the faces around me, not very many of them could be considered morning people. Some looked bored. Some looked irritated. One, just one, seemed actually excited to be there. Me.
    Just three months ago, I had completed the rigorous hiring process for the Drug Enforcement Agency’s Houston Division. It was a long – and at times – painfully slow process with psychological assessments, background investigations, and a physical task assessment that could push even the most physically fit person to their limits.
    I was ready for it, though, had been preparing for years for it, although the running part of the physical assessment wasn’t exactly fun. While I spent my youth preparing for a career in law enforcement, my body had prepared for the transformation from girl to woman; a woman with large breasts. Even an ultra-snug sports bra had problems reining in that bounce, but I had sworn nothing would keep me from my dream, not even my own well-endowed body. I didn’t set any speed records on the course, but I got the job done. That’s what it was all about; getting the job done, no matter what.
    The line slowly snaked forward at a snail’s pace. At this rate, it would be time to go home before I reached the checkpoint, or maybe that was just me being a little less chipper. I usually needed at least two cups of coffee before the blood started flowing and the brain really started working. Unfortunately, a power surge in the middle of the night had reset my alarm clock, so I didn’t have time for more than a sip of my coffee as I frantically got ready for work. Mornings without coffee sucked. Hard. The clock on the wall tick-tocked merrily away, letting me know I was going to be late. The chance of grabbing a cup of caffeinated goodness from the breakroom before going to my desk became smaller and smaller with each passing minute.
    “Good morning, Glinda,” I said, turning towards the person behind me. Maybe the clock would move faster if I did something besides stare at it.
    “Good morning, Corsica,” Glinda said as she dug in her bag. “How are you?”
    “No coffee this morning but I’ll live. How about you? Feeling any better?” The dark circles under her eyes basically already answered that question but I figured it didn’t hurt to ask. She had recently returned from maternity leave, and the lack of sleep from caring for her new bundle of joy along with working a full-time job was starting to show.
    “Oh I’m fine. The baby just hasn’t learned to sleep through the night yet,” she replied. With a sudden smile, she pulled her badge from the depths of her extremely large purse like she’d just won the lottery. “There it is.” Her smile was part happiness, part relief. Without that little plastic card, there was no going beyond the checkpoint.
    Ten minutes later, after having our IDs scanned and bags x-rayed, we were exiting the elevator on our floor. The hum of computers and the shuffle of papers filled the room, but that was about as exciting as things got around here. It was a little disappointing. If anything ever happened here, I’d be shocked.
    Taking a seat at my desk, I checked my voicemail while my stone-age computer booted up. There were newer computers around the office but the newbies didn’t get those. After logging into the secure database, I printed out the documents that needed to be analyzed, slipping my glasses on as the printer shot out the stack of papers that would be my best friends for at least the rest of the day. Just another exciting day in law enforcement.
    The first document was a transcribed discussion between two Russian men. They were obviously planning something but were being very cryptic about it. I added my thoughts on the report and moved along to the next paper in the