[NIKITA]

Nikita\'s grandparents had given up all hope on their grandchild and the company that was left in his hands.

However, even they knew they were too old to run the business, and then again, there was just no way they would meddle because they had made their promise to their now dead children that they would let the business sail smoothly without them poking around.

Maybe that was a good decision because when the older Pavlenkos learned of Qiao and Carrie\'s establishment in the company, they let out sighs of relief. They trusted the two soldiers to teach their grandson a lesson on business development.

However, was their grandson really in the right mind to take over everything?

Maybe he was broken, possibly he was hurting endlessly, but Nikita knew that his friends wouldn\'t disappoint him, which is also why when Qiao called him before they walked into the conference room, Nikita just wished them good luck again.

"Hey," Carrie whispered to Qiao as they almost neared the conference room. Qiao looked at her, amused and curious as to why she was whispering, but then his eyes trailed down to her hands, cutely curled up in a fist.

It didn\'t take long before Qiao realized that she wanted them to fist bump. After all, it was always their tradition, regardless of what missions were ȧssigned to them.

They did their tradition before straightening up to face the sharks of the corporate world, even though they weren\'t scared. They had all the skills needed even though they hadn\'t ever tried to put them into practice.

The mahogany door was pulled open the moment the soldiers neared the door, and it was a tradition for the senior executives of the company. The door revealed a vast conference room with a long brick table and several seats beside it.

It was a beautiful table, no doubt, with the decorations and florals placed right at its center and at intervals. The room had beautiful windows, which gave them a nice view of the beauty that was Todorov city and even allowed the fresh air to flow through peacefully.

The room walls were fitted with micro speakers and transmitters to allow everyone in the room to listen to each other and know what to do with the other\'s opinion.

It was a beautiful setup, and on the end of the table, the wall was fitted with a large screen that covered every ounce of it, thanks to Yuri and his theatrics. The man had told his parents that he didn\'t want to squint his eyes from his seat just because a multi-billion company could not buy a walled screen.

He wasn\'t going to compromise, and even though his parents had opposed the idea, Nikita had agreed with him. Eventually, they decided because, at the end of the day, it was either Niki or Yuri who would be taking over the company considering Raisa had still been a little girl then.

Inside the room and on several occupied seats were all the board members of the Pavlenko group of companies. They were eagerly waiting to see what the two commanders were made of, and maybe some of them were ready to try getting them off their seats.

Then again, it was technically impossible because even though Carrie and Qiao were the CEOs, Nikita was the man behind the shares, and he had a collective eighty percent of all the shares, which meant that no matter what all these people would try here, the soldiers were not going anywhere.

On the opposite end of the table were two seats, reserved for the new officials of Pavlenko, with file folders and sealed water bottles.

Qiao looked around the room, studying the people in it. He could see the scorn on some faces, the resentment on others who thought they were next in line for the power of Pavlenko, and he could see a few who were glad someone was finally seated on Nikita\'s seat.

It couldn\'t have remained empty for long, though.

Carrie led the way to their seats, since it was evident for them, before settling and now staring back at the people who were in this room. Carie didn\'t like any of them, but again, the woman never wanted anyone except the Pavlenkos and her best friends. She was selective, and she couldn\'t be blamed for it anyway.

"Sir, ma\'am…the Pavlenko board of directors," Zara introduced as Carie just nodded. Qiao was still watching them, carefully trying to see who had the guts to come out with their stupid dėsɨrės, but none of them stepped up.

They were still silent, and maybe they were still taking in the night before them. Perhaps they had thought it was all a  rumor when the new officials had been appointed, or perhaps they thought it was just a prank by Nikita.

However, here they were, two soldiers looking hot and sėxy yet with a powerful aura that commanded respect even before they spoke.

Their military clothing didn\'t make it any easier to look at the two of them. But then who could tell these people in here that the two commanders were soft at heart whenever it came to Nikita?

Who could tell them that they always smiled and laughed along with their best friends and even went out on game dates? Who would say to them that these people who looked like they had sticks up their ȧsses are actually adorable whenever they aren\'t holding their firearms?

They weren\'t carrying any guns today, but there was a knife in Carrie\'s pants and a few explosives carefully tucked in Qiao\'s pockets.

No one could know what they were carrying, but even as they sat in this room looking harmless as fuċk, the two commanders were armed to the teeth, and it wasn\'t just with their combat skills.

"Thank you, Zara," Qiao said.

"Hello everyone, good morning. My name is Ekaroina Tabakov and beside me is Qiao Xi. Maybe we could get over the introductions before we begin the session," Carrie said to the team, who visibly relaxed.

What was it with them anyway? They were acting like the commanders were about to blow them off, well there was a high probability for that, but still, they didn\'t need to act like it was a hellish day for them.

Damn, they were making the soldiers look like mercenaries.

As they introduced themselves, Qiao went through Zara\'s documents before them. There was nothing much because it was the same one that she had sent them at the office.

This was the beginning of their duty as the Pavlenko heads, and it would take all their energy, but then they knew that, and they were prepared for it.