Just reading the report saddened her, and made her wonder how they had survived, and how he had turned into such a decent, honorable human being after so much adversity. And his mother was nothing short of remarkable, even at eighty-one.
There were tears running down Olivia’s cheeks when she finished reading. She printed it out, put it in an envelope, and put it in her safe. She was glad she’d had it done. It put her mind to rest about him forever. No harm would come to her at Joachim’s hands, which was what she had wanted to know. There was no similarity between him and his twin and no connection in twenty-five years.
Her own mother’s sad life seemed paltry in comparison. She had been weak but not cruel or dangerous. And George Lawrence for all his faults didn’t compare with a Nazi war criminal, a father who had abandoned both his sons, and a Colombian drug lord. Whatever she had been through didn’t match for an instant the tragedies Joachim had survived, and he had still come out of it a decent human being. It would seem that, entirely by accident, she had crossed paths with an extraordinary man. For as long as he was willing to work for her, his job was secure. And it didn’t sound as though his dangerously criminal brother would ever surface in his life again.
Chapter 12
After she’d read the report, there were no longer any questions in Olivia’s mind about Joachim. She had no intention of firing him, in spite of his criminal brother. Javier hadn’t come near Joachim in twenty-five years and had turned his back on him. Why would he surface now? As they continued to work side by side at the chateau, they became closer and more at ease with each other again. They were accomplishing a great deal in a short time, with the chateau owner’s willingness to spend vast amounts of money to speed the process along. And Joachim could tell that Olivia was comfortable with him and trusted him again.
“He must have an incredible fortune,” Joachim commented to Olivia one night about the Russian owner of the chateau. They were working late going over their expenses. Nikolai Petrov never challenged their bills or scolded them for what they spent. His check to Olivia arrived on time every month, and he kept more than enough money in the account from which they paid their suppliers. Olivia was very pleased with how the chateau was progressing. It already looked like a different home, with all the grand glory of the chateau in its original state, and the fine workmanship and every modern convenience that money could buy. She had ordered the fabric for the upholstery and curtains, and there was an entire workroom set up to receive it, with some of the finest curtain makers in Paris waiting to work on the order.
Audrey called her from time to time to see how it was going and was impressed that Olivia was managing it so well. It was beginning to look like they would have the chateau ready for the owner in under eight months, although the pool area might take a little longer. They even had twenty-two very imposing ancestral portraits to hang in the entrance.
And through the entire process, Petrov hadn’t come to Paris once. Olivia sent him frequent photographs, and he assured her that he trusted her completely, and was pleased with her results, which was very gratifying. He was always nice to her on the phone and by email, expressed the utmost confidence in her and treated her well.
It was an exhausting project, but Olivia loved doing it, and Joachim was enjoying it with her. It was an ideal combination of unlimited money, Olivia’s good taste, and a beautiful house, which they were making even more beautiful every day.
The one thing she always found odd was that whenever Petrov called her, the number he called from was blocked so that she could not see it, and she didn’t even know what country he was in. She had no phone number to reach him, only email. Supposedly he lived in Moscow, but Audrey said she’d been told that he moved around constantly, and had an elaborate security system, and dozens of bodyguards. Every pane of glass in the chateau was now bulletproof, at his instruction, and his bedroom and office suite were missile-proof. There was an entire floor of bedrooms for his bodyguards, also at his request. There were to be twenty-four of them, bunking two to a room.
Olivia and Joachim spent many nights working late at the chateau. He was mostly in charge of keeping all of the crews working hard at full speed, and he dealt with the outdoor crews who were trying to make the gardens look like Versailles, at Petrov’s request. They had even brought in a fully grown twelve-foot-tall hedge cut as a maze, which cost a fortune. And the stables were being refreshed for horses he wanted to buy and bring in from Saudi Arabia. They added some additional touches, but few were needed.