Chapter4
The limousine bearing Olivia, Vera, Ruslan, Pasha, and Nikolai pulled up to a large hotel in downtown Moscow. As they exited, Olivia quickly realized there was a club built into the bottom of the hotel they would presumably be entering. A long line stretched around the outside and Olivia wondered why anyone would wait in the bitter cold to get into the club.
Olivia certainly enjoyed a night out and a decent party, but waiting outside in a long line to her was not appealing. She wasn’t prepared to go out that night, so her legs would surely freeze inside the dress she had borrowed from Vera. She could hear the music beating from outside and was looking forward to experiencing Russian nightlife. She also reminded herself that she was with the very people that had robbed her the night before. What were their intentions?
She surely wasn’t looking forward to hanging out with them in the long line in front of the bar. Luckily for the five, they didn’t have to. They walked right up to the doorway and were immediately let inside by the bouncer. Olivia knew right away that these weren’t just normal Russian partygoers. The bouncer didn’t even have to check the list. He took one look at Ruslan and the rest of the crew and immediately allowed them to bypass the long line of people waiting outside.
The music pounded through Olivia’s entire body. She wanted to let loose, get a drink, and go wild, but she knew she needed to focus. She had no idea where she was as soon as they walked in, and immediately lost control of all her senses. She didn’t see an easy way out, an easy trigger for her panic. Although she was in a room with hundreds of people packed wall to wall, she knew she wasn’t safe with these men.
She tried to get Vera to follow her away from the boys, but immediately lost her and Ruslan in the crowd. She felt someone tug on her arm and figured it was just a drunk dancer but realized quickly that Nikolai had a tight grip around her elbow. She tried to get him to let go and even screamed a bit, but no one could hear her in the crowded room.
She looked around and saw no one she knew, not even Pasha. Nikolai was tugging her towards an empty hallway with no labels. It wasn’t the restroom or even a place for the staff to go. The hallway was only long enough to have two doors, and Nikolai dragged her through one. The door opened to an empty room with black floors and gray walls. It was quiet, though you could still hear the Russian club music pounding through the walls.
“What the hell is going on?” Olivia said, looking angrily at Nikolai.
“Just wait for the boss,” Nikolai replied.
“No, let me out of here. You can’t do this. You can’t keep people hostage in the back of the club!” she yelled, pushing him out of the way. Although she shoved her hands into his chest as hard as she could, she realized it was like trying to push a brick wall down. There was no way he was going to let her out of that room.
“You can do whatever you want when you own the building,” Nikolai replied as an evil grin spread across his face.
Frustrated, Olivia made her way to a beat-up couch in the corner of the room. It was the only piece of furniture in the room besides a metal table and an old light fixture. Nikolai reached in his pocket, pulled out a cigarette and lighter, and lit up right in that room.
“Do you mind?” Olivia said sassily, pointing out the fact that there were no windows in the room. Nikolai didn’t even acknowledge her. She had her coat on again with access to her phone, but what good would that do? These men were probably more powerful than the police. Maybe they were the police. It’s not like Olivia knew any better. She barely had any idea what was going on.
Olivia thought about how they could kill her, and no one would probably ever know. She had a few friends back in Chicago, but no one who would think twice if she didn’t report back to them. Anyone would just assume that they drifted apart if they didn’t hear from Olivia.
Margot could surely hire another nurse before she passed, and the rest of the family would certainly buy any line that Ruslan decided to feed them about her disappearance. Although she knew that they would be able to get away with hurting her, Olivia wasn’t scared of that outcome.
She figured if they wanted to kill her by now, they probably would have. Why would they take her to a busy club if that was their intention? They had something else in mind, and Olivia was at least willing to stick around long enough to hear what Ruslan’s explanation was for breaking into her house the night before and terrorizing an otherwise peaceful Russian vacation. She couldn’t be too angry at them all. This was, after all, her first time away from the cabin since arriving in Moscow. If the robbery hadn’t happened, it was likely she would have never left at all.
Finally, the door burst open and Ruslan and Pasha walked in. “Vera’s in the restroom. Go take care of her,” Ruslan told Nikolai.
“Don’t touch her!” Olivia screamed. Nikolai gave an evil grin and Olivia knew there was nothing she could do to stop them from doing anything.
“No one is getting hurt here, Olivia. That’s the last thing we want,” Ruslan said as he walked over and sat next to Olivia on the small leather couch. He placed his hand on her knee. “You don’t have to be afraid.”
She slapped his hand as hard as she could. She didn’t mind feeling his warm palm on her smooth and cold knee, but she didn’t want him to know that. “I’m not afraid of anything,” she said. She wasn’t lying, too much at least.
“I need you to know that we never wanted to hurt you when we broke in the other night,” Ruslan explained.
“So, it was you,” Olivia said, confirming her suspicions. She knew since the moment she made eye contact and knew that Ruslan knew she knew. Still, she needed to keep him thinking she was dumber than she was.
Ruslan gave her a look suggesting he realized her gimmick. “Olivia, you’re not working for who you think.”
“Joseph and Margot are great,” Olivia responded.
“Of course, Margot is an angel. Joseph might not be the man you thought. He’s dangerous, Olivia. It’s probably best for you to go back home as soon as you can,” Ruslan told her.
“Why would I ever believe you over them? I’m not leaving Margot and I’m certainly not going to let you keep dragging Vera around this city alone,” Olivia responded. She felt responsible for the two and didn’t want to run away from a potentially dangerous situation leaving the two women closest to her in the hands of so many corrupt men.
“I know I’ve given you no reason to trust me. But do you remember Peter? Joseph’s original partner?” Ruslan asked.
“Yes. He slit his wrists last month. How could anyone forget that?” Olivia responded.
“No, he didn’t. Someone else did, and only made it look like a suicide,” Ruslan replied.
“Those are just crazy rumors. Why would anyone kill Peter?” she asked.
“I don’t know, but that’s what I’m trying to figure out. And I think Joseph might have some of the answers. The other day, we just staged the robbery. We only took the jewelry and cash to make it look like a normal break-in. We were looking for something else,” he replied.
“The black box,” Olivia responded.
“Yes. Do you know what was in that black box?” Ruslan asked. Olivia shook her head no. “It was a knife. I think it was the one used to kill Peter. Joseph having it only makes me think that he had something to do with it.”
“Joseph always collects strange things. Why would you think this particular knife was the one used to kill Peter?” she asked.
“We looked into the details of the crime scene. Peter was found with a small razor, but the coroner’s report stated that the cuts on his wrists were inconsistent with ones caused by that small of a razor. A knife like the one we found was more likely to cause the fatal wounds on Peter. Joseph, or someone working for Joseph—they might be coming after me next. I have to do whatever it takes to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Ruslan explained.
“So why not go to the police? Why not just confront Joseph?” Olivia asked.
“The police were already involved, and you know what happened. They said it was just a suicide. If Joseph did do this, if he’s capable of killing his best friend since college, I don’t know what else he could be capable of. If he didn’t do this, I can’t just blindly accuse him or else I risk losing another partner. I just need more time to figure out what’s going on. All I ask of you is to leave before it’s too late. You never know what could happen to you,” Ruslan said.
“I’m not leaving. If I did, don’t you think that would look suspicious?”
“Then all I ask is for you to stay quiet. The less involved you are the safer things will be. If Joseph knew we were talking to each other like this, that would put you in serious danger, Olivia,” Ruslan explained. Olivia felt her pocket start to vibrate. She pulled out her phone and saw that Vera was calling her.
“We should get back,” Olivia said, giving Ruslan a reassuring look. She wasn’t going to believe him right away, but she also didn’t want to go running back to Joseph to tell him about the conversation she had. She was going to stay quiet and keep to herself, just as she usually did.
****
After what felt like thirty minutes of pushing through people, Olivia, Pasha, and Ruslan finally found Vera and Nikolai ordering a round of shots at the bar. Olivia certainly needed a drink after the conversation she just had with the other two men. She might as well drink as much as she can, knowing that her alcohol was going on the owner’s tab. She threw back the shot with ease, realizing only once it hit her lips that it was tequila.
Pasha emerged with a bottle of top shelf whiskey and motioned for the group to follow him. He led them to an upstairs balcony overlooking the crowd below. Olivia observed that they were in the VIP section, a smaller and quieter place away from the swarm downstairs, though there were still plenty of people surrounding them on that level.
Olivia knew that Ruslan was wealthy, but she hadn’t realized how far his power went. She knew Moscow was big, but she felt like she was in the center of it all right there at that club. Pasha had found a few girls that were lingering in the VIP section to dance with, and Nikolai and Vera were snuggled on a couch, taking swigs from the bottle Pasha had before.
“Livy! Livia!!!” Vera shouted at Olivia. She hated being called by anything other than her full name, and Vera knew this. She always seemed to forget. Olivia ignored her at first but then walked over. “Want one?” Vera held out her hand and revealed four pills to Olivia.
Normally if offered a pill in a club, Olivia would be a little freaked out that it was ecstasy or molly. She knew her pharmaceuticals well, however, and saw that Vera only had a few generic Xanax pills. “I scored them from some guy by the bathroom,” Vera teased. Olivia wondered what Vera thought she had bought and hoped she didn’t pay too much for them. Still, she took one, Nikolai took one, and Vera took two. “Get ready to get wild!” she screamed, chugging from the bottle and dancing on the couch.
Olivia knew the dosage was low too, so she hoped she would actually feel something. She felt a bit overwhelmed and still had a strange feeling after her discussion with the three men in the back room. She only kept getting more and more confused and wondered what the truth of the situation was. She had known Joseph for a couple years now, and he did not seem like a killer. There was something about Ruslan’s deep brown eyes that made Olivia want to believe everything he had to say. She looked around and realized she didn’t know where he had gone. She walked over to the railing on the edge of the VIP balcony and saw Ruslan standing there looking down.
He had taken off his suit jacket and tie at some point and was just wearing black pants and a white button-up. Olivia felt her stomach flutter seeing the way his sleeves were rolled up and unbuttoned slightly. She liked seeing him more relaxed.
“I’m sorry if this isn’t your scene. I needed to talk to you somewhere private,” Ruslan told Olivia.
“It’s fine. I’m sorry for slapping your hand.”
“I deserved it,” Ruslan said smiling.
When his face revealed that sweet smile and those dark eyes, Olivia felt something strange, and she knew it wasn’t the Xanax. She wanted to go back before the robbery and meet Ruslan on different terms, but she knew that would never happen. She wondered what Ruslan thought about her. Something pulled her towards him magnetically that she couldn’t describe. The tequila was pushing her towards him and she wondered what it might feel like to be wrapped up in his arms.
“Guys what are you doing! Come dance!” Vera screamed obnoxiously at the two, grabbing Ruslan’s hand and pulling him towards the upstairs dance floor. Ruslan reached his hand out towards Olivia as he was being dragged away by Vera. She hesitated for a moment but eventually reached out and grabbed his hand back.
When they made it to the dance floor, Olivia felt everything hit her at once. The stress of the past two days, the confusion brought on by the situation, and of course, the drugs and alcohol. The music pulsed through her body and she felt light and free. Vera came up and grabbed her hips, dancing with her close. Vera was certainly feeling everything too. She leaned in close to Olivia and screamed, though Olivia could still barely hear her.
“Dance with Nikolai! I want to get with Ruslan!” Vera screamed at Olivia. Olivia had played this role before. Most men who saw Vera and knew who she was were interested in her immediately. This usually meant Vera had a wide selection of who she wanted to spend her night with. Sometimes men would take notice to Olivia too, but she would usually blow them off. This would leave her open to step in and distract a guy that got a little too handsy with Vera, so she could make her move on the man she actually wanted to be with.
Olivia was used to this routine, but when she heard Vera was interested in Ruslan, her heart sunk a bit. She looked over at Ruslan, dancing alone. He looked up and made eye contact with Olivia, immediately smiling. He motioned for her to join him, but Vera saw first and mistook the gesture for herself. She ran towards Ruslan and started grinding all over him. Olivia looked over and saw Nikolai, who was already dancing with another girl. She stayed where she was and danced alone, trying to hide the fact that she kind of wanted to cry, or at least push Vera off Ruslan. She distanced herself from the couple and tried to tune out her thoughts and dance to the music.
Why would she be upset that Ruslan was dancing with Vera? Just moments ago, she was slapping his hand away, and the night before he had caused her to fear for her life. Any other time, this man would totally disgust Olivia, but something about him made it hard for her to tune him out. He towered over her and had the muscles of a body builder, but still, something about his presence comforted Olivia. Though they hadn’t talked much and had been through even more intense scenarios, she still felt like she could trust him.
She had to snap into reality. Ruslan was in his late thirties, though he didn’t look like it. Though he wasn’t much older than Olivia, he was definitely far from Vera’s age. The thought of him showing interest in his partner’s young daughter slightly creeped Olivia out. She wouldn’t want to be with a man like that, right? What did he see in Vera?
Then she thought about what he saw in her. What did she have to offer? A loner from the Midwest with no family and hardly any friends. She was small with dark features while Vera looked like she stepped out of a magazine. Her heart kept sinking deeper and deeper as she pictured the two together, but she had to remind herself over and over again that the idea of being with Ruslan was ridiculous anyways, right?
Olivia decided she needed to leave right then and there and didn’t care who else left with her. She wanted to get as far away from Ruslan and Vera as possible. Surely, she could find a cab that would take her back to the cabin, right?
Just as she started to walk down the stairs, she felt a strong grip on her elbow once again. This time, instead of being intimidated by Nikolai, she was being dragged back to the dance floor by Ruslan.
“Where are you going?” he asked. Olivia quickly looked around and realized she couldn’t see Vera. Ruslan must have ditched her on the dance floor. Olivia shrugged and followed Ruslan back to dance.
At first, they just danced next to each other. Olivia had no idea what the song was singing, as she assumed it was being sung in Russian. Still, she loved the tempo and the way it flowed through her arms and down through her legs. Ruslan was a pretty good dancer, but Olivia had some moves herself.
Eventually, the song got a bit slower and more intense, so dancing separate from each other felt a little strange. Ruslan grabbed Olivia’s hands and jokingly danced around the floor with her. He got more serious and pulled her in close, pressing her stomach into his. She was about as high as his chest, but for her, that was the perfect spot. He held her close and swayed to the beat. For a moment, Olivia forgot that they were in the club at all.
She turned around and Ruslan held her close from behind, grinding and swaying to the song, holding Olivia’s hips the entire time. She closed her eyes and leaned into him, swaying along as well. She felt like she could spend hours on the dance floor and was much happier that she had decided to come out instead of ditching them to go home and read at the cabin.
Just as she thought Ruslan might lean down and kiss her, she felt the third sharp grip on her elbow that night. It was Vera, and she looked like she had just gotten run over by a bus.
“I’m sick. We need to go,” she cried. Olivia reluctantly led her downstairs while Ruslan rounded up the rest of the crew to head home.