An enemy will agree, but a friend will argue—Russian Proverb
HE TEXTED EXACTLY NINETY MINUTES LATER; his instructions were clear.
N: Bring in the next one, I’ll be finished in five.
I felt my eyebrows furrow in confusion. What next one? Jac had been showing me how to do the scheduling for the past hour and a half, not that any of that made sense. There were names and contact numbers, but no last names, and no private information about their conditions.
Just first names and numbers.
Though some names had little red X’s next to them. Jac said that once the patient had three X’s that I was to delete them from the system. I asked if every patient eventually got three X’s and she changed the subject and started talking about Christmas decorations.
“Told you he’d text.” Jac nodded. “Always does.”
“So…” I showed her my phone. “…where do I get the next girl?”
She paused, her lips pressing together in a smile. “Well aren’t you just adorable.”
“Yeah,” I croaked. I’d never been called adorable in my life. Not by my parents who ignored me or the boyfriends who hated me—once my father got ahold of them.
I’d been called sexy.
Cute.
Pretty—at least a handful of times.
But never adorable. Adorable meant innocence, and I wasn’t innocent, I was tainted.
“The girls will always be waiting outside the door.” She pointed down the hall. “When he texts you to bring in the next girl, you simply open the door, bring her down the hall and leave when he tells you.”
“Okay.” I licked my dry lips and rose from my seat. “I guess I’ll be right back then.”
“Remember,” Jac called after me, “don’t ask questions.”
I wasn’t sure why it was so important for her to remind me of that one little rule, so I shrugged her off and sighed as I made my way down the hall.
The next girl waiting had a pixie haircut and shoved a cigarette between her teeth before looking me up and down and smirking. “You’re new.”
“Yup,” I breathed.
“He screw you yet?” Her eyebrows shot up to her hairline.
“I’m his employee.”
“They all are.” She rolled her eyes, and shoved past me. “I know the way.”
I followed behind her because what choice did I have? When she stopped at the room and peered in, her face softened.
The door opened.
Nikolai stepped out. “Anastasia.” He grinned. “How are you feeling?”
“Better now¸” She said in a breathy sigh.
I rolled my eyes.
“Something bothering you?” Nikolai snapped.
Crap. He saw me.
“No.” I cleared my throat. “Just tired.”
His eyes narrowed. “That will be all, Maya.”
“Right.” I clenched my fists and walked past them, this time I didn’t look back, I didn’t want to know. Something was very wrong with what he was doing, I just didn’t know what. And it wasn’t like he had some great paper trail for me to follow on his stupid computer. All I had to go by were names, and a contact number.
When I walked back into the main lobby Jac was putting her coat back on and checking her cell phone. “It will get better,” she said without looking up from her phone. “It always does.”
“Right.” I grit my teeth, wondering if I should take the chance and tell her about the contract, ask her if the other girls had to sign them, or even just give a lame “Help” in her direction and see if she would take pity on me and rescue me from his evil clutches.
“I promise.” Jac leaned over the counter, placing her manicured hands on the table. “It seems overwhelming for now, but this is such a great opportunity.”
“Is it?” I parroted.
“Of course!” Her eyes twinkled. “Just think of the job opportunities you’ll receive after you work with Nikolai for a few months.”
“A year,” I corrected.
She froze. “Pardon?”
Had I said something wrong? I tucked a strand of escaped hair behind my ear and shrugged. “My contract says a year.”
Her mouth opened then shut. When she spoke, her voice seemed a little strained. “A year is quite a long time.”
“Tell me about it.” I forced a smile. “Is um, that not normal?”
“Normal.” She shrugged. “What is normal?” Pulling away from the counter she dipped her head in my direction. “I’ll see you tomorrow Maya.”
“Okay.” The door shut behind her blanketing me back into silence as I sat there wondering what in the heck I was going to do.
My text message alert went off.
N: Done.
M: Great.
What else did he want me to say? Congratulations?
N: I’ll need your help cleaning up.
M: Okay…
N: Must I spell it out for you? Maya. Come.
Muttering a curse I pushed the phone away from my hand, stood, and stomped my way down the hall.
I tugged open the door and froze when I saw him tossing away bloody gloves.
“Maya,” Nikolai said without turning around. “Make yourself useful and replace the bedding.”
I stuck my tongue out at his back and went to the bed, pulling the sheets from their place trying not to focus on the splatters of blood I saw on them. Why would there be blood in the first place?
No questions. Right.
“Curious, aren’t you?” His smooth voice penetrated my thoughts. “I can practically hear your mind working. Careful or you’ll hurt yourself with all your… theories.”
“Theories?” I shrugged and tossed the sheets into the nearby hamper that said laundry. “Why would I have any theories? You’re a world renowned doctor, you see patients at night, patients who look like prostitutes, and you have absolutely no paper trail on your computer. Now, what do you think I’m going to do with that?”
“I’m not sure…” His hand moved to my shoulder, and he spun me around to face him. “What are you going to do with that information?”
“Go to the police,” I blurted.
His amused smile made me want to stab him. “And say what? I’m being paid half a million a month to do a job I signed up for? Oh, and by the way, my father’s Alexander Petrov, perhaps you have his file on hand?”
“You’re a bastard,” I hissed.
“And you’re…” He angled a speculative look on me. “Interesting.”
“Whatever you’re doing, it can’t be legal.”
“Ah, so the daughter of a Russian mafia boss has…. morals?” His eyes were mocking as he whispered in a gruff voice, “Such a pity.”
“Did you need anything else?”
“Tonight?” He licked his lips. “Yes, I believe I do.”
He moved too fast for me to prepare myself. One minute he was towering over me, the next he was pushing me against the wall, his mouth inches from mine.
“I own you.”
“So you’ve said,” I could barely squeeze the words out, my throat was so dry and tight.
“I can do whatever I want with you… and nobody would hear you scream, Maya, nobody would even care. It would be prudent of you, to remember who holds your precious life in their hands. What I do here is none of your damn business. Do the job I pay you an abhorrent amount of money for, and when this is all finished, I’ll write you a glowing recommendation.”
“Will that be before or after you force me to sleep with you like the rest of the girls you had work for you?” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.
His eyes flashed, “If I wanted you, you’d know.”
That was it. That one sentence crippled me. Made me feel not only small but rejected in such a vile way I wanted to cry.
“Oh, and Maya?” His head tilted. “Just in case you can’t read between the lines there is nothing about you… that I want.”
Tears stung my eyes as I looked down at the white floor. My throat felt thick. He was an ass! Why did I care what he thought? The loneliness of my situation was choking.
“Will that be all, Nikolai?” I met his eyes again.
“Yes.” He stepped back. “Now, turn off the lights and meet me at the front.”
I scurried out of the room, wiping the stray tears away, and snatched my belongings from the table.
He followed me two minutes later.
Once the door was locked, his hand was on my back, guiding me to the “safe” Audi, and before I knew it we were driving in silence back to the office building, back to my condo, back to my horrible existence where I didn’t really exist, nor live for myself but for a complete psycho stranger with a god complex.
So strange, to pass by people laughing and walking home from work, to notice the little things like lights flickering in front of buildings, people holding hands, the stupid Starbucks guy handing out free samples. All of those things were symbols of freedom—something I didn’t have and wouldn’t have for an entire year.
What had I done wrong? In all of my years of living, I had to have done something horrible to my father to gain this type of punishment.
Maybe that was it.
I’d simply existed. And that had been enough.
I had no more tears left. Only despair as he pulled the car into the garage and turned off the engine.
I assumed he’d accompany me to my room.
He did.
The ride in the elevator was like absolute torture. I stood on one end, he stood on the other. The music was happily chirping in my ears, and I wished the damn thing would just plummet to the earth and let me die.
When we finally reached my condo, I expected him to leave. But he didn’t, instead, he opened the door, led me in, and went to the fridge, pulling out a bottle of wine.
What was his angle?
And why wouldn’t he just leave me in peace?
“I assume you met Jac?” He didn’t make eye contact, didn’t acknowledge my existence, simply pulled out two glasses and began pouring.
“She’s sweet…. beautiful.”
He stopped mid pour, his hand shaking a bit before he set the wine bottle down and braced himself against the counter. “She’s irreplaceable.”
“I’ll… try.” It was all I had. “To do my best.”
“They all try.” He sneered. “How about you succeed where they failed?”
“How about you tell me more about your high expectations so I don’t fail!” I yelled back.
His face broke out into a smile. “Ah, there you are.”
“What?” I threw my hands up in exasperation. “I’ve been here the whole time.”
“You need spirit to last… Women… when they lose their spirit, they lose everything.”
“You don’t make sense,” I grumbled and grabbed the glass of wine he held out to me.
Being that close to him again made me want to both strangle him and pull him even closer. He smelled so good, and even though his countenance was cold, his body heat was practically leaping at me.
Nikolai shrugged. “I don’t have to make sense… to you.”
“Answers to no one.” I lifted my glass into the air. “Got it.”
“Don’t lose the fight, Maya, even when the war seems daunting… simply keep fighting, let the fight mold you, don’t let it break you. Too many people give up in the face of defeat. I need someone willing to push through that.”
“I have…” I swallowed and looked away. “For my entire life.”
“I know,” he whispered. “Which is why I need you.”
It was the first time I’d heard those words from his lips. I almost dropped my glass onto the floor. Had he just said he needed me? After all the arrogance, all the bullying, taunting, bossing me around?
He took a sip of wine and smiled that blinding smile that had my heart fluttering way too fast. “Don’t look so shocked.”
“I am,” I said pointedly. “Shocked you need anything.”
He shrugged.
Apparently the conversation was closed.
“Eat something,” he urged, setting his wine glass down on the granite table. “My offices, tomorrow morning, eight o’clock, remember it’s the thirty-second floor.”
“Right.”
“Wear black.”
I gritted my teeth. “Not like you gave me lots of choices in that closet anyways.”
His smile was back full force. “You get choices when you prove I can trust you with them.”
“You don’t think I’m trustworthy?”
“Your father wasn’t.”
“I’m not my father.”
He sighed, running his hands through his hair. “Prove it.”
And that was the end of the conversation.
He walked to the door and slammed it behind him, leaving me more confused than before, which was pretty damn confused, all things considered. I decided it wasn’t worth the headache—he wasn’t worth the headache. I had exactly three hundred and sixty-four more days of hell then I could go back to normal… back to a time when I didn’t know Nikolai Blazik.
Back to a time when I actually knew myself.