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Kaya realized just how much this was pissing me off. She tried to deescalate the situation, though it didn’t work like she’d hoped. “He is just a man who helped me once.”
“He doesn’t do fucking charity, Ekaterina. Helped you?” I scoffed. “What was the price of that?”
She remained quiet. Her breathing was rigid, her jaw clenched. She was no longer looking at me, nor leaning against my chest. The water was getting colder. I wrapped my arms around her. We weren’t leaving the tub until she gave me the answers I needed. I’d rather freeze to death than let her go now.
“Working with him is always a give and take arrangement. Sometimes it’s money, sometimes it’s a painting, and sometimes it’s information.”
“Why are you beating around the bush so much?”
“I’m not,” she said, getting defensive. “But you need to understand that no matter how much I’d prepared myself for that meeting, it was all in vain. When he walked into the room, the air shifted, and I barely managed to not pass out. Me. He asserted dominance with a mere glance. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into.”
I gripped her body tighter, pulling her closer to me. Then she glanced at me, eyes devoid of any emotions.
Her mouth opened, then closed, two times. She took a small intake of breath before releasing it.
“Everything I did back then was for you. He got you arrested, and he was the only one who could make all of those fabricated pieces of evidence disappear. So, in return, I gave him information.”
“What kind of information?”
She hesitated to respond.
SEVENTEEN
EKATERINA
four years ago
The snow underneath my boots squeaked. The sound made my eyes twitch, and it seemed to be getting louder and louder with each step.
The line in front of me seemed to be never ending. As someone who came from one of the most important families in the criminal world, you’d think I could cut a goddamn line. But, no. Since this was the club open only to people like me, cutting the line was a show of disrespect.
This club was exclusive.
Unlike Himeros, which dealt with a lot of illegal gambling, this place was made for the men of the darkness to come together and have a good time. The client list only included less than a hundred people in all of New York City.
It wasn’t open every weekend. It varied. At times, it was open every Friday for months and then it would be shut down for a year. A week before the club opened, every member would get an invitation that was used as a pass.
The invitation was always in a deep shade of red that resembled blood, with black details.
I was fucking freezing but didn’t want to show it.
The black mini dress I wore barely covered my ass, and the material was thin. The sleeves being long did not help at all. The boots reached just above my knees and were made of black leather, matching my long coat.
“If I had known we’d be waiting this long, I would’ve stayed home.”
I snorted. “Not only did I not invite you, but I also did not force you to come. Go home.”
My future sister-in-law, Davina, gave me a disapproving look.
Before coming here, I was having dinner with my three brothers. Dominik had just arrived from Russia after not seeing him for a while, and it was nice to catch up. I slipped up and said that I was going out with Rhea, and Davina tagged along.
As the future wife of the Pakhan, the invitation with his name on it meant it was hers as well. No one would question it. It wasn’t as if she was able to simply steal the invitation and come here herself.
“Why are we here tonight?” she questioned, then pried further. “I mean, you’ve been way too quiet lately, and somehow I doubt you wanted to let loose.”
“Is it that hard to believe that I have no ulterior motives and just want to get drunk?”
Davina didn’t miss a beat. “Yes. And at this rate, you’ll become an alcoholic before you turn twenty-five.”
