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He reached the far side of the bed and Leo came into his sightline.
He dropped the sock and staggered back. He wore a pair of tight briefs. His penis was erect and stained against the gross underwear. His skin was pale and splotchy and covered in a strange downy white hair.
“What the fuck is this?” Leo asked. “What the fuck are you doing?” He took a few more steps into the room. The gun pointed at Maksim’s chest.
“He does this,” one of the girls said, a pretty girl with blonde hair and dead eyes. She put one arm across her small chest. “He hits us. Enjoys it. Gets off on it. But he pays good when it’s over.”
The girl on the bed sobbed quietly.
“Pays real good,” the other girl said. She was brunette, a little older, a little bit heavier. “Makes it almost worth it, you know? Just enough to come back and do it again.” She half turned and pointed at a bruise. She didn’t bother covering herself. “Fuck-up, I know.”
“Stay where you are,” Leo said. “Maksim, come around the bed. Do it slowly.”
Maksim grunted but didn’t move. His eyes moved to me and I saw the recognition bloomed.
“You,” he said.
“Hello, uncle.”
Red flooded his face. Anger, pure anger, lit up his eyes.
It felt good to see him react.
“What the fuck are you doing with him?”
“Killing you,” I said. “I knew you deserved it. But this is beyond sick.”
“These girls know what they’re getting into. I tell them before we come. I negotiate a fair price. They know.”
“We know,” the blonde said. “Doesn’t make it better though.” She took a long drag.
“Come around the bed, Maksim,” Leo said. “Do it now, do it slow.”
“Fuck you. And fuck her. You traitor bitch.” He spit on the floor. “You traitor fucking whore. How dare you help this slime? This little pig scum? I run this city. I gave you a life, a place in my house, and you do this to me?”
“Come around the bed,” Leo said. “I won’t ask again. I’ll execute you right there.”
“Fuck you. And fuck you.” Maksim sneered at me. “You’re nothing but—”
Leo pulled the trigger. Maksim staggered back. Red bloomed in his chest. Leo took a few steps forward as the girls dropped their cigarettes and stumbled away. They huddled in the corner and stared as Leo shot Maksim in the chest a second time.
Maksim slumped against the wall and slid down to the floor.
I walked over and stood next to Leo. Oleg appeared in the doorway behind us.
“Is that him?” he asked.
“It’s him,” Leo said. “Dying. If you want to say hello.”
Oleg snorted. “Couldn’t care less. What about the girls?”
“Help them,” I said. “Untie the girl on the bed. Get them dressed. Pay them if you can.”
Oleg sighed. “Come with me, girls. Help me with this one.”
He began to untie the girl on the bed, and the other two joined him.
Leo crouched down in front of Maksim. The old bastard struggled for breath and stared back with wild, scared, angry eyes.
“You had a good run,” Leo said, his voice soft and surprisingly gentle. “You had a real good run. Better than most in this line of work, yeah? But it’s your time now.”
Maksim coughed. Blood bubbled at his lips. He sucked in a desperate breath. “Fuck you.”
“At least die with some dignity,” Leo said. He looked back at me. “Now’s your chance, if you’ve got anything to say.”
I stared down at my uncle. I stared down at the man that made my life hell, that ignored me, treated me like an outsider all because I was only half Russian and my parents weren’t in the picture. I hated Maksim, always had, and now I realized that he was nothing more than a sick, broken individual. He wasn’t the all-powerful god I used to think he was back when I was a little girl.
He was just a man in his underwear getting off on hurting people.
“Finish him,” I said. “Put him out of his misery. He’s been dead for a long time already.”
Maksim took a shuddering breath. Leo stood and put a bullet in his brain.
He slumped back and went still.
I turned from my dead uncle. I thought I’d feel joy, or revulsion, or excitement, or something.
Instead, I was only tired.
“Come on,” Leo said, voice soft. “We need to get moving.” He took my elbow and directed me out into the hallway.
Oleg had the girls dressed and huddled. The third girl was breathing hard and the other two supported her. She stared at us, fear in her expression. Oleg took a wad of cash from his pocket and handed it to her.
“There, for your time. I hope you make better choices, here on out, yes? No men that hit you. No good for anyone.”
The girls just stared at him, took the money, and hurried down the steps.
