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"What's his name?" Misha said, intrigued, and always up for some roughing up.
"Stepan."
"You serious? " he said and frowned. "You want to rough up Stepan? He's a nasty piece of work."
"He hurt someone close to me," I said and shrugged, as if it were normal for me to beat up those who crossed me. "I want payback."
He made a face. "He's a psycho. I hope you're in good with Romanov, cause he's one of Victor's boys."
"Close enough," I said. "I'll visit Victor and make sure things are okay between us before I do anything."
"Seriously," Misha said and made a face of fear. "You do not want to piss Victor off. Most guys who're muscle for Romanov do it out of loyalty. Stepan? He chooses jobs because he actually likes hurting people. Gets off on it."
"He fucked up that old friend of mine really bad," I said. "I want to pay him a visit. Do you know where he hangs?"
"I thought he was an enemy," Misha said, frowning.
"We were once friends," I said, trying to shrug it off.
"He hangs out at Martinoff's by the docks. Listen, Stepan's pretty-low level. If you have something to offer Victor in return, he might not be too mad, but don't piss Victor off, man. I'm tellin’ you."
"What's Stepan's last name?"
Misha shook his head. "Andreov. But really, Hunter. You don't want to mess with him unless Victor's a friend."
I waved him off. "Don't worry. Victor's a friend. Besides, I have to pay off a debt is all."
"Okay, but seriously. Don't piss him off."
"I'll set things up. When I call you, I want you ready to come with me."
He nodded but looked a bit hesitant. I ordered him another drink on my tab and then motioned to Lila's friend.
"Go over and be extra friendly with my good friend Misha," I said. She'd know what that meant.
Misha smiled and leaned back, already forgetting his concerns about my little plan to get some payback with Stepan. Hell no, I wouldn't piss Victor off. I'd pay Graham's bill. Then, I'd take that Stepan worm aside and break his fucking nose. With Victor's permission. I'd fuck him up, just as badly as he'd fucked Graham up. Victor would understand. With these thugs and criminals, you had to get down to their level and show them you could keep up or they wouldn’t respect you. I planned on showing Victor that I could keep up.
Hell, I could do even better.
Chapter 5: Celia
I waited.
I waited for Hunter to call me and tell me what he expected from me.
Nothing—not for a day, then two. I felt nervous that perhaps Hunter had backed out and soon, the Romanov family thugs would come for Graham, where he lay unprotected in the hospital neurology ward.
Each night I went to bed wondering if someone would go to the hospital to kill him—or come to the dorm to threaten me. Finally, on the night before the payment was due, I got a text from Hunter with two words:
HUNTER: It's done.
That was it.
Hunter had paid the debt off and so we were safe.
I heaved a sigh of relief—at least I wouldn't have to worry about Graham being murdered in his sleep. I sent him a text back right away.
CELIA: Thank you so much.
