Page 52 of Cruel Promise


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“You’ve got the hots for her, huh?” he asks, getting to his feet and closing in on me.

I shrug. “Who doesn’t? Show me one man who can resist her. Yourself included.”

He steps closer to me, his usual intimidation tactic. But he forgets we’re not kids anymore. What once worked to keep me in my place expired years ago, no matter how often he tries.

“Probably just as well you didn’t happen by, Vad,” Kir says. “I’d say she’s scared to death of your mean ass.”

Big brother doesn’t like being mocked.

Vadik’s lower jaw shifts, and I know he’s grinding his teeth. Hard. He’s been doing more of that, lately.

“Hey, we talked about piercing her clit. What do you think?” I ask, egging him on.

He presses his lips together, grabs the glass full of vodka off his desk, and flings it across the room, where it crashes and splatters on the dark wood wall.

Someone’s going to have fun cleaning that mess up.

A knock sounds on Vadik’s office door, bringing the tension in the room down a notch. Dominika joins us, and the tension ramps right back up.

Of course.

It’s not that we don’t like her, exactly. She works hard for the club and has been a loyal employee since my dad brought her on when we were kids.

But there is no doubt she is… difficult. In fact, sometimes she’s such a pain in the ass I wonder how long my brothers and I will keep her on. I know Papa would want us to make sure she’s taken care of. He had his… reasons for that.

We don’t have the same obligation.

“Dominika,” I say by way of greeting. Most people, I might ask how they are or how their day has been.

With Dominika, there are no such pleasantries. And even if there were, I wouldn’t care whether she was having a good day or not.

It’s hard to see the woman who was your father’s mistress for the better part of twenty years in an objective light.

She gets right to the point. “We’re set for next weekend’s auction for Charleigh. We didn’t have much time, but I’ve wrangled the highest of our high-roller members. They’re coming in from all over the world and a few will attend virtually over Zoom.”

I don’t know whether to hug her or tell her to get the fuck out.

The reality of what my brothers and I are about to do hits me. Men—a lot of men—are going to see the same thing I do in Charleigh, and they are going to want her just as much as I do. Maybe more. And they are going to spend money for the privilege. A lot of it.

Something about that leaves a sour taste in my mouth. But I say nothing. It’s not the right time. First, Dominika doesn’t need to know anything that might be perceived as a weakness when it comes to my brothers and me, and second, I want to make sure Vadik and Kir are ready to hear my thoughts when I express them. Right now, I’m afraid they are not.

They are seeing dollar signs, and there’s little my brothers like more than money.

“Thank you, Dominika,” Vadik says. “I know we didn’t give you much time to pull this together. There will be a nice bonus in it for you, for gathering our big spenders.”

At the mention of money, Dominika’s heavily-painted face brightens. “I’m happy to do it. I’m assuming Charleigh doesn’t know yet? It will be very… entertaining to see her when she learns of her fate.”

Dominika grins, her smoke-stained teeth so rancid I have to look away, and all I can think is how she looks like a witch that eats babies, that’s how cruel and hateful she is.

I mean, my brothers and I are surely no saints. But we also do not get gratuitous pleasure in seeing others suffer.

As soon as she’s gone, the closed door not completely eliminating her cheap perfume, I turn to my brothers. “You know what? I hate that cunt. When are we getting rid of her?”

If we’ve had this conversation once, we’ve had it a hundred times. And Vadik gives his usual answer, with Kir nodding his approval.

“C’mon now, Niko, you know we need her for continuity. At least until the club is on more solid ground. Once we’ve accomplished that, we’ll talk again. But right now, she’s going nowhere.”

He is right. We do need her. Which makes me resent her even more.

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