Chapter 12

Katja~

A fter I had agreed to Maksim's impossible compromise to save my life and that of my grandfather's, he had ordered me to get dressed, humiliating me further by ordering me around like a regretful mistake. While I'd been putting my dress back on, he'd been going through my phone, sending both my number and the number that Klive had texted me from to his phone.

Once I'd done my best to put my dress back on, I'd had to tie the straps back together because he'd torn them when he had ripped the garment off my body. To add insult to injury, before we'd left the room, Maksim had messed up my hair, then had smeared my makeup to make me look like the whore that I had agreed to play for him. I had walked out of that hotel looking truly used, and I'd never felt so embarrassed in all my life.

As soon as I'd gotten home, I had taken a hot shower, doing my best to scrub the humiliation from my skin, but it'd been no use. I couldn't scrub the decision that I'd made from my life, and even though I would do anything to keep my grandfather safe, I couldn't imagine the horrors that were going to come from being Maksim Barychev's reluctant whore. The nauseating part was that I was actually attracted to the man, and if that wasn't sick, then I didn't know what was.

What had surprised me the most was that I hadn't seen Klive- or whatever his name was -all weekend long. I had expected a visit from him on Saturday morning, but when I'd heard nothing, I had decided to go spend the day with my grandfather, and it'd been torture. The happier that he'd seemed, the more that I had died a little inside.

I had also spent all day eyeing everyone that had come close to my grandfather. There'd been so many smiling faces, and any one of them could be working for Klive, and I had almost gone crazy trying to figure out which one of them was in bed with the enemy. At this rate, if I wasn't insane by the end of the week, then it'd be a miracle.

There was also the fact that I wasn't cut out to be a double-crossing spy. Not only hadn't I heard from Klive all weekend long, but I also hadn't heard from Maksim, and I felt like a nervous wreck as I waited to hear from both of them. I was expected to lie to Klive and sleep with Maksim, and I was neither a good liar nor a sex goddess, which was going to end up with me dead in a ditch somewhere eventually.

Before I could think on it some more, my desk phone was ringing, and looking at the extension, it could only be my two o'clock appointment. While most of my job consisted of emergency troubleshooting, it wasn't unheard of to have consultation meetings with clients or potentially new opportunities. There was so much involved with IT that a lot of people liked things explained to them in layman's terms to get a better feel for what we did here.

Picking up the phone, I said, "This is Katja."

"Hey, Katja," Tanisha greeted. "Your two o'clock appointment is here."

"I'll be right down," I told her before hanging up.

Since we all worked in a cubicle setting, there were conference and meeting rooms on the lobby floor, and they were opened to anyone that might need them. All that we had to do was schedule a room with reception, and they kept the appointment book for us.

When I finally walked out of the elevator, my heart stopped in my chest when I saw Klive Simpson waiting for me, and I should have known. When I'd first heard his voice at the restaurant, I should have known. It was the same voice that had scheduled a meeting with me last week, and between the meeting and the flowers, it was clear that Klive had planned this out a while back. He'd already been setting the stage before he had even approached me at lunch, and I felt stupid for not catching on earlier.

As soon as I got close enough, he said, "Ms. Volkov, it is so good to finally meet you."

Having no choice, I took his outstretched hand in mine, then shook it like this was a legitimate business meeting. Even if I'd wanted to cause a scene or send him on his way, I had agreed to act as if everything was normal, and if I messed things up now, Maksim Barychev would be sure to take exception. The plan was for me to act normal, and me losing my shit would not be me acting normal.

"Mr. Simpson," I said, returning his greeting as I let go of his hand. "Would you follow me this way?"

Not waiting for him to answer, I turned to head towards the meeting room that I had reserved last week, and with the walls all floor-to-ceiling glass, I made sure to keep my smile plastered on my face, taking a seat on the other side of the table as professionalism would dictate. The only thing that helped was that the glass was tinted a bit, so my facial expressions might be hidden enough.

Once we were both seated, Klive got right to the point. "What did you learn?"

I couldn't help but look at him like he was stupid, and that wasn't acting on my part. "Are you serious?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" he retorted.

"Do you really think that Maksim Barychev just rolled off me, then started telling me bratva secrets?" I practically spat, resentment for this monster threatening to choke me. "I was lucky enough that he escorted me to my car when he was done with me."

"I told you to impress him," he hissed.

My brows shot upward. "Enough to give me the combination to his safe after a few hours together? Are you delusional?"

Klive's dark eyes flared, and I could tell that he didn't appreciate my logic right now. "Then what did you learn?"

"Nothing," I answered.

"Really?" he mocked. "Because you guys seemed rather cozy at the bar."

So, he had been watching.

"He sat down, then introduced himself," I bit out. "I fed him some story about my friend standing me up, then after acting like an idiot that was impressed by his last name, I excused myself to go freshen up." I let out a deep breath, hating that I was going to share the truth with him, but the only way to pull off a successful lie was to stick as close to the truth as possible. "A few minutes after I excused myself, he barged into the women's restroom, then dragged me into the men's restroom where…where we got to know each other a little bit better."

Klive arched a brow. "And how was that accomplished?"

"You don't need the details."

"Oh, but I do," he insisted. "I want to know that you are not lying to me."

I shot him a loathsome look. "He stuck his hand up my dress. Happy?"

"Did he make you cum, milaya devushka?"

"What does that mean? What are you calling me?" I asked, instead of answering him.

"It means sweet girl," he answered, surprising me that he'd bother. "Now, tell me. Did he make you cum?"

"Yes," I snapped through clenched teeth. "From there, we went to a hotel, and…and I did everything that I could to make an impression on him."

"Did you let him fuck you up the ass?" he asked, his eyes gleaming with a predatory glint.

"No," I answered. "I wanted to make an impression, so I…I told him that I wasn't ready to trust anyone with that yet. I thought…I thought that if I made him feel like he had to earn it, then he'd call me again."

"Did it work?" he asked, eyeing me carefully, much like Maksim had, trying to spot the lies.

"I don't know," I lied. "He did ask for my number, so I'm thinking that it might have. I mean, why else ask for my number? After all, Maksim Barychev hardly seems the type to bother with a woman's phone number."

Klive leaned back in his seat, mulling over my words. "No, he doesn't," he agreed. "So, if he asked for your number, then I'd say that it worked."

"What is your endgame, Klive?" I finally asked. "I mean, this could take weeks, months . Hell, Maksim might never tell me anything at all." I shook my head a bit. "What do you want me to find out specifically? Are you looking for his home address? His phone number? What?"

After a few seconds, he finally said, "The plan is to be able to execute Maksim Barychev and his brother, Akim, without it costing me my own life. So, in order for that to happen, I need to find a way in, and you're my way in, Katja."

"What does that even mean?"

"Maksim is going to eventually ask you to meet him somewhere, perhaps even give you the code to his home, office, or give you a hotel key room… something," he explained. "When that happens, that is when I'll strike."

"You're insane," I told him. "Even if you are able to kill Maksim, getting your hands on both Maksim and his brother is impossible. Not to mention that you'll be bringing down the wrath of Avgust Kotov down on your head."

"Milaya devushka, I welcome it," he replied evenly, proving that he really was crazy.