Page 66 of Maksim
But it doesn’t work. Nikita’s voice pierces through the noise I try to create in my mind, demanding my attention.
“So where were we?” he asks. “Oh yes. The great loss of one of your men. Very serious. I can understand how you feel. Just today, I lost two.”
My eyes grow wide at the deadpanned statement, and I look to the outsiders for their reaction. They seem uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable. They exchange a look with each other then shift as they face forward, one’s Adam’s apple bobbing.
“Please, gentlemen, sit.” Nikita warmly waves to a set of purple velvet chairs like he’s inviting in close friends. He hobbles to the one with the cane but continues standing until the other men, including Maksim, have sat. There’s the slightest bit of relief that crosses Nikita’s expression, like standing caused pain that he’d never admit to.
I’m off to the side of the room but not far from the men’s minds, so I eyeball Maksim and wish he was closer. Wish he’d give me some indication as to what he’s thinking. What he’s planning.
You’re going to help me, right?
Please help me!
Finally, he seems to hear my internal pleas because he meets my eyes and pats the side of his leg, a silent ‘come here’ command.
I’m too afraid to stand, somehow feeling like that would draw too much attention to myself, so I crawl to Maksim, quickening my pace to pass Nikita along the way.
Maksim parts his legs so I can situate myself between them. I hide my face against his knee before inhaling the scent of safety. Days ago, I disliked having his scent on his pillow, so close to me in bed, but now when—if—we go home, I want it there. I’ll breathe it in, bottle it up as a perfume, be grateful to keep it for the rest of my life if I can.
“Aww, isn’t that precious,” Nikita teases.
“Look, we don’t want to take up any more of your time. We just want the girl back,” the guy with the moles bravely says.
Maksim’s large hand runs over my head in a pet I didn’t know could be so comforting. “You say that as if we’ve stolen her.”
“No, of course not.” The other one laughs nervously. “We aren’t saying that.”
“They can’t really say anything,” Nikita cuts in. “Apparently, we aren’t important enough for the boss to come down here to speak with us. These are his representatives.”
“Daniel Storm, the deceased, is not important enough, sir,” Moles says. “I assure you, it has nothing to do?—”
“Yes, that’s great. Alik…” I lift my head to watch Nikita motion to the demon. “Could you please escort these men outside to wait while I speak with my lieutenant?”
I expect an ‘of course, sir,’ but Alik just glances at the other men who reluctantly stand from their seats and follow him out the door.
Once they’re gone, Nikita rubs his temples and growls something in Russian. I think he’s talking to Maksim, so I startle at a sound behind the chairs and peek around to see a half-naked woman filling two glasses with clear liquor. She was here the whole time? Was she hiding?
“Explain something to me…” Nikita takes a glass from the woman. She hands the other to Maksim before kneeling at Nikita’s feet. “This trafficker apparently lived in Bakersfield, California. How the fuck did this foreign, non-English speaking cunt find her way to the exact address of the man who lured her to America?”
“I had no part in the kill.” Maksim doesn’t hesitate, and it makes me stiffen. He knows what he’s doing. He must know. He doesn’t sound fearful at all.
But what if he doesn’t sound fearful because he isn’t going to lie for me? What if he’s going to let them punish me, like I should be punished, like Daniel needed to be punished?
No. No, he wouldn’t.
He’ll protect me. I’m safe.
On impulse, I push my head into his hand. He rubs his thumb over my scalp.
“But I did give her the opportunity to do it herself… I gave her the address to the man’s home, not thinking she’d go through with it. I was mocking her more than anything because, before I enlightened her, she believed he was her fiancé. I apologize for my recklessness. Clearly, I underestimated her, but when I went to pick her up, she had been there waiting for me for hours. She’s as obedient as a whore can be, despite the unfortunate miscommunication.”
“Unfortunate miscommunication.” Nikita laughs and relaxes his head back. He mutters something in Russian, a command of some sort that has the woman at his feet crawling between his legs and unbuttoning his pants. My eyes widen, and I sharply turn my head away.
“She isn’t a problem for us, Pakhan,” Maksim says, unfazed by what Nikita is making the woman do. I take another peek at her bobbing head before looking up at Maksim to see some sort of reaction, but there is none.
“Maybe not, but she does present an opportunity.” Nikita continues when Maksim remains silent. “Vengeance is a powerful need. They’ll buy her back from us for far more than we paid.”
I search Maksim’s hardened features in the silence, wishing we were back home, wishing I had caressed that face when it was flooded with sadness and vulnerability. I’m so scared, my teeth hurt from clenching so hard, and a whimper crawls up my throat.