4. Chapter Four
Chapter Four
Inessa
W orking for Viktor has its advantages: three good meals a day, a warm bed to sleep in every night, and a steady paycheck.
After what happened with my dad, I only go to the motel every few days to pay for the room, then leave. I don’t let him have any more of my money.
I don’t even let myself see him, even though it pains me.
A week goes by without any problems. Viktor doesn’t complement me again. Things are cool and civil between us. Mrs. Green accepts that I need a recipe to cook the food properly and finally allows it.
Everything is going well.
That is until Natasha Morozov arrives at the house.
“Who is she?” I whisper to Mrs. Green as we make dinner. Filet mignon and seasoned and roasted potatoes.
“From my understanding, Mr. Smirnov’s girlfriend. He told me he was inviting her over tonight for dinner.”
“Did he say that she’s his girlfriend?”
She shoots me a disapproving look. “Not in so many words but why else invite a young, beautiful woman over to your house?”
I sneak a peek at Natasha in the living room with Viktor. She’s effortlessly beautiful in a seductive kind of way. I can’t make out what she and Viktor are saying but I can see her smiling.
Viktor is smiling too.
For the past week, I’ve only seen his stern, closed off expression. It’s refreshing knowing that he has the ability to smile.
“Focus,” Mrs. Green snaps at me. “We need to finish this dinner.”
Once we’re done, it’s time to serve the meal.
Viktor and Natasha are at the dining table, having an intimate conversation judging by how close she is to him. For some reason, that bothers me.
She barely gives Mrs. Green a glance as she sets down the plates but when I pour the wine, her eyes find me right away.
“Who’s this?” she asks.
“This is my maid, Inessa, and my housekeeper, Mrs. Green.”
Natasha’s beautiful face turns twisted. “Your maid is younger than I thought she’d be.”
“Inessa does a good job. She’s a fast learner. And she helped make this meal. Let’s enjoy it.”
“Mmm.” She looks me up and down. “Well, I’m not sure I feel comfortable with you having such a young woman living in your house. Especially after we get married.”
I stumble as I head back to the kitchen. Married?
“I didn’t know Viktor is getting married,” I say to Mrs. Green when it’s just the two of us in the kitchen.
“Mr. Smirnov,” she reminds me.
“Sorry. Did you know he was getting married?”
“I didn’t but now I do. And what does that matter?”
It matters because I didn’t like the way Natasha was looking at me. She clearly doesn’t like that I’m Viktor’s maid. I can’t be out of this job. It’s the best thing that has happened to me in a long time.
Mrs. Green starts on the dishes while I press my ear to the kitchen door so I can listen in to Viktor and Natasha’s conversation. Is it wrong of me? Yes. But I need to know what my future holds.
“She’s so young,” Natasha says.
“Twenty.”
“Like your sister.”
“Yes.”
“Well, that’s fine, I guess,” she says. “If you see her as a sister.”
Viktor is silent for a moment. I wish I knew what his face looked like. “I don’t see her as my sister. Inessa is my maid. My employee. And that’s all there is to it.”
“Nothing else? No dalliance with the maid?”
“No.” His voice is stern. “I respect my staff. You don’t need to worry. You’re the woman I’m pursuing.”
“The woman you’re going to marry one day,” she says.
Viktor doesn’t respond to that.
“Inessa,” Mrs. Green hisses. “Come help me with these.”
I hurry over to the sink and start work on the dishes. She cleans them while I put them in the dishwasher.
“You don’t have to handwash them,” I say, nodding at the dishwasher.
“I’m old school. This is the way to do it.”
I don’t argue with her. Arguing with Mrs. Green never gets me anywhere.
My father’s face flashes in my mind. Arguing with him never got me anywhere either. It’s been a week since I’ve seen him and I miss him so much, my heart feels like it’s going to explode from the pain.
But I can’t have him stealing more of my money just to lose it all. I have to think about myself.
“I’m done here,” Mrs. Green says. “You can finish cleaning up the meal when they’re done.”
“Where are you going?”
“To bed. I’m tired, child.” She shakes her head like I’m stupid for even asking that question to begin with.
I sit at the kitchen table, waiting for Natasha and Viktor to be done. I can hear the low murmuring of their voices but I don’t eavesdrop anymore. It’s wrong and I’m trying to keep my job – not get in trouble.
The kitchen door opens and Natasha waltzes in.
I scramble to my feet. “Did you need something?”
“Just getting some tea. I love some after dinner. Could you make me some?”
“Of course.” I quickly fill the kettle with water and turn the stove on. Natasha and I stand next to each other as the water boils.
“You can go wait in the dining room,” I suggest gently. “If you want to. I can handle this.”
“I like my tea perfect so I’ll make it myself. No one else can get it right.”
We stand there in silence for a long moment before Natasha speaks again. “How long have you worked for Viktor?”
“Just a week.”
“Oh. So you’re new. A baby.”
A blush forms on my face. “I guess so.”
“Mmm.” She eyes me up and down in a way that makes me feel naked. “You’re a pretty girl. Maybe too pretty.”
“I’m… sorry?”
Her laugh makes me flinch. It’s like a slap to my face. “You can’t help that you’re pretty. But maybe we can change that.”
The kettle starts to scream and Natasha removes it from the heat. She pours the boiling water into a mug.
And before I can react, she throws the water right onto my arm. I scream and back away, clutching my skin from where it burns.
Natasha then does something shocking. She pours a little bit of the water onto her own arm and lets out a scream herself.
Viktor comes running into the room. “What’s going on?” His eyes find mine first before he turns to Natasha. “I heard screaming.”
“That little girl burned me.” She holds out her arm. Blisters are forming on her skin. When I look down at my own arm, I see the same is happening to me.
“Inessa did that to you? For what reason?”
“Because she’s jealous. Obviously, having a pretty young maid in your household is not a good idea. You need to fire her.”
I don’t say anything because if I accused Natasha of hurting me, I’m worried Viktor won’t believe me.
Viktor walks over to me and gently grabs my arm. “If she hurt you, then why does Inessa’s arm look like this?”
“Because she accidently burned herself when she threw hot boiling water at me,” Natasha says so confidently, how could anyone not believe her?
I bite my lip to keep from breaking down into tears. Viktor has already seen me cry once. I can’t let it happen again.
“I just can’t believe that Inessa would throw boiling water at you, Natasha. It doesn’t make sense.”
Natasha’s mouth gapes open. “You don’t believe me?”
“I never said that. I just find this situation hard to believe. Both of you are hurt. Why don’t we call this a night?”
“You’re kicking me out?”
He cups her face and stares down at her so intimately, I have to look away. “I think it’s best you leave for now. We can meet up another day.”
“But I’m hurt.”
“A little bit of salve can help that. I have some I can give you.”
“Yes. That would be great.”
Viktor leaves the kitchen, which means leaving me and Natasha alone together.
“You think you’re so smart,” she hisses, making me flinch.
“Why did you do this?” I ask. “I don’t understand.”
She scoffs and doesn’t give me an answer. Viktor comes back a moment later with a container in his hands.
“Here.” Opening it up reveals a clear substance. “Rub this on your skin. It will help with the burn.” He holds it out for Natasha but she doesn’t take it. Instead, she bats her eyelids at him.
“Can you put it on me?”
Viktor glances in my direction and I turn my back to them to give them some privacy.
“Thank you,” I hear Natasha purr after a moment.
“You’re welcome. Now, let me walk you out.”
They leave the kitchen and finally, I can allow myself to cry. Deep, sobs wrack my body. Why did Natasha do that to me?
The salve is sitting on the kitchen counter. With my shaky fingers, I scoop some up and start rubbing it onto my burnt arm.
A sound at the kitchen doorway makes me spin around with a gasp.
Viktor. “Here. Let me help you with that.” He takes some of the salve and rubs it onto my skin. Goosebumps arise on my arms, embarrassingly enough.
“You don’t need to help me,” I whisper.
“I want to,” he says softly. “You’re hurt.” Once he’s finished, he tilts my chin up so I’m forced to look him in the eye. “What happened?”
“Natasha told you.”
“I just don’t believe that you would toss boiling water onto her. What would that achieve? I know you need this job. Why would you risk it?”
“I wouldn’t.”
“Exactly. So what happened?”
“Does it matter?” I ask. “She’ll be your wife.”
Viktor furrows his brow. “Who told you that?”
“Natasha herself. And Mrs. Green. You’re engaged to her?”
“I’m not exactly engaged to her. We’re… dating, you could say. But none of that matters. What matters is that she was hurt and you were hurt and I want to get to the bottom of it. So tell me.”
I swallow hard. “I don’t want to get in trouble.”
“You won’t. Tell me.”
“She… she tossed the water onto me. I was just making her tea and she did that. And then she… poured the water onto herself.”
“That’s what happened?”
“Yes.”
“Because Natasha claims you did it to her. Why would she say that?”
I shrug. “You’d have to ask her.”
After letting out a low sigh, he lets me go and steps back. “I am dating Natasha, yes. And that has to happen for reasons you don’t need to know about.”
Bratva reasons, I’m guessing. Except, he doesn’t know that I’m a part of the Bratva. He doesn’t know that I know his world very well.
“But I will not let her hurt you,” he continues. “I like you, Inessa. You’re a good maid. I don’t want to have to hire someone new when you’re still new yourself.”
“So, I’m not fired?”
“No. You’re not fired.” He nods to the salve. “Keep using that for the next week. I would hate for you to be scarred.”
I want to ask him why but he leaves before I can. My fingers wrap around my wound and I wince but the pain helps me focus. Natasha is going to be a problem to my job. I have no idea how to handle this situation to make sure I’m not caught. If I’m caught, worse things will happen than just me getting fired.
Viktor could kill me for all I know.
Mrs. Green confronts me when I try to go to my room. “You need to be careful.”
“Careful?”
“About Mr. Smirnov. You two are getting too close.”
I stare down at the blisters on my arm and the salve coating them. “He only helped me, Mrs. Green. I was hurt. He was being nice. There’s nothing going on between us.”
“I know there isn’t and there better not be. That Natasha woman is going to be his wife one day. You need to make friends with her.”
“I thought you went to bed.”
“I did.” She sniffs, straightening her robe. “But then I heard screaming and commotion from the kitchen. I went down to see what was happening. I overheard everything.”
So, Mrs. Green likes to eavesdrop too.
“Nothing happened,” I tell her. “Natasha was just… being strange to me. Viktor was just helping me.”
“Mr. Smirnov,” she corrects.
“Yes. Mr. Smirnov. Now, can I go to bed? It’s been a long day and I’m tired.”
“Just be careful.”
“Yes. I heard you.”
Mrs. Green eyes me over with distrust before letting me walk past her. She’s still watching me as I shut the bedroom door.
I’m in more trouble than I care to admit.
Viktor
I’m not sure what Natasha was thinking spilling hot water onto Inessa but she needs to know that can never happen again. I may be a Bratva man who’s done questionable things in my life but abusing women has never been something I’ve done. I do not stand for it.
We meet up for lunch at a café. I think cafes are dull and insipid but Natasha likes them and I’m trying to make the effort with her.
“I had a lovely time last night,” she tells me after we sit down.
“Yes. I wanted to talk to you about that. Why did you pour hot water onto my maid?”
She clutches her chest like I’ve offended her. “I did no such thing. She poured the water onto me.”
“Inessa wouldn’t risk her job doing that. So, I’m sorry to say, Natasha, but I believe Inessa in this instance. I don’t believe you. So, this is your chance to tell me. Why did you do that to her? Unless it was an accident?”
She stirs a spoon in her cup of tea. “It… might have been an accident. She was reaching for the kettle at the same time I was and… it happened to spill on both of us.”
“All right then. It was an accident. So why did you claim she poured it onto you?” I can’t forget that Inessa told me the opposite – that Natasha poured the water onto her unprovoked.
“I thought that was what happened. I was mistaken. Now, let’s put that behind us.”
“Do you have a problem with my maid?”
Her fingers tighten on her teacup. “Of course not.”
“Are you lying to me?” Natasha is good at pleasantries like most Bratva woman are but I’m not looking for pleasantries. I’m looking for honesty.
“Well…” She huffs. “I don’t love that you have a pretty, young maid in your house.”
“Are you worried I’d cheat on you? Because I can assure you, I do not cheat. Not after what happened with my two previous fiancées.” Both Nadia and Elena fell for different men. It’s not that I loved either of them. In fact, I barely knew them. But it was the principle of the thing. They wanted to be with other men than me.
I don’t want a repeat of the past.
“Most men would be tempted with such a pretty girl living in their house.”
Is Inessa tempting? I can admit to myself that I have found myself watching her this past week when I’ve been at home. How soft spoken she is. How easily she blushes. How determined she is to keep this job.
She is tempting. But I need to marry a woman with wealth who can help me in my war against Erik and Dante. I don’t need to marry a penniless maid.
“You don’t need to worry,” I say, taking a sip of my coffee. It’s cold and disgusting. This is why I don’t like cafes.
“How do I know that for a fact?”
“You’ll just have to see in time.”
Natasha smiles back at me but I can see the tightness around her eyes. She doesn’t like Inessa and that’s going to be a problem when we marry someday. Natasha very well might fire Inessa and I don’t want that. My maid should be the least of my concerns but I do care for Inessa. I’m not even sure why I do. I don’t care about most people.
The only person who’s ever had my heart is my sister, Julia. Romantically speaking, no woman has ever been able to win my heart. Not even Natasha has it.
So the fact that I find myself caring for Inessa is something that should worry me.
But I’m not going to let it. I have more important things to think about.
My maid is not going to consume my thoughts.
Inessa
“Inessa,” Viktor says, approaching me as I sweep the foyer floor. “I’m going to be hosting a party for a friend of mine. His name is Samuel White. He’s a business associate. The party is going to be this Friday. I want to make sure the house is perfectly clean.”
“Yes sir.”
“You do a good job. I have no worries. You and Mrs. Green will be making a cake for the party. It was what Samuel wanted. I gave her the instructions.”
“I’ve never helped with a party before.”
“Mrs. Green will know what to do. You just need to help her. I just wanted to let you know.”
“Of course.”
We both stand there, staring at each other, neither one speaking, and yet there’s a feeling in the air like we both want to say something.
It’s Viktor who moves first. “Well, I have work to get to.” He nods at the floor. “Keep up the good work.”
My hands grip the swifter as he walks away. Why is my heart pounding when all Viktor and I did was talk about an upcoming party?
I go to see my dad again but this time, I don’t bring any extra money he can steal from me. I’ve been keeping all of it in a box I keep under my bed at Viktor’s house. That’s the last place my dad can find it.
“Inessa.” He’s lying on the couch in a stained wifebeater, drinking a beer, and looking like he doesn’t have a care in the world.
“Dad.”
“Isn’t this great?” He motions his hand around the dingy motel room. “I don’t have to do anything. No work whatsoever. I can stay here for as long as I want.”
“That’s because I’ve been paying for your room every day.”
His eyes light up with hunger. “Do you have more money on you?”
“No.” I angle my purse away from him. “And even if I did, why do you need the money?”
“Well, I need food. You’ve only paid for the room.”
“You’re just going to use the money on gambling. If you want food, I can pay for a meal for us. But I’m not giving you anything more.”
He jumps off the bed and lunges for me before I can even react. My purse is in his hands in a matter of seconds.
“Hey!”
“Where is it?” He shakes my purse. “Where’s the rest of the money?”
I snatch my purse back. “I told you. I didn’t bring any. You’re just going to steal it from me. You have a problem. If you want to have money to gamble it away, maybe you should get a job.”
“I have a job. I work for the Bratva.”
“Oh yeah? When’s the last time you’ve been paid? When’s the last time you’ve done any actual work for anyone?”
His face crumbles. “It’s not that easy, Inessa. After your mother died…”
I suck in a breath and turn away from him. The sight of my father crying is a pathetic one. “Don’t use Mom’s death against me. You did this to us. You made us lose our house. You made me go work for the enemy.”
The words are out of my mouth before I can stop them.
“The enemy?”
“Never mind,” I mutter. “I need to get back to work.”
“You told me you’re working as a maid. For who?”
“Does it matter? I’m earning us money. That should make you happy enough.”
“No,” he growls, grabbing my arms. “It’s not enough. You’re making money for you . Not us.”
“You’re right. I am.” I wrench away from him. “That’s something you should have been doing. Protecting me. But I’m doing it for myself because you’re incapable of it. Now, I’m off to work. I’ll come back in a few days to pay for the motel room.”
“Inessa-,”
I’m out the door before he can say more.
Crap. I almost slipped up and told my dad I’m working for Viktor. My father is the last person who can find out. There’s a good chance my dad might go to Viktor and…
I’m not sure what. But knowing Gleb Petrov, he’ll only make matters worse.
It’s better to keep these secrets. They’re the only thing that is going to save me.
The day of the party, Mrs. Green announces that she’s sick.
“But I need your help,” I say as she lays in bed, a cold compress to her forehead.
“I’m sorry, Inessa. But I woke up this morning feeling terrible. You’re going to have to make the meal without me. The cake too.”
My chest constricts. It’s one thing to make dinner for Viktor. He’s ok with something if it isn’t one hundred percent perfect. But he’s inviting guests over tonight. Around twenty, he told me. Twenty people I have to impress with dinner and dessert.
And I won’t have Mrs. Green to help me.
“It’s all written down on recipes, since I know you need them.”
I ignore the jab. “Well… just rest. You can’t help being sick. I’ve got this.”
She gives me an uncertain look. Even Mrs. Greem doesn’t think I have this.
I hurry to Viktor, who’s in his office. “Mrs. Green is sick. I’ll have to make everything myself tonight.”
He barely glances up from his computer. “You can handle it.”
“Would it be possible to hire someone to come in and help?”
That gets him to look up. “Something this last minute? I don’t think so. No. You’re going to have to make the meal yourself. Inessa, you can do it. You know how to cook. Just follow the instructions.”
Viktor’s faith in me is astounding. No one has ever really had any kind of faith in me.
Since it’s all up to me now, I get ready preparing everything. I focus on cleaning the house as fast as I can so I have time to make the dinner. It’s ham and broccolini with truffle pasta. It shouldn’t be hard. Just follow the recipe.
But it’s hard putting all of that together and making the cake at the same time. I’ve never really baked before. It’s not difficult following the recipe but it is time consuming. When I look up at the clock, I see that I’m running out of time.
I can hear Viktor’s guests arriving.
I manage to finish baking the cake and set it out to cool before I can frost it. My focus turns to finishing the dinner meal.
Once that’s all ready, the cake has cooled enough for me to ice it.
All in all it took me around three hours to do. It’s only six thirty. Viktor told me to have dinner ready by seven. I’ve done it. I’ve actually done it.
I let out a little laugh and clap my hands.
I just hope it tastes good.
Then the kitchen door opens and in walks Natasha.