5. Chapter Five
Chapter Five
Inessa
“H ello, Inessa,” Natasha says sweetly, smiling at me in a way that’s supposed to be comforting but I’m anything but comforted.
“Hello.” I angle my body away from her. The last thing I need right now is to get hurt again. I still have red marks on my arm from when she threw hot water onto me.
The murmur of voices can be heard through the cracked kitchen door. There’s a whole party out there, expecting dinner and dessert very soon. I can’t risk anything bad happening.
“So, you’ve made dinner.” She nods at the food on the counter.
“I was just about to announce that it’s ready.”
“That’s great. You do that.”
I stand, wringing my hands together, waiting for her to say more, and when she doesn’t, I have to awkwardly move past her to grab the pot the ham is in.
“Looks delicious,” she comments. She’s so close, her breath tickles my cheek.
“It is. Why don’t you go join the other guests so I can serve the meal?”
She smirks. “Now, why would I go and do that? I’m happy right where I am.”
“I really do have to serve this. It would be great if you could go join your guests.”
“You would say that, wouldn’t you?” She shows no signs of moving.
Knowing that Viktor wanted dinner served at seven promptly means that I need to go do this now. I can’t risk upsetting him.
I leave the kitchen to place the ham on the table. When I come back, I see that Natasha hasn’t moved at all. I quickly grab the broccolini and pasta and set it beside the ham.
Working up all my courage, I enter the living room. It’s filled with men and a few women. Bratva people, I assume. I haven’t met any of them before. Bratva functions were things I never attended growing up – my father was paranoid something would happen to me.
He never knew that he would be my own downfall.
Viktor is standing near the fireplace, chatting with a middle aged man. The moment I enter the room, his eyes snap right to mine.
I almost stumble from his intense gaze.
“Uh…” I clear my throat. More people turn in my direction. It’s intimidating to be looked at by this many people. “Dinner is ready.”
“Wonderful.” Viktor smiles at the man next to him. “You’re going to have a great meal, Samuel. Inessa is a wonderful cook.”
“I bet she is,” Samuel says, looking at me like I’m a piece of meat he wants to devour.
“Let’s eat,” Viktor says in a sharp tone, making Samuel avert his gaze from me. What is that about?
Viktor shows all of his guest to the huge dining table. Knowing I have to serve drinks, I quickly pour everyone water.
“The wine,” Viktor tells me as he begins to cut the ham.
“Of course. Red or white?”
“White.”
I hurry back into the kitchen and stop dead in my tracks.
The cake – the cake I worked so hard on for hours today – is a mess on the floor. Natasha is no longer in the kitchen.
I know exactly what happened. She pushed it to the floor. My chest constricts. Oh my god. I don’t have time to make a new one. That cake took me around three hours to make. I don’t have three more hours to spare. The guests will be expecting the cake within the hour.
I fall to my knees before the cake and try to pick up what’s left but it’s pointless. The cake is ruined. I have to accept that fact.
Oh no. Viktor will be so mad. He told me this party was for his business associate. Whatever business they’re celebrating, I do not know, nor do I care. All I cared about was making Viktor happy.
And now I can’t even do that.
Tears spill down my eyes. I know Natasha did this to the cake. Who else would have done it? There was no way this cake fell off the counter by itself.
The wine. I have to serve the wine. The guests will be waiting.
Quickly, I wash my hands and wipe my tears away before grabbing the Chardonnay and hurrying into the dining room. I’m moving so fast, my foot catches on the rug and I stumble forward.
The conversation stops as everyone turns to look at me.
“Apologies,” I murmur. Viktor tilts his head, staring at me with an intensity that makes me sweat. I look away. The last thing I can do is cry right now and the longer I’ll look at him, the more I’m going to cry.
The conversation resumes as I pour the wine.
“You have such a cute little maid, Viktor,” one of the women says. She looks to be in her forties with very large breasts that are barely contained by her dress. I notice a few of the men looking right at them.
“Thank you, Giselle. Inessa is new. Just started two weeks ago. But she’s being doing a great job.”
“This food is delicious,” a man comments, pointing his fork at the ham.
“Thank you,” I say but the words get caught in my throat. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. You can do this.
There’s no dessert I can make in enough time. I’m going to disappoint everyone.
Unless…
Maybe I can buy a cake really quick from a store. Surely that would be the solution,
But I can’t just leave the party. What if Viktor asks for me? I would get in more trouble if I just left. That means I would have to tell him about the cake and ask him if I should go buy a new one real quick.
“Uh, Mr. Smirnov?” I ask, making everyone look at me again. It’s so disconcerting.
“Yes?”
“Can I talk to you in private?”
“I have guests, Inessa. I can’t leave. Whatever you have to say can wait.”
“It can’t wait.”
Natasha is seated right beside Viktor. The victorious smile she gives me sends shivers down my spine. The fact that she could be so cold hearted as to ruin this party just to embarrass me speaks to her character.
“You can tell me,” he says.
I glance around at the table of people. If I say this in front of everyone, I will embarrass not only myself, but Viktor as well.
“It needs to be in private,” I urge.
“Just tell me,” he says in a much harsher tone than he’s ever used with me. I can’t help but flinch.
“Just spit it out, girl,” says one of the men.
“The cake… there’s no dessert.”
Viktor’s frown transforms his face into something terrifying. “Excuse me.” Finally, he follows me into the kitchen and stops when he sees the cake on the ground.
“What happened?” he asks flatly.
“I made the cake, sir. I really did. I had it already to go. I made it. You have to believe me.”
“Well, I do believe you seeing as the cake is a mess on the floor. But why is it on the floor?”
I don’t feel comfortable throwing Natasha under the bus, especially when I didn’t technically see her do it.
“I’m not sure,” I whisper. “It must have just… fallen. Somehow.”
“The cake just fell off the counter by itself?”
“I’m not sure. I left and came back and found it like this. I’m so sorry, sir. What do you want me to do? I can go buy a new cake.”
“Yes,” he says stiffly. “Do that. Here.” He pulls out his wallet and hands me a hundred dollar bill. “Buy a new cake. But understand this, Inessa. I am not happy about this. I was trusting that you could handle this on your own.”
“I’m sorry.”
His sigh is dismissive. “Go buy the cake. And then we’ll talk after the party.” He goes back to his guests and I go to buy a new cake.
Seeing as it’s later at night, nothing is open. I call Viktor. It takes him three rings to answer.
“What?” he snaps. It hurts more than I care to admit.
“Nothing is open.”
“Shit. Ok. I’ll call a place and demand that they open.”
“They won’t have any fresh cakes though. They’ll still have to make something and there’s no time.”
He makes a low sound that sends goosebumps over my skin. “All right. Just come back. I’ll deal with this.” He hangs up without a goodbye.
When I come back home, I find the guests are still eating their dinner. I pour more wine and settle back against the far wall in case anyone needs anything more.
Natasha’s grin is triumphant.
“I apologize, Samuel,” Viktor says. “There is no dessert for tonight. Something unexpected happen. I never allow for these things but I am only human.”
“Disappointing, Viktor,” Samuel says. “What happened?”
“The cake was dropped on the floor last minute. An accident, I can assure you. My maid didn’t mean it. It was too late to buy a new one.”
“Well… human error is something that can happen. But if you’re maid is clumsy, then you really should fire her and get a new one.”
My heart is going to leap out of my throat and make me vomit. The last thing that can happen is for me to lose this job.
“Thank you for your advice,” Viktor says in a tight voice. “Since dinner is over, let’s convene in the living room for after dinner drinks.”
“Since there’s no dessert,” Natasha mutters.
A flare of anger hits me. She’s the reason there’s no dessert. She did this to make me look bad.
I keep my mouth clamped shut. Getting into an argument with Natasha in front of everyone will surely get me fired.
Once the guests have left the dining room, I clean up all the dishes as fast as I can. I just want to go to bed and have this day be done with.
But I have to stay up since the guests are all here. What if Viktor needs me?
I stop myself from crying as I pick up the ruined cake and throw it away. I’ve cried so much that I’m tired of it.
With nothing else to do, I decide to listen in on the guests’ conversations. I hide behind a wall near the living room.
“Can you believe that maid?” Natasha asks. “Forgetting to make dessert? Who does that?”
“A very incompetent one,” Samuel mutters.
“It was an accident,” Viktor reminds him. “She didn’t mean to ruin the cake. I’ll make it up to you another day, Samuel. I promise.”
“You better, Viktor. I’m not happy about this.”
I wonder why Viktor even tolerates Samuel… unless it’s because Samuel has money. I know Viktor is at war with Erik Koslov and Dante Moretti. He must need all the money he can get right now in his efforts to bring them down.
But bringing Erik and Dante down are the last things I want. Elena could get hurt in the process since she’s married to Aiden and Aiden works for Dante.
I feel someone behind me and whirl around. It’s Finn.
The sight of him almost makes me scream but I tamp it down at the last second.
“Hello,” he says in his dark voice. His eyes are even darker.
“Hi,” I manage to squeak out.
“What are you doing in the shadows?”
“I didn’t know you were here.”
He shoves his hands in his pockets and rocks back on his heels. “I wasn’t invited to the party. Viktor thinks I’m a little too reckless to be around nice company.”
“Are you?”
“Am I what?”
“Reckless?”
He sidles up closer to me. “Would you like to find out?"
I take a deliberate step back. “I would rather not.”
“You’re pretty.” He brushes his fingers down my cheek. I resist the urge to shudder. This is the man who killed Elena’s father almost a year ago. He is disgusting.
Of course, I cannot tell him any of this. If Finn knew who I was, he would tell Viktor straight away.
“Why are you here?” I whisper.
“Business plans with Viktor. I’m curious. Do you know what he really does?”
I swallow hard. “He’s a business man.”
“A business man.” Finn smirks. If he wasn’t so scary, he’d be handsome. “You could say that. He is technically a business man. He also works for the Russian Mafia. Well, he is the Russian Mafia.”
Act surprised , I tell myself. “The… Mafia?”
“Yes. Your boss is a bit of a bad boy, I’m afraid. A naughty boy. Are you a naughty girl?”
“If he’s the mafia… what does that make you?”
“A bad man,” he growls, grabbing my waist.
I scream. It comes out of me before I can stop it. Footsteps come running in my direction and Viktor rounds the corner. His guests follow behind, including Natasha, who glares at me.
“What’s going on?” He turns to Finn. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to discuss business. I was just informing your pretty maid about what it is that you do exactly.”
Viktor frowns. “My office, Finn. Now.”
“In a moment.” He turns back to me, looking me over with his intimidatingly inquisitive eyes. “You know… you look familiar. We haven’t met before?”
My stomach is going to empty all of its contents. “We haven’t met.”
“You met her at my club,” Viktor snaps.
“Right. That must be it.” But the way Finn says it tells me he doesn’t think that’s it.
I know exactly where he would have seen me: Elena’s birthday party a year ago. I was leaving when Finn and Aiden arrived to kidnap her. I remember seeing them go into the room but my father was ushering me away from the party. I didn’t know I was looking into the faces of the men who would kidnap her as I left.
But I know Finn saw me. We locked eyes for just a second. I didn’t think anything of it – until I found out Elena was kidnapped by him. Then she fell in love with Aiden and I forgot all about Finn.
Until now.
“Still,” Finn says, shaking his head. “I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere else.”
“No.”
“You’re sure?”
“She’s sure,” Viktor says, grabbing Finn’s shoulder and nudging him towards the hallway. “My office. Move.” Once Finn is gone, Viktor turns to his guest. “I apologize for the interruption. But it’s time for this party to be over.”
Samuel shakes Viktor’s hand. “Thank you for the party. I look forward to doing more business in the future.”
“As do I.”
Everyone leaves except for Natasha. “Is there any way I can help you?”
Viktor runs his hand along the back of his neck. It’s strange seeing such a strong man look tired. “I have to deal with Finn. And the cake issue.” His eyes flick over to mine. I quickly avert my gaze. “We’ll talk more another day.”
“I could wait in your bedroom,” she offers. I blush. Her conversation with Viktor should not be for my ears.
“Not tonight, Natasha. I really do have things I need to deal with.”
“But-,”
“Not tonight. I’m sorry. You were lovely tonight. But I have work to do.”
“You always have work to do.”
He’s silent for so long, I finally work up the courage to look over at him. He’s staring down at Natasha with a frown. “My work is important. If we are to be wed one day, you need to understand that.”
“Of course. I know how to be a good wife. I am a widow, after all. Goodnight.” She leaves with her nose upturned but before she walks out the door, she shoots me a glare for good measure.
Viktor sighs. “It’s been a long night.”
“It has,” I whisper.
“Did Finn say anything to you? You screamed. What did he do?”
“He… works with you, sir. I’m not sure I should say.”
“Say it,” he orders. It does something funny to my body. A tingle in my stomach. “He touched my waist. It felt… threatening. So I screamed.”
“Fucking bastard,” he mutters.
“Sir, you don’t seem to like him.”
“How could you tell?”
“Why do you work with him if you don’t like him?”
“I don’t like a lot of people, Inessa. Finn is a means to an end. He’ll help me achieve what I want to achieve. It’s simple as that. It’s business.”
I let out a sharp sigh. “He told me you’re the Russian Mafia.” It’s better Viktor knows I know. It will be one last lie I have to hold onto.
Viktor tenses. “He told you that?”
“He did. Is it… true?” We both know it’s true but will he tell me is the real question.
“That’s a conversation for another day. Finn should not have told you that.”
“So, it was a lie?”
“It was… it is complicated. But you need to know that you don’t need to fear me. As long as you haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Sir?”
“I don’t take kindly to people betraying me. Now, I want to discuss this cake business more but right now, I need to deal with Finn. Tomorrow night, come to my office.”
Why is my heart beating faster? Out of fear or… something else?
“Goodnight, Inessa.” He walks away before I can say anything.
But I don’t even know what else I would say. Viktor is not a man you just easily converse with.
Viktor
“What the hell were you thinking?” I snarl as I enter my office, slamming the door behind me.
Finn sits on the chair opposite my desk. What pisses me off the most is his feet, on my desk, as if he has the right to put them there. “What are you talking about?”
I knock his feet from my desk and take my seat. “You. Showing up here. Intimidating my staff.”
“You’re pretty little maid.”
“Yes. My pretty little maid. Leave her alone, Finn. I told you so before.”
“I don’t see why I should have to. She’s just your maid. It’s not like you have a claim on her. She’s not your wife.”
“And that would stop you? If she were my wife?”
Finn’s smirk tells me he wouldn’t care about that fact at all. He’s a man who does what he wants when he wants. And sometimes, that includes women.
“Just leave her alone,” I sigh. “Can you do that? You reached out to me, need I remind you? You wanted this partnership. I can easily end it if you piss me off.”
“Fine,” he grumbles. “I’ll stop bothering the girl. But what if she wants me?”
“She doesn’t want you.” The thought of Inessa wanting another man bothers me, though it shouldn’t. She’s not mine. She might have a boyfriend for all I know.
I might have to kill him if she does.
No. I can’t let my mind go there. Don’t let the pretty maid distract you , I tell myself. I have more important things on my mind: like taking down Erik and Dante.
“What if she does?” Finn asks.
“Are you here to discuss business or not?”
“Just answer my question and I’ll move on.”
“Fine.” I lean back in my seat. Talking with Finn is like talking to a brick wall sometimes. “If she likes you, you can have her. But only if she likes you. But the fact that you made her scream tonight tells me that she doesn’t like you. So it’s a moot point. Now can we discuss business?”
“All right. I know Dante has a shipment of drugs coming into the harbor in a few days. I say we go blow it up.”
“Or steal it for ourselves and sell it.”
“Or that too.”
I steeple my fingers together. “Can you handle that?”
“Who do you think you’re talking to? Of course I can handle stealing Dante’s shipment. Just give me a few men and I’ll handle it. We’ll rake in more money and fuck over Dante in the process.”
“We’ll be fucking over your brother too,” I remind him.
Finn’s brow furrows. “He’s dead to me. After he married that bitch.”
“Don’t call Elena that,” I snap.
“I didn’t know you cared for her.”
“I don’t care for her. But she was a nice woman. She never deserved what you did to her. She’s not a bitch. You’re just an asshole.”
“I’m curious, Viktor. How is it you can be so nice to the women who literally fucked other men over you? Both Elena and Nadia did it and yet, you only ever say nice things about them.”
“Because I don’t blame them. They’re women. In our world, men rule. I blame Erik and Dante and your brother. Dante for seducing Nadia. Aiden for seducing Elena. And Erik for agreeing that they could all marry. But as for Nadia and Elena, they were just following their hearts.”
“So, you want a woman who loves you, is that it?” Finn’s laugh is full of sarcasm. “I didn’t know you had such a soft side to you, Vik.”
“Viktor,” I say. “Don’t use a nickname for me. I’m not ten.”
“I like Vik. It suits you.”
“Finn,” I practically growl in annoyance. “Stop being you for a moment.”
“Impossible. I’m always me.”
“So you’re always fucking annoying?”
He shrugs. “Pretty much.”
“Just go. I’m done for the night.”
“Understood. I’ll handle the drug shipment. Dante is going to regret pissing me off.”
“Don’t you mean your brother?”
Finn’s entire demeanor changes. “What about my brother?”
“You said he was dead to you. Don’t you want to make him pay for betraying you?”
“Yes. But only I get to say it. No one else gets to talk about my own brother but me.”
I raise my hands in surrender. “Duly noted. But Finn, a word of advice. You wear your emotions on your sleeve.”
“I am the furthest thing from an emotional guy.”
“Not true. You show it all. That’s why you’re so angry all the time.”
He crosses his arms with a huff. “And you’re saying you’re not angry? You’re the angriest motherfucker I know. You just hide it behind a cold exterior. At least I put it all out there.”
“It’s your weakness. It’s going to be used against you.”
“No. I’m strong. Much stronger than you. Want to know why?”
“Why?”
“Because you have a little problem, Vik. In the form of that pretty maid of yours. I saw how you looked at her at the club. And just tonight. You like her and you’re pretending you don’t. You got fucked over in the woman department with Nadia and Elena. You can’t risk that again. It’s why you’re pursuing that bitch, Natasha.”
“Don’t speak about Natasha that way.”
“Why not? She’s a bitch. Everyone knows it. She’s someone you never have to fully care about. And if you don’t fully care about her, it won’t hurt if she betrays you. But you like your little maid. It’s why you don’t want me talking to her. And if you like her, you’re at risk of getting hurt.”
“Be careful,” I warn.
“Why? I’m just speaking the truth. Despite what people think of me, I am observant. I see it, Vik. So my advice for you is to be careful with her.”
“What would my maid do that could hurt me?”
“I’m not sure she’s exactly who she says she is.”
Finn’s words draw me up short. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t know yet. But my gut says she’s keeping a secret. And my gut is never wrong.”