Chapter 7
Kasimir~
When I’d seen Zoya give that one-hundred-dollar bill to her blonde coworker, it’d taken everything in me not to march back into the diner and cause a scene thrilling enough to get her fired.
Instead, whether by divine intervention or not, Viktor had called me, demanding my assistance, and I’d been able to prioritize the importance of my brother calling me, despite how I’d been feeling at the time.
Still, that hadn’t stopped me from being annoyed for the rest of the night, and I’d taken it out on David Minor.
David was a regular gambler of ours, and while he didn’t carry a heavy debt with us, he had posted vacation pictures with his family when he owed the Korolev books nine-thousand dollars.
So, I’d caught up with David to remind him of that fact, and I’d been irritated enough to make my point a little rougher than I’d normally would for nine-thousand dollars.
At any rate, Zoya Kuzmin was a problem for another time. Right now, I was walking into my sister-in-law’s office to discuss business, and if it was possible, the woman was even more beautiful with her round belly just sticking out for everyone to admire.
“Where’s my brother?”
Aurora looked up from her desk, and instead of aiming a gun at me like she would have at one time, she smiled, and Viktor really was a lucky sonofabitch. “I mentioned having a craving for some Pringles, so I’m pretty sure that he’s out buying shares of the company.”
I just laughed as I took a seat across from her desk “You’re probably right.”
“So, while Stephanie’s assured me that everything is ready for the auction, I’d like to hear it from you,” she said, getting straight to business.
“Everything is checking out so far,” I answered. Then, taking my life in my own hands, I added, “Has Viktor spoken to you about the future auctions?”
Aurora nodded. “Yes, he has. He thinks it’ll be more prudent from a safety perspective to do them twice a year, instead of every three months as originally planned.”
“And?” I prompted.
“I happen to agree with him,” she smirked. “Better safe than sorry when vetting the girls and participants, and we’ll still be helping the same number of women.”
“It’ll also give you some time to recover once the baby is born,” I pointed out. “Which is Viktor’s main concern.”
My sister-in-law let out a deep sigh. “Seriously, I never would have thought that Viktor Korolev would lose his damn mind over something so normal.”
“Awe, give him a break,” I chuckled. “He almost lost you, and that’s something that he will never forget. Fifty years from now, he’ll still be worried about you whenever you leave the house.”
“Well, while that’s understandable, if he doesn’t relax, then we’re having only one kid,” she grumbled.
That got a laugh out of me. “You’re out of your mind if you think that my brother’s not going to keep you knocked up. Not only do you glow beautifully, but keeping you pregnant will keep you out of the streets.”
“You’d think that, wouldn’t you,” she snorted.
Knowing that there was no fixing Viktor’s paranoia, I said, “I do have something that I’d like to speak to you about, besides the auction.”
“What is it?” she asked, leaning back in her chair, in business-mode once again.
“Zoya Kuzmin,” I replied, making her arch a brow. “While she is still untouchable, what of Darya Orlova?’
“Besides the obvious connection, what’s Darya done to offend you?” she asked, and that was the thing about Aurora; she balanced being compassionate and ruthless perfectly.
“Have you been keeping tabs on the family since you killed Decio?” I asked, wanting to know just how protected Zoya and her mother were.
Aurora nodded. “Of course.”
“And?”
“Since the promise that Zoya is safe from the Korolevs, it seems as if their only struggles are financial ones,” Aurora answered.
“For whatever reason, Darya refuses to work, leaving Zoya to carry the burden of supporting them both. Now, while I understand why your father wants to make their lives as uncomfortable as possible, they’re still in St. Moran, so I’m not seeing the point after all this time. ”
“Forgiveness isn’t in our blood,” I reminded her.
“Same here,” she quickly agreed. “Though, if it involves family, exceptions can be made.”
“I’m just wondering why they haven’t moved,” I mused, though that was only half-true.
Aurora’s dark gaze narrowed a bit “Quit bullshitting me, Kasimir. What’s the real reason that you’re asking about the Orlovas?”
“Well, Armen turned out to have bad character, and now the mother is turning out to have bad character also, and so...what’s that say about Zoya?” I questioned.
“First off...did Armen have bad character?” she countered, surprising me.
“What the fuck? How can you ask that?”
The woman just shrugged a shoulder. “Yeah, betrayal is nothing to sneeze at, but when you look at the reason for his betrayal, some people would consider that the absolute in loyalty.”
“You are out of your goddamn mind,” I chuckled. “Seriously.”
Ignoring that, she said, “As for Darya, what do you expect from someone who’s never had to take responsibility for her life? Armen had been supporting her since she’d been left to raise Zoya on her own. Even if she did want to work, what would her resumé look like?”
“So, what do you make of Zoya?”
Aurora arched a brow again. “Why do you call her lepestok?”
I leaned back in my seat. “Because her name means life, and what are flowers if not a constant reminder of how life blooms all the damn time.”
“That’s very poetic,” she smirked. “Never would have expected that of you.”
“I’m full of surprises,” I quipped.
Shooting me a look, she said, “I made a promise, Kasimir.”
“And we’ve been honoring it,” I pointed out. “I just...I had questions.”
“No harm is to come to Zoya at the hands of a Korolev,” she reiterated.
“And as far as I’m aware, no harm has come to her at the hands of any Korolevs,” I replied easily. “In fact, I don’t think you give us enough credit for that.”
“What are you up to, Kasimir?” she asked, such a suspicious little thing.
“Nothing that you need to worry your pretty little head about,” I assured her. “Besides, I don’t need my brother going medieval on me for upsetting you.”
“Just...whatever you’re doing, leave Zoya Kuzmin alone, Kasimir,” she said, and it was unfortunate that I was going to have to disappoint her.
“I only promised not to harm her, Aurora,” I reminded her.
Instead of arguing with me about it, she said, “Very well.”
“Is there anything else that I need to know about the auction?” I asked, moving past the conversation about Zoya and her family.
“I don’t think so,” she replied, back to business. “I think we’ve been over everything, and I think that Stephanie will be enough to handle the girls. I just need you to handle the participants.”
“What’s your biggest concern?”
“That the participants won’t honor the limit cards,” she answered. “With no cameras in the rooms, there’s no way to guarantee that they’ll honor their word to follow the rules.”
“But that’s why the girls leave first, right?” I straightened in the chair a bit, understanding why that could be a concern. “To question them before the men scurry off into the night.”
“Yeah, but...honestly, I’m kind of hoping that one of them does step over the line,” she replied. “We’ll have an excuse to make an example out of him, showing everyone what will happen if they break the rules.”
I chuckled at that. “You really are a bloodthirsty little thing.”
“I just don’t like rapists, Kasimir,” she sighed. “It really is that simple.”
I gave her a terse nod in understanding. “I promise to make an extraordinary example out of any man who hurts any of the girls.”
“Thank you,” she said sincerely. “These girls are not hookers, despite taking payment for sex. These are desperate women who are at the end of their options. They are not signing up to get abused.”
“I guess that depends on how they fill out the limits card,” I remarked pointedly, making Aurora grin.
“Depending on how they fill out the limits card,” she echoed.
I couldn’t say it enough; my sister-in-law really was one-of-a-kind.