Chapter 36
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
AUDRY
E ven though he was smiling, it was clear that Yegorov was still burning with anger. His eyes were literally glittering with rage. Knowing he was such a volatile human being, I was aware I had to tread with care, or else I would be dead before I could say, ‘I can be useful.’
I wracked my brain for ideas on how I could be useful to this man. I'd already stolen his money, so of course he was going to want that back, or at least be recompensated.
Should I apologize?
I rejected that idea simply because apologizing would be an admission of guilt. At the moment, all he had was the supposition that I had stolen his money. I wasn't going to confirm it.
He leaned his pudgy hands against the chair, putting his weight on it so that it actually creaked.
“So,” he said with his head bowed, “you and I are together once again. The last time we met, I lost a lot of money. This time, maybe you'll make me some money.” He lifted his head to eyeball me. “What do you think?”
Unfortunately for me, I was quite amused and giggled. I mean it was just so funny, the Russian accent, the overweight villain, he was giving off vibes of Spiderman’s Kingpin. “Where's your cat?” I asked, knowing very well that it was an extremely stupid thing to say.
His eyes widened in startlement. “Cat? What cat?”
“The one you’re supposed to be stroking right now. To complete the picture.”
His face reddened and he pouted, the anger overflowing from his eyes. He took his hands off the chair, marched over to me and backhanded me as hard as he could. I stumbled away from him for half a step. I’ll admit that I saw stars and my left eye was watering, my cheek stinging. But now I was in control. He was reacting to me.
“That all you got, weak ass?” I jeered.
He growled, lifting his hand again. I cowered playfully, lifting up my hands to cover my face, “Ooh watch the merchandise won’t you? I can’t walk around with my face all swollen. People will think I have a husband who beats me.”
He growled again, showing me his yellow teeth. “Shut up!”
“Or what?” I shot back immediately. Yes, maybe I had a death wish, who knows.
“Or I’ll shut you up.”
I screamed with laughter. That was such a cartoon villain response. How was I supposed to take him seriously? He looked uncertainly around at his henchmen. Obviously, he thought I was crazy. I decided to perpetuate that narrative. I needed to buy myself time and being unpredictable was one way to do it.
I went over to the chair and sat down, crossing my legs and arms. “Look, clearly your whole macho, I’m-the-boss-act doesn’t work on me so why don’t you tell me why I’m here and I’ll let you know whether what you want is possible or not? Time is money and I already have people looking for me. I have failsafes for getting kidnapped you know, as we all do, I assume.” I looked around the room at Yegorov and his three henchmen, my eyebrows raised imperiously.
They all stared back at me with varying levels of spite in their eyes. These people really did not like me, and nobody knew where I was.
Excellent work Audry.
Yegorov smirked maliciously at me. “It doesn’t matter how many failsafes you have. Nobody will find you unless I want them to.”
I cocked an eyebrow, trying to look haughty. “And do you? Want them to find me?’
“Maybe…” he shrugged, “I would like them to find your mangled body.” He threw back his head and laughed. “I can just imagine Cassio’s face when he finds a second girlfriend with the same face as the first, killed in an even more gruesome manner. Oh, to be a fly on the wall…” He grinned at me, malice glittering in his black eyes.
I inclined my head to the side. “Why do you hate him so much? Is it because you’re jealous that he’s handsome and attractive while you’re ugly and repulsive?” I kept my tone strictly curious.
He snarled, leaping at me, his hand raised to slap me again but then he froze, and the rage bled out of his eyes. He shook his head. “I won’t let you rile me, bitch. Whatever you’re trying to do, it won’t work.”
Since I had absolutely no idea what I was trying to do aside from stay alive, it was a source of comfort to me that he thought I might have a plan. At least someone believed in me.
I shrugged nonchalantly. “You were telling me what you wanted from me.”
He straightened up and went to lean on his desk, my words giving him focus in spite of himself. “Yes. You are going to give me back my money and show me exactly how you penetrated the Cosa Nostra systems.
I frowned in feigned puzzlement. “I don’t know what you mean.”
He gave me a very mean smile, his small eyes piercing. “Yes, you do.”
How could he have heard of that?
I was pretty sure the organization was not announcing that they’d managed to get conned by a girl . So he must have had an inside man. I tapped my foot softly, wondering how I could use this information to my advantage.
“How do you know?”
He barked with laughter. “The audacity. You think I would tell you?”
“Why not? You’re going to kill me, right? So, who will find out?”
“I never said that.”
I leaned forward, looking him fearlessly in the eye. “You don’t have to, Alex. I can see it in your eyes. You’re mad that I managed to get one over you and you’re going to make me pay.”
“You’ll try to seduce me out of my plans?” he asked lazily.
I shuddered delicately.
“You had no problem seducing me before.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, and you never wondered how we never quite ended up fucking? You’re a lot slower than you look – and you look slow .”
The bitch slap came so fast I didn’t even see him lift his hand. I just found myself on the floor, having flown out of my chair. Now I am not a masochist, but I figured that as long as he was slapping me, he wouldn’t be killing me. Or asking inconvenient questions. Hopefully, someone, maybe my step dad, maybe Marco, might come for me in the meantime. I regretted not leaving Marco a note. It was unfair of me to just slink off like a one-night stand when what we had shared had been so special. I bitterly regretted getting out of his bed that morning. I could have been cuddling with him or making love again.
Who the fuck cared if he just saw me as a substitute for my dead sister?
Why had I even cared about it so much? There were so many other important things to worry about. Now I might die in this filthy den of traffickers, or worse, get trafficked again, and for what?
You really are stupid Audry. Why couldn’t you just try and work it out?
One of Yegorov’s goons lifted me off the floor and deposited me back in the chair. Another put a laptop in front of me. He pointed imperiously at it. “Get me my money now. And those codes. I want everything you have or I’ll take your life.”
I stared up at him, defiantly. There was nothing that could persuade me to give him what he wanted. To do so would be hastening my death or disposal. I had to stall somehow.
I cleared my throat. “I’ll need internet access.”
He smiled in triumph, opening his desk and handing me a modem. “Knock yourself out.”
Oh, I intend to.
I couldn’t do anything as obvious as sending Kylie a message. Especially since his goons were keeping a hawk eye on my every move. But I did truly have failsafes and I could activate them using lines of code that would look like gibberish to these men.
Hopefully.