42
We enter the club. My face is partially covered by the fan and I see that everyone is staring at us curiously. Even the men sitting on the sofas right in front of the main stage, turn their heads to look at us.
“Keep walking as if it’s just the two of us here,” Liam whispers in an attempt to calm me down. When I turn my head to the right, towards the upper sofas, I see the men lowering their heads and avoiding my gaze. The waitresses are standing at the tables holding trays, the bare-breasted dancers stop their exotic dancing. It seems as if the world has stopped in order to watch me being kicked to the bottom of the pit. The tension in my body threatens to paralyze me, and I stop and turn towards Liam. He stops and looks at me questioningly. I press close to him, and when he leans toward me, I cover our faces with the fan. I lay my hand on his scarred cheek. “I love you,” I whisper, and then I kiss his lips and close my eyes. “I’m sorry,” I whisper a few seconds later. “Maybe I shouldn’t have done that in here in front of everyone, but I needed to feel safe.”
With both his hands, he holds my cheeks tightly and he kisses me passionately. When I open my eyes, he looks agitated. “I’m crazy about you,” he says with a wide smile. “So crazy about you…” he bites his lower lip and grows serious. “Let’s get this show over with.” I nod and snap the fan closed, remaining exposed to all.
We continue walking on the carpet between the sofas until we finally reach a rectangular corner sofa. Our friends are sitting at one end, Ilan is sitting in the middle, and the Italians are sitting on the other end. All the men stand up.
Ilan looks at me in astonishment but pulls himself together quickly. He stretches out his hand and I tuck the fan into my belt and give him my hand. He holds it gently, kisses it, and then looks up at me.
“It’s a good thing you didn’t come to my wedding party like that,” he smiles. “My wife would have killed you if you would have stolen her spotlight.”
I feel an unexplainable affection for this man, and I can’t make the connection to the sadist who ruined my man’s face. I manage to smile back at him, but my expression turns cold as I turn to face the Italians. None of them reach out to me, and I don’t do it first. Carlito nods his head once and so does Mariano and Giovanni. I nod only at the father.
“Let’s sit.” Liam leads me to the corner of the sofa, and I let out a sigh of relief. He sits next to Ralph, and I try to settle myself on the edge of the sofa. The layers of fabric in my skirt don’t allow me to lean back, so I sit stiffly upright.
One of the waitresses puts drinks down on our table, and I’m afraid to move in case I slip off the sofa and land on my backside. Everyone looks tense except Ilan, who’s chatting cheerfully with Mariano, and Mike, who is scanning the club proudly.
“Carly,” Mike calls and waves as she walks to the table. “Look after our guests,” he asks, and she turns around and looks at the naked girls.
“Will you let me pamper you?” she asks the Italians. Carlito shakes his head no, as does Giovanni, but Mariano nods in approval.
“I want my regular girl,” Ilan says with a smile and leans back comfortably in his seat.
I bring out my fan and cover my face, put my hand on Liam’s thigh and he leans closer to me.
“He just got married,” I whisper without turning my face towards him. “Does his wife know that's how he spends his time?”
“I guess she doesn’t ask, and he doesn’t have to lie,” Liam replies calmly and I bare my teeth angrily.
“You also don't tell me because I don’t ask?”
“Then ask,” he whispers in my ear and I shiver.
"Then I'm asking" I answer him as I fume.
“Elena,” I feel him smiling at me and I nearly break my fan, as I'm clutching it so tightly. “I don’t do whores.”
“They’re strippers,” I say suspiciously.
“Same thing,” he answers disdainfully and leans back, and I can breathe again. I decide to stay behind my fan, somehow I feel safer this way.
Carly walks over to a tall, toned girl with black hair cascading down her shoulders, and points to our table. The girl smiles and starts sashaying sensually towards us.
“Irena…” Ilan mumbles and looks at her with pleasure. She pushes her way between the table and the sofa and sits on his lap with her legs spread. She starts moving on top of him and he undoes the clasp of her bra. None of the men looks at them, and I thank Victor silently for the fan that hides my blushing cheeks.
“I have a new girl for you,” Carly says to Mariano, and when I raise my head, my body freezes in panic. Johanna is standing in front of him, smiling sweetly and turning around so that he can inspect her. When her eyes meet mine, she winks naughtily.
“Oh My God!” I mutter in distress and Liam sits up and puts his arm around my shoulder.
Mariano nods once and Johanna looks happy. She makes her way over to him and sits on his lap. He holds her ass tight and she rubs her chest on his face.
“I want to throw up,” I whisper, and feel dizzy.
“What exactly did you think she is doing here?” Liam asks cautiously.
“I don’t know, dances on the stairs or on one of the balconies, but not this…” I almost choke as acidic stomach juices start rising in my throat.
“Keep it cool,” Liam orders and I try to stop watching that delicate body being pawed by that sick man. “We’ll be out of here in a few minutes,” he tries to soothe me. Mariano looks at me, pinches Johanna’s butt and smiles slyly. I turn my head away immediately and look at our friends. Mike is smiling and waving at some men sitting on the sofa behind him. Tommy is yawning with boredom and Ralph is sipping his drink and watching the girl dancing on the main stage. For them it’s just another night at the club but for me it’s a nightmare. I can’t stop thinking about Johanna, but I avoid looking at her. The song ends and the girl on the stage steps down. Someone jumps up on the stage and wipes the pole clean with a cloth rag. He leaves quickly and a girl in a red dress walks on.
“Drink some wine,” Liam hands me the glass and I shake my head no. I can’t do anything that will make me move the fan and remain exposed. I gesture him to come nearer.
“Tell me something,” I say curiously, “Does it make you horny to watch all these naked girls?”
“Right now, only one girl makes me horny and she’s all dressed up.” He moves my hair aside and kisses my neck. I shiver in pleasure but remind myself to hit him for the way he elegantly avoided my question.
“Come on, get out of here,” Ilan says suddenly and pats Irena’s ass. She takes her bra from the sofa and after he stuffs some dollar bills in her panties, she leaves the table.
“You can get lost, too,” Mariano says to Johanna and pushes her away roughly. She almost falls on the table behind her, but manages to keep her balance and stand up. He pinches her thigh and when she grimaces in pain he laughs. I realize in disgust that she’s waiting for her tip, but he just leans forward and takes his drink from the table. She turns to Mike and he tilts his head to the side, signaling that she should leave the table. Johanna leaves immediately with a disappointed look on her face. She doesn’t look at me again and I hope that she’s embarrassed because I’m shaking with anger. I can’t understand why she’s stooped to this awful pathetic situation.
“Friends, shall we go to the bar?” Ilan asks and stands up without waiting for an answer. One by one the men stand up and start walking towards the door. I stand up and tuck my fan in my belt. Liam puts his arm through mine and we follow them. I feel relieved that this part is over.
“Where’s Ilan’s father?” I ask.
“Mordechai never comes into the club, so he’s probably waiting for us in the bar,” Liam answers and I notice that he looks concerned.
“It will be fine,” this time I feel the need to calm him down and he turns to me and smiles in surprise.
“Everything will be fine when I know that you’re out of here.” He stops in front of the connecting door. “Elena, stay calm. No matter what happens, remember that I won’t let anyone hurt you.” He opens the door and we enter the bar.
The square tables have been pushed together to form one long rectangular table. Mordechai and Ilan are sitting at the head of it. The Italians are on their left and the partners are on their right. Liam pulls out a chair for me and I sit down next to him.
“Beauty and the Beast,” Mordechai says and laughs. “Every time I see you with him, I can’t understand how the hell he managed to get something as special as you.”
“Thank you, Mordechai.” I smile at him and realize thankfully that his presence reassures me.
“Lady and Gentlemen,” he says humorously in his calm voice, “let’s get started because I have a wife waiting for me at home.”
He hands out some papers to the two men sitting beside him, each takes a copy and passes the rest down the table. When I receive my copy, I see that it’s a map of the city divided into areas, each marked with a letter.
“You have turned this city into a jungle,” he says, looking at the map. “And when you make trouble, we are all watched closely. I suggest we return to the way the city was divided before the war, and each side can go back to enjoying its own profits.” I study the map and look it up on the internet on my phone, quickly scanning each area displayed.
“This is not acceptable to us,” Carlito says, as he plays with his gold necklace. "They started the war over a girl and humiliated us. We should be compensated.”
I turn pale as I realize that I’m the center of attention again.
Mordechai looks at Liam, who nods his head. “We understand their position, therefore we will repeat the offer we made at our previous meeting. They can have our best area for three months, and then return it to us.”
Ralph hisses a curse and now Mordechai looks at Carlito.
“Six months,” Carlito responds grimly, looking only at Mordechai. Ralph starts shifting nervously in his seat and Liam places his hand on the table in front of him, signaling him to calm down.
“In any other situation I'll tell you to fuck off,” Liam says calmly. “But we really are here to reach a compromise. So, if my friends here all agree, we will grant your request.” He looks around at his partners and they nod. Ralph curses in German again but nods his head once. Then Liam turns to look at me.
“What?” I whisper, not understanding.
“Does the Duchess agree?” he asks with a small smile.
I realize fearfully that this is actually an issue of surrendering on my behalf, but there is no choice. I nod and pray for this show to end.
“Then—” Mordechai leans back.
“Wait!” Mariano cuts him off. “We want to go over the rules, yeah?”
I look around me. Unfortunately, it seems the meeting isn’t over yet. I sigh and go back to surfing the net.
“It's important to us to keep our distributors alert, so we thought of exchanging two identical areas.” Mariano points at their area, Z, and then at my partners’ area, W. I run a search for the names of the neighborhoods and read the information online.
“Those areas border each other,” Liam says in confusion. “Same type of population and same size. I don’t understand why we should make this pointless exchange.”
“I told you,” Mariano says indifferently. “We’re just trying to make some changes for our distributors to keep them on their toes.”
I snort in disgust and everyone at the table falls silent and looks at me.
“Duchess, what do you have to say?” Ralph sits up and looks eager to hear.
“Nothing… I don’t think it’s important,” I mumble, mad at myself for talking out aloud.
“Let us decide that,” Liam says, looking at me tensely with all the others.
I sigh and avoid the furious expressions on the Italians’ faces. “I saw there are building plans in your area,” I say to Liam, “our area,” I correct myself. “Building plans for two office buildings as well as a restaurant and a recreation complex. Right here.” I point on the map. “So, in a few years' time, this neighborhood will be worth much more—”
“Bastards,” Ralph says angrily.
“Where did you see that?” Liam asks and I show him my phone screen. “It might not be the Dark Net, but you can find important stuff here too,” I tease, and he puts his arm around my shoulder and glares at the Italians.
“Haven’t you had enough with all your shit already?” Tommy asks, yawning as if the meeting is boring him to death.
“Wait, what does that mean?” Mike whispers in confusion and scratches his head.
“It means that your Duchess is too smart for them.” Ilan laughs and turns his head towards the Italians.
“At least their sneakiness is consistent,” Mordechai says with a smile as he tries to defuse the tension around the table. “I think we can bring this meeting to an end.”
“Nearly,” Carlito tugs at his necklace and it looks like he’s close to tearing it off his neck. “There is still the matter of the girl,” he looks at me venomously and I cover my face with the fan, trying to control my shivering fingers. “We can’t act as if it is business as usual when everyone knows that she humiliated us. Not once, but twice. So there's only one thing left for us to do.” I think that he’s smiling, and I'm shivering all over. “We will show everyone that we didn’t come out losing this war, but still acted with compassion and humanity. We will not kill her. But we will stick to tradition and mutilate her.” My fingers freeze and my body does as well.
“Mutilate?” I whisper in horror to Liam. “Did he say mutilate?” I see Liam sliding his hand under the table and placing it on my thigh, but I don’t register his touch at all.
“She’s just a girl,” Mordechai says, shaking his head from side to side. “You don’t have to act in such a barbaric way.”
“Oh yes? And what exactly did your son do to Liam, huh?” Giovanni yells, and I feel completely detached, as if I am watching this entire show from the sidelines.
“There are different rules for men.” Ilan pounds his fist angrily on the table. “We won’t allow what happened with the Russian’s woman to happen again.”
“That was an accident,” Mariano answers irritably.
Ralph places his gun on the table. “I told you,” he says to Liam. “You should have let me take them down the first time they came here.”
“Everyone calm down,” Mordechai raises his voice. “She’s just a girl.”
“She’s not just a girl,” Carlito says with an evil sneer. “She is the Duchess.”
“That’s right.” Mariano stands up, lifts his foot up to the table, pulls a knife out of his sock and releases the spring. “I’ll do it, yeah?” he announces cheerfully, and Liam jumps up to stand in front of him.
“If you touch her,” he says in a cold and venomous tone, “If you even dare to go near her, one of us will not leave here alive.”
“I don’t have a problem with that” Mariano answers in the same tone and they stare at each other hatefully.
I shut my eyes. The thoughts are spinning inside my head. Think fast! I shake my head. Elena, think fast! Suddenly I understand what is my only chance to get out of this without putting my man at risk. I have to take a chance; I have nothing to lose. I shove my chair back and kneel on the floor.
“Giovanni,” I say to the younger brother, “I embarrassed you, so I ask you to do it.” I see everyone’s shocked expressions and continue quickly, while I still have the courage. “But I have one condition. You can do anything,” I whisper. “cut my face, cut off my finger, just don’t touch my hair.” I look around me. “Everyone knows that nobody touches my hair!” I raise my head and shout, “Just don’t take my crown away from me!”
Before I can even lower my head again, Giovanni snatched the knife out of his brother’s hand and is running towards me.
“No!” I hear Mariano yell, but Giovanni is already pulling my hair and I cry out in pain. He passes the blade over my hair, cutting as he does so, and my head is free again. I raise my hand and slide it over my head. My long hair now reaches my shoulders in jagged edges. Giovanni bursts out into an evil laughter and Liam rushes towards me. I raise my hand, signaling him to stop, straighten up and look at Mordechai.
“Is my punishment over now?” I ask dryly.
“Your punishment is over now!” he announces, and I turn to look at Giovanni.
“You are so pathetic and predictable,” I hiss at him and stand up before Liam. He looks upset as he puts his hand on my head and strokes it. “It will grow back,” I smile in an attempt to reassure him and my heart, which is still galloping wildly.
“Idiot!” I hear Carlito’s furious voice, as Giovanni comes back shamefaced to the table.
“I told you she was too smart for you,” Ilan’s looks amused.
“I don’t get it…” Mike scratches his head and looks at Tommy.
“I’ll explain later,” Tommy says and winks at me as Ralph chuckles to himself.
“I choose to ignore this humiliation,” Giovanni says in a chilly tone and throws the pile of hair on the table. “But Tommy, I’ll accept your offer of a girl to end this night calmly, yeah?”
“Pick whoever you want,” Tommy whistles and the girls come one by one from upstairs and stand in a row before us.
“No panic button,” Giovanni says quietly, stroking the pile of hair, and I shudder.
Tommy thinks for a moment and then sighs in resignation. “Tonight, and only tonight, no panic button.”
I can’t believe it. I just can’t believe he is going to sacrifice one of the girls.
“Excellent,” Giovanni fakes a smile. “I want her friend,” he jerks his head in my direction. “That new blonde stripper.”
“What?” I shout. “Johanna’s not a prostitute, she’s just a stripper.” It seems like everyone is laughing at me. Tommy gestures to one of the girls and she goes to the club.
I raise my fan and cover my face with it. “Liam,” I whisper nervously, and he leans towards me. “Tell them she’s just a stripper. He’s doing this on purpose.”
“Elena,” he whispers back, “All the strippers there provide sex services as well.”
“Not Johanna.” I raise my voice but fall silent as she enters the bar and stands before us with her sweet smile.
“You’ll be working here tonight,” Tommy tells her and she nods. Goodness gracious, what the hell is happening here? “Go upstairs with him.” Tommy nods towards Giovanni, and she smooths down her hair and puts her hand on her hip seductively.
“Don’t go upstairs,” I say hysterically, “tell them you quit.”
“You stay out of it!” Mariano screams at me.
I feel like I am about to pass out from the tension. “Liam, please do something,” I beg, and he puts his hand back on my thigh.
"Elena, his voice is quiet but decisive." I must choose my wars, and I chose you."
I cover my mouth with my hand in distress and try to think of something, anything that will get her away from that damned upper level. But this time my brain doesn’t come through.
Johanna sashays towards the stairs and Giovanni laughs and starts following her. She disappears from my sight and he turns his head to me. His eyes drip poison. “I’ll show you just how predictable I am, yeah?” He laughs again and goes upstairs.
I can’t deal with the terrible feelings flooding through me. Everyone looks so calm and relaxed, as if nothing terrible is happening. The terrible sights that Liam forced me to watch in the room at the end of the corridor play out in front of me like a movie. But this time, Johanna is playing the lead.
“Why didn’t you stop it?” I mumble. “Why didn’t you stop it? Why the hell didn’t you stop it?” I get up from my chair and run to the bar counter. I feel as if my body’s been taken over by someone possessed. I’ve never understood why there’s a can of gasoline behind the bar, but now I know what I need it for. I unscrew it and pick up Charlie’s lighter in my other hand.
“Liam, what is she doing?” Charlie yells, but I’ve already run back and poured the contents of the can out in a straight line on the floor in front of them.
“Elena, what are you doing?” Liam is standing before me as I flick the lighter. I raise my hand and feel the madness running through me taking over.
“Get away from me!” I scream and he takes a step back. Everyone stands up. I throw the can on the floor and wave the lighter around. “You’d better pray she leaves that room unharmed, because if anything happens to her, I’m burning the whole place down with all of you inside.”
“Are you crazy?” Liam asks angrily. “Elena, she’s a whore. She’s been a whore for over a month.”
“Because of you!” I scream and start pacing. “And because of him.” I point at Tommy. “And because of that stinking powder!” I stop in front of them, still waving the lighter around. “And even if she is a whore, does that mean she deserves to go upstairs with that psychopath without a panic button?” I glare at him furiously. “I told you to stop it.” I take a few steps back and stare at the staircase tensely.
“Nothing will happen to her,” he says and tries to approach me. “He’s just talking shit.”
“Don’t come any closer!” I scream and he stops. “You wanted me crazy, you got me crazy. And now everyone sit down.” I shake my head and resume pacing. Everyone sits down and avoids looking at me, except Liam who is staring at me intently, and Ralph who folds his hands and smiles smugly.
“I’ll burn you too,” I bare my teeth and play with the lighter.
“I know,” he chuckles. “Finally, something exciting is happening here.”
I glance from the clock on the wall to the staircase again and again. I feel nothing but hatred. As if my heart has emptied out and got refilled with lethal poison. I hear footsteps from the stairs and tense up. Giovanni comes down with a smile, zipping up his fly.
“What’s going on here?” he asks Mariano.
“Where is she?” I scream at Giovanni.
“The whore?” He asks in confusion. “It will take her some time to recover, yeah?”
“You.” I point at the brunette. “Go get her.” She hurries upstairs and quickly returns with Johanna. I look at her. She’s wearing a red silk robe and rubbing her nose. She looks sleepy and strange, but she’s walking on her own.
Johanna stops in front of Tommy and fixes her hair. “Don’t go near him!” I shout and she looks at me in confusion. “Come to me,” I signal, and she starts walking towards me.
“But I haven’t finished working.” She rubs her nose again and I pull her close to me.
“Did he hurt you?” I ask as I study her delicate face.
“I don’t think so,” she replies and feels her jaw.
“We’re going now,” I say firmly, still waving the lighter. “Nobody follows us!” I shout. Liam stands up and I glare at him threateningly.
I pull her along with me, take my bag from the counter and continue walking backwards. I turn around to open the door and run with her towards the first taxi lined up outside. She’s too dazed to resist me. I push her into the back seat and am about to climb in beside her.
“Elena,” Liam stands behind me and grasps my elbow. “Don’t do this. Don’t leave me.”
My frenzy evaporates and I burst into tears. I shake his hand off. “If you love me, if you really love me, you’ll let me go now.”
“I can’t,” he says painfully and shakes his head.
“The collision is too hard.” I place my hand on his chest and push myself back. "The collision between our worlds has made them both explode. All that’s left is a black hole. Please don’t come after me.” I sit next to Johanna and close the door, as the driver starts driving away.