Pavel “All security cameras have been put on loop and the locks are open,” Dima says, his fingers clicking over the keys on his laptop in the back of the van.
Nikolai puts the van in drive and coasts forward the remaining half block until we reach the iron gates that close the entrance to Blake Ensign’s home.
“The gate is… now open.” Dima reports just before the gates swing wide to let us in. “I brought masks. They’re in that bag.” Dima doesn’t look away from his screen; his fingers still move across the keyboard, clicking away. I have yet to see anything the guy can’t hack with enough time.
I open the bag and stare at the ski masks. Part of me doesn’t want to wear one. I want this fucker to see my face when we’re talking. But I can always take it off. I pull mine out and toss out the rest to the guys.
“He lives alone?” I ask Dima.
“Yep. How else would he get blowies from all the women he casts?”
My lip curls, and Dima shoots me a look over the top of his laptop before he snaps the lid closed.
“He definitely picked the wrong actress this time.”
He did. “I promised Kayla I wouldn’t kill him,” I warn my brothers. “So don’t let me take it too far.”
“We’ve got your back,” Nikolai promises, turning from the front seat and pulling on his knit mask.
Dima taps the lid of his computer. “I have ways to hurt him that don’t even require bloodshed.”
He pulls on his as well.
Oleg already wears his, his size and silence making him the most terrifying in appearance of the four of us.
“Brat’ya,” I address my brothers in Russian, “Spasibo.” Thank you.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the fucking world,” Nikolai says easily, sliding out of the van. “Let’s do this thing.”
I palm the revolver I found in the bag with the caps. Nikolai also pulls one out. Oleg prefers to rely on his hands, which are capable of snapping a man’s neck with a single twitch. Dima brings the laptop along. I can’t fucking wait to hear what damage he holds in there.
I do the polite thing and ring the bell. I hope to fuck he doesn’t have servants in the house at the moment-scaring the innocent isn’t my thing.
A mid-fifties asshole with salt and pepper hair pulls the door open, then tries to slam it shut when he catches sight of us. Oleg catches the door and shoves it in.
I point my gun in the center of Ensign’s forehead. “Hey asshole. I have a few things to say to you.”
“What the fuck is this?” He’s not scared yet, he’s pissed. The man wears entitlement like it’s a second skin.
Oleg grips his throat and lifts, using his superior height to lift the bastard off his heels.
He chokes, his face turning purple, eyes bulging. Oleg knows exactly how long to hold him. Long enough he starts thinking he might die right here in his entryway.
When he releases him, Ensign collapses in a heap on the floor. Nikolai kicks the door shut behind us.
“What-” Ensign coughs and sputters, holding his throat with one hand as he drags himself back up to his feet.
“Should we take him somewhere?” Dima affects a bored tone. “Is there a nice rug we could ruin with his blood?”
“Wh-who are you guys? What the fuck are you doing in my house?”
“Adjust his tone.” I make my voice as cool and bored as Dima’s but don’t quite succeed. I sound invested in his pain. I am invested in his pain.
Oleg delivers a couple choice blows-one to his gut, one to his jaw, knocking him backward onto his ass again.
“We’ll take him to the casting room. I want to see the couch where he takes his dick out.” I deliver a sharp kick to his ribs. “Where is that?”
“What?” He’s still more angry than scared. His face contorts with belligerence.
I point my gun right at his crotch. “You wanna keep those balls? Take me to the fucking room where you asked my girl to suck your dick.”
I see a flash of fear now. He understands why we’re here. What we want. Or maybe he just sees that I’m a ruthless bastard. He hides it quickly. I’ll give him that-the guy’s not a total coward. I actually thought he’d be softer. The kind who begged the moment he saw a gun.
“Just shoot it off,” Nikolai suggests when he doesn’t answer immediately.
“Upstairs.” His attitude adjusts quickly. He points toward a spiral staircase. “In my office.”
I kick him again. “Take us there.”
He groans as he climbs to his feet. I press the tip of my revolver to the back of his head as he hobbles forward up the stairs.
“Who are you?” he asks when we get into his office. “Which girl?”
“Which girl,” Nikolai repeats the damning phrase. “How many have there been?”
He doesn’t answer.
“How many yesterday?” I ask, just before Oleg delivers a blow to his jaw that sends him careening into the heavy maple desk.
Dima takes a seat and cracks open the laptop. “Looks like you saw forty-five women yesterday, is that right?”
Ensign shoots him a frightened glance, like that kind of information wasn’t public knowledge.
“Yes, I am in your email, in case you were wondering. I’m also in your bank account. The one at Wells Fargo, the one at Fidelity, the one at V anguard, and also the off-shore account in Barbados.
Looks like your current balance is two million, eight hundred fifty thousand and some change. Does that sound right?”
Ensign pales, shooting scared glances between me and Dima. “Wh-what the fuck is going on here?”
Oleg punches him in the gut.
I fold my arms across my chest. Honestly, I’m afraid if I do get my hands on him, I’ll finish the job. “I thought I made it pretty clear. You asked my girl to suck your dick. I’m going to kick your ass.
I’m also thinking about cutting your dick off to prevent future incidents. We’ll see how long it takes you to say sorry.”
“I’m sorry!” He holds his hands up and shoots another glance at Dima. “Wh-what is he doing with my money?”
“Looks like he’s more worried about his money than his dick,” I observe. “You set up to drain him?”
“With the click of a button,” Dima confirms. “Which one do I start with?”
“How much is in the V anguard account?” I ask.
“That’s his smallest. Two hundred eighty thousand.”
“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! I’m sorry about your girlfriend. Who is she? I’ll give her the part.
I’ll make her a star.
I hesitate then send my knuckles into his nose, breaking it. “You think I’d let her anywhere near you?”
He groans, holding his gushing nose. “I’ll get her a part with the studio-on another show. I can do that.”
“You can do that.” I make my voice sound withering, but I glance at Nikolai to see his take on it.
He shrugs like the solution is worth considering.
“I can do it.” Ensign’s talking fast. “Lots of parts are being cast right now for next season. I could get her a part on Bank Bandits or Bad Boys. An on-going role. If she’s any good, it would open doors for her.”
“If they’re not your shows, how can you get her the part?”
“I’ll talk to the casting director.” Ensign holds his gushing nose. “I can say she’s a friend-or, or my niece-and I need this as a favor. I guarantee I can get her something.”
Gospodi. I want to help Kayla this way. But what if he’s just trying to get her name to nail me?
I look at Dima. “Take the money from his V anguard accounts.” Dima hesitates a moment because it was a bluff. I was supposed to know it was a bluff. And now I’m asking my cell brother to commit another felony for me.
“You have forty-eight hours to make it happen. If you do, I’ll put the money back.”
Dima clicks the button. “Account drained.”
“I’ll do it!” Ensign agrees. “What’s her name?”
“Kayla Winstead. And if that girl does not get treated like fucking gold, I’m coming back for another visit.” I bring the butt of the gun to his forehead again. “She doesn’t know you got her the job.
Understand?”
“Understood,” he croaks.
“You come looking for me, you’re a dead man. Forty-eight hours.”
“I’ll take care of it.” He reaches for tissues on the desk and uses a wad of them to hold up to his nose. “And you’ll put my money back.”
“That’s the arrangement. If you don’t come through, we’ll empty the rest of them.”
“No.” He slices his hand through the air. “It’s done.”
“Good.” I glance at Oleg who nods and punches Ensign hard enough to knock him out.
The four of us walk out the door and climb in the van. “Honestly, I was hoping he’d be harder to break,” Nikolai says as he backs the van quickly down the drive. Dima makes the gate open with his laptop, and we’re out.
“Same,” I agree. “You think he’s good for it?” I ask.
“Yeah, I do. Here’s my guess,” Nikolai says. “I’d bet this isn’t the first time he’s had to offer that solution. There’s probably been threatened lawsuits before.”
“Fucker,” I mutter. “Kayla can’t know about this. Make sure you don’t say anything in front of Sasha, those two don’t keep many secrets.”
“When do we ever talk business in front of Sasha?” Dima scoffs.
“I know. Of course you wouldn’t. I’m just making sure.”
“You did the right thing.” Nikolai guesses at my misgivings.
I sure as fuck hope so. If anything I did ever hurt Kayla, I’d never forgive myself.
Kayla Lara calls when I get back from the spa. At first, I just stare at my phone, not sure I want to answer.
Not sure whether I’m going to tell her what happened.
But after spending two and a half hours having my feet massaged, my nails painted and my face peeled and moisturized, I’ve come to a realization: Pavel takes care of me.
He takes care of me like no one in my life ever has-and I had a nice, wholesome upbringing with two parents who drove me to every rehearsal and never missed a single performance.
So I’m going to surrender control and let Pavel take care of Blake Ensign and forget about my good-girl misgivings over what he’s doing.
“Hi Lara.”
“I just wanted to check to see how the audition went yesterday.” she asks.
I appreciate the check-in, even if it’s a day late. “Um, not great. But that’s okay. I’m chalking it up to experience. At least I made call-backs.”
I wish to hell Blake Ensign hadn’t ruined that high point for me. For a minute there, I’d been damn proud of myself. Of my success. Of actually doing the thing I came here to do. I’d gone into that first audition as an empty vessel, and I’d filled it with the part I was supposed to play. I’d moved them, just as Pavel had promised.
The fact that I got a call-back proves it.
I shouldn’t let a first class asshole like Blake Ensign diminish that little win.
If I did it once, I can do it again. Now I know what it takes. Stripping myself bare. Dropping all pretentions. Just being. All the things Pavel has demanded from me. I’ve been worried that he was distracting me from my career, when, in fact, he was the ticket.
“Oh.” Lara sounds disappointed. “All right, hon. We’ll get you another one. I’ve gotta go. Have a good rest of your weekend.”
“You too,” I singsong, even though I know she’s already hanging up.
Crawling onto the bed, I open the reading app on my phone and find a romance novel to read-a sexy werewolf one because I love me an alpha male, but Pavel walks in before I even start it.
“Master!” I scramble up off the bed and throw myself at him.
He bands his arm around my back and lets me smash myself against his body. “That’s… sweet.”
He sounds surprised. I guess I haven’t greeted him this way before. His body is a tense rock against mine, like he’s bracing himself. Or holding himself back.
“Thank you for the spa day. It was so nice.”
He fists my hair and pulls my head back. “I want to do bad things to you.” I guess he’s already over his misgivings about hurting me.
“Did you… um… were you visiting Blake Ensign?”
“I took care of it.” There’s a finality to his tone, but I still push.
“What did you do?”
He disengages himself from me and steps into the bathroom without answering. I hear the sound of him washing his hands. I follow him in. He rubs a washcloth over a dark spot on his hunter green shirt, and I see the remainder of blood there.
“You said we don’t lie to each other,” I accuse.
Pavel turns and raises his brows, pinning me with a sharp look. “I won’t lie to you, Blossom. I will also never make you an accessory to a crime. My job is to protect you. That’s what I will do.”
My breath leaves me in a whoosh. Like every time he reveals this side of him I’m simultaneously shocked and turned on. Afraid and swoony.
I move forward and insinuate myself into his arms again. “I like what you do,” I murmur.
Pavel lets out an exhale. His body relaxes a few degrees, and he kisses the top of my head.
“Clothes off, little slave. I need to be inside you.”