“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 Vanguard 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 Vanguard 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.”