Page 9 of My Merciless Don

She closed her eyes tight and sighed, “Hey, how about this, I promise I will try to get your money back. In the meantime, I’ll work on a score for you, get a good chunk of money back in your account. How about that?”

I looked away, rolling my eyes, “Now why should I believe you can even do that?”

She opened her eyes, looked right into mine. “I did it to you, didn’t I?” She leaned back, looking smug, “Call it an audition. A demonstration of what I can do. For you.”

I inclined my head to the side, still keeping eye contact. “And why would you want to do anything, for me?”

“Because I don’t want to die.”

I wasn’t expecting such a stark answer after all the flirty nonsense that had gone before. I straightened up, crossing my arms and considered her closely. “Fine, Ms. Martin. You have one week to replace the money you stole. Should you fail…” I leaned forward, “Then prepare to meet your maker.”

She slowly nodded, unblinking, keeping her eyes on me. I still didn’t trust her as far as I could throw her. This could all be a trick.

I gave her a half smile. “So… Aleksandr Yegorov, do you know that name?” I began to pace up and down in front of her.

“Pakhan of the Bratva. I’m familiar.”

“Also a mortal enemy of mine.”

“Mmmh, also not breaking news.”

“You seem to know a lot about us.”

She just shrugged. I stopped pacing, fixing her with a piercing stare. “How do I know you’re not in cahoots with him?”

She threw back her head and laughed. I cocked an eyebrow. “What’s funny?”

“You think he wants you dead? Yegorov really wants to kill me.”

“Why?” I demanded feeling a curious kind of protective rage that Yegorov would want to touch her. I pushed it away, unacknowledged. I didn’t have time for inconvenient emotions.

“I conned him of some money.”

I huffed, shaking my head. “Do you have a death wish?”

She shrugged, self-deprecatingly. “Some of us are thrill seekers.”

“Clearly,” I snorted. I gave her a serious look, “How can I believe you?”

“You don’t have to take my word for it. My assistant sent the relevant files to your inbox. Check your email.”

“You just… ‘knew’…I would ask about it?” I asked skeptically.

“It was a bargaining chip.” She gave me a sheepish look, “an introduction, a presentation of my credentials. Consider it my portfolio.”

“What do you want, Audry? What do you really want?”

The door opened, and Valerio came in. He had an iPad in hand which he handed to me. “This came through from the woman’s email.” he said, flicking a glance at Audry.

I looked down, opening the attachments. Five of them detailing an elaborate hoax where they’d gotten Yegorov to bet on a certain horse, and once the horse won, and he’d collected his winnings, they did a bait and switch, took the money and disappeared.

“Impressive.” I said involuntarily, especially knowing how paranoid Yegorov was.

“Thanks.” She batted her eyes at me and smiled. “So, you ready to try me now?”

CHAPTER EIGHT

MARCO

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