Page 38 of Beautiful Deception

“Ok,” I whisper. What he doesn’t know is that I’m very good at keeping secrets. It’s something I never knew myself capable of until I started working for him.

“I do work for the Russian Mafia. A subset of it. I’m a powerful man, Inessa. I hold a lot of sway in this city.”

“The mafia?”

“Yes. You will not be harmed. You’re just my maid. You’re not a part of Bratva politics. But you have the right to know. In case I ever bring my work home with me.”

“I don’t understand,” I say even though I have a good sense of what he means because I’ve experienced it myself when my dad forced us from our home to hide from Viktor himself.

“In case anyone tries to attack my home. You see, I’m at war with another Bratva man named Erik Koslov. He’s in league with the Italian Mafia through a man named Dante Moretti. They’re extremely powerful. I’m trying to bring them down.”

“Down?”

“By hurting their business.”

Or through death.But I don’t say that out loud. I’m not going to ask because I don’t fully want to know.

“You will be safe here,” he says. “I have the best security system and I have loyal guards to keep an eye on this place. I am trusting you with this information. If you go to the police about this, Inessa, I will not be happy.”

“You would kill me?” I whisper.

“I wouldn’t want to. But if me or my family are threatened, I’m willing to do what I must.”

“Is that why you sent your sister away? Mrs. Green said that you told her that you sent your sister to stay with family in France.”

He sighs. “I did. It’s not safe for her here. I’m going to keep my family safe no matter what. But you and Mrs. Green are now a part of that family. I will keep you safe. I trust that you will not use this information against me.”

This is my defining moment.

“Who would I tell? I need this job. I will not give it up. And I… don’t want to be hurt.”

His lips twitch. “No. I imagine you would not want to be.”

“And I… want to make you proud.” I don’t know why that admission leaves me or why it feels so right to say.

No. I know why. It’s because for once, it’s not a lie, but the truth.

“You really do, don’t you?” he murmurs, gazing at me in a way I’m sure a boss should not be gazing at their employee.

“I do.”

He leans towards me, and even though there’s a desk between us, it feels like he could easily touch me if he wanted to. “I have to know, Inessa. Why was the cake ruined?”

“I don’t know.”

“You do know. I doubt you ruined it. Why would you after you spent all that time making it?”

“I don’t know.”

He stands up so fast, it makes me startle. I keep my breath steady as he walks around the desk towards me. “Tell me. Who ruined the cake. Was it Mrs. Green?”

“No. Why would it be her? She was sick in bed all day yesterday.”

“Exactly. So who was it? It had to be one of my guests. Tell me.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

---