Page 46 of The Payback

A few of them cry in earnest when they see the four men standing there, like the horsemen of the apocalypse, ready to rain down hell on their lives.

“How many?” Dimitri asks Sergei.

“There were forty-five,” Boris cuts in. “So forty now.”

Jesus Christ. Human trafficking is one of the worst things in the world, and on this scale, it’s sickening beyond belief. I’ve never personally seen an operation with this many transported at once.

“And the girls that didn’t make it?” Dimitri asks.

“Sunk somewhere in the Atlantic,” Boris says.

They’re from abroad, then. Their fair hair and Slavic features lead me to believe they’re Russian. Stealing from their own populace... my nausea returns. If I know one thing about Natasha Volkov, the leader of the Bratva, it’s that she wouldn’t let this stand.

Dimitri shifts towards his uncle, getting his whole body in the camera shot. “Market price?”

Sergei shifts on his feet. “Twenty million total.”

“Buyers are lined up?” Dimitri asks coolly, as if this isn’t affecting him the way it is me.

“For most of them, and for two weeks now. The coffers are bursting, nephew,” Sergei says, moving closer and clapping Dimitri on the shoulder like they’re old buddies. “I’m glad you’re finally taking an interest in the real money-making business here. And if you’d like, you can take one, and we’ll ship the others. We didn’t list all of them and have some room to play.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Dimitri replies. “After all, you remind me nearly daily that I need to have an heir. One would think you wouldn’t want me distracted from that.”

Sergei laughs darkly. “Fair enough. But you should enjoy your positionandyour new wife. I have this handled, just like I always have. Your father trusted me with it.”

“I want to see the list of buyers,” Nik says quietly from beside Dimitri. Sergei inclines his head in acknowledgement. “To double-check where our money is coming from.”

Dimitri turns to leave but then turns back. A sick sense of dread settles low in my belly before he speaks. And when he does, I fight the urge to vomit.

“You know what? I will take one,” he says.

A grin unfurls on Sergei’s lips. “What’s your flavour, nephew?” He waves his arm towards the container in invitation, and without bothering to inspect the “merchandise,” Dimitri strides towards the exit.

“The youngest.”

I reach for the wastebasket under the desk and yank it to me, retching into it.

His hand lands on my back, and I flinch under his touch.

“She is safe. They all are,” Dimitri says once I stop emptying the meagre contents of my stomach into the bin. “I had to play along to keep Sergei from figuring it all out.”

I shake my head. “None of them are safe. The trauma, losing their families, being ripped away from everything they know and sent God knows where... None of it is okay.”

“I know, Sabre. I know. But I’m doing my best with limited time and knowledge of it. It was the best I could come up with at a moment’s notice.”

“Where are they now?” I ask, not sure if he’s even going to tell me.

Sitting more upright, I examine his face, hunting for the truth I hope is on it.

“I was every single buyer, and as soon as we were back in the car, I checked the listing and purchased the rest, so none were left behind. All paid for from different offshore accounts under anonymous names, all untraceable.”

I scoff. “You just had twenty million dollars lying around?”

He shrugs. “They’re being cared for and kept far away from my uncle. The one who defended the rest agreed to work with us and get the others on board. As soon as your agents speak with them, I promised they would be returned home. Unless their families sold them, that is. In that case, we need a place for them.”

My mind spins, thinking over the logistics of all of this as the chime on Dimitri’s phone rings. The lift is on the move up here. We can’t be directly involved in getting them home, not with Nik as our constant shadow, but I will get the word to my contact here in New York, and they can arrange how to handle this shitstorm that just blew in.

I whisper as the lift doors slide open and announce Nik’s arrival. “I will handle this. But I need you to distract Nik so I can make a shit tonne of calls. Give me all the details of where they’re staying and suggestions on how we can safely move them.”

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