Cynda and the City Doctor: 50 Loving States, Missouri (QUARANTALES Book 1)
Page 17
Another amused half-smile…that instantly disappears.
“Clem, Vlad, you will give us the room,” he says without looking away from me.
That one command is all it takes. Vlad grabs Clem by the arm, and Clem doesn’t fight him at all as he’s pulled off the couch.
“Clem…” I say when I realize he’s planning on leaving me here alone with a man I just met.
“It’s okay, Billie, he won’t hurt you,” Clem says as Vlad pulls him past us. “He promised.”
“He promised? What do you mean he promised?” I call after him. “What’s going on?”
The only answer I get to those questions is the ding of the elevator Vlad and my brother have obviously gotten on. Oh God, my brother’s been dragged away.
And now I’m alone.
With the huge Russian winner.
I turn back to face him, my heart racing with a strange mix of curiosity, fear, and uncertainty. What now?
Apparently, introductions.
“Hello, I am happy to make your acquaintance,” he says, holding out a large hand to me. “Cheslav Rustanov. But you may call me Chess.”
Chess…
Suddenly I know why he seems familiar. This was the hockey player we got a few years back. Some big deal who’d won three Stanley Cups, according to the local NPR station. For a while the city seemed to be littered with billboards of him standing next to a red king chess piece and the declaration, “The King has come to play for the Charleston Knights.”
So not mafia, I realize, putting it all together. Hockey. He’s a hockey player. With a henchman who was totally willing to pull me out of my condo.
“Hi, I’m Billie,” I answer, awkwardly extending my elbow into the air instead of shaking his hand. “I’m pretty sure this is what we’re supposed to do now.”
Chess lowers his hand, his eyes twinkling with amusement. Like I’ve said something really funny, not given him a proper COVID etiquette reminder. South Carolina hasn’t had any confirmed cases yet, but the virus landed on the West Coast in February. And Cynda, who’s a nurse, told me that she thought it was only a matter of time before it spread across the entire United States.
“Please forgive me for dramatics,” he says. “This situation is very confusing for you, da?”
Da. I think that means yes in Russian.
I nod, then force my voice back up my throat to ask, “What’s going on? Why did you make Clem leave?”
“Would you like something to drink?” he asks instead of answering my question. “Vodka? Wine?”
“It’s five in the morning.”
He moves up the sunken den’s short set of stairs toward a wet bar I hadn’t registered before on the sidewall. “Gin and cranberry. That is your drink of choice, da?”
I jolt. How did he know?
“I have no gin,” he says as if I answered him. “But vodka and cranberry is good substitute, nyet?”
“What’s this all about?” I demand again as I watch him make two drinks. A vodka cranberry for me and just a straight shot of some vodka with Cyrillic letters on the label for him. “Why did your employee break into my home with a gun?”
“Drink first. Business later,” he answers coming back to me with the drinks.
“That’s a terrible order to do business in,” I answer, ignoring the drink he’s extending toward me. “Business now, so I know what I’m doing here.”
“You are stubborn,” he notes. “This will be fun.”
“Maybe for you,” I answer.
“For both of us,” he says. Then he takes a step closer. Way, way too close. “This is my promise.”
My belly flips all the way over at that promise. And his proximity.
“You should take the drink. Let it calm you before our talk,” he says, holding up the glass again.
I take the drink from him. But only to set it down next to the chessboard, before demanding, “Why am I here? What is going on?”
He sighs with another half-smile, like I’m somehow disappointing and amusing him at the same time. “Okay, we do this your way, krasotka.”
He sets his drink down on the opposite side of the chessboard. “Your brother misrepresented to us his ability to enter into high stakes gameplay. And now he owes me money. Money he says he cannot pay.”
I blink. I mean, no surprise there.
Clem is going through a messy divorce right now, which is why he came to stay with me after the last football season ended instead of going home to his wife and kids. According to him, Natalie not only tied up all his assets but is also demanding five-figures in child support.
With as much as he makes for the NFL, he should be able to pay that amount easily, but unfortunately, most of my brother’s money gets eaten up by his poor choices and bad habits. He goes to Vegas at least four times a year to gamble, and he insists I’m just “a hater” whenever I point out that the house always wins. Gambling losses are another reason he’s staying with me as opposed to getting his own apartment.
I can just see him telling himself that this high stakes card game was a sure bet and spinning dreams of how he’d cover all his child support and have enough money to move out of my condo with all of its boring rules.
“How much does he owe you?” I ask, already running calculations.
After Clem got his football contract, I badgered and badgered him until he finally relented to let me manage his money. I put him on an allowance, and though he lives a ridiculously extravagant lifestyle, after all his bills are paid, I managed to set a few funds aside in a higher interest savings account that I labeled “Save Clem.”
Sadly, this isn’t the first time I’ve had to access the “Save Clem” money to get my brother out of trouble. He’s been asking to borrow from it for some supposed investment opportunities ever since he moved in. Luckily I said no because as of now that account’s accumulated nearly thirty thousand dollars.
I’d been planning on giving the money to Natalie if Clem didn’t find a way to pay his child support before that, but I’d be willing to pay some of that toward this if it meant getting my brother out of danger.
“Three hundred thousand dollars,” the Russian answers.
I’m glad I refused to take the drink. If I had, it would be flying from my mouth right now.
“He lost that much in one poker hand?”
Cheslav shrugs. “It is not called high-stakes for nothing. And I always bet big, not little.”
I shake my head. “I can’t…I can’t pay that. That’s worth more than my house.”
“I believe you are making wrong comparison here.” Cheslav steps closer to me. His demeanor going from amused to menacing in a hot second. “Is that amount worth more than your brother’s life? That is the real question you should be asking.”
Horror ices through me, and I struggle to show a calm composure. “You’d kill him? Over money? I mean, you’re a hockey player. Killing people who owe you money can’t be a good look.”
“You are correct, I am merely a hockey player,” he agrees with a cool nod. “But I am also a man with a certain reputation. These games of mine…they are extremely exclusive. Trust is very necessary. Yet, your brother slipped past my background check. So will I kill him?”
Cheslav casts his eyes to the side as if honestly considering my question. “No, of course, I will not do that. But a month from now, will he suffer an unfortunate accident that ends his career and makes it so he cannot walk for the rest of his life—one that the authorities will assure you has nothing to do with me?”
He shrugs again, but lets me know, “That is for certain.”
For a moment. For several moments, I am unable to speak. Fear crawls up my spine, while I grasp for my voice.
But I’m still the same Billie who scraped up enough money to get her brother the rest of the way through college and changed her life for the better.
I make my voice strong to point out, “That’s insane. This is an illegal game. Completely unsanctioned. And you’r
e a professional hockey player, and if I go to the press with your threats…”
“Yes, I’m professional hockey player,” he agrees, somehow looking both amused and bored. “Very famous. Very well-liked and sought after by many women. Also, my family is very powerful, here and back in Russia. So if you go to press with claim they will either not believe you or my very powerful family will make sure story never sees light of day. Either way, my threat will be promise made true while your threats are nothing but little nips at my heels.”
Once again, I find myself struggling to swallow. I want to fight. I want to figure out a way of my brother owing this monster so much money. But at the end of the day, I don’t think he’s bluffing. About his family or what he’ll do to my brother if that debt isn’t paid.
“Okay,” I whisper. “I’ll sell my house. I’ll get you the money.”
He crooks his head, the amused look coming back over his face, but not reaching his eyes. “Do you really think you’ll have enough time to come up with this money before your brother’s unfortunate accident?”
I blink and translate. “So you’re saying I only have a month to come up with this money or Clem gets hurt?”
“Or five days,” he answers.
I scrunch my forehead, not understanding. “It’s going to take me more than a weekend for me to get my hands on that kind of money.”
A beat of silence passes. Then he stares at me with an unwavering intensity as he says, “Or you could give me something I want in that five days. Something worth this amount of money.”
My heart stutters in warning but somehow I manage to ask, “What do I have that would be worth that much money to you?”
He picks up his drink and takes a sip. “You. For five days. Doing whatever I want, however I want it, until it is time for you to go.” He gazes at me over the rim of his glass. “I would consider this fair exchange.”
Oh man, you have GOT to see how this one ends.
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BILLIE AND THE RUSSIAN BEAST
Also by Theodora Taylor
QUARANTALES WITH HEART
Cynda and the City Doctor
Billie and the Russian Beast
Goldie and the Three Wisconsin Bears
Reina and the Heavy Metal Prince
(newsletter exclusive)
THE VERY BAD FAIRGOODS
His for Keeps
His Forbidden Bride
His to Own
RUTHLESS TYCOONS
HOLT: Her Ruthless Billionaire
ZAHIR: Her Ruthless Sheikh
LUCA: Her Ruthless Don
RUTHLESS BOSSES
His Pretend Baby
His Revenge Baby
His Enduring Love
His Everlasting Love
RUTHLESS BUSINESS
Her Ruthless Tycoon
Her Ruthless Cowboy
Her Ruthless Possessor
Her Ruthless Bully
BROKEN AND RUTHLESS
KEANE: Her Ruthless Ex
STONE: Her Ruthless Enforcer
RASHID: Her Ruthless Boss
RUTHLESS RUSSIANS
Her Russian Billionaire
Her Russian Surrender
Her Russian Beast
Her Russian Brute
HOT AUDIOBOOKS WITH HEART
The Owner of His Heart
Her Russian Billionaire
His Pretend Baby
His Everlasting Love
Her Viking Wolf
HOT HARLEQUINS WITH HEART
Vegas Baby
Love’s Gamble
ALPHA KINGS
Her Viking Wolf
Wolf and Punishment
Wolf and Prejudice
Wolf and Soul
Her Viking Wolves
ALPHA FUTURE
Her Dragon Everlasting
NAGO: Her Forever Wolf
KNUD: Her Big Bad Wolf
RAFES: Her Fated Wolf
Her Dragon King
THE SCOTTISH WOLVES
Her Scottish Wolf
Her Scottish King
Her Scottish Warrior
HOT SUPERNATURAL WITH HEART
His Everlasting Love
12 Days of Krista
(only available during the holidays)
12 Months of Kristal
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About the Author
Theodora Taylor writes hot books with heart. When not reading, writing, or reviewing, she enjoys spending time with her amazing family, going on date nights with her wonderful husband, and attending parties thrown by others. She now lives in Los Angles, California, and she LOVES to hear from readers. So….
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