“What’s in your hand?” Egorov demands, continuing to speak to her in Russian.
She replies in kind. “Nothing.”
The thump of the wallet hitting the floor almost makes me smile.
Egorov grabs her arm and yanks her forward. “That’s my wallet,” he barks. When he picks it up, he’s shaking his head. “The way you behave sometimes. It’s like you want to be punished. Is that it?” he mutters.
His fingers pinch her chin, and she grimaces. Then her eyes widen, and she twists free, jerking back.
“Come along. You know what happens to bad girls.” He shoves his wallet in a trouser pocket and waves for her to follow him.
“It was on the floor before she got here,” I say. “You must have dropped it.”
Egorov turns and glares at me.
I lean casually against the wall. I know he won’t challenge me outright. He’s too smart for that. What he might do is summon an armed bodyguard to try to intimidate me. That won’t work either though.
“I didn’t drop it,” Egorov says. “If only that were the case. She’s trouble, this one. She snuck my wallet out of my pocket, and if it was on the floor, it was because she dropped it. She’s a girl who needs a lesson.” He looks back at her. “Go now, Natalia. Into the second room on the right.”
Her eyes snap defiantly, but her hands tremble too. “No, I want to go. You misled me.”
Egorov’s expression is one of a fox who’s torn his way into a henhouse. “Shut your mouth, and get moving. I’ve had enough of your attitude tonight.” Egorov looks at me and rolls his eyes. “She threw a drink in Polasky’s face. He’s furious,” Egorov says, his lips curling into a sinister smile.
Clearly Natalia’s a rebellious girl, but I wonder what Polasky, who’s old enough to be her grandfather, did to earn that drink in the face. I can easily imagine.
When Egorov steps toward her, she zips around him.
“No!” the girl snaps. “That drink spilled because someone bumped me. Just a mistake. I was going to get a coat to get warm when I saw your wallet, Ivan. You must have dropped it.”
“No one gave you permission to get a coat from the closet, and I don’t believe you found my wallet on the floor!” Egorov snaps.
“I don’t belong to you,” she says, the skin between her brows pinching.
“I’m going to color your ass with my belt, little cat.”
What’s this now? My mouth forms a grim line.
He gets her arm for a second as I move toward them, but she once again jerks her arm free. Then she darts around him, coming to stand in front of me.
“He’ll be the one to do it. This Alexei. Because I was borrowing his coat without asking.” Her hand clutches my forearm.
My expression gives nothing away. Internally, my surprise is mixed with interest, and more. Does she like to play wild games? Or is she only submitting to prevent worse from happening to her?
“He’s stronger than you,” she adds. “So he’ll do the job better.”
I don’t smirk, but I’m tempted to. She’s a hellion all right.
The curses that spill from Egorov’s mouth blister the air. He stalks to us, but before he can get his hand on her, mine knocks it away.
“That’s enough,” I say.
Egorov’s furious stare tells me he would gladly bury an icepick in my heart if he had one handy, but he’s past the days of doing his own killing.
“This has nothing to do with you, Alexei. You’re lucky to be in this house at all. Go back to the main room and have a drink. There are lots of pretty girls to choose from.”
When Natalia speaks, her voice is so low that I think it must be meant just for me. “Please stay. You do this, instead of the others.”
I don’t look at her. Instead, I speak to Egorov. “You heard from her own lips that I caught her taking my coat. I’ll be the one to punish her, or no one will.”
