There’s another silence, longer this time. When she speaks again, her voice is cold. "Our arrangement? Is that what you're calling it now?"
"That's what it's always been. A mutually beneficial arrangement. But it's run its course, and it no longer suits my needs." I feel the smallest flicker of guilt over shutting things down so coldly, but I know that if I don’t, she won’t take no foran answer. I can’t allow there to be any reason for her to think that she can change my mind about this.
"Just like that? After two years, you're ending things over the phone?" Something like a genuine thread of hurt can be heard in her voice, and I feel that flicker of guilt again.
"Would you prefer I do it in person?" I keep my voice businesslike. "I can arrange for you to fly here if you'd like to discuss this face to face." I know she won’t take me up on it, or I’d never have suggested it in the first place.
"Discuss?" She laughs humorlessly. "There's nothing to discuss. You're making a unilateral decision, as always. Do I get any say in this?"
"No."
The word hangs in the air. I hear her sharp intake of breath, and I can imagine the way her face is flushing with anger and humiliation.
"There's someone else." It's not a question. "That's what this is about. You've found someone else."
I don't answer. She can take that however she likes.
"Who is she?" Svetlana's voice rises. "Some little nobody who doesn't understand your world? Some innocent you can corrupt? Is that what this is about, Ilya? You got bored with me and decided to find a new toy?"
"This conversation is over."
"No, it's not. You don't get to just dismiss me like I'm nothing. I know things, Ilya. I could make things very difficult for you if I wanted to."
The threat is clumsy, born of hurt pride and anger rather than genuine malice. But it's still a threat, and I don't tolerate threats.
My voice drops, turning softer, and ice cold. "Svetlana. Listen to me very carefully. You don’t knowanythingworthwhile enough to hurt me. And that’s on purpose. You think I wouldever have allowed you in enough to be able to damage me? You’re an absolute fool if you think that, which just makes me all the more glad I’ve put an end to this now.”
“My father has money. He could help me make things difficult for you…”
“Don’t put yourself in that position, Svetlana.”
Her voice sharpens. "Are you threatening me?"
"I'm reminding you of reality. You're a smart woman. You know how this world works. You know what happens to people who make things difficult for me."
"I'm not afraid of you."
"You should be." I let the words settle for a moment. "I've been generous with you. I've treated you well, spoiled you plenty while we were together. But that generosity has limits. Push me, and you'll discover exactly where those limits are."
I can hear her breathing on the other end of the line, quick and shallow. She's finally understanding that this isn't a negotiation.
"I want you to listen very carefully," I continue, my voice still soft and cold. "You will not contact me again. You will not attempt to interfere in my life or my business. In return, I'll make sure you're taken care of. There will be a sum deposited in your account, enough to supplement your lifestyle for quite some time. Consider it a severance package."
I can almost hear her teeth grinding on the other end. “You’re paying me off to leave you alone.”
“You can think of it like that if you want.”
Another long silence. Then she speaks again, quietly. "I thought we had something real."
The words surprise me. She sounds like she actually believes them. There’s that flicker of guilt again, but if she really did believe that, then it’s better this ends now. There was never anything real between us.
"We had an arrangement," I say, letting my voice warm just a little. "It served its purpose. Now it's over. That's all."
"And this new woman? Is she just an arrangement too? Or is she something more?"
I think about Mara in the next room, about the way she kissed me. About the fact that I would burn down everything I've built before I'd let her go.
“That’s not any of your business,” I say finally. “Our time together is over, Svetlana. I’m sure you’ll do just fine on your own.”
