She smiled. "As coconspirators, we are friends, so you should call me Mattie."
"Very well." Petrov glanced at Dimitri. "Either the additional blanket is helping, or the medicine has started working. He's not shivering as violently, and his skin doesn't look like it's about to combust."
She leaned over and put her hand on Dimitri's forehead. It was clammy to the touch and still hot, but not as bad as before.
"I think the medicine is working. He's a little less hot."
"I wish I could get Anita here," Konstantin said.
"Who's Anita?"
"The lady I've been seeing. She used to be a nurse before the traffickers got her. She would know what to do."
Mattie didn't know what to say to that. She'd assumed that Petrov had been visiting the brothel to take advantage of the poor women who had been enslaved there, and maybe that had been his intention initially, but he seemed to care for Anita.
"I'm sorry," she said because she couldn't think of anything else to say.
"About my inability to get her here?"
"No, I meant about her situation. You obviously care for her."
"There is nothing for you to feel sorry about. It's not your fault." Konstantin's gaze remained fixed on some point in the distance. "She's a fine woman, and she shouldn't be in that place any more than any of the others, but it is what it is, and there is nothing I can do about it other than spend as much time with her as I can, so she won't be available to others." He smiled. "Being important to Lord Navuh comes with certain privileges. I can partake as much as I want for as long as I want, free of charge."
"Is that why you spend so much time in there?"
"You've noticed, eh?" He waved a dismissive hand. "I enjoy being with her. She's a lovely lady, and if I could bring her here, she could take care of him." He sighed. "Maybe I can ask for a favor. Get her out of there temporarily. Though that would raise questions I'd rather not answer."
Mattie didn't like the thought of another woman taking care of Dimitri, and her grip on his arm tightened involuntarily. Anita was probably a beautiful woman who didn't have any repulsive scar tissue.
It was selfish, but even though the woman was a nurse, she couldn't do more for Dimitri than Mattie was already doing. A nurse wasn't qualified to diagnose what was ailing him, especially if it was some allergic reaction to the venom.
"What time is it?" she asked, changing the subject.
Konstantin checked his watch. "Almost ten."
Ten o'clock. Today, her shift at the bar started at one.
"I will need to go soon," she said, though every part of her resisted the idea. "My shift starts at one."
"Stay," Petrov said.
"I want to, but I don't have a choice."
In fact, she was terrified of going back there by herself and encountering her tormentor again. Tarik might fear harming Dimitri, but she was free for the taking.
"I'll talk to your boss and tell him that you are in no state to work today." Konstantin rose to his feet. "What's the barman's name?"
"Anil."
"Oh yes, Anil. He can handle the bar on his own." A smile crossed his face. "After all, he was doing just fine before he got you to take orders and serve drinks. I should know, given how much time I spend at that place every day."
"Anil requested a waitress to help him because he was overwhelmed, and I was chosen for some reason." Mattie still didn't know why she'd been the one selected. Luck, maybe. Or fate. "He needed help, and he still needs it."
"Well, he'll have to manage without his waitress for one day. Dimitri needs you more than he does."
If Petrov could get her off her shift, that would be a huge relief. She wouldn't have to leave Dimitri, and she wouldn't have to face the bar and the possibility that Tarik and his friends might return.
"Thank you for doing this for me," she said.
