Radovan:We just returned home.
I glanced at the time. That was a long shopping spree.
Me:Much damage?
I wondered what she might have bought for herself. Her stipend sat untouched in the account. Her performance had earned her the cards.
Radovan:She never bought a single thing.
I stared at the screen.
Radovan:Correction. She bought some food.
I didn’t bother questioning him.
Neither of us understood women.
What I did know was that she wouldn’t be happy about her brother joining as our latest shestyorka. He had been placed with Grigori’s men in the north, but I kept tabs on the boy. He and his sister shared the same authoritarian issues.
It turned out my wife was unlike any other woman I had encountered.
Perhaps it was time to show her a little more of my world.
??????
It was later than usual when I got home.
We had fallen into something of a rhythm. Before the sun came up, before training, I would go to her and drop a load inside her. That morning fuck set me up for the day. Then again in the evening, with the occasional afternoon entanglement on the days I worked from home. She never failed to perform.
I found her curled up on the couch in the sitting room, the television casting blue light across her face. She startled when she heard me.
“I heard you broke my bank today,” I said.“Spending all my money.”
She stretched her arms out and yawned with complete lack of urgency.
“It isn’t money I’ve worked for,” she said, reaching for the remote to pause whatever she was watching.
I recalled someone mentioning she had worked in an office. Something unremarkable.
“What was your job?”
“Research,” she said, with a faint smile that didn’t elaborate.
“You have a new job now. It comes with perks.” I kept my voice businesslike.“A bank account has been opened in your name. Your monthly stipend has been added. I’ll leave your card in your room.”
“It feels more like prostitution,” she muttered.
“So why not enjoy the benefits?” I said.“We’ll be going to one of my clubs tomorrow night. I suggest you find a suitable outfit for the occasion.”
Her eyes widened.
“Outside?” she said, and then pointed at me as though confirming a fact she hadn’t quite believed.“You are taking me outside of this house?”
“Apparently a difficult concept to grasp,” I said, turning to leave.
When she had arrived the Chechen situation had kept the house on lockdown — I couldn’t blame her for assuming she was confined indefinitely. But as long as herbykiremained with her and she was home when I required her, there was no issue. Thebykikept her safe and ensured no other man had access to her. Any future child needed to be mine beyond question.
“Dinner, then bedroom. Ten o’clock, sharp,” I added, and left her to grumble at my back.
