“As you can see, the money doesn’t add up. We’re gaining more clients every fucking day, and that shit doesn’t sit well with me.” She also didn’t dress anything up either. She was fact all the way.
“Are you sure you just can’t count?” I asked.
“Cheeky bastard. You think I didn’t go over the figures a hundred times before calling you?” she asked. “I get how busy you all are, and I run a tight ship.”
I took the file she offered me and started to look through the facts and figures. Just from the quick glance, it appeared they were losing close to ten grand a night—not good. The brothel Cara ran was more … exclusive. Rich men who wanted to live out every dirty little fantasy could have their fun. The women were always beautiful, always ready to fuck. Cara said she didn’t deal with crack whores, or women who were desperate. She worked with women who wanted to get paid to fuck. Who actually enjoyed their work. When she ran the idea by Ivan many years ago, I thought she was going to fail. There was no way women would be lining up to want to fuck for money. I’d been wrong. Her club, aptly called Cara’s, had proven to be a success. Even if it hadn’t been, I was sure Ivan would have seen to it that Cara was taken care of.
Cara put down her coffee and rubbed at her temples. “I’m pissed off, Vik. It means someone is in my business, taking from me, taking from Ivan. I don’t like it.”
Only close friends called me Vik.
I looked at the figures. “And you’ve had no new people?”
“No. None. I haven’t hired anyone in a year, at least.” She sighed and sat back. “The problem I have is the security cameras, they’re all in the rooms. I don’t have them in our private business. You know that.”
“So whoever it is, they’re either taking it from the private rooms or up front. You ever thought the girls are giving it away for free?”
She shook her head. “I have to protect them. You know that. I’ve got guards there. Payment is always secured before any business takes place. You know my rules.”
I did. “I’ll take this to Ivan. He’ll look into it.”
“Tell him I’m on his side. That I’ll deal with it.” Cara sat back. “So, now that business is out of the way. Tell me how your wife is doing.”
I rolled my eyes. “Not happening.”
“Oh please, you’re being an asshole, aren’t you? I think I can see it now. You probably don’t even see your wife.”
I thought about how she spoke to me in the shower. Aurora had been different then. She’d been filled with fire, passion, and pain. I recognized all three. They were emotions I could relate to.
Staring at Cara, I know she’d understand, but when it came to my wife, I didn’t understand her.
“This is not a topic of conversation.”
Cara ran her finger along her chin, assessing me. I’d never fucked her. A lot of men had, but me and Cara, we weren’t inclined that way.
“You know I met her at the wedding,” Cara said.
“You did.”
“She … seemed nice. Terrified, which is a given. She was being given to you, but I also heard what people were saying about her. What they were calling her.”
“I heard as well.”
“Yeah, but does your wife know what you did to those people?” Cara asked. “Is she aware that you put a blade in a man’s throat because they called her a fat cow?”
“No one disrespects my wife,” I said.
“Which again, I find so intriguing. For a man who claims not to care, you seem to do a whole lot of caring.”
“Are we done here?” I asked.
She chuckled. “We are, for now.” She stood up and held out her hand.
I shook it and then we embraced.
“Take care of yourself, Vik. Don’t be a stranger.”
“Let me know if you have any more findings about this.” I held the file she’d given me, and she agreed.
She left and I paid the bill, leaving a healthy tip.
I turned on my heel and left the restaurant. After heading to my office, which was located at one of our casinos, I sat down and went through the figures. Cara’s notes were along the side, and I could see she was trying to work out the problem.
Cara was an amazing businesswoman, but she sometimes didn’t see patterns. There was something here, I could see it.
Closing the file, I placed it to one side, handled a few emails, checked over some inventory. Called men to arrange meetings with, and handled my district one. Sergei regularly checked in with me about my wife’s whereabouts, and today wasn’t any different. He texted me that she was still inside the apartment.
What was different this time was she’d taken a quick detour to the gym, followed by the pool.
She normally sat and read.
My wife’s calendar was always empty.
Sitting back, I stared at the text message.
Aurora was hurting.
Her family hadn’t been in touch. Everyone she’d ever known had left her behind as if they didn’t care about her.
I didn’t understand her pain.
My family was dead to me.
Ivan’s words about children came back to me.
Getting to my feet, I texted Sergei to let him know I was heading home.
Everyone moved out of my path as I made my way to the car. I climbed inside the back and handled some more business as I was driven to my apartment. I didn’t give Sergei any instructions.
After arriving, I climbed out of the car, took the elevator, and entered my apartment, dismissing Sergei with a single look.
Aurora was nowhere to be seen.
I checked the kitchen, living room, dining room, and then opted for the spare bedroom I’d turned into a library for her.
She sat in a chair, reading a book. Exactly how I found her more often than not. This time though, she wore large clothes. They completely covered her body. Her glasses were perched on her nose, and she did look incredibly cute.
I entered the library.
“Hi,” she said.
I stayed silent, glancing around at the bookshelves. When I’d married, I’d been determined to ignore this woman, but each day, I found her invading my thoughts. It was very fucking annoying.
“You like to read?”
“Yes.”
It was a dumb question. Anyone could see she loved to read.
Spinning around, I found she now stood, looking at me. Her hands held the book close to her as if it was a protective shield. It wouldn’t ward me off.
“We have a duty to produce a baby,” I said.
“Oh.” She nibbled on her lip. “I didn’t think there was a rush.”
There wasn’t, but the truth was I wasn’t used to going without fucking and so far, I hadn’t been with any other woman. Again, it was fucking beyond me why I hadn’t. We had willing women at our fingertips, and it would be so easy to find a woman.
“Get in the bedroom. Get naked.”
I wasn’t a good man. I didn’t know how to have a wife, or to be nice to a woman.
She was the enemy.
Aurora left the library.
I didn’t trust her. For all I knew, she could be running off and telling her dad all of our secrets. The moment I had the thought, I quickly squashed it. There was no way it would happen. All her actions were monitored. There was no way she’d be able to do it without us noticing.