Gavriil (Stepanov Mafia)

“Just go,” I said, beyond annoyed. I was ready to be done with this family.

She was nearly out the door when suddenly, she slipped her arm from Yuri’s grip and charged forward, planting her palms flat on my desk. “I’ll work for you.”

Yuri scrambled to correct his mistake and grab the woman, but just before he could grab her, I held up a hand to stop him. He froze in a lunge, hands reaching for the woman’s waist.

“Wait,” I said. Then, I turned to her. “What do you mean?”

She lowered her eyes and then looked up at me from beneath her thick lashes. “I’ll… work for you. I’ll do whatever you may need.”

“Whatever I may need,” I repeated.

She blushed and nodded, biting her plump lower lip.

I looked her up and down, doing my best to make out the shape of her from beneath her lumpy sweater. “You do realize what you are offering me, don’t you?”

Her eyes fluttered and then she nodded. “I do.”

I leaned back and crossed my arms. Perhaps Wednesdays weren’t so bad after all.

***

Samantha

Gavril Stepanov was not what I’d expected. I’d imagined an old fat man with graying hair and a thick cigar sticking out of his mouth. But Gavril was young and lean, though I could see the definition of muscles through his long-sleeved shirt, and his neck was thick and corded with muscle. His jawline was sharp and square, brow furrowed, eyes a startling shade of blue.

Startling, mostly because they were focused on me. He was studying me, every inch. No doubt assessing and admiring, trying to decide whether my offer was worth what my brother owed him. I found myself hoping for both outcomes. I wanted to complete the mission I’d set out to complete, but I also wanted him to deny me and send me home.

My legs shook beneath me, trembling in a way I’d never felt before. It was a mixture of adrenaline and terror. What was I doing here?

“Yuri.” Gavril nodded to the man standing by the door, gesturing for him to leave.

Without a second’s hesitation, the man left the room and pulled the door shut behind him. Gavril turned his full attention back to me.

He smiled. “Are you certain you’ve thought this through?”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded, even though I didn’t think it was true. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I’d been certain this man would see the concern I had for my brother and let us go in peace. I thought I would appeal to his humanity.

“Okay,” he said, sounding unconvinced. “Then strip.”

My body went cold. My muscles tensed up, and it felt like I had turned to stone. “What?”

He circled his finger impatiently. “I can’t know whether you are worth the price with that hideous sweater on. I want to see what you are worth. If it is what your brother owes me, then I’ll accept your offer.”

I couldn’t do this… could I? It was demeaning. Humiliating. I just met this man. I couldn’t strip down in front of him. I’d never stripped down in front of anyone before. Not like this.

After a few seconds of standing frozen, Gavril sighed and waved me away. “I don’t have time for this. Go spend time with your brother while he has some left. My men will find him tomorrow.”

He sat down at his desk and began working again, pretending as though I wasn’t in the room.

My heart thundered against my chest, beating out a nervous rhythm I felt certain he could hear as I reached for the hem of my favorite oversized sweater and pulled it over my head. I held the material out to the side between two fingers and let it drop to the floor. At the sound of the fabric hitting the floor, Gavril looked up.

His mouth was a hard line, but his eyes roved over me in quick bursts, trying to take it all in at once. Try as he might, he couldn’t hide all of his feelings behind the façade of cruelty.

I had on a tight black tank top beneath the sweater that was tucked into my high-waisted jeans. With trembling fingers, I unbuttoned my jeans and pulled the material free, trying to focus on the way it felt sliding over my skin. Trying to connect with an inner-sensuality I knew I had to have, even though I’d never accessed it before. Gavril seemed like a man who had been with more than his fair share of women. If I wanted to save my brother’s life, I had to be more than a pretty face.

I had to be worth it.

I slipped the tank top over my head and twirled it above my head before circling my hips and tossing the shirt on top of the sweater already on the floor. My chest was heaving with nerves, my lacy white bra barely containing my breasts. I noticed Gavril studying my chest, so I leaned forward, letting the weight of them hang. I shimmied my shoulders, and his eyes moved side to side like a cat watching a clock pendulum.