Aileen let this sink in. She was afraid to know what sort of measures crossing the agency or Seputre’ s clan might bring down upon a person.
“Past that, once you are moved into his home, you should consult me if you have any problems. I will give you a card to keep tucked away, in case of emergencies. Obviously, you can call me directly to discuss any concerns, but if you run into any sort of situation where you feel you are in immediate jeopardy, you will call the number on the card. Someone will come to your aid without hesitation and remove you from the situation while it is sorted out with the client. It’ll all be in the fine print of the contract what happens in the event of a client defaults on his end of the agreement, but it basically says that if he is in default, so is his money.”
“Good to know.”
“Remember this, Aileen. You paid us a fee to help you and that is our job.”
“Yes, but I didn’t pay anywhere near as much as he is paying.”
“Actually, you did. What he is paying you and what he is paying us are two different things. All of our clients pay the same fee for the same services to us. Both you and Mr. Seputre paid us to find a match for your situation. You are equal in our eyes.”
Aileen smiled at her. It was an important point, one that she hadn’t considered. She had just assumed that he paid a percentage of his fee to the agency and that it was much higher than hers. She felt better about the situation already. Something about Charlotte put her at ease. It might seem like a sexist business to be finding women to serve as decoys for powerful men, but it was quite clear that this woman was not what she appeared to the men that employed her services. It was the women she was helping that drove her to do this.CHAPTER FOURThe next few days seemed to fly by as Aileen finished packing up her things, but she had changed her plans. Rather than putting them into storage, she had used the money she was given as an upfront payment to lease a decent sized home in a small suburb not far from where she would be living with Yakov for the next few months. She was hardly a prisoner and no one would think anything of her still having a home of her own, so she could duck into it here and there while Yakov was working.
By the time their contract was up, she would already have everything ready to just settle into her new place. It was not too far from his place and far enough away from her old clan that it was unlikely she would run into any of them on a daily basis. While Yakov’s current work had been on the edge of the county near her old clan, his home was on the opposite side of it in a rural community. People in her old clan didn’t usually visit other small towns, but stuck to the bigger city on their outings.
That morning she had turned in her keys to her apartment and followed the moving van to her new place. Aileen oversaw as they distributed her boxes into the rooms for which they were marked. She currently waited on deliveries of furniture, specifically a bedroom and living room set. The house had come already equipped with appliances. Tonight, she would meet Yakov for a dinner with members of his clan, where he would introduce her and begin their deception. She would spend the night at his place, making a late morning exit so as to be seen by those who would gossip about it.
By the following week, her visits would be more frequent, followed by a weekend elopement and her relocation to his house on a full-time basis for the remainder of their contract. After that, she would only be here at the house in spurts, when it didn’t interfere with her requirements there. In addition to just being with Yakov when he was at home, she was expected to hobnob with the members of his clan, to win over their hearts and minds. They would be perceived as a lovely couple and Yakov, worthy of love, that of herself and his clan. He would be a shoe in to take over the role as leader, rather than the younger dragon that would drop quickly to second choice.
The doorbell sounded and she went to answer it, expecting it to be her furniture delivery. Instead, it was a courier with a large box and a couple of bags. She looked at him curiously, thinking he might had the wrong house.
“Aileen Venegra?” he asked.