The Russian Billionaire

“Your dreams are nonsensical,” I say with a laugh.

“I thought you died.”

I pull away from her and smile. “Me? Died? Never.”

My phone starts ringing. I pull it out of my purse thinking it is Konstantin. But it is not. It is Catherine Moriarty.

Raine

I untangle myself from my sister. My heart is beating so fast I am afraid Maddy will hear it.

“Hello, Catherine,” I say as calmly as I can. I know my sister is watching.

“You have not done the job you were paid to do,” Catherine says. Her voice is cold as ice.

“I need to talk to you.”

“What about?”

“Um, can we meet?”

“At the coffee place down the road from you in one hour?”

“The Breadstick?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, that would be fine.”

Then the line goes dead. I stare at the phone.

“Who the hell was that?” Maddy asks.

“Just work. A difficult customer,” I lie.

“Oh, now tell me all about your dirty weekend in London.”

“Do you mind if I get through the door first, young lady?”

She moves back and catches sight of my new suitcase. “Ooooo, what’s that? A new suitcase?”

“Yes, I say wheeling both my suitcases through the door and shutting it.”

“What’s in the suitcase?” Maddy asks curiously.

I love Maddy with all my heart, but right at that moment my head feels like it is spinning. I am dizzy with anxiety. Catherine was clearly furious with me, and telling her I’m not going to switch the painting is not going to be a fun experience.

“What’s in the suitcase?” Maddy asks again.

“I did some shopping,” I say looking down at the suitcases blankly. There is a horrible feeling in my stomach.

“You mean the billionaire took you shopping?”

I turn to look at her, her eyes are round with astonishment and curiosity. “No, he arranged for me to shop with a personal stylist.”

“Oh my God! That is just like a romance movie. Shall I make us some coffee and you can tell me everything?”

“Maddy, I can’t talk now. I have to meet that person who just called. It won’t be a good meeting because I didn’t do what I was supposed to. So I’m just going to go to my room and prepare myself for a bit, okay. We’ll talk tonight.”

Her shoulders slump and she looks defeated. “Okay.”

I hate to see her like that. “Chin up, pumpkin. We’ll talk when I come back, all right.”

“All right.”

I turn to go.

“Raine?

I turn back. “Yeah?”

“I missed you.”

“Come here,” I say, opening my arms.

She rushes into them and I hug her thin body tightly. “I have so much to tell you and I also bought you a present, but just let me get past this difficult meeting, okay?”

I open my arms and she moves back. “Good luck with your meeting.”

“Thank you.”

I go to my room and I sit on my bed. I stare at the wall and rehearse what I am going to tell Catherine. When I have it all pat, I stand and walk to the door. Maddy is staring into her cellphone, and she does not even realize I have come into the living room. She looks almost hypnotized by the flickering light coming from it.

“I am going out now, Maddy.”

She jerks her head up. “Okay, see you soon. Don’t let her push you around.”

I smile. “See you soon.”

I take my time walking down the sidewalk. I breathe evenly and deeply. A vagrant is going through trash. He finds a half-eaten sandwich and starts eating it. No matter how many times I see it, the sight always saddens me. People are not meant to live in cities. All of us scurrying about like rats. It’s not right.

As I reach the café, I straighten my spine, square my shoulder and approach, keeping myself as calm as possible.

Even though I am ten minutes early, Catherine is already there, which for some reason gives her a psychological advantage. There is a glass of water in front of her.

“Sit down,” she says, her face is cold and hard. Strange, but she even seems like a different person.

I slip into the seat opposite her.

“Why haven’t you switched the painting yet?”

“Look, I’m sorry, but I can’t do it. I feel too guilty. I’m just going to return the money that you have wired into my bank account and let’s just call it quits.”

She shakes her head. “Let’s just call it quits.” She starts laughing, then shakes her head again. “It’s not often I am wrong, but when I am wrong I can be spectacularly wrong. I thought you were a smart cookie. Looks like you’re the dumbest broad in New York. You can’t give the money back. This operation has cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. All the other girls have been paid. I have been paid for my time. And if you can pay all those people and for all the time spent to set up this job it still won’t be enough because these people don’t want the money back. They want the painting switched.”