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“Of course,” she muttered before quickly scurrying away.
As soon as Maksim was sitting next to me again, I asked, “What does kukla mean?”
“It means doll,” he answered. “It’s what I call all women that are empty-headed.”
“She’s not empty-headed,” I snapped, automatically defending my only friend in the building.
Maksim’s dark gaze narrowed at me. “She approached you without my permission, so that tells me that she is.”
Seriously, what a fucking asshole.
Chapter 27
Maksim~
“Without your permission?” she echoed, clearly pissed.
“I am familiar with who Janet Woo is, Katja,” I informed her. “She knows better than to approach my table without permission.”
“Oh, I’ll just bet you’re familiar with her,” she scoffed, and it was clear that we were going to give Nikel an unfavorable show whether it was a good idea or not.
“If that’s your way of asking me if I’ve ever taken her up on her services, I have not,” I clarified.
Despite that reassurance, Katja’s buttery-colored eyes were still shooting flames my way. “Well, she was just trying to help me.”
That caught me by surprise. “And in what way would she be able to help you?”
“She was telling me which men were the best tippers and-”
I had my hand wrapped around her neck before she could finish her sentence. “And why would you be needing to know which men in here are the best tippers?” I snarled at her. “And I must warn you that your answer may very well cost you your life, lyublyu.”
Instead of fear leaping into her eyes, the anger in them just blazed brighter. “Because isn’t that the plan?” she spat, not even trying to remove my hand, not caring about our audience. “Aren’t you planning on making me pay off my grandfather’s care by becoming a bratva whore after you finally catch Klive? Isn’t that why you fucked me in a room with an entire audience on the other side? That wasn’t an audition to become your whore because we already knew that I didn’t have a choice in that. You fucked me in that room to start the bids rolling for when you were finally done with me.” Her eyes started to shine, but I knew enough to know that whatever tears were in her eyes, they were from rage and nothing more. “Well, Janet was just given me a short training course on who can help me pay for my grandfather’s care the best.”
I let go of her neck, but not because I wasn’t furious, I let go because I was on the verge of losing her, and I knew it. “How did you find out about the room?”
“Are you fucking serious?” she hissed, not caring about my earlier warning. “That’s what you have to say to me? That’s what you’re more concerned about?”
“Katja-”
“What kind of a monster does something like that to a woman?” she spat, and that’s when I realized that she was also hurt on top of being livid. “While I was worried about Klive taking something that wasn’t his to take, you were busy giving every private piece of me to complete strangers.” The embattled tears finally cascaded down her face. “Not only did you take something from me, but you gave it away like a sale at the mall, and now I’m stuck walking around Port Townsend, wondering how many men on the street know what I sound and look like when I’m…when I’m…” Katja hurriedly reached up to wipe away her tears before letting out a calming breath. “Janet was just trying to help me be the best whore that the bratva needs me to be.”
“I already told you that you belong to me,” I reminded her. “I made that clear the other night.”
“Yeah, and it’s clear how you treat the things that belong to you,” she shot back. “However, it doesn’t really matter, does it? Whether I’m spreading my legs for you, your customers, or even Klive Simpson, I’ve shown my weakness, and I’ve made it clear that I’ll do anything for my grandfather. So, what in the hell do I have to be mad about anyway, right?”
Though she was rightfully upset, I was still very aware of our audience. “We will discuss this later,” I told her. “Right now, we need to do what we came here for.”
“To show Klive that I’ve got you wrapped around my finger,” she sneered. “Well, if he’s watching, I guess it’s time to put on another show.”
Before I could ask her what she was talking about, Katja reached for my belt as she went to slide underneath the table, and I saw fucking red. Granted, I was at fault here, but she wasn’t even giving me a chance to explain before making this worse than it already was.
I grabbed her by her arm to stop her from getting on her knees, then dumped her on my lap. As calmly as I could, I said, “If you ever behave like a whore in public again, I will kill you with my bare hands, Katja. That is not what you are here for, no matter how this all began. So, if I were you, I would take a step back to remember just who in the hell you are dealing with.”
Refusing to relent, she said, “I know exactly who I’m dealing with. I’m dealing with a man that has absolutely no honor when it comes to women.”
Livid beyond reason that she would dare question my honor, I was done with her. So, grabbing her by the arm, I stood up, forcing her to stand with me, and she barely had time to grab her purse before I was dragging her behind me to find one of the rooms that Erato’s rented out to certain patrons. Knowing that Jurik would handle anything that I needed, I didn’t bother checking with management for a room. I simply checked each doorknob until I found one that opened.
As soon as I found one, I flung Katja inside, then locked the door behind me. I was so fucking incensed that it was a miracle that I could even speak. She was the first person to ever call my honor into question and live afterwards, and she was going to learn to never do it again.
