Chapter 20

There were no guests in the restaurant, even I could see that. Scattered around different tables were hard looking men in suits or leather jackets, some had women sitting next to them or on their laps. The women were wearing next to nothing, I was feeling overdressed even in my low cut blouse. Amongst the tables, men were standing, looking relaxed, but I would bet they were anything but. In the back there was a table where three men sat on the same side. They had their backs towards the wall, facing the room. The two at the ends looked grim, they were a little older than me, but good looking in a bad boy kind of way. The one in the middle on the other hand, he was panty wetting hot. He ticked all the boxes for a bad boy. His blond hair was in between short and long, letting a few strands fall down over his sea deep blue eyes. They were cold as ice. But a smile played on his full lips. He had a dark suit with a blood red shirt under that was unbuttoned and showed off two heavy gold chains. I could see the glint of a tattoo like the one I had seen on others as he raised his hand to sign to us to come closer. His eyes scanned over Hunter and Jason and then slowly ran over me. I could feel the coldness of his eyes burning my skin as he took me in. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see him lick his lips. He had one woman on his lap. She was doing her best to get his attention by squirming all over and rubbing his chest. Another woman stood on his other side and tried to get his attention. He was ignoring both of them. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that this was Aksakov.

“Mrs Hunting and her two companions, how nice to finally meet you,” he said with a grin. I don’t know what came over me, but apparently my hatred for my married name was stronger than my fear for Russian mobsters.

“Miss Bishop,” I corrected him. He raised an eyebrow, but his grin never left his face.

“Pardon me. Miss Bishop and her two companions,” he said. I knew he was mocking me, but I didn’t care. “Won’t you please join me?” he asked, without making it sound like a question. He gestured to the three empty chairs at his table. I glanced at Hunter and he gave a curt nod. I walked up and Hunter held out the middle chair for me. When I was seated I noticed that neither Hunter nor Jason had taken a seat. Instead they remained standing, one behind each of my shoulders.

“Thank you for having us, Mr Aksakov,” I said. There was no need not to have good manners. If anything, I wanted him to be in a good mood. He looked at me with amusement.

“Not at all, it’s long overdue that I meet you. Your husband, I am sorry; your ex-husband, talked about you. He had me curious to see what kind of a woman his wife was,” Aksakov told me. “And please, won’t you call me Otto.” I looked at him. Had Simon talked about me to this man? How well had the two of them known each other? I had assumed that this connection had been a recent one for Simon. I might need to reconsider that.

“It would be a pleasure, but only if you call me Hana,” I responded. His grin grew bigger.

“I would love to, Hana. Please, have something to drink. Or do you perhaps prefer something non-alcoholic?” he asked as he paused the bottle labelled ‘Vodka’ over a small glass.

“Yes, I don’t do well with alcohol, thank you,” I said.

“Will coffee do?”

“It will be perfect.” He made a gesture and one of the men standing nearby hurried away. The room was silent as we all waited. The woman on his lap was still trying to get his attention. The one on his side had stopped trying, sensing he was busy with other things. But she was giving me a death glare. As if I would be interested in trying to take away her prized possession. She didn’t have to worry, I wasn’t interested. The man came back and put down a cup with black coffee in front of me. “Thank you,” I told him out of habit. As everyone seemed to be watching me, I took a sip. It was the strongest coffee I had ever tasted. I normally took mine with milk but this was much more than usual black coffee. I don’t know how they brew it, but I could have used a knife and fork to get it into my mouth. I tried not to show my reaction and took another sip. It wasn’t as bad as I knew what to expect. I then placed the cup down and looked up at Otto.

“You have my money,” he said. He didn’t seem angry or murderous as he said it.

“So I have been told,” I agreed.

“Do you have them?”

“How much did Simon take from you?” I asked. Hunter had told me to ask this, he had explained that if I volunteered the sum I had, Aksakov would most likely say it was all his. Again, Aksakov’s eyebrow shot up.

“You don’t know?” he asked.

“I don’t. I didn’t know my ex-husband had dealings with you.”

“Interesting,” Otto said, brushing back the strands of hair falling into his face. “Six million dollars,” he then told me. I nodded and tried to hide the feeling of getting sick to my stomach.

“I have five million eight hundred of those,” I said.

“You are two hundred short,” he remarked.

“That is what Simon paid me. The rest I guess he kept for himself.” Otto watched me, I could see the cogs moving in his head. He was up to something, I just didn’t know what. I took the moment to force some more of the bitter coffee down my throat and wondered why I wasn’t more scared. A muscle moved in Hunter’s leg that was in my peripheral view. I did have him and Jason by my side.

“What did you sell him?” Aksakov asked.

“Excuse me?”

“You said he paid you, what were you selling?”

“Oh. His business. He placed it in my name and due to the nature of our prenup, it was mine to keep after the divorce,” I explained. Aksakov started to laugh and I heard a muffled sound coming from Jason’s direction. I glanced up at him and saw him doing his best not to smile.

“I guess that is what you call karma,” Otto chuckled. “Tell me, Hana. Do you know what Simon’s company does?” he then asked.

“He said it was an import and sale of luxury items,” I said and as soon as the words left my mouth my brain was making the connections. Otto was chuckling again.

“That is one way of putting it. He was helping me import some mind altering substances and dancers for my two most popular clubs. Mind you, the customers only pay to see the beauties dance. Anything else would be illegal. But then, who knows what happens behind closed doors? Isn’t that right Candy?” Aksakov said, slapping the girl on his lap on her ass.

“That’s right Mr Aksakov,” she giggled. I felt sick. Simon was a pimp? And a drug dealer? I had owned a business that dealt with those kind of things? The thought made me feel in need of a shower.

“I’m assuming you will pay me my money back,” Aksakov said, again ignoring the woman on his lap.

“Yes, as soon as I know how I will,” I agreed. He hummed as if he was pleased by my answer.

“And the rest of the money?” he then asked.

“Those you will have to claim from Mr Hunting,” Hunter said in a calm voice. I almost jumped in my seat. I wondered how he felt telling this gangster to go after Simon, Hunter’s own son.

“Is that so?” Aksakov asked, looking at Hunter.

“It is. Miss Bishop is only responsible for the sum that her former husband gave to her. And even that is a bit iffy. But Miss Bishop wants this thing to be over and done with, so she has generously agreed to pay the money back,” Jason said.

“It still doesn't make me whole,” Aksakov complained. I had a feeling he wasn’t as upset as he was pretending to be.

“Tough shit, that’s life when you can’t protect your belongings,” Hunter told him. There was a coldness in his voice that matched Aksakov’s. Aksakov glared at him. For the first time I thought he was actually pissed. He looked scarier than hell, and that was saying a lot.

“Fuck you. I protect what’s mine,” he sneered.

“No need to be testy about it. We aren’t the ones that are missing six million dollars,” Jason said and shrugged. Were they trying to piss him off? Did they want to start a fight? I was so confused.

“Well, I won’t be for much longer,” Aksakov told them and took a deep breath. “I could offer you a lucrative deal if you want to keep the money, Hana. I have other ways for you to pay off the debt,” he suggested, running his hand up and down the back of Candy. His hand then disappeared underneath the short dress she was wearing. I got the picture of what he was offering. I shook my head.

“No thank you,” I said. Even if he had offered me to keep the money for free, I would have turned him down. I couldn’t keep money like that, knowing where it came from. I would rather be begging on the streets.

“Oh come on, Hana. Live a little, have some fun. I think the two of us could have a lot of fun,” he chuckled as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“She said no. Just tell us how to transfer the money and proclaim she is off the hook once the money she has is paid back,” Hunter hissed.

“Grumpy. Fine,” Aksakov sighed. He did a small gesture with his fingers and the man to his right held out what looked like a business card. Jason leaned forward and took it. “That is the account. If the five million eight hundred dollars is in that account within five days, this will all be forgotten. If it’s not. Then, Hana all deals are off and I will get to decide how you pay me back the money,” he said. A chill ran through me. I had to fight the urge to snap the card out of Jason’s hands and transfer the money to the account directly.

“I can live with that,” I agreed. My voice sounded thin even to me. A grin appeared on Aksakov’s face.

“Don’t even try to fight dirty. We have ways to trace the money,” Hunter growled at him.

“You are one boring lot,” Aksakov sighed and leaned back. Hunter gently tapped me on my shoulder and I took the hint.

“It was interesting meeting you Otto,” I said as I got up.

“Not as interesting as it was meeting you, snezhinka,” he said. I froze for a moment at the unknown word. Then I nodded and turned around. Hunter placed a hand on my back as he and Jason walked me to the front desk. They took back their weapons, inspecting each as it was handed to them. When they ushered me out of the restaurant and Hunter guided me into the car, all the strength that I had bluffed I had, disappeared.