Chapter 56

The first thing I noticed when I came to was the pain in my head. The second thing I noticed was the pain in my shoulder. Great, I thought to myself. It was going to be one of those nights. I tried to seek comfort in the words of my old sergeant.

“Pain is good,” he would say. “Pain means you are alive, and as long as you are alive, there is always a way to get home.” He had a point, and I needed to get home. I needed to make sure Hana was safe. I trusted Jason to look after her when I couldn’t. But there were a million things that could happen between the time she left my side to the time Jason would have someone that could pick her up. At least I knew Aksakov didn’t have her. If he had, I wouldn’t be sitting in a fucking basement smelling of mould, tied to a chair. I started to look around, trying to assess my situation and how I could get out of it. The door opened and the man from earlier stepped in together with Aksakov and two of the men I had seen when we negotiated Hana’s debt.

“Mr Gardner,” Aksakov drawled.

“Aksakov,” I said.

“You weren’t the guest I was expecting,” he pointed out, giving the man I had met earlier a sharp look.

“Sorry. I know I don’t hold up to Miss Bishop’s beauty, but you will have to be satisfied with me. Miss Bishop is not available to meet with you,” I told him. He laughed a dry laughter, void of joy.

“It would be polite to at least pretend to be scared when we have you tied up and wounded,” Aksakov said, pretending to be hurt.

“I’m not a good actor, so I will spare you my feeble attempts of make believe.”

“Well, then let me return the favour. I don’t want you, I really have no need for you. But, luckily for my captain here, you can be a means to an end. My men have told me it didn’t look like you and snezhinka were out on a client dinner. It looked more like a lovers' rendezvous. If I took some nice pictures of you like this, do you think she would make a trade?” Aksakov said in a pretend soft voice. I felt my blood boil with anger. They would not use me to get to Hana.

“You said she was free to go, that her debt to you was paid. Don’t tell me you're not man enough to hold true to your word?” I needled him. For the first time, he lost his cool and his fist connected with my stomach. I lost the air in my lungs, he packed quite a punch. I had to give him that.

“What the fuck does someone like you know about honour?” he hissed. Then he collected himself and smirked. “Not that I give a fuck what you think. But her debt is paid in full and I stand by my word. Unfortunately for Miss Bishop, and fortunate for me, she is now a valuable asset in other ways.” I frowned, what the hell was he talking about?

“Keep your perverted hands off her! She does not belong in one of your pleasure houses,” I growled. Again, he laughed.

“For once we are in agreement. I might have enjoyed her in that position, but fate has made her valuable in other ways.” I glared at him and wished my hands were free. I didn’t care that it would most likely cost me my life, I wanted to beat the fucker to a pulp. “Now, now. Don’t look at me like that. This is not because of me. No, like most things that go wrong in Miss Bishop’s life, this is your son’s fault,” Aksakov told me.

“Simon?” I asked. Suddenly I felt lost. I had no clue what he was talking about. Has Simon done something again?

“Ah, that caught you off guard I see. We all have a weak spot. I’m lucky I don’t have any useless sons to weigh me down. Not that I know of anyway.”

“What does he have to do with any of this?” I asked, trying to see where this was going.

“It has come to my attention that your son has been making new friends,” Aksakov told me. Fuck, I thought. He knows about the Chinese. “Ah, I see you know this as well. Good. Then you understand that I want to have a word with him. Annoyingly he has gone underground, and even more annoying is that he seems to be good at it. Guess he inherited some genes from you,” Aksakov scoffed. “I need something to draw him out.”

“And you thought using Hana would be the best thing?” I did my best to laugh convincingly. “Their divorce is final, Simon is already seeing other people,” I told him. He gave me a big grin.

“Well, is that the father trying to keep his son safe? Or is it the lover who tries to keep his woman safe? I must say I’m impressed. I didn’t think you had it in you to do something like this. I thought you were too by the book. But taking your son’s wife as your lover, that is ballsy.”

“Ex-wife,” I corrected him.

“Ah yes, ex-wife. Sorry, my bad. Well. As I said, your son’s EX-wife will be the ticket for me to get to him.”

“You don’t need her for that. You can use me as bait,” I told him. This time his laughter was genuine, but cold.

“You forget that I know your son, Mr Gardner. I know how little he thinks of you. You are worthless to me.” It stung to hear him say it, but it was true.

“Then why do you think Miss Bishop would interest him more?” I asked.

“You don't know your son, Mr Garnder. You may think you do, but you don’t. I have seen the sides of him he keeps hidden in daylight. I have heard how he talks when he doesn’t need to put up a facade. He may not love the beautiful snezhinka that has won your heart. But he is obsessed with her. She was his trophy, his creation if you so will. Not only did she rebel against him, she got away from him and she outsmarted him. He can’t have that. So now he is obsessed with getting her back. He will not kill her. No, that wouldn’t do. He will trap her and he will punish her for making him look small. Then he will start all over again, moulding her into what he wants her to be,” Aksakov told me. “That, my friend, is why you will not be used as bait. He won’t abandon his hidey-hole for you. But he will for her.” My head was spinning with the information he was throwing at me, and maybe because of the blood loss. I didn’t want to believe what Aksakov said was true, but it fit so nicely with what Hana had told me and the behaviour that I had seen for myself. It would explain why Simon had sent those people after Hana. And it was why I could never let my son get his hands on her. I wasn’t really worried that Hana would do a trade for me. She would have done it in a heartbeat with how generous and kind she was. But I knew Jason would shut shit like that down. I needed to buy some time. If they saw me as useless, I wouldn’t be alive for long. And I had something, or rather someone, to get home to. I was not giving up.

“Well, as you think you know everything, let me have the pleasure to point out the blaring blind spot you have. Just for my own shit and giggles,” I said out loud. Aksakov was getting ready to leave, but turned around and looked at me.

“You lie,” he said.

“I don’t. I will gladly tell you. You say I am of no value to you, so you need to go through this whole song and dance of exchanging me. But if what you say is true, and I’m going to trust that it is. Then I’m perfect for luring my son out of hiding. In me you have the father he hates and the man that is now sleeping with his ex-wife, all rolled into one neat package, ready for delivery,” I told him. He looked at me, his face a void of emotions. Then he grinned.

“I do believe you are right Mr Gardner. The idea of his father bedding his precious wife will drive him out of hiding with a thirst for vengeance,” he agreed.

“Ex-wife,” I reminded him.

“Well, maybe to you and me. I don’t think your son is making that distinction. Yes. Yes, I like this idea. Very Greek drama . And here I thought Americans didn’t have a taste for the classics.” With that he turned around and left the room, followed by his men. I was left alone trying to figure out what I would do if Simon actually came to take his revenge on me. Did I owe him that?