Crossing the Line (7 page)

Alice McColl, the senior administrator in UM’s music department, shook Katya’s hand, told her how pleased she was to meet her but made it clear she couldn’t start work any sooner. She gave Katya a list of rental agents, a map of the campus, told her to get a social security number as soon as possible, and pointed her in the direction of her mailbox.

Inside, Katya found a couple of items. One was a university flyer about The Hurricane Food Court, the other was a letter posted in Fort Lauderdale. Inside the envelope was a single sheet of paper.

WE KNOW YOU KILLED HIM

WANT US TO KEEP QUIET?

YOU DO THE SAME

For a moment the world went black. The men who raped her knew where she worked. She took a deep breath and then looked around. No one was watching. Her hand shook as she folded the paper and put it inside her violin case. She abandoned her plans and went back to the hotel, alert for anyone following and even looped around the block a couple of times to be sure.

Back in her room, she curled up on the bed and closed her eyes.
Oh God, oh God, oh God. What else can go wrong?

A loud bang on the door sent her heart diving into her stomach.

“I know you’re in there.”

She exhaled. Aleksei Viktorovich Kusmin.

“Open the door,” he called.

She didn’t move.

“If you don’t, I’ll kick it in.”

She pushed herself up and pulled the door open.

Aleksei stood there, the sleeves of his white shirt rolled up, a tie loose around his neck. “Going to invite me in?”

“No.”

He shoved past her, closed the door and she backed away to the other side of the room. Bile surged up her throat and she rushed to the bathroom. There wasn’t much to throw up but her stomach still tried to turn itself inside out. She washed her face and stared in the mirror. She looked like a ghost and Aleksei leaned against the door looking like a male model.
What does he want?

“I’ll try not to take that personally,” he said. “Okay now?”

She nodded and walked back into the bedroom making sure she didn’t touch him as she passed.

“I’ve come to offer you a room in an ocean view apartment.”

She sagged and his mouth tightened.

He glanced around. “Fully furnished, air-conditioned, clean and secure.”

“Did the slap teach you nothing?”

His lips twitched. “I was sure the thought of somewhere decent to live would win you over. How about dinner then?”

“Not hungry.”

He walked across the room and opened the closet. “Why are you in Miami?”

“Didn’t Dimitri tell you?”

“You tell me.”

“I’m on a year’s exchange, teaching the violin at UM.”

“Where are your clothes?”

“What?”

He gestured to the almost empty closet. “You’re here for a year. Where are your clothes, shoes, books, photographs of your family, favorite teddy bear, sex toys?”

Goose bumps skittered down her spine. “Not arrived yet.”

He stepped toward her and she edged away.

“What about the things you need now? Your suitcase?”

“Stolen.”

“In trouble, Katya?”

She shook her head. “Not until you pushed your way in.”

His smile turned her legs to jelly.

“You’re in trouble and you’re scared. Why?”

“A man just forced his way into my hotel room. I ought to call the police.”

He moved so fast she had no chance to get away. As he grabbed her arm, fear finally buckled her knees and she collapsed.

“Shit.” He lifted her onto the bed. “I didn’t expect you to work this fast. In bed on our first date?”

“Fuck you,” she muttered.

“That’s what I had in mind. Now good for you?” He lay next to her, propped up on his elbow.

She struggled to draw air into her lungs, her chest heaving.

Aleksei gave her a curious look. “What’s wrong?”

She couldn’t stop shaking, couldn’t slow her breathing.

“Are you a junkie?”

“No. Leave me alone.”

He ran his fingers over the bruises on her arm and she jerked away, hugging herself, squeezing her eyes shut.

“Don’t,” she whispered. “Please.”

The mattress dipped as he stood. “I’m sorry. I didn’t come here to frighten you. I wanted to be sure you’d play tonight at The Sturgeon. I’m taking some friends.”

She knew he was lying. He’d threatened to kick down the door. How was that not frightening her?

“Please come.”

Katya could hardly believe it when he left and closed the door behind him. She should have asked how he knew where she was staying, but she could guess. From Nik to Dimitri to him.

I’m a fool.
Too many spy stories, too many movies where deception looked easy and pain wasn’t real. She’d plunged into another world and now swam underwater, wondering how long she could hold her breath. She suspected when she finally breathed in, it would kill her. Her heart ached. When she didn’t turn up at The Sturgeon, Aleksei might come back.

The thought kept her nerves jangling.

* * * * *

Katya stayed away from the restaurant, far too on edge to play. Common sense told her she should stay as far away from Aleksei as she could. Men like him saw women like her as a challenge. Once he’d had what he wanted, he’d throw her away.

The next morning, while she had access to a phone, she lingered in the room making fruitless calls to rental agents. They all wanted deposits, no exceptions. The only way to raise money was to pawn her violin which meant losing a means of income while she waited for her first pay check.

It would be like selling her soul.

Though maybe there were worse things.

She handed back her key with mixed feelings. The place was horrible, but with nowhere to go, it seemed a palace.

A she stepped onto the sidewalk, a stocky blond guy strode toward her. It was the way he stared at her that told Katya he was trouble and she turned to run. Jerked backward as a hand snagged her violin, fury restored the strength that fear had stolen. She yelled, jumped at the man, and her violin clattered to the sidewalk. Before she could reach it, he grabbed her arm, twisted and didn’t let go. When he pulled her close, she sank her teeth through his shirt into flesh.

“You fucking bitch.”

A fist slammed into her head and she dropped to the sidewalk. He tried to wrench her backpack off her shoulder and dragged her along with it until he managed to yank it free. A foot connected with her ribs and all the breath rushed out of her lungs, leaving her wheezing and crying.

The whole episode had taken seconds. The man roared off in a silver car. No-one had come to help. She pushed herself to a sitting position and groaned in pain, tears trickling down her cheeks. A bloody graze ran from her elbow to her wrist. Her t-shirt and chinos smeared with blood and dirt, but worst of all her violin and bag were gone. She closed her eyes. It couldn’t have happened. Not that on top of everything else.

“Are you okay?”

She looked up into the concerned eyes of an older woman.

“Shall I call the police?”

“No. Thank you.”

Katya stood on shaky legs and nursed her sore arm against her chest. Her last few dollars had been in the backpack. Tears dripped down her cheeks. She put her hand in the pocket of her chinos for a tissue and pulled out Nik’s business card.

It took her a long time to walk to his studio. Every time she stopped for directions, people asked if she was all right. She answered yes because they couldn’t help her.

Rushin Productions was on the first floor of a low rise block. The door opened into a small office. Photographs lined the walls, no naked poses, though there was a framed permit issued to Nikolai Yenkov for adult film production. Another door led to a much larger room. A screen blocked her view, but she could hear Nik talking.

She sat on a couch, her ribs hurting. Under her t-shirt was a red mark where she’d been kicked, another bruise to add to her collection. Her arm had stopped bleeding, but it ached. She leaned back and closed her eyes. She hadn’t thought everything would be so hard.
I don’t want to do this anymore
.
I‘m sorry, Papa. I did the best I could.

Maybe she could borrow money from Nik, not go back to Moscow but find a place to live, work at the university and forget everything else. Forget she’d ever heard Petrenko’s name, forget the stupid idea of avenging her family’s deaths when she didn’t even have a plan how to do that if she found the man she thought was responsible. What if he didn’t do it? She was in quicksand and sinking.

“That looks so good. Yeah, beautiful. Turn a little toward me, Josie. Fuck, you’re making me hard.” Nik caressed with his voice.

She jumped as the door opened behind her and two guys came in.

“Hey, Nik,” one of them called. “Sorry we’re late.”

They smiled at Katya as they pushed aside the screen. A moment later Nik stood in front of her. “How long have you been here?”

“Not long.”

“Ben said there was a girl bleeding on my couch. Your boyfriend do this?”

“No. A stranger. He took everything, my violin, my money.” Tears sprang into her eyes.

Nik put his arm around her. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

On the other side of the screen the two guys were talking to a naked girl perched on the edge of a bed. Nik led Katya to a sink and bent over her arm, dabbing at the graze with a wet cloth. “Sit somewhere. I have to finish this session. I won’t be long.” He turned to the others. “Okay, guys. Close-ups. Strip off. I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Is she playing?” one of the men asked.

“Not today,” Nik said.

Katya sat with her back to the bed. Not playing today, but would that be Nik’s price for his help? Without money, there was no luxury of choice. She needed a place to sleep. She’d have to persuade Nik to let her stay with him.

“Give me that little girl lost look,” Nik said to the model. “Pretend you’re in pain.”

One thing Katya would have no problem with.

Twenty minutes later, when Aleksei pushed aside the hanging screen, Katya blinked in shock, then realized what she’d missed
.
The blond man had been waiting for her.

“Nik called me.” Aleksei crouched at her side. His eyes narrowed as he looked at her arm. “Are you okay? Do you need the hospital?”

“Does that man work for you?”

Aleksei stood and put his hand under her arm. Once she was on her feet, she pulled away.

“Does he?” she asked.

He nodded. “You weren’t supposed to get hurt.”

She gave a short laugh. “What about my violin? It better not be damaged.” She straightened her spine, walked over to Nik and slapped his face. “Put that with your finder’s fee.”

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

When she turned around Aleksei had gone, but she stepped outside to see him standing by the open passenger door of a silver Lexus.

“Let me help you,” he said.

She was trapped by her emotions. If she walked away, she’d have nothing. No violin, no money, nowhere to stay. No alternative but to go to the police and tell them everything. Aleksei was the alternative.

Something clicked in her mind, a memory of Galya telling her bullies were the weak ones because they needed to inflict pain in order to feel good. Aleksei was a bully but she could be the strong one. Didn’t matter if she was physically weaker, it was what she felt inside that counted.

She’d intrigued him without meaning to, but she knew what he wanted. She’d seen how far he was prepared to go. He was the sort of man who might know Petrenko and she clung to that as she got in the car, ignoring the voice in her head saying it wasn’t the only reason she was going with him.

Aleksei had tried to talk to her as he drove but Katya still hadn’t said a word by the time he opened the door of his apartment
.

“After you.” He gestured her in.

“Does it have a view of the parking lot?” She tried to sound confident. “I particularly chose the last place because of that.”

He laughed. “Come inside and see for yourself.”

“I don’t want to.” She’d nearly said she was afraid to.

Aleksei leaned against the wall and pinned her with his dark gaze. “What
do
you want?”

“An ordinary life.” She spoke the truth from her soul.

He smiled and her heart lurched. She was stunned she could find any guy attractive after what had happened, but Aleksei was mesmerizing.

“You’re too interesting to waste on an ordinary life.” He took a step toward her and she curled her toes to keep herself where she stood.

“You have the most beautiful hair. Amazing fingers. They look so delicate, and yet, I suspect, are capable of…the unexpected.” He gave a short laugh.

She put her hands behind her back, the breath freezing in her throat.
Don’t slap him again.

“I won’t hurt you. I just want you to get to know me. You might like what you find.”

“I doubt it.”

He tsked. “Condemned already?”

“You’re so used to getting your own way you don’t know how to handle rejection.”
Oh shit, shit. Shut up.

His jaw twitched. “But you got in my car. How was that rejection?”

“What else could I do? You’ve taken everything. You could have tried gentle persuasion, roses, chocolates, but instead you paid someone to attack me.”

“I already tried gentle persuasion. You turned me down. I tried being honest, albeit crudely and you slapped me. Would I get another slap for roses and chocolates?”

“Not for chocolates,” she heard herself say.

“I’ll remember that.” He smiled. “Why didn’t you call the police?”

Oh God.
Any normal person would have.
She shrugged.

“You stood me up last night,” he said. “Broke my heart.”

“I doubt you have one to break.”

“Ah Katya. It’s
you
with the heart of stone. Please, come in.”

She eyed the door but couldn’t make her feet move.

“You think I’m going to rip off your clothes and fuck you the moment you step over the threshold?”

She flinched as fear slithered down her spine.

“I’d really like to but I promise I won’t. There are plenty of women who find it a delight to sleep with me.”

“Sleep, maybe. Unless you snore. And why would saying you’ve slept with plenty of women make you attractive to me?”

He raised his eyebrows. “Do you think I’m good looking?”

“Compared to what? A dog? Brad Pitt? Putin maybe?”

“Maybe you’d better not answer.”

“In that case I will. Your smile is like Brad Pitt’s only I don’t fancy Brad Pitt or Putin. I like your hair. It’s better than most dogs’.”
Am I crazy?

Aleksei grinned. Was it impossible to insult him?

“Just my hair. Is that all you like?”

“You look…fit. Your eyes…I don’t understand what I see in them. You’re very intense.”

“I always thought my eyes were one of my strong points.”

“I didn’t say they weren’t. I said I didn’t understand them. They tell me nothing.” She took a deep breath. “Do you really care what I think?”

He was a confident, crooked man and he scared her. She knew him and his type well enough; men with dark souls impossible to disguise with any amount of expensive clothes and flashy jewelry. Though he didn’t wear jewelry and his clothes weren’t pretentious. If she didn’t know better, she’d have been flattered.

But Aleksei was the type of man she needed to please. Nik was too low on the pole. Aleksei would know people. Maybe even Petrenko. She wouldn’t get what she wanted by staying on the safe side of the line. If she didn’t cross now, there might be no chance later. Although Aleksei frightened her, he also intrigued her, and for whatever reason, she intrigued him.

“Done enough thinking?” he asked.

Be brave. Maybe this guy can save me.
She walked into his apartment.

The first things she saw were her bag and violin. She dropped to the floor, opened the case and lifted the instrument to run her fingers over the wood, checking for damage, relieved to find none. When she glanced up, Aleksei stared at her.

“I suppose I’ve just demonstrated you were right to take my violin.”

“I see how much the instrument means to you. I’m glad it’s not damaged.”

So the damage to her didn’t matter? She looked around. They stood in an open plan room with a polished, pale wood floor and a wall of glass at the far end. The elevator had brought them to the top of the building. She wouldn’t be comfortable near the window.

Oh God, I’m standing in the apartment of a man who arranged for me to be attacked, who intends to fuck me, and I’m worried about being too close to the window?

Aleksei closed the door behind her and she jumped. Sleek surfaces were clear of clutter. Nothing dusty or cheap, except for her. The floor area of this one room was bigger than the whole apartment she’d shared with her family.

“What do you think?” he asked.

“Beautiful as a spider’s web.”

“Try again.”

“Elegant as the Minotaur’s maze.”

He laughed. “Katya, you’re too suspicious.”

She walked around. Stylish cushions had been placed precisely across the back of the two long white leather couches. Matching ornaments sat in box shelves on either side of a wall-mounted flat screen TV. The doors to two bedrooms stood open. One room looked onto water, the other the city. The kitchen was pristine, glittering black granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. No water marks. No fingerprints.

This wasn’t his home and she felt unaccountably disappointed.

“Would you like a drink?” he asked.

“I’d like a bath and something to eat.” She might as well get something she wanted out of this.

“Maybe we could take a bath together.”

She glanced at the window. “Oh look, a flying pig.”

Aleksei chuckled and took a bottle from the refrigerator. He poured white wine and handed her a glass.

“When did you arrive in Miami?” he asked.

“You mean you don’t know?” she mock-gaped at him.

“No.”

“Do you think I’ve been here long?”

“No, I don’t. Is this your first trip to the States?”

“Do you work for the immigration service?”

“Do you always answer questions with questions?”

“Do you?”

They both smiled then.

“See how Russian you still are,” she said. “We expect answers to everything but don’t want to tell anyone anything.”

“Come and look at the view.” He walked to the window and she followed, but stayed back.

“Are you married?” she asked.

He met her gaze in the glass. “Yes.”

She was angry to be disappointed. “Children?”

“No.”

“Happily married?”

He turned. “Does it matter? Is that what you’re here for, Katya? Another greedy Russian girl seeking a rich American husband?”

She bristled. “I came to teach for one year at the university and I already told you what I want; a bath and something to eat.”

“Help yourself,” he said.

She put down the wine, collected her backpack and went into the nearest bathroom. It looked like something out of a magazine. Pale travertine tiles lined the floor and walls, a large freestanding tub stood in the center and there was a walk-in shower with a curved glass wall. No bolt on the door. She came back out.

“Does the other bathroom have a lock?”

“No, but I promise not to come in.”

She went back, closed the door, and started water running in the tub. Katya knew she had to sleep with him. It made forty dollars for a room look cheap. Fear mixed with an unhealthy dose of excitement bubbled inside her and she tried to slow her breathing. He scared her because she didn’t know what he wanted. Or was she being naive? He just wanted to fuck her. It didn’t have to be more than that. He was a guy who took what he wanted and didn’t listen to no. That she’d said no had made her more alluring. Without meaning to, she’d interested him.

After what she’d done with Platov in Moscow and after what had happened at her aunt’s house, being with Aleksei shouldn’t be difficult. Galya had slept with Petrenko without loving him. Katya had already done enough to give her mother a heart attack if she’d been alive, so why was she so…anxious? He
was
good-looking. He had the sort of figure that appealed to her, slim and yet strong.

But why did he want
her
? She was a mess. Dirty and bloody. What else could he see? And why did she feel so guilty that a little bit of her wanted him?
Because you know how these guys operate. They suck you in. Make you fall in love and then they pass you onto other men who pay to put their dicks in your mouth.
She shuddered.

When the tub was half full she turned off the faucets. He said he wouldn’t come in, but that grin… This was too easy. She looked around.

Aleksei watched her on his laptop as she turned and crossed the bathroom. The camera was in a wall-mounted box displaying a variety of shells. The metal circle was small and supposed to look like a screw, but had it fooled her? Katya stood in front of it, pulled off her t-shirt and draped it over the box. He chuckled. She was the first to do that. He switched to the other camera and found something over that too. His cock stirred in his pants.
Ah Katya. You’re going to be fun. You don’t want me yet, but you will.

When she’d said she wanted an ordinary life, he’d felt his stomach lurch. There were times when he wanted that too. Was she really not like the others? Park had been over zealous when he’d snatched her bag and violin, and it pleased Aleksei that she’d fought back. There was a lot more too her than she was pretending.
Oh I can’t wait to get you in bed, little cat.

She emerged from the bathroom twenty minutes later. The sky had turned black though it wasn’t yet raining. Indirect lighting cast soft pools of illumination over the hardwood floor and she stood there barefoot, eyes wide, looking as innocent as a child and now he knew she was anything but.

“Feel better?” He closed his laptop.

“Yes, thank you.”

She wore different clothes; a skirt and blue t-shirt, both creased. Her hair was fastened up at the back of her head.

“I’d hoped you’d come out naked,” he said and rose to his feet.

“I’m embarrassed by the weeping, ulcerated sores that cover my body.”

He stifled a laugh. “How’s your arm?”

She lifted it. “Not as sore as my ribs.”

What the fuck?
“What happened to your ribs?”

Katya hesitated, then showed him the bruise. “A kick.”

He clenched his jaw and forced himself not to reach out to her. “I didn’t intend for you to get hurt at all.”

“I was mortally wounded a long while ago.”

Ah, your secret, Katya? What happened to you?
Are you going to tell me the truth when I ask my question?
“I don’t see any weeping, ulcerated sores.”

“You mean they’ve gone? It must be your water. It’s a miracle.”

He laughed. The buzzer sounded and he walked to the intercom, typed in the access code, muttered a few words and came back to Katya’s side. “I hope you like Chinese food.”

“I’m from Moscow. I eat almost anything.”

“Champagne?”

“I drink almost anything too.”

He looked at the wine she’d hardly touched and took champagne from the fridge. He’d poured the second glass when the doorbell rang.

“Come with me,” he said.

When Aleksei opened the door, she saw the blond man who’d attacked her and found herself taking a step closer to Aleksei.

He lifted the carton from the guy’s arms. “You fucking kicked her?” His voice was steel.

“An accident. She was like a wild thing. She wouldn’t let go of the violin.”

Aleksei turned to her. “If your injuries were accidental, Park stays in my employment. If not, he leaves now.”

“Accident.” She needed friends not enemies.

“I’m sorry I hurt you,” the man said.

Aleksei slammed the door in his face and took the food to the table. She hung back. She wouldn’t be able to eat if she sat so close to the glass. After a moment’s hesitation, she moved the chairs and carefully pulled the table further into the room.

He raised his eyebrows. “Rearranging the furniture already?”