Page 98 of Beautiful Ruins
“To me,” I guessed.
“To the obstacle,” he replied.
Silence pressed in from all sides.
“You are interfering with a debt recovery,” he carried on.“You are obstructing repayment.You are sheltering what was promised as collateral.”
“I am denying you access.”
His men stiffened.
Chernov’s eyes hardened.
“You are escalating a peaceful negotiation.”
“You escalated, the moment your network began discussing a civilian as currency.”
The word civilian made one of his men visibly bristle.
“In our world, there are no civilians.Only assets.Or liabilities.”
I leaned toward him, menacing.
“In my world, there is a line.”
He studied me carefully now.
“And this girl,” he demanded, “is that line?”
“Yes.”
His gaze sharpened into something far less diplomatic.
“We came here to reclaim losses.Now we leave with something else.”
“And what is that?”
“Clarity,” he replied.
Behind him, his men straightened.
“We will recover our money,” Chernov persisted, his voice calm.“One way or another.And if the debtor cannot pay, and the collateral is denied, then the pressure shifts.”
“To me,” I repeated.
“To you,” he confirmed.
“You’ve redirected your rage at the wrong target, Chernov.”
Chernov stood.Slowly.Methodically.
“We will see,” he answered.
His men followed suit instantly.The meeting was over before it even started.
“You need to remember that this is not Russia,” I reminded him, standing.“This ismyland.”
His men tensed visibly now.
