Page 5 of Keeping My Enemies Closer: Pt. 1

Chapter 3

Kasimir~

“Just for the record, I know what this is.”

I grinned at my brother.“Hey, you’re the one who wanted me to start getting along with the Marchettis.”

“I told you to make an effort to get along with my in-laws,” Viktor drawled out.“I didn’t tell you to conspire with my wife to deceive me.”

“Wow,” I laughed.“Aren’t we feeling a little sensitive.”

Just then, our father spoke.“You’re driving your wife and the rest of us crazy with this pregnancy, Viktor.There, it’s been said to your face.”

Viktor shot my father a look.“You say that as if I don’t have reason to be concerned.”

“You are not concerned,” my father argued.“You’re upset that she is gravitating towards her family during this time, leaving you to feel a bit left out, considering.After all, the last thing that anyone in this room needs to do is be concerned for your wife.”

“Which is why we’re here,” I said, half-ass lying.“I mean, I really did ask for this meeting to give your wife a break from your craziness, but while we’re here, we might as well talk business.”

“Stay away from my wife,” Viktor grumbled.

“Too late,” I grinned.“She already adores me, and if you try to come between us now, I fear that it won’t end well for you.”

Viktor flipped me off.

“Since it’s clear that you’ve lost your mind, Kasimir is correct,” my father stated.“We need to discuss a plan for the working girls while Aurora is indisposed.”

“Aurora already has everything handled,” Viktor informed us.“She’s put Stephanie Alvin in charge of whatever she can’t do physically, but Aurora will still be reviewing the books and whatnot.”

Last year, in order to present a united front between our two families, my father had placed Aurora in charge of the prostitutes that worked Korolev territory, and where we hadn’t really cared too much about the revenue from that endeavor, it was now one hell of a money maker, and we had my sister-in-law to thank for that.The working girls were also grateful for the structure, something that they’d never had before.

“And what of the auction?”my father asked.

A few months ago, Aurora had suggested putting together an auction for women in financial need.While it was still considered prostitution, the auction was a way to provide a one-time financial opportunity for women that were desperate enough to consider prostitution as a last resort, but also weren’t quite there yet as far as turning it into a necessary lifestyle.

The rules were also rather simple, which could be appreciated by all.A woman could only sign up once for the auction, no exceptions.After all, the entire point was to help keep women from hitting that particular bottom, so it was up to them to make the most of their earnings.

Plus, since these weren’t regular working girls, those who applied needed to fill out a questionnaire of what they were willing to do and not do, making sure that the participants didn’t bid on someone that wasn’t to their liking.Aurora had also been very adamant about every participant being vetted like they were applying to work for the FBI.She didn’t want any law enforcement accidentally slipping through, and how could you not admire that kind of dedication.

As for the profits, we got thirty percent of the bids, and the girls got the remaining seventy.There was also a minimum and maximum limit on the bidding.Every girl started with a base of ten-thousand dollars, and each call after that came in thousand-dollar increments, the max reaching one-million dollars.Of course, it was insane to believe that anyone would bid a million dollars on pussy, but I’d seen stranger stuff.Plus, with the participants being vetted as thoroughly as they were, it was guaranteed that each man could cover the million if it ever got that far.

Aurora had also been very clear about how it was none of our business what the women did with the money once the monies were paid.We were presenting an opportunity and nothing more.If the women didn’t use the money to better their lives, then that was on them, and that’s why they could only enter the auction once.Of course, there were a lot more details involved, but we were all leaving that up to Aurora.The woman had a brain for business, and so she had covered all the bases before presenting the idea to our father.She had approached him like she’d been approaching an investor, but with all the money that she was making for us, there was no way that my father would have said no to her.

“I’ll take care of it,” I offered.“While I’m sure that Stephanie can handle most of it, I still think that it’d be a good idea for a Korolev to show his face since this will only be our second auction.Some kinks might still pop up.”

“And what do you think of the consolation prize?”Father asked, but it was clear that he was speaking to Viktor.“I’m not sure if I consider that fair or not.”

With her mind working the way that it did, Aurora had also incorporated a ‘consolation’ clause for anyone who didn’t garner a bid, which was actually a win for these women.If no one bid on you, then you got a flat ten-thousand-dollar payout since that was the beginning bid amount, but you got the entire amount, no split with the house.So, the best thing that could happen to these women was tonotget called upon, and if you were standing on that stage out of desperation, I could only imagine the relief if youdidn’tget bid on.