Page 47 of The Enemy of My Enemy: Pt. 2

“What’s your biggest concern here, Darya?”I asked.“Now that you’re aware that the Korolevs aren’t going to kill you, what’s your biggest concern?”

“That...that’s it,” she stammered.

“And what’s your plan as far as finances are concerned?”No matter what she’d said, money was everyone’s biggest concern when you didn’t have any.

“Zoya...she’s been applying to jobs, and...and I still have some money left over from...”Her eyes slid away, almost afraid to say her brother’s name.“I still have some money.”

I gave her a quick nod to let her know that I’d heard her.“Well, what if I said that I could help you guys out financially if you did me a small favor?”

The woman immediately began shaking her head.“No...oh, God...no.I...I’d never take anything from you, Mrs.Korolev.”

It was on the tip of my tongue to correct her about my name, but she wasn’t wrong.“It’d be to thank you for the favor-”

“Mrs.Korolev, I don’t need money,” she quickly said.“I just need Zoya safe, so...so if you can promise me that, then I’ll do whatever it is you need.I just...just promise me that your family won’t make her pay for my brother’s mistakes.”

It was a promise that I couldn’t make, but I made it anyway.I made it anyway because I’d do anything necessary to keep it.“I promise,” I semi-lied.“I promise that Zoya will not be harmed at the hands of the Korolevs.”

Her pretty face flooded with relief, and I couldn’t even begin to imagine what these past few weeks had put her through.“Okay, what...what is it that you need?”

Lowering my voice a bit, I said, “I’m going to give you a phone number to call.When they answer, I need you to lie and say that you know all about the plan that he had with your brother.”

Darya’s eyes widened as she realized what this was.“Oh...”

“You will tell him that you have proof, and if he doesn’t want you handing that proof over to Viktor, then he will agree to meet with you,” I went on.“You will demand one-million dollars from him, explaining that you and your daughter need to leave before the Korolevs kill you.”

She gave me a choppy nod.“O...okay...is that...that it?”

“You can ad-lib whatever you need,” I told her.“You just need to make sure that he agrees to meet you.You need to be convincing.”

“Is...will this be between...just between me and you?”she asked, her blue eyes quickly looking in the direction of the kitchen.

I nodded.“Yes.”

“Okay...”she whispered.“Okay...how...right now?”

I shook my head.“No.You’ll do it once we leave.I will leave you a burner phone to call him from, and once he agrees, you destroy the phone.”

She nodded again.“Okay, just...okay, give me the details.”

Fifteen minutes later, Kasimir was driving me back to Viktor’s, and he’d been proud as punch when I’d told him that I hadn’t learned anything new, either.He’d uttered those annoying four little words of I told you so, but if the man only knew.