Lim threw her head back in laughter. She squeezed Slavan’s hard bicep, bulging under his royal-blue suit. ‘You’re so funny,’ she said in English.
‘It’s a good joke, huh?’ Slavan replied, a hand straying lower on the small of her back.
‘So what are two beautiful young ladies like you doing in St Petersburg?’ the burly Alexi asked, an assumptive arm around Rios.
Rios ran a hand through her thick, dark hair. ‘Oh, this and that.’
‘This and that, huh?’ Slavan said, with the dirtiest of laughs.
The two men had been hitting on Lim and Rios for twenty minutes. But now they faced competition – from a second pair of Yedmenov’s private security, like moths competing for the same flame. If there was one thing men like Slavan were drawn to more than an attractive woman, it was an attractive woman who welcomed the attention. Many played hard to get. Their way of weeding out the fake and weak-willed from the authentic and interesting. So a woman who laughed at a joke and let a man’s hand do a little wandering was a walking honeypot.
Lim knew this. And she had used it to her advantage on many occasions. None of those men made it out of their underwear. Most didn’t make it past the morgue. Yedmenov’s men may have thought they were working the two women into bed, but it was Lim leading the dance, with Rios dovetailing with her every move.
‘So, would you like to come downstairs?’ Slavan asked, breathing the smell of stale booze in Lim’s face.
‘What have you got downstairs?’ she winked.
The men burst into laughter. Rios smiled along.
‘VIP area,’ Slavan said, nodding towards a private door to the right of the bar.
‘Can you smoke in the VIP area?’ Lim asked.
‘Smoke? No, the boss doesn’t like the smell,’ Alexi said. ‘But free champagne? Yes.’
Lim tutted. ‘That’s a shame.’
‘Why?’ Slavan asked.
Lim nodded at Rios. ‘Show them.’
Rios undid the gold zipper on her small black handbag. She opened it wide for Slavan and the others to see.
‘Tampons?’ Alexi said, his hand slipping from Rios’ shoulders.
The Mexican laughed. ‘It’s just for show.’ She opened the lid on the small tampon box, revealing a row of six rolled-up joints.’
‘How did you get those in here?’ Alexi asked.
‘No doorman searches a tampon box,’ Rios replied.
‘Genius!’ Slavan said. ‘But you want marijuana? Alexi’s cousin has his own farm.’
‘Maria is from Colombia,’ Lim replied.
‘And no one grows it like in Colombia,’ Rios smiled.
‘Then what are we waiting for?’ Alexi said.
‘Is there somewhere else we can go?’ Lim asked. ‘Somewhere other than VIP?’
Slavan waved them on. ‘Follow me.’
He led the group through a discreet door behind the bar. They turned right down a short flight of stairs into a back room with a table, fridge and kitchenette.
It resembled a staff room, with a kettle, toaster, microwave and shift rota on a corkboard on the wall. There was a faux-leather sofa shoved into a corner and a window Slavan proceeded to open.
Lim sighed with disappointment. ‘This is it?’
‘You want to smoke, don’t you?’ Slavan asked.
‘Besides, it’s more private than the VIP room,’ Alexi replied. ‘No one comes in during club hours.’
‘Plus it’s got a firm counter,’ Rios said, pressing down on the kitchen top.
The men roared with laughter as Rios took out four of the six joints. She handed one to each of the men, saving two shorter roll-ups for her and Lim. As they attended to their own smokes, Slavan lit those of Lim and Rios before lighting his own. He slipped his gold-plated lighter in his pocket, took a drag and closed his eyes. He nodded with a smile, took the joint from his mouth and looked at it in wonder. ‘Man, that’s good.’
‘Told you,’ Rios said, taking a drag.
Alexi clapped his hands. ‘Vodka!’ He moved to the kitchenette, opened a low cupboard and brought out a bottle. He grabbed six shot glasses from another cupboard and set them down in a line. Alexi poured a shot in each one and handed them round.
They clinked glasses in the middle of the room, the air pungent with weed. Lim and Rios necked their shots with the men and returned to inhaling light on their roll-ups.
‘Another,’ Alexi said, pouring a second round. ‘But no more.’
‘You a bunch of lightweights?’ Rios asked.
‘The boss doesn’t like us to drink too much,’ Slavan said, cosying up to Lim.
She shook her head. ‘What’s this boss in charge of, spoiling all the fun?’
‘The owner of the club,’ Slavan said with reverence. ‘Mr Yedmenov.’
Alexi took the roll-up from his mouth. ‘We’re his personal security.’
‘Oh, then we’re in good hands,’ Rios said.
Slavan grinned. ‘You’re safe with us, ladies.’ His hand roamed as far as Lim’s behind. She stepped away from it and accepted a second shot from Alexi, downed the shot and put her joint between her lips. She smoked suggestively, eyes on Slavan.
It had been a long time since Lim had the occasion to smoke weed. A long time since she’d flirted with a man, too. It would have been easier if she’d found them attractive in any way. Even a prison sentence and a hat trick of drinks couldn’t make Slavan and his friends interesting to Lim. Besides which, she was in mission mode. When Lim had an objective to work towards, nothing got in the way. Not sex, alcohol or marijuana. And besides, her freedom and survival were far too valuable.
So while she kept Slavan dangling on the end of her string, Rios entertained the men by blowing smoke rings, one after the other, into the air. She snapped her fingers above each one. The sudden change in air pressure turned rings into hearts. The men cheered and applauded in appreciation.
‘We’ve gotta get Alexi’s cousin to get some of these,’ one of the men said in Russian, considering the joint.
‘Please, please, speak in English,’ Slavan replied. ‘The ladies don’t understand.’
‘He said he’d like to fuck the both of you,’ his friend translated, as they cracked up into fits like schoolboys.
‘Ignore these reprobates,’ Slavan said in apology. ‘They don’t have the same breeding as myself and Alexi.’
‘Yeah, in-breeding,’ sneered the man making the offending remarks.
‘What do we look like,’ Rios said, ‘choir girls?’
Alexi laughed. ‘If this is what choir girls look like, I’m going back to church.’
It was then that Slavan’s phone rang. He shushed the other men and looked at Lim as he listened to a voice on the other end. The laughter lines in his eyes flattened. The grin disappeared. The joint almost dropped from his mouth.
‘Yes, boss,’ he said in Russian. ‘We’re on it.’
Slavan tucked his phone in his suit blazer. He stubbed out the roll-up in a glass ashtray, blew a last line of smoke out of the window and told the others to do the same. It was clear to Lim that Slavan was the leader. One look from him and the rest of the men fell into line. One after the other, they ground their joints into the base of the ashtray.
‘Come on, smoke a little longer,’ Lim pleaded.
‘Yeah, things are just getting interesting,’ said Rios.
‘Shut the fuck up,’ Slavan growled, snatching their joints from their lips.
Rios slapped him on the arm. ‘Hey, I was smoking that.’
Slavan took them both by the elbows. ‘You’re coming with us.’
‘Like hell we are,’ Rios replied, attempting to wriggle free.
Alexi stepped in and got a hold of her. He pushed her ahead, Slavan dragging Lim close behind.
‘Where are you taking us?’ Lim asked.
‘To see the boss,’ Slavan said.