Page 4 of Emerald

“He’s nobody,” Yozhin says, eager to distract himself with more pleasant things. “Sorry to keep you waiting, girls.”

I pretend to adjust the little triangles of leather over my breasts, slipping the white tablet out of my top.

“That’s okay,” Angie giggles. “We were having fun.”

She’s about to climb on top of Yozhin, but I grab his drink, the little white tablet sandwiched between my ring and pinky fingers. I hold the glass by its rim, so my hand hovers over the liquor inside. I release the tablet, letting it fall down into the drink, as I pass it over to Yozhin.

“Here,” I say. “Business is over, time to relax.”

Yozhin takes a grateful gulp of his drink, nearly draining the glass.

“You’re so good to me, girls,” he says, grabbing us both around the waist and pulling us tight against him.

I straddle his lap, putting my tits in his face, and letting Angie go around behind him. My body is blocking the view of the men at the door, but I can almost feel Blondie’s eyes boring into my back.

As I grind my hips against Yozhin, I run my hands over his chest, feeling the slight bulge of the flash drive in his suit pocket.

I’m faced with quite the dilemma here.

I don’t know what’s on that drive, but I know it must be valuable.

On the one hand, it would be so easy to slip my hand inside his jacket and take it.

On the other, it’s not part of my job to steal anything. I really didn’t like the look of the man in the black suit. It would be stupid to tangle myself up in his business without even knowing who he is.

I really should just leave the flash drive alone.

But I’m so curious. I want to know what it is and how much I can sell it for. I’m getting tired of St. Petersburg, tired of Russia in general. The right score could set me up nicely somewhere else. Somewhere a lot warmer.

Yozhin’s empty drink is sitting on the sofa next to him. I knock it off with my knee, so the glass shatters on the ground, the ice cubes skittering across the floor.

“Oops!” I say.

In the moment of distraction when the glass shatters, I sneak my hand inside his suit, and pull out the flash drive. I tuck it inside the front of my thong. There’s precious little coverage there, and I’m afraid the drive will leave a lump. The blond bodyguard has sharp eyes.

I trade places with Angie, keeping my body turned away from Blondie. Angie works her hardest, grinding and gyrating against Yozhin, but he’s too stressed from his meeting to focus on her. And he’s beginning to feel the first effects of the aconite. I can see the flush on his skin, the increased rate of breathing.

Which means it’s the perfect time for us to get away from him.

“Sorry,” I say, putting on a fake sad face, “I think our time’s up. Angie and I have another client waiting.”

“That’s okay,” Yozhin says, his voice coming out tight and pinched. “I’m feeling a little off today anyway. But you girls did a good job.”

He slips a few folded bills into Angie’s G-string. When he tries to do the same to me, I swiftly pluck the money from his fingers so as not to risk dislodging the flash drive.

“Thanks!” I say brightly, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Now the tricky part.

As we walk toward the door, I look Blondie straight in the face, boldly holding his gaze so he can’t look down at my body.

“See you next time,” I say, saucily.

He narrows his eyes at me. His lips twitch, as if he wants to say something back, but I hurry out the door before he can reply.

I make a quick detour to the change room to hide the flash drive in my boot. Then I look for a client to engage me in another lap dance.

I’m safely ensconced in a private room with two Bulgarian businessmen when I hear a muffled thud and commotion coming from Yozhin’s room. I assume he’s collapsed on the floor.

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