Sins of the Master

by Catherine Taylor

  Besides, the room was too beautiful to go to waste and there was no-one there to judge her. She would sleep in that grandiose bed and dine on the pre-ordered dinner that would be coming later. She was certain Eddie wouldn’t care if she’d added another bottle of wine to the order.

  Her anger had deflated. Regardless of his ominous tattoos, it was difficult to maintain an image of Eddie as anyone other than the man she had grown fond of. Perhaps he was no longer the person she believed him to be, and now she would never know. At the very least he had deserved the benefit of being allowed to speak.

  It was too easy to make rash judgements, but growing up around criminals had nurtured her intolerance. In later years it had become so much worse. All she could hear was Greta’s terrified voice, speaking of the tattooed men who had killed Danil, who had taken away her beloved Papa.

  She had often seen the likes of these men, Russian Bratva, expecting to be treated like royalty when they frequented her restaurant, intimidating her patrons and walking out without paying. Danil had wanted to stand up to them, and only pleading desperately with him had avoided many deadly confrontations. Of course, it was inevitable that she wouldn’t always be there to plead with him for his silence.

  She had seen the girls that were owned by them, the businesses ruled by them and the drugs they used to control the young people. As hard as it was to imagine, Eddie was one of them. His tattoos told a story, particularly the one on his collar-bone, and it was now the second time in less than a week that the name of Ivanchenko had been brought to her attention.

  Jahn had been marked with the very same nautical star, and she’d heard tales of the Ivanchenko terrifying legacy. To know Eddie had been caught up in that, wasn’t easily comprehended. How could a brutal killer be capable of the gentleness Eddie had shown? It was the same question she had asked herself nineteen years ago, about another man.

  With each sip of her wine, Lena grew sorrier that she hadn’t given Eddie the chance to explain. It was frustrating her to think Eddie and Jahn might have been known to one another. Now she had questions, many of them, and she’d sent the answers away. The timing couldn’t have been worse either, right when he was about to attend a desperate need in her body, a need that was still demanding attention.

  The last bottle was finally drained and she sat back in the armchair, still wearing the hotel robe. She was sleepy, and the bed would have been nice to get into, if she could stand up and trust her legs to support her. After a little effort, she was upright but the room was moving and making it terribly hard to walk. It occurred to her that she needed to pee, but getting to the bathroom was going to be an even greater challenge.

  Lena giggled as she made an attempt to walk a straight line. Eventually she danced her way to the bathroom, where she glared angrily at the spa bath. The water was still in it, but the bubbles had long gone. The water prompted her need again and she went through to the toilet.

  It was when she came out that the bathroom became fuzzy and went into a much faster revolution about her. Gripping the side of the bath, she eased herself to sit down on the tiled bench, still giggling at her silliness. The water still looked good and she reached down to splash it onto her face.

  It was cold, and she suddenly had the precarious idea of dunking herself under it and waking herself right up. She had dinner coming and rooms like this only came along once in a lifetime. It was time to shake off her gloom and have a little fun.

  With some difficulty, she stripped the robe away and got her legs back into the bath, gasping as they adjusted to the cold. She laughed when she realised she could see herself in the mirror on the other wall.

  “No sex for you, you stupid old bitch,” she told herself. “Who the fuck would want you anyway?” She pouted. “Eddie wanted me.”

  She shrugged and then just let herself drop down into the water, only to scream as the cold stunned her body. She floundered about trying to getting up, only to fall back again into the icy grip. She swallowed a mouthful of water which had her spluttering. Water got into her eyes, making it impossible to see and she still couldn’t get up.

  Suddenly, she felt the firm grip of an arm about her waist, hoisting her out as another arm went under her knees. She was lifted until her feet were set down on the mat. Somebody was holding her as she continued to cough and wipe her eyes. Her head became dizzy again and she clutched at whatever body was in front of her. A towel was wrapped around her and her back given a gentle rub.

  Lena giggled, but didn’t look up, hiding her blushing face. “You came back and here I am, flapping about like a seal. Forgive me, Eddie.”

  There was no reply and she looked up. The smile dissolved from her face and her confusion was reflected in the dark sunglasses staring back at her. She saw an unsmiling mouth, a hard jaw and a clean lined face. Lena tried to back away, but was held fast by the grip on her arm.

  “Stop moving about.” The deep voice was low, menacing and speaking in English. “You’ve already near killed yourself in your drunken state.”

  “Who are you?” she demanded.

  “Just tell me where Eddie is.”

  “How do I know?”

  “You just finished fucking him, didn’t you?”

  Her hand lashed out without a second thought and caught him solidly on his cheek. Lena heard his sharp intake of breath and his mouth formed a grim line, as his grip tightened on her arm.

  “Strike me again, and I’ll…” He shook his head. “Where is Eddie?”

  “I already told you,” Lena insisted. “I don’t know where Eddie is.”

  “He was here. Why did he leave?”

  “That’s none of your business.”

  Lena tried to pull the towel further around herself, only to have it snatched completely away from her. She made a dive for it, but he threw it out of her reach.

  “You want your towel back,” the man told her. “You answer my fucking questions.”

  Pouting furiously, she glared up at him. “You want to look at my ugly old body, go right ahead.” She cupped her breasts and lifted them. “These are my breasts.” She turned as much as his grip would allow and gave her bottom a hearty smack. “And this is my arse, which you can kiss for all the answers you’ll get from me.”

  “Is that right?” Actually, there is something I’d like to be doing to your arse.”

  He propelled her from the bathroom, through the room and sat down on the bed. With one tug, he had her between his legs and bent over his thigh. His arm wrapped around her waist and secured her against his body.

  This might have been wonderful with Eddie, but not with a complete stranger.

  ‘No, no, please don’t.” Lena clutched the bedspread and drummed her feet against the carpet, unable to offer any other resistance. “He left because we had a fight.”

  For a moment there was no reply, until he shifted her upper body further up the bed and clamped her legs with his own. Lena could almost feel his eyes studying her bottom.

  “Please, let me go.”

  “When you’ve answered my questions.” His fingertips trailed across her cheeks, sending a shiver through her.

  The wine might have dulled her fear, but it was amplifying all the wrong bodily reactions.

  The next question came quietly. “How long have you been with Eddie?”

  “I’ve only known him a few days.”

  “A few days? So what the hell are you doing drunk and naked in a hotel with him?”

  Lena sensed the condemnation in the question. She tried to feel angry but her shame allowed it to bother her.

  “Because, I wanted to be with him.”

  “So you were having an affair?”

  “No,” she protested, bursting into tears. “I’m a widow and I was lonely. Eddie was nice to me, and I’ve been alone for so long…”

  “You don’t have children?”

  “A daughter, who’s been missing for two years. I’m here to find her.” She gasped when she felt a warm calloused h
and cup her buttock and delicately squeeze it. “Please, don’t do this to me.”

  The hand came away from her and she wept quietly.

  “Please,” she whispered. “I’m no-one important to anyone. I’m just a fool that Eddie felt sorry for. He picked me up off a floor in a café because I was drunk. That’s how I met him, so what good am I to you?”

  “And what will you do if I let you go?”

  “I’ll go home and sober up and get some sleep. I start work at five in the morning in a bakery.” She heard him sigh deeply and began to feel afraid. “Please, I will do whatever you want me to do. Just please don’t hurt me.”

  “Don’t even say that. I would never harm you.”

  Lena frowned, hearing him speak the unsettling words in Ukrainian. There was a strange familiarity to them. She replied in the same. “How do you know I’m Ukrainian?”

  His grip on her relaxed. “Because I know everything there is to know about you, Lena.”

  She gasped quietly and pushed herself up until she was standing, staring at him. Her trembling hand went tentatively to his sunglasses and drew them off his face. She felt confused to see the dark brown eyes looking back at her, but as her gaze wandered over his face, her lip began to tremble.

  Touching his cheek, Lena broke down into gulping sobs.

  Dylan was already standing up, wrapping his arms around her and clutching her against his body. Lena held onto him, burying her face into his shirt as years of despair burst from her heart. She cried hard and loud until her body was too weak to hold her up.

  Easing herself away from him, Lena sat on the bed hanging her head, too overwhelmed to look up at him. She had no choice when Dylan crouched down to grin at her.

  “Hello, Lena.”

  She sobbed again to see his face. “Jahn.”

  “Stay there, while I get something to wipe your face.”

  “And my robe,” she sniffed.

  He went and returned without her robe and began to wipe her face with a warm cloth.

  “You haven’t changed in nineteen years.” His eyes wandered over her. “Still a naughty girl, getting herself into trouble and thinking those beautiful sad eyes of hers are going to save her from a smacked bottom.”

  Lena laughed through her tears. “And you’re still a bully, attacking me while I’m naked in a bath, putting your hands all over me and…”

  Her statement went unfinished as her hands went to the knot on his tie and pulled at it. Dylan took hold of them and brought them down.

  “Lena, no, we have to talk.”

  “No, we don’t. I don’t want to know why or how. This could all be a dream, but it’s mine and right now you’re here with me and I don’t care anymore. I just don’t care.”

  “I care,” he told her. “This was never meant to happen. I knew you were here with Eddie, and I came for him. I expected none of this. I doubted you would even know who I was. Once I knew Eddie wasn’t there, I was going to leave, until you decided on a drunken swim.”

  “Of course you didn’t come for me.” She shrugged. “Or you would have come a long time ago. Just tell me why you want Eddie. Is it because he has the same star that you had on your body?”

  “You should never have been with him, Lena.”

  “I liked being with him. He was kind to me and he was very gentle.”

  “But that’s not who he is. I bet he didn’t tell you that he has just got out of prison.”

  Lena stared at him, and then shook her head dejectedly. “It doesn’t matter. He’s gone now and he won’t be back.”

  “Lena, do you know where to find him?”

  “No, and don’t ask me that again. Whatever business you have with Eddie, I don’t want to know about it.” She covered her breasts. “Would you get me my robe please?”

  “It’s wet,” he said. “And you don’t have to cover yourself around me.”

  She looked at him. “You didn’t come to see me, and I would like to cover myself.”

  Dylan got up and went to a cupboard, bringing out another white robe. He stopped at the minibar fridge and took out a bottle of water, which he brought to her.

  “Drink that down.”

  “Just give me the robe,” she told him.

  “You get the robe when you drink the water.”

  She scowled and took it from him, managing to drink half the bottle. “There. Now may I have my dignity back, or what’s left of it?”

  Dylan held the robe as she got into it and tied it up. “Lena, what happened to Danil?”

  She breathed deeply. “He was beaten to death for standing up for what he believed in. I’ve been a widow for three years now.” She gasped and looked at Dylan. “Greta. She has been missing in this country two years. But you could find her, like you found her for me when she is just a little girl.”

  “What was she doing here?”

  Lena bowed her head. “She came to find out if her father’s race were any kinder than her mother’s. She grew up surrounded by prejudice and cruelty, because her skin was dark, and because Greta is gay. I could only tell her that her father of one night was a handsome and very nice man. He laughed a lot. She read much about New Zealand and told me that her sexuality would be accepted here. She kept in contact for a while and then it stopped, but you could find her. I know you could.”

  Dylan nodded slowly. “I’ll do what I can, but Lena, you need to know… You remember what it was like for me in Ukraine, when we met. With everything that happened. Fate was never going to be kind to us, and all these years later… Very little has changed.”

  “I’ve changed,” Lena replied. “I’m not nineteen anymore and I don’t hide behind fairy tales. I no longer believe in happy endings. It’s only moments in which we find a little happiness. If you have to go, just go. Don’t worry about me. I’m still here, aren’t I?”

  “You’re here because I pulled you out of that bath before you drowned yourself.”

  Lena smiled. “Well, it certainly sobered me up.”

  “You think that’s funny?” Dylan glared at her. “You should never have been anywhere near a bath while you had booze in your system, speaking of which…”

  “Let’s not,” she said crossly. “I told you, you do whatever it is that you have to do, and I’ll worry about myself. My drinking is my problem, not yours.”

  He continued to frown at her. “I think I liked your attitude better when you were over my knee.”

  Lena blushed deeply but laughed it off. “I suppose I should apologise for not checking that you were married or something, before I threw myself at you.”

  “I have no-one to answer to,” he replied, staring at her. “Only to you.”

  “No. You don’t owe me anything. I waited a long time, believing you would come back, but you didn’t, and I moved on with my life. I had a daughter who needed me, and Danil was a good husband and father. These last few years have been difficult, and I’ve not always coped, but I’ve survived.” She smiled. “And yourself? What have you been doing?”

  Dylan frowned. “That’s not so easily answered.”

  “A wife, a girlfriend? Hasn’t there been someone special for you?”

  “There was one, but she died recently. And there have been others...” He looked towards the apartment door. “How certain are you that Eddie won’t come back?”

  “Very certain.” Lena replied glumly. “I think I made sure of that.”

  “Do you have a phone?”

  “Yes, but Eddie doesn’t have the number.”

  “I still want your number.”

  “Why? Are you planning on calling me?”

  “Maybe, when this is over…”

  “Don’t make promises you won’t keep.” Lena hurried to her bag and took a flyer from it, bringing it back to Dylan. “Now you have Greta’s photo and that’s my number if you should find her. Other than that, I won’t expect to hear from you.”

  Dylan gazed at the flyer, folded it and put it in his pocket. “Lena, you d
on’t understand…”

  “I have dinner coming. You’re welcome to join me.” She saw him frown at the invitation. “Or not.”

  “I have to go,” he said quietly.

  Lena nodded, biting her lip. She managed to smile. “Maybe we’ll have coffee together some time.”

  He stared at her until she had to look away.

  “Lena, it’s important that you stay away from Eddie. He may have been good to you, but he’s not a good man. Where are you living?”

  “I share a house with some students.”

  “The address?”

  She told him.

  “Does Eddie know this?”

  “He knows where I work, and that’s all. Eddie came to say goodbye to me, because he had business he had to be away for. This was to be our last time together for a while and…”

  There was a knock at the door and Lena watched as Dylan silently moved across the room and seem to produce a pistol from nowhere. He eyed her. “Ask who it is.”

  “It will be my dinner,” she replied crossly, marching to the door, but she still called out before she opened it.

  “Room service, Madam, with your dinner.”

  Dylan was out of sight when she opened the door and let the attendant wheel a trolley in. He lifted the lids and introduced her to the dishes. She thanked him and closed the door as he left. Glancing at the covered plates, her attention was drawn to the bottle of red wine.

  “Don’t even think about it.” Dylan appeared behind her and grabbed the bottle.

  She watched stunned as he strode off with it toward the bathroom. She went after him and got there in time to see the water draining from the spa bath and her wine going down with it.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Making sure you stay sober. You don’t need it.”

  “How the hell do you know what I need, and what business is it of yours anyway? You were leaving, if I remember correctly, so why the fuck do you care?”

  He frowned at her. “I care a lot more than you think, and if you speak to me again in that tone, you’ll get a sound reminder of what that care includes.”