She came three times when he took her against the wall, and countless times during the longest lovemaking session she'd ever had, and was ever likely to have.
When the gray light of morning pierced the thin curtains, Igor got up, showered, and dressed. When he was at the door, she woke.
“Can I see you again?” she asked.
“I only fuck women once,” he said.
When he was gone, she threw the hair-dryer against the mirror and broke both items.
Dima was waiting in the car outside the hotel. “And? What was she like?” he asked.
“Useless. Kept complaining she had cramps. I only screwed her for a couple of hours.”
Dima laughed. His brother was always bragging about his sexual prowess. Dima was jealous of Igor's looks and the fact that women seemed to throw themselves at him. He hardly had to speak to them before they were willing to sleep with him.
“Here,” Dima said. He passed Igor a Beretta handgun. “Let's go persuade him.”
“Let's do it,” Igor replied.
Dima drove out of town to what appeared to be a rich suburb. “Do you get it?” Igor asked.
“What?”
“Look at these big houses. Fucking politicians. How the hell do they go from being penniless upstarts to super rich in the space of a few short years?” Igor asked.
“You already know. Because they are all corrupt bastards. The US is rotten to the core. Everybody knows that.”
“We are no angels, but we, at least, try to do things honestly,” Igor concluded.
Dima laughed. “Of course we do. The only difference is, if being honest doesn't work in our favor, we very quickly turn nasty.”
Dima drove past the gate to the French-style mansion and looked at the huge iron gate. There was just one security guard sitting in a wooden hut. He drove a bit farther and parked next to the high wall that ran around the property. The brothers got out and, with the help of a rope and hook, scaled the wall.
Mr. and Mrs. Adessi looked like the perfect couple as they lay asleep in bed. The bedroom was spacious and smelled of potpourri. Igor wondered if they’d had sex the previous evening; Mrs. Adessi seemed to be naked, and her nightdress was lying on the floor.
Dima nodded, and Igor put the barrel of his Beretta into Mr. Adessi's open mouth. He snorted and opened his eyes.
“What the hell?” he muttered as best he could with the gun in his mouth. Mrs. Adessi woke up and saw Dima standing above her. She screamed and sat up in bed, forgetting that she was naked. She quickly grabbed the sheet and pulled it over her breasts.
Dima took hold of her arm and pulled her from the bed. He placed her face down on the floor and held a gun to her head.
“Mr. Adessi,” Igor began, “as you are the head of real estate at the city administration, we would like to make a complaint to you.” Adessi looked at him, terror in his eyes. “I think you know why we are here.” Adessi shook his head. “Oh yes, you do. We bid more than anyone for the old post office project. You know that and we know that. Yet you gave the contract not to the highest bidder, or even the second highest, but to some sleazy outfit from Alabama. Funny, that's where you come from.”
Dima put his foot on Mrs. Adessi's back and pressed. She squealed and tried to break free, but it was useless.
“We want your guarantee that you will cancel the contract and award it to us. As I said, we won the bidding.” Igor pulled the gun from his mouth and waited for his response.
“Go to hell. Fucking Russians. Think you own the place. Fuck off back to Moscow.”
“Not only are you corrupt, you are very rude. Have you ever seen a woman thrown from an upstairs window?” Igor said as he nodded to Dima.
Dima pulled Mrs. Adessi up by the hair and took her to the window. He held her with one hand and opened the window with the other. She screamed as he pushed her out of the window and held on to her by the ankles.
“Last chance, Adessi. She'll make a terrible mess of your driveway,” Igor said.
“Alfons, help me,” she shrieked. “Please, let them have what they want.”
Dima let go of her right leg, and she swung to and fro, attached to his strong arm by just her left ankle.
“All right! Please, pull her inside,” he said.
“No. Not until you give me the guarantee we came for,” Igor said.
“I guarantee it. You can have the contract. Just pull her back inside, please.”
“Thank you, Mr. Adessi. Just remember, we can come back anytime, so please don't change your mind.”
*****
“Michael?” Cassy shouted as she walked through the backyard of the large house she and Michael had just inherited. “Michael, where are you? Dinner's ready.” Cassy noticed how lovely the lavender smelled in the border she was walking along. Michael wasn't in the yard; she turned her attention to the house. Michael slept in a room next to Cassy's, but he wasn't there either.
“Edith, have you seen Michael?' Cassy asked the cook.
“No. Not for a while.”