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Chapter One
Nikolai
Thump, thump, thump
Fucking hell! So ainst the surface of the bedside table The sound is like a nail gun going crazy I unglue my eyes
My lofty, gilded ceiling comes into view
I stretch out , hold it over ht froreen button and put it to my ear
“Boss, I’ve been pushing the bell for soet a response Are you okay?” Se machine into the spin cycle
“What time is it?”
“After seven, Boss”
“So?”
“At night, Boss”
“What?”
I took four pills and decided to lie down for a few ht I should have been at the club by seven
“Bring the car around to the front in fifteen,” I instruct, pulling myself off the bed
My shoes are haphazardly kicked in two different directions, but I’ my shoulders, I make my way to the bathroom I open my mirrored cabinet, and reach for a new box of tablets Discarding the plastic wrapper, I go into the drawing room and head for the bar It’s an antique, made from wood reclaimed from a Russian church
Warning Do not take more than
twelve tablets in any twenty-four
hour period
Fuck that I pop out eight pills into the pal a bottle of Grey Goose, I unscrew the top, and take a generous swig of neat vodka Nice one
Fortified by the best legal anesthetic available, I go swiftly to the bathroom In ten minutes, I’m showered and dressed in a fine Saville Row black tailored suit
I grab lance in the hall mirror No time to shave Still the five o’clock shadow suits how I feel I open the door, and cool autus
“I’ve called ahead and infor late and to have dinner ready for 8:30, Boss” Semyon says, as he opens the rear door of the Maybach
I nod my approval and slide into the limousine’s luxurious leather interior The air is scented with expensive perfuine, classical music plays Seer seat Immediately, Zohar, my stone-faced driver sets off for the club I lethead on the plush headrest
Were it midweek I sure as hell would not have left the house, but it’s Friday It’s the one night I neverat the club It’s not the truth, but I tell everybody that it’s because Friday night is sucker’s night It’s ti They go because, of
course, life is a co-land
In their tiny, greedy bird-brains they think they’re just gonna stroll into my club, and a few fun-filled hours later, hit the £100,000 Free Stake (which has the same lure of fresh blood for the Great White shark) Sure, the odd one does good, gets to hold it in sweaty pal hook comes out to play
It’s the glittering, sweet-s, dream ticket out of their miserable, pathetic lives: the irresistible £5,000,000 Free Stake The idea? Put a hundred K in there that didn’t belong to you in the first place, and win fivefries their brains Even the et that he walked through my front door, the man who never loses
What does theto his ht for, you ask? Even when his head is fucking killing him?
A … look at you All curious
Stick around, cupcake, and et it
Chapter Two
Nikolai
Roman and Andrei, both over six foot five, retired Special Forces soldiers, and the most loyal and reliable ofoutside the entrance of Zigurat You’re thinking because I’m a Russian billionaire, it’s fancy and probably built in a pseudo pyramid style, aren’t you?
Nah
The location is discreet, and it’s sandwiched between soray offices on a deserted backstreet There are no bright lights to announce its existence In fact, the nicest thing you could say about the entrance is it’s nondescript No ca around Exactly the way I like it We neither advertise nor court any attention
One has to be recoorous vetting process Before a punter can step a foot through our door he must understand exactly what’s on offer inside … and the risks … of non-payment This way there are no, well, let’s call it, s
Roman opens my door I slide out, and stand on the sidewalk for an instant, while Roman and Semyon with military precision step into place on either side of me Their cold, expressionless eyes dart around, alert and wary Andrei, he’s always scowling, re the front door open I shoot uards closely shadowing me
It sounds like too much?
Trust me, you can’t be too careful in my business I have more enemies than friends Come to think of it I have no friends They are all eneuise
It’s a different world inside the plain black door Rich velvet curtains, glossy s It’s every nouveau riche oligarch’s wet drea it Anastasia, who mans the front desk, nods and smiles at me She doesn’t expect me to smile back I don’t
I head upstairs to the first floor Roman remains onme very seriously, which I am rather pleased about
“Good evening, Mr S Her ss She is tall, y, and very beautiful, quite honestly, catwalk e-old invitation
She’s new, but she’ll learn soon enough I don’t ever mix business with pleasure As awith business I haven’t had a girlfriend since I was seventeen That’s twenty years ago
Inhas a price If I want pussy, I don’t chase it around the rooet exactly what I want, when I want it It’s worked real well so far
“How many in the Blue Room?” I ask her
“Six, Mr Smirnov”
“And next door?”
“Six as well”
“Excellent”
“Thank you, Mr Smirnov”