5

After lunch, the wind increased, causing alarm. Having shot a cigarette at the guard, I smoked around the corner of the store, putting my feelings and thoughts in order.

Sex with Arthur hard and without anesthesia with a scalpel revealed everything that I managed to muffle with the help of Yegor. I wanted to drink again.

In the toilet, I wiped my body and crotch with tap water and, along with the remnants of my breakfast, vomited wolf semen out of my stomach, filling the void with Christina's friendly coffee.

I was barren and, meeting with Yegor, I thought a lot about whether I had a chance to recover, but after Arthur changed his father and became the boss, for the first time I was glad that life could not arise in my body.

Throwing away the rest of the cigarette, I caught my reflection in the window. Like the mirror in the bathroom, it showed me a slender, beautiful, young girl with shoulder-length dark hair, fresh skin and large, thoughtful hazel-colored eyes, in which, despite the lack of clarity of reflection, the same abyss stood out very brightly.

Time worked against me. The years rushed imperceptibly, and on the threshold there were already twenty-five years old. Not a sentence, of course, but I remember how my mother boiled in a cauldron of poverty, how she grew old before our eyes, how helplessly she burned, and I also remember how it frightened me, how I didn’t want the same fate, and even now I didn’t want to exchange my youth for the most primitive goods.

I wanted more. For myself and for my brother. Life was one, no matter what anyone said, and I wanted to live well, and I wanted to live well - I wanted even more. And with this it was necessary to decide something, and not continue to hopelessly go with the flow.

After fixing my hair, I put on a carefree look and returned to the store. The courier was supposed to arrive any minute. The shipment of diamonds was expected to be very large, and Arthur was preparing to receive it personally.

What the courier looked like, none of us knew. Before that, different people always came, and we knew for sure that anyone could be expected, even a child.

Arthur was visibly nervous and that’s why he tugged at me all the time: either he slapped my buttocks, then he crushed his chest, then he slobbered his neck, in short, he tried in every possible way to show how cool he was and everything was under his control.

I laughed at him to myself. If he were as cool as he thought himself, he would not have pissed like a youngster. Although, I was also a little nervous. The consignment was indeed very large and, in addition to the fact that it had to be first received from the courier, it also had to be safely handed over to another courier - this time from Angelov. And much, if not all, depended on the latter.

If he, that is, Angelov's courier, does not appear or something happens to him when he has already taken the diamonds, then the problems will be huge, because Angelov must have been well aware of Arthur's ambitions, otherwise he would not have chosen his store for his business, but it was precisely the ambitions of the young wolf that, in case of failure, could put him in the list of suspects in the first place. And then it would not be good not only for him, but for everyone who was related to the store.

The bell on the door rang and, accompanied by the smell of fish, an untidy woman entered the store with a bouquet of withering gladioli.

The guard was about to chase her, but she, not paying attention to him, clearly turned to me.

“Flowers for the marchioness,” she said.

It was possible to recognize the courier by the code word, and it always, one way or another, related to stones. In this case, it was the word "marquise", which in the language of jewelers meant one of the types of gemstone cutting, which got its name in honor of the smile of the Marquise de Pompadour, mistress of Louis XVI.

I found it complete nonsense, but it was the way it was, and no one asked my opinion at all.

Arthur nodded to me, and I came out from behind the counter and accepted the bouquet, in the depths of which there was a dark bag tied to the stems of the flowers securely covered with leaves.

Without saying a word, the woman left, leaving behind the scent of fish. Releasing the bag, I handed it to Arthur, and gave the flowers to Christina, who hurried to take them out into the street and push them into the nearest bin.

Arthur locked himself in his office to make phone calls. He did not open the bag, but as far as he and I knew, today's batch contained very rare diamonds of a red, reminiscent of a flame of fire, color.

Such stones, even when already processed and turned into diamonds, could not be found in jewelry stores. They met only at auctions and exchanges, and jewelry from them was already made by order of the direct owner of the stones.

Such jewelry was very expensive, but the stones themselves were considered a good investment, so it was not surprising that Angelov began to deal with them, because even for one such pebble you could buy a very good service, and for a finished product in general a person.

Well, if the thing for which Angelov took up the diamonds burns out, then Arthur will get his jackpot. I did not believe that he would become the second in the city, but he would become one of Angelov's close associates.

For the young wolf, this was a big step, but for me and Christina it did not bode well. Wolf blood itself was hot, which I experienced many times, but fueled by power and bound by certain obligations to the owner of the city, it became an explosive mixture.

Arthur liked me, and he made it clear that he wanted to, that is, in principle, he did not admit that after his promotion, so to speak, I would not be around. Many in my place would regard this as a lottery ticket, because the young wolf was quite attractive, had money, and, as close to Angelov, became even more attractive and, first of all, material.

However, the role of a kept woman, a mistress, even in the presence of reciprocal feelings, was fraught with danger. My mother, not unreasonably, fled with us after the murder of her father and hid in such holes that even rats would not live in them, and it was enough for me to have my brother at my side, just looking for something so bad to get involved in.

The first stage of the diamond deal was completed, but there was still the second one, and after... Afterwards, while Arthur is busy licking Agnelov's ass, I will have a chance to leave. I think the time has come for this. In any case, it was possible to wait forever for special conditions or suitable moments, but the risk ... The risk was present everywhere and always.

In a neighboring city, I found several good job offers, an apartment could be sold through a realtor, without even being present at the same time. For Sasha, I had several weighty arguments for moving, and I had no doubt that they would work. I also found something for him and I really hoped that it would give him a new, safe start.

Yegor ... Yegor said a couple of times that he would like to transfer from the homicide department to another, calmer one. He loved me and the likelihood that he would agree to leave with me was high.

If the brother still doesn’t want to go or can’t start a new life without crime and werewolves, if Egor doesn’t believe that I’m ready to put up with Sasha’s self-destruction attitude and, asking for forgiveness from the deceased mother, leave him to himself, or simply don’t want to leave your life for me, then...

Well, then I'll have to let them both go and really, at least once in my life, think about myself, do something for myself, stop sacrificing my desires for the sake of someone who will still be eager to shit everything. I think that the time has come for this too: if Sasha and I don’t break out now, then it’s quite possible that both of us may no longer have a second chance for a clean slate.

- Kira! - came from the office, interrupting my thoughts. - Visit me! And bring coffee!

Arthur's voice was filled with excitement and impatience. My stomach twisted painfully at the mere thought that...

Shaking her head, she cut herself off, drove away the urge to hit the wall with her fists and evenly poured thick, fragrant coffee into a cup, put in two squares of sugar, stirred with a spoon.

At the office door, I stopped and took a deep breath, reminding myself of what I was doing and why I was doing it. Today, more than ever, I needed endurance and sobriety.

The second stage of the diamond deal was on the way and after, I hope, its successful completion, I will need to act immediately, and for this I will need all my strength.

I set my coffee cup down on the table and glanced down at the bag of diamonds.

“You should hide them,” I said. - If something happens to them, you will answer with your head.

Arthur grabbed me and sat me on his lap.

- Do you care about me? - he whispered playfully into my neck, crushing my chest with his hands.

"Taking care of myself," I replied, trying unsuccessfully to get up. - Your head does not bother me, but I want to keep mine. Actually, you've gotten yourself into this for nothing. Your father wouldn't do that.

- My father! Arthur laughed, loosening his grip on his chest. My father almost lost his business. You didn't know that, did you? Didn't know that he didn't want to retire?

I flinched, partly because of his words, partly because of his hand slipping up my skirt.

- You're not as stupid as you may think, Kira, - he continued, pushing my panties and caressing my pussy lips with his fingers. - You understand that it was only a matter of time when Angelov would have crushed his father under him. In some century, Angelov was just too lazy to take by force, and he contributed to the ruin in order to squeeze out the store and get all his father's connections.

- So you're a hero? I asked stifledly, obeying the pressure of the young wolf and spreading my legs so that it would be more convenient for him to think that he was giving me pleasure. - Did you come to the aid of your father? Kicked him out, if he didn't kill him at all, and hastened to offer his services to Angelov?

- All of us, Kira, survive as best we can, - Arthur answered, pressing his fingers. - You, too, survive, and you could at least once pretend that my caresses are pleasant to you, but I'm not offended, Kira. I even like that you, bending under me, remain honest. Or not? - he grinned and, removing his fingers from me, rubbed the moisture on them.

Ashamed of the betrayal of my body, I tried to get up again, but Arthur held on tight, enjoying my reaction.

- You are very beautiful, Kira, - he whispered, grabbing his earlobe with his lips, - and smart. I don't care if you're a half-breed. Together we can achieve a lot and, perhaps, the day is not far off when the city will be mine, and you will become its mistress.

It's funny that he was the second person to say that to me in a day. And it's funny that he also believed in it: in the sense he believed that he could change the current owner.

Well... Life will show whose faith and what will justify itself.

There were still two hours left before the store closed. Twilight on the street gradually thickened, and the wolf's howl everywhere filled the dark doorways.

I led a young couple to the door, still hesitant to spend money on wedding rings that they liked, and scanned the street with my eyes.

The city was already lighting the lanterns, but Angelov's courier was late, and anxiety gradually arose in his chest. What if it was a setup? Previous trades had gone off without a hitch, but this one was getting more and more foreboding.

Perhaps Arthur agreed on the closing time of the store so that no stray client would interfere, or maybe, due to the importance of the shipment of diamonds, the time was not agreed at all, so that the courier could not be tracked.

Noticing a shadow gliding subtly through the bulletproof window, I involuntarily recoiled. It was difficult for an ordinary person to get used to the swift movements of the werewolves, and I was almost that I was ordinary.

Somewhere in the street, tires screeched, but the sound was drowned out by the chime of a door bell, announcing the arrival of a visitor. The atmosphere in the store changed from tense to extremely tense in an instant.

A young, shaven-headed, very large man with an impenetrable face froze on the threshold, looking around and sniffing. He had a strong, wolfish scent that made his nose ready to explode into a sneeze. It was not the first time he took the stones, but it was impossible to get used to the danger that came from him.

The wolf gave me a questioning look, and I hurried after Arthur, but Christina was ahead of me, and he was already leaving his office.

The courier went to the counter. The guard immediately took his place at the door. His hand confidently lay on the holster with a pistol, and his concentrated gaze rushed to the street.

Arthur took out a bag of diamonds from his pocket and pushed it towards the courier.

"They were delivered after dinner," Arthur reported with poorly concealed tension in his voice. - We didn't open it.

- I see, - the wolf answered without expression, kneading his jaw with chewing gum.

His hand half-transformed, the claw easily pried off the leather case and ripped it open, spilling the contents onto the glass counter.

The stones that had not yet been processed looked incomparable, easily eclipsing those toys that lay under the glass. Even the blue diamond parure I tried on during the day looked shabby by comparison. One could only imagine the brilliance that red diamonds would acquire after polishing and cutting.

After checking several stones through a binocular magnifying glass, the courier was apparently satisfied and took a new bag out of his pocket.

- Everything is fine? Arthur asked as he watched the courier unload the stones. - Did the deal go through?

- It took place, - the wolf confirmed with a sneer. He obviously didn't like Arthur. - Wait...

The door swung open with force, exploding with the ringing of a bell. The guard, distracted by the conversation, did not have time to get a pistol, and the muzzle of a submachine gun rested on his forehead.