That Summer In The Country

Fifty:

Fifty:

"Did you take it to her?" Aleksander asked.

Nina nodded as she slid into the chair across from him. "She asked to speak to Mal, and Genya."

"Good," said Aleksander.

"Why does the story have to come from her?" Nina asked. "You know that by doing this, her life is never going to be the same again."

Aleksander took a drink of the scotch that was across from him. "It wasn't my story to tell. It was hers."

"It doesn't make it any less different. Those pictures are everywhere. Everyone thinks that you've been manipulating her the way that you manipulated Genya."

"I didn't manipulate Genya," Aleksander said.

"I know," said Nina, "I know, but the world doesn't. What are you hoping that Alina can accomplish that you can't?"

"I'm hoping Alina can tell her own story," Aleksander said, "that's all I'm hoping. All I want is for her to be happy. With or without me."

Nina crossed her arms over her chest. "You know, she's trying to meet up with Mal. She asked me specifically to get in touch with him. Don't you want to do something about that?"

"I'm not here to control Alina."

"Okay, fine. But have you considered that if you don't have a job, I don't have a job?" Nina asked.

"I do understand that. But do you really think Matthias would ever let you not get what you wanted? You will always have a job. You'll be fine."

"I don't understand how you can be so comfortable with letting someone completely destroy you. Even if Alina doesn't sign Petyr's NDA, she could still go and tell the press a story that would completely ruin you."

"She won't," Aleksander insisted.

"How do you know?" Nina said.

"Because I know Alina. She is kind, and sweet, and she would never do anything to hurt anyone. She's going to do the right thing. That's why I want her to be the one to explain this. No one else gets to. Mal and I both decided."

Nina was sure that she heard wrong. "You and Mal both decided?"

Aleksander nodded. "Why do you think that Mal is working for Nikolai right now?"

"I assumed he was fulfilling his purpose of being an asshole, finally," Nina told him.

"He's there looking for something on Petyr if everything goes wrong. Nikolai is the one that contacted us about the whole thing. He knew there was going to be trouble when he saw Alina out on her own. He decided that he was going to be on top of things. He actually wants to merge our companies to get rid of his father's power, but he can't do that if everyone still holds his power in esteem."

"So what? You're hoping that Alina can convince Genya to tell their story together?" Nina asked.

"That is exactly what I am hoping happens," said Aleksander, "if there are two girls coming out supporting the story, it will be different then one girl who is still with me trying to say no. That's why I sent Alina away in the first place. If she was still on property, people would still think that she was in my pocket. This way, people will know that no one has paid her off to say this. She is doing it of her own, free will. If she manages to convince Genya to speak out, well, it will only make things better for the both of them. No one will have forced them. No one will have asked them. It will all be their own idea."

"What if she decides to take the money and run away with Mal?" Nina asked. "She loved him first, you know. Just because you had sex with her first that doesn't change anything."

"Oh, but it does. See, Alina will always be his childhood friend. The girl that he needs to protect. He can't protect her if there's the possibility that he'll break her heart. And Mal has always known his role when it comes to my life too. He is there to do what is in my best interest. Mal takes care of his family. Always has, always will, and Alina is part of that family. So am I. He'll do what's right by the two of us. He'll keep us safe. The best way to do that is to keep the two of us together."

Nina shook her head. "You are either a very good man or a very big asshole."

Aleksander smirked. "I like to think of myself as both."

"So, you're going to leave your entire future up to your brother and the girl that he's in love with?"

"That's exactly what I intend to do."

"Well, I hope everything works out for you. I really do. Because I didn't just come to check on you tonight to make sure that you were still sane. I came to tell you that David Kostyk called me tonight."

"Why would he do that?" Aleksander said.

"Because he was trying to get in touch with you, and neither you nor Mal would answer your phones. He and Genya made it home fine but tonight he came home from work to find Mika crying because he was alone, and Genya was gone. From what he could get from the little boy, he said that a big, bad man took her."

"A big, bad man?" Aleksander said.

"Yes. And he said he'd be back for Mika later to take him to his 'father'."

"Fuck!" Aleksander slammed the scotch glass that he'd been drinking from down on the table. "Alina was only given a week to sign that paperwork...."

"Exactly," said Nina, "and we're going to have way less then that to try to find Genya alive."

"Do you really think Petyr Lantsov would have Genya killed?"

"Rich men can make all sorts of terrible things happen as long as they have someone willing to take money for it."

"The Lantsovs used to rule Ravka back when it was an empire. They used to drop their victims into that deadly valley that separates West Ravka from East Ravka."

"You think Petyrs going to drop Genya into The Fold?" Nina asked.

"I know it," Aleksander said. "Are you still in touch with Brekker?"

Nina smirked. "What do you want a thief for?"

"I don't need a thief. I need a wraith. That pretty girl that used to make videos of herself scaling The Fold until she started dating Brekker."

"Inej?" Nina hesitated. "She's gotten herself into some debt. That's why she's not nearly as visible as she used to be. Its illegal to climb The Fold because of how dangerous it is, and she got in trouble with the stad watch a couple of times. Too many arrests and too many lawyer bills to pay."

"But authorities say that The Fold still has climbers going into and out of it, despite it being illegal. They say that there's a whole criminal underground living in there. The perfect place to have a girl killed and forgotten about. Also, the perfect place for someone like Brekker to hide his treasures if he had someone to go and retrieve it for him. Like a wraith. Can you make a call?"

Nina hesitated. "I'll see what I can do."

"Good," he said, "and I know it doesn't need to be said, but Nina, the quicker the better."

"Of course."