Chapter Ten

Some character building for Jenette. It was very hard to write, and I still don't think I wrote it as best as I could have... sorry it took so long.

A few hours before Mark Drake broke a boy's nose with a dumbbell.

It's a great honor to serve your country.

The obnoxious poster of a woman in military getup holding a smartgun, had those words plastered over the front in big cheerful text.

Jenette snorted and walked away, but not before she stored the date and time of the recruitment rally in her mind. "Could be something fun to throw a stink bomb in." She thought.

A few meters away she noticed one of Morozko's "enforcers" leaning against a doorway, staring intently at her, and she knew she had been putting off that follow up meeting for much too long.

When she walked into his room she noticed the large flexible screen covering most of his wall, it wasn't there last time she visited his cell. A tapestry computer; one of those expensive pieces of technology she'd seen on tv. Shifting and moving as it kept track of the latest trend or whatever was going on in the world, located conveniently on a wall and able to rolled and stored. It was currently fixated on Russia, with a constant flow of Cyrillic script and images.

"You wanted to speak to me Morozko?" Jenette glanced at the thin boy sitting at his desk, sheets of paper scattered everywhere, before her eyes went back to the moving large map of Russia covering most of his wall.

He looked up at her, his pale eyes following hers to where she was staring. "Do you like it Kotyonok? It is my prized possession." He stared at the moving images fondly. "My father sent it to me a few days ago. A reward of sorts, but more of a condescending digital tutor." Shrugging he continued. "It never fails to remind me how out of touch I've been with all that is transpiring in my native Russia these years I've been stuck in this depressing country." He got up from his seat and leaned against his desk.

Jenette walked forward to face the map. The map could literally do anything, including connect with satellites and CCTV cameras located all around the world. She knew exactly what she wanted to see. Reaching her hand out to the news stories and shifting stock market. She stopped herself just in time. "May I?

Morozko expression was as stoic as ever as he nodded his head.

She stretched her finger out, touching the cool, flexible screen. Swiping her hand, she shifted the map's view away from Russia, and to her native Lincoln Heights. Carmen said the town had changed, but she never knew this much. There were developments everywhere; malls, and high-rises. Much different from the old houses and desert cacti habitual to her suburb. No, her home.

She glanced at Morozko out of the corner of her eye. What would he think if she looked up the address that appeared on Carmen's letters? He must already know her background, he had enough connections. Her curiosity was killing her, so she spoke the address aloud, and the map took it from there.

Up popped a dilapidated apartment block. Jenette studied it. Their roof was obviously leaking, and the plaster on the walls peeling. She sighed lifting her finger off the screen and turned back to Morozko.

He was staring at the building curiously. "The lives of the lower classes in the outside world are always interesting to study." He turned to face her. "But in here, we're all equal." Gesturing to his room he continued. "One bunk, one desk, three meals a day. It's all very curious..."

"Not as equal as you think." Jenette raised her eyebrows. "You don't have a roomate."

He barked a laugh. "I guess you are right. My money buys a lot in this place, including respect." He stared directly into her eyes, driving home his point.

It hit Jenette directly in the gut. She narrowed her eyes.

"My dear Kotyonok I know the real reason for that delightful show you put on. You say it was for those metal bullets, but know," He reached and cupped her cheek, stroking her face with his fingers, "I understand."

Jenette stiffened and purposely stepped out of his grip.

"What would you know about fighting for respect, Tolstoy?" She pointed to the electronic map, still focused on her family's living situation. "When your daddy buys you everything."

Morozko didn't even react to the insult. "It is precisely because he gives me everything, that I know how you feel, dear girl." He grinned savagely. "Do you think I am King of this place because I am physically strong?" He shook his head. "No, it is precisely because of my 'daddy's money'."

"What? So I'll be eaten alive because I have no money? I survived just fine in LA on my strength alone."

"Yes, that why you are here." He retorted sarcastically.

"Fuck you Morozko."

"And that, right there, is a prime example of why you are so unpopular here. And why everyone wants to kill you. Your temper controls you."

She folded her arms under her chest. "I don't take any bullshit from anyone, not even you." She glared at him.

"And that's exactly why I like you, bitch." He snarled at her. "You entertain me to no ends."

Jenette's lip twitched. She opened her mouth to let loose a string of obscenities.

"And that's why I'm leaving you everything." He gestured to all around him.

Her mouth snapped shut.

"I want you, Jenette Vasquez. In more ways than one." His eyes raked over her body. "But most of all I desire loyalty, fealty, devotion... as you Americans say, the whole nine yards."

She frowned.

"Soon you'll understand the politics of this world properly enough. The only reason I'm being released is because my father is dying. He paid your government to keep me here until now, away from his business and money."

In disbelief she said. "So you expect me to believe that you're innocent?"

He snorted, "Far from it. But I am the son of a billionaire, do you think this country could keep me here without his permission, and for this long? No, I figured out what he was planning a long time ago." He looked down a shadow covering his eyes. "I am a pawn. But I still get what I want. The man I call father will soon be dead, and I will have everything belonging to him."

"What the fuck does your inferiority complex have to do with me?"

He moved so fast, and was in front of her in an instant. He grabbed her face with one hand and pulled her to his height, stopping only when her face was inches from his own. Her legs dangling inches off the ground. He gripped her cheeks so hard, she bit her tongue, and blood started trickling down from her pursed lips. "I want it all, Kotyonok, and more. My empire will surpass my father's. And I know I need my contacts to survive in this world." He widened his eyes, his look containing just a hint of insanity, as he stared deeply at her. "You will keep my business up and running in this country. I will give you the method, the means, the transportation, and-"

He was cut off suddenly as Jenette shoved her knee into his groin. He let go of her with a shriek of pain, and she landed on her feet. "I will not be your fucking crack whore!" She spat a wad of blood onto his carpet. Wiping her mouth she yelled at the painfully crouched figure of Morozko Tolstoy. "I don't fucking need you, you piece of shit, I can make my own way. And I will never be your pawn, Ever."

Morozko laughed hysterically. "Bitch, you'll never belong anywhere. You will always be a pawn." He shakily got to his feet. "I was going to give you so much, a position in my world, a title, a place in my bed. But, here you go, throwing it all away. Typical."

She scoffed. "Yeah, a fifteen old with a god complex has a lot to offer."

"So what? You'll go run back to your handsome prince? I have exactly what he has, and money to top it off!"

"You sure know how to woo a girl." Sarcasm coating her words, she suddenly thought of the military poster, and a life she never imagined could be hers. Soon it might be the only place she could go. A life protecting those that couldn't protect themselves, away from all this political drama and intrigue. Fuck it all. She'll do exactly what she wanted to do the moment she was sent to this prison. Leave, explore, conquer and fucking simply decimate anything, or anyone that gets in her way.

"What will you do now, bitch? I will withdraw my protection from you. Let this world eat you alive, I will watch content." He sneered.

She smiled viciously at him. "Whatever I fucking want."

Have a villain, betcha thought he was going to be a good guy, oooh no, he might even be the big bad.