All Chapters of Scamming the Devil : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

IRINA VOLKOVThe wire transfer notification chimed on my phone at exactly 3:09PM.Fifty thousand dollars. Clean. Untraceable. So beautiful.My gaze was fixed on the screen in the dimly lit corner of the cafe, my fingers wrapped around my coffee that had lost its warmth an hour prior. The scene was filled with Moscow’s young professionals, absorbed in their laptops and pricey lattes, completely unaware that a con artist was present, pilfering bank accounts with merely a smartphone and a fabricated tale.Yeah—and that’s me.Fifty thousand was good. Better than good. It just brought my running total to four hundred and sixty-three thousand dollars over the past twenty-two months.Thirty-seven thousand left. Phew!Thirty-seven thousand, and I’ll be free. The debt Viktor, my father, had saddled me with before I escaped his house and his fists would finally be paid. The loan sharks who have been watching me will have their blood money. And I, Irina Volkov, or whatever name I’m choosing next

IRINA VOLKOVThe next morning, I took the metro to Tverskaya and found a secondhand boutique that catered to women who needed to look expensive without actually being expensive. The owner, a rail thin woman with black hair and calculating eyes, sized me up immediately.“Special occasion?” she asked in Russian.I nodded. “Dinner. Somewhere nice.” I kept my voice neutral, but the woman’s eyes sparkled with understanding.“Rich boyfriend?”“Something like that.”She disappeared into the back and returned with three dresses. All designer labels, all slightly worn butt beautifully maintained. The kind of dresses that whispered wealth without shouting it.I chose a midnight blue dress with a fitted bodice and flowing skirt. Elegant. Sophisticated. The king of thing my character, Anastasia Sokolova would wear. It cost more than I wanted to spend, but when I looked at myself in the mirror, I saw exactly what I needed to see. A woman worth investing in.A woman worth three hundred thousand eur

IRINA VOLKOV But I had the check. The money was already mine. What harm could one drink do? And if I refused, if I seemed too eager to leave, it might raise suspicions. This is risky and fucking dangerous. Besides, there was something in his eyes. A challenge. Like he knew I wanted to refuse and was daring me to do it. I made my decision. One drink. Thirty minutes. Then I will excuse herself, go straight to the airport, and be in Prague by morning. Okay, sounds perfect. "I'd love to," I said, releasing a smile. "That sounds wonderful." "Excellent." Damien signaled for the check. "My car is outside." The check came and went, I didn't even see how much it was, though I caught a glimpse of several zeros. Damien paid in cash, crisp bills that he counted out with the ease of someone who never had to think about money. Then we were standing, his hand warm on the small of my back as he guided me through the restaurant. The two security guards fell into step behind us, silent as shado

NIKOLAI DRAGUNOV I gestured to a hallway leading off the main living area. "There are three bedrooms. The one on the left is yours. You'll find everything you need. Clothes, toiletries, whatever. I had them brought in this afternoon." "This afternoon?" She laughed, a sharp, broken sound. "You were that certain I'd come here?" Fuck yeah. "Yes." I stared closely at her. The arrogance of it must have made her want to scream. Or cry. Or both. Good, Malyshka. Irina Volkov. Seeing her in person — she was even more beautiful than I'd anticipated. Her eyes were aquamarine fire, warm and wild all at once, the kind of gaze that made a man catch his breath without meaning to. That blue dress clung to her like it had been sewn onto her body, and every inch of her was exactly what I'd imagined. She thought she'd escaped. Thought she was free. Not anymore. I wanted her here for myself. Wanted to see exactly how well she could run when there was nowhere left to go. Dmitri would arrive soon,

IRINA VOLKOVThe statement hung in the air between us. I didn't examine it. Didn't want to."As for your debt," Nikolai continued, "I've already handled it."My head snapped up. "What?""I paid Sergei. In full. Plus interest for his trouble. You no longer owe him anything."I stared at him, unable to process what I was hearing. "You... you paid off my debt?""Five hundred thousand dollars. Yes." He watched me carefully. "Consider it another investment.""I don't understand." My voice was barely a whisper. "Why would you do that?""Because now you owe me." His smile was sharp. "And I'm far more patient than Sergei. I don't want you running because you're afraid of loan sharks. I want you here because eventually, you'll choose to be here.""That will never happen.""Never is a long time, Irina."I wanted to scream at him. Wanted to throw something. Wanted to wipe that confident certainty off his face.Instead, I asked the only question that mattered: "What happens now?""Now, we establi