Seeing Teri Again
"As expected!" Arthur Sterling murmured to himself, the corners of his mouth curling into a cold, calculated smile.
The mysterious, highly sycophantic phone call that had just abruptly ended perfectly confirmed his lingering suspicions about this place.
Earlier, frustrated by the agonizingly slow internet speed provided by the hotel, he had utilized a highly specialized hacking tool.
He had specifically requested the advanced program from Lyle, the top-tier hacker from Charlie's crew, to seamlessly crack the artificial bandwidth limit imposed on his specific room!
As a direct, immediate result, it hadn't taken long for his computer to encounter a sudden, aggressive hacker intrusion from the hotel's own network!
Although the unknown party had quickly relinquished control and retreated from his laptop, the sycophantic phone call from the front desk had followed mere seconds later!
Arthur already knew with absolute, terrifying certainty that the hotel he was currently staying in was a heavily monitored front.
It was a lucrative property directly controlled by the ruthless Russian Mafia the exact same syndicate that controlled the young prostitute, Teri, in the gritty cinematic world of The Equalizer!
In a single, fleeting instant, countless tactical thoughts and calculated strategies flashed rapidly through his highly intelligent mind.
He quickly adopted a smooth, eager persona and replied into the receiver, "Sure, I'm very interested in your luxury goods!"
The voice on the other end had immediately agreed with a sickeningly polite tone, "No problem, distinguished guest. We will send the goods to you shortly."
Knowing perfectly well that the hotel staff was highly likely watching his every move through the hidden lenses in the room, Arthur maintained his facade.
It was also incredibly probable that they had already maliciously tampered with his computer's background processes during that brief digital intrusion.
Losing all interest in continuing to use the compromised laptop, Arthur casually pushed it aside. He walked over to the large mattress and lay straight down on the bed, staring blankly up at the ceiling, playing the part of an impatient, wealthy client perfectly.
The heavy silence of the room stretched on, broken only by the faint, distant hum of the city's traffic bleeding through the thick glass.
Not long after, a sharp, heavy knock echoed against the solid wooden door.
Arthur shifted his muscular frame, casually preparing to get up and open the door himself.
But before his boots even hit the carpet, his supernaturally enhanced hearing picked up the distinct, metallic scratching of [Lockpicking] coming from the outer corridor, and before long, the heavy door was aggressively pushed open from the outside.
Arthur raised a dark, calculating eyebrow, genuinely surprised by the sheer, brazen arrogance of the act. He hadn't expected these Russian mobsters to be so incredibly uncouth and utterly lacking in basic hospitality.
"Guest, your goods have arrived," a thick, heavily accented voice rumbled from the doorway.
Just as Arthur stood up from the edge of the bed, he saw two towering, broad-shouldered Russian men in sharp, dark suits step aggressively into the room.
Each man possessed a brutal, unforgiving grip on a girl's delicate arm. Without a shred of gentleness, they forcibly dragged two scantily clad, highly provocative young women directly into the center of his room.
At a single, sweeping glance, Arthur couldn't help but let his eyelids twitch in profound, internal surprise.
Should I say Boston is entirely too small, or is Moscow Nights just incredibly tiny? he thought, maintaining a perfectly neutral, expectant expression on his rugged face.
He genuinely hadn't expected that Teri, whom he had met briefly at the quiet family restaurant just over two hours ago ,
Was now shivering slightly among them, forcibly sent to his hotel room along with another slender, highly enthusiastic blonde hottie.
Teri's heavily made-up face was completely full of raw reluctance and deep, suppressed fear; she was clearly being forced into this against her will.
She likely thought this was exactly like all the other horrific nights being violently forced to serve some powerful, corrupt city officials, wealthy congressmen, or greedy businessmen with disgusting, twisted fetishes.
However, upon being shoved completely into the bright light of the hotel room ,
Teri slowly lifted her heavy gaze and recognized the imposing man standing casually before the bed at a single glance.
It was the ruggedly handsome young man who had left such a profound, lingering impression on her when she had gone out for her meager dinner earlier this evening.
It was incredibly hard for Teri to forget Arthur!
To see someone in the gritty underworld of Boston who was not only remarkably young but also possessed such a striking, captivating handsomeness was a massive rarity.
Moreover, the other party had confidently claimed to be a magician and had boldly promised to safely take her away from this living hell.
Teri only ever harbored such desperate, naive fantasies back when she was much younger back when she still foolishly dreamed that one day, a handsome, brave prince would miraculously arrive to save her from this suffocating den of monsters.
She had fiercely clung to those fragile fantasies then!
Who would have ever thought that in the absolute blink of an eye ,
Just a few short hours later, she would meet him again inside the suffocating walls of Moscow Nights?
The devastating realization hit her like a physical blow. She thought about how he was clearly young and undeniably handsome, possessing a flawless, prince-like face that could easily make any vulnerable girl fall into a deep, romantic fantasy.
But the dark, undeniable reality was that he was just so incredibly greedy for her body that he ended up right here, paying for her misery.
Teri suddenly felt that her chaotic, overwhelming feelings of gain and loss over him since the evening were truly, profoundly laughable.
"Heh, men," she scoffed softly, her heart turning to cold ash.
Moscow Nights was technically a hotel in name only.
But anyone with even a shred of underworld connections knew perfectly well it was the absolute largest and most chaotic, illicit nightclub in all of Boston.
The mundane hotel lobby was just a legitimate cover on the surface, as the massive, pulsing nightclub actively operated on the upper floors.
While the lower hotel levels, besides serving strictly as a front for the illegal activities above ,
Existed purely for the sordid convenience of wealthy guests to stay nearby with their "purchases".
Arthur's razor-sharp, calculating gaze keenly captured the complex, devastating changes in Teri's beautiful expression and tired eyes exactly after she recognized his face.
He watched her transition flawlessly from raw shock and wide-eyed surprise, to sudden realization and crushing disappointment, and finally, settling into a dark abyss of utter disgust and complete despair.
The initial, fiery anger on her face from being violently forced to accompany a random guest completely vanished, turning rapidly into a stagnant, lifeless pool of dead water.
He silently, meticulously took all of this emotional devastation in, but his cold, disciplined mind allowed absolutely no trace of sympathy to show on his face. He said absolutely nothing.
Moscow Nights is really incredibly small! Arthur mused internally.
He knew with absolute tactical certainty that these two imposing men had been deliberately sent by the Russian Mafia lurking behind the hotel to aggressively test him.
He had briefly, violently broken through the hotel's strict network speed limit not long ago, although the breach was quickly resolved by the hotel's own technical staff.
The other party had even aggressively taken temporary control of Arthur's laptop in a reverse hack.
Because of that brief digital scuffle, that paranoid Russian Mafia syndicate might have already started to deeply suspect his true identity and motives.
Consider it your absolute bad luck! Arthur thought, maintaining his arrogant, wealthy facade.
I originally, genuinely wanted to do a righteous good deed and show some unexpected kindness entirely for free.
Now it absolutely seems that while it's still undeniably a good deed ,
It has officially become a highly paid service.
Being scrutinized seriously and aggressively by two tall, stern mobsters in dark black suits didn't unnerve him in the slightest.
Arthur didn't feel any physical or psychological discomfort at all!
Instead, he smiled a slick, highly satisfied smile. "Thank you. I'm very, very satisfied with your hotel's luxury goods!"
The two suspected Russian Mafia enforcers gave a curt, collective nod and quickly withdrew their heavy, scrutinizing gazes from his muscular frame.
"Have a pleasant evening!" one of them grunted in a thick accent.
After delivering that cold, mechanical farewell, they turned sharply on their heels and left the room without a single moment of hesitation, pulling the heavy door shut behind them.
It could easily be seen that although these ruthless Russians were hardened Mafia enforcers, before they could flawlessly determine if there was a legitimate, tactical problem with Arthur's identity, they absolutely still couldn't resist the alluring, undeniable power of the almighty US dollar.
The absolute moment Arthur casually put his strong arm around Teri's soft waist, her entire body suddenly, violently stiffened like a wooden board.
She didn't fight him, but she snorted coldly, turned her heavily made-up face sharply away, and said absolutely nothing, treating him like a repulsive ghost.
On the other hand, the slender blonde hottie was vastly, incredibly more proactive than her sullen companion.
While those two suspected Russian Mafia members were still physically standing in the room ,
The blonde girl had seemed a bit nervous and restrained.
But the exact second the heavy door clicked shut and they left, her hands quickly became highly restless. She proactively, eagerly took Arthur's thick arm.
She began gently, seductively stroking the dense, firm muscles on his bicep.
"Does the boss exercise often? Such incredibly firm muscles," she purred, leaning her body aggressively into his side.
Arthur raised a dark, calculating eyebrow; he knew perfectly well there was active, hidden surveillance recording their every move in these rooms.
He didn't say much at the moment, perfectly playing the role of the eager client. He smoothly embraced both the highly proactive blonde and the stiff, reluctant Teri.
Guiding them toward the center of the room, he casually reached out and turned off the bright overhead light, plunging the room into heavy, intimate shadows, and soon got incredibly busy.
The dark night passed quickly in the midst of breathless, exhausting busyness.
As soon as the first, faint rays of dawn began to peek through the heavy curtains, Arthur's superhuman biological clock flawlessly woke him up once again.
"Mmh!" he let out a soft, low groan, slowly and carefully pulling out his heavily numbed arms from underneath the tangle of warm limbs.
Arthur carefully, silently stepped his bare feet off the edge of the large bed, his sharp eyes catching a glimpse of the floor just in time to avoid almost stepping on a used, discarded condom.
Smoothly sliding his feet into a pair of soft hotel slippers, he stood up to his full, imposing height and walked quietly toward the tiled bathroom.