December 9th
Chapter 9 — Behind the Smile
Kateryna waited until the corridor was quiet before slipping into the bathroom. Her fingers trembled as she removed the lid from the toilet cistern. Beneath the mechanism, behind a patch of rust-stained porcelain, she tucked the burner phone Michael had given her. It was sealed inside a condom. She replaced the lid and flushed the loo, listening to the tank refill. No sign of tampering.
If Mace found it, she was finished.
Back in the hallway, the night’s roster was pinned to the wall. Her name was next to Room One. The last client was marked only as “Mr Green.” She didn’t need more than that.
She recognised him the moment he stepped inside: a man she’d seen in the newspaper, addressing the Scottish Parliament and sitting on committee panels. Early fifties, medium build. Clean-shaven head, trim beard and round glasses. A prominent campaigner, lauded for his progressive values. He looked like someone’s kindly uncle. But his eyes were cold.
“Good evening,” he said, removing his jacket and folding it with meticulous care over the chair. “We’ll be observing the proper forms tonight.”
She nodded and let her robe slip from her shoulders.
“No need to speak unless addressed,” he added, adjusting the cuffs of his shirt with fastidious precision. Everything about him was deliberate. He moved like a man accustomed to compliance.
He made her kneel—not for arousal, but for posture. He corrected how she held her hands. How she breathed. He guided her with a sickly patience, like a teacher with a favourite student. There were rules, apparently. Rituals. She was to call him Sir only when permitted. She was to apologise if she anticipated his needs. When she faltered, he made her repeat the steps from the beginning.
She obeyed in silence, mind drifting far from the sterile routine he imposed.
He whispered praise as she performed, “Excellent. Now again. Slower. With grace.” His voice trembled not with lust, but reverence—for the order, the structure. For control.
It took him a long time to finish. Afterward, he insisted she thank him. He wanted to be told he’d brought dignity to the encounter. That he’d elevated her.
She smiled sweetly. “You’re very… disciplined,” she said.
“You felt safe, I trust?”
Her voice was soft. “Completely.”
You’re finished, she thought.
Later, in the attic dorm, the girls lay in silence under their blankets. Kateryna watched the shadows flicker across the ceiling from the street lights below. The candle was gone, melted to nothing, but the pact it represented remained.
Mace had summoned Alina to his room again to spend the night, something he and Enzo did with the new girls to break them. Kateryna recalled the horror of it.
Tanya slipped into the room, breathless. She crouched beside the bed and pulled something from under her top. A small USB stick.
Kateryna sat up. “What’s that?”
“From reception. I pretended to flirt with Enzo while he was smoking. The drawer was unlocked.”
“What’s on it?”
Tanya’s voice was a whisper. “CCTV footage. Weeks of it. Room corridors. Lobby. Maybe more.”
Kateryna’s pulse quickened. “We’ll give it to Michael,” she said.
They exchanged a glance. A silent agreement.
They had names. They had evidence. They had each other.
Kateryna lay back down, heart thudding.
