Free Into the Lion's Den by Tionne Rogers

I don't know if I will give it to her or keep it for me. It's her. How could you do it? You have never seen her in your life.”
    “It's how you spoke about her, the pictures you had from her and the videos too. Everything was there.”
    “We don't see each other much. She lives in Paris with our son and I'm mostly in St. Petersburg or Moscow.
    Our relationship is strained at the moment,” he confessed.
    “I'm sorry.”
    “Don't be, it's not your fault. Thank you very much. I know you want no money for this, but I would like to give you something in exchange.”
    “You owe me nothing, sir. Really. I have to go now.”
    “Stay for lunch, please. You don't work there any longer.”
    “How do you know?”
    “That boy, the one who worked with you, told Zakharov when he had his interview yesterday evening. He will start as the office boy. He was very happy with his new salary. Constantin is glad that you saw reason finally. If you would see a doctor now, that would be the final proof that you're sane.”
    “No, thank you. I had a disagreement with my manager and it was coming all the way.”
    “I won five hundred Euros to Constantin. He said you wouldn't be able to do the portrait because you were so afraid of it. Do we share boy?”
    “No thank you, it's your capital.”
    “Speaking of which you should take my offer Guntram. I paid good money to that woman. You're jobless now, take $3,000 for this.”
    “It's a gift, Ivan.”
    “What If I give you a commission? Make one of my wife and my son when he was seven. He's an ugly teenager nowadays so it's not worth painting him.”
    “That's a lot of money, I will be robbing you.”
    “Nonsense. My tailor robs me. Come on boy, take it and make a good job. I could use it to mend my relations with my mother-in-law. Terrible woman.”
    “I don't want to abuse you.”
    “If you get my mother-in-law off of my neck for a month or two, then this will be the best money ever spent in my whole life. If she doesn't like it, I'll give her your phone number and my revenge will be legendary,” he chuckled, sensing that he had won the battle. 'Yes, gentle moves and he goes wherever you want. Boss should know it by now.'
    “Can I return the money if she doesn't like it?” Guntram joked lightly.
    “No, you endure her, all by yourself and take the heat away from me. A good investment too. Stay for lunch boy. You can work at the terrace with the pencils you forgot. We eat at 1:00,” he ordered mildly, but leaving no room for further discussions and left the room.
    Guntram stood there, undecided because he had to go get his check from Martin, then to the University and start to print his CV to hand over to different employment agencies. A woman, elegantly dressed like a secretary lightly coughed at his side, holding a well known wooden box and a leather portfolio. “Good morning, Mr. de Lisle.
    My name is María Cristina Achaval and I'm the personal assistant for Mr. Oblomov in Argentina. He asked me to give you this and show you the terrace,” She said, obviously obfuscated that she had to address a simple waiter when the butler or one of the maids would have been more than sufficient.
    “Thank you, madam,” Guntram answered meekly as his escape route had been blocked by a very tall blonde, reminding him of his best friend's mother.
    “Follow me, please.”

“Give me a good reason for not killing you, Ivan.”
    “You love me more than you dare to admit and envy my intelligence secretly. Look, only a ten minute talk and he's sitting peacefully, drawing and has accepted a commission and money from me. Ordering will not help with this one. I suspect he can be quite a stubborn mule… and you still owe me five hundred Euros, boss.”
    “You're too ugly to be lovable, Ivan Ivanovich,” he chortled, getting the money out of his wallet. “I hope you have paid him more than this.”
    “Three thousand dollars, boss. This one from my wife is very nice indeed.”
    “Are you