Scamming The Devil

A VO

fication chimed on my

ars. Clean. Untrace

warmth an hour prior. The scene was filled with Moscow's young professionals, absorbed in their laptops and pricey lattes

nd tha

rought my running total to four hundred and sixty-th

n thousand

fists would finally be paid. The loan sharks who have been watching me will have their blood money. And I, Irina Volkov, o

ing the banking app and deleting it from my

chat app, different from the one I'd just used and differen

ssage to m

Thank you, Damien.

omanov. My last mark. The name Anastasia Sokol

ame in a play, performin

quite different

him unable to sleep, reaching for his phone in the darkness. He asked questions that had nothing to do with money. What bo

, of c

game. To build intimacy. Create connections

e sound of my stupid neighbor's arguments bleeding through the walls, I found mysel

us. Stupid.

ppy to help. I hope your

a smile. There was n

te funds. I had perfected the plan, which is to create urgency,

m-they fall i

, and appeared again. I watched them

omething worse, re

ov: I'd like

art s

t rule, the rule I fight myself hard

l I need is to disappear right now, burn Anastasia's identity and move. I have alm

message

n thinking about you. A lot. Too much, maybe. I'd l

A very

ore I cou

e investment. Three hundred thousand euros. I could use a

thousand euros. Th

red to hope for. With that kind of money, I could pay off

new countr

ood. Too perf

s It's probably

is a small money compared

dinner. One final con,

n do

a high chair. A businessman shouted into his phone about some qua

ktor had stolen from me when he dragged my mother to the altar and then, after the ca

Wanted it so badly i

ed thousand euros wo

before my brain

Sure! I'd l

se came im

ll send you the address now. Wea

t call me

h

an't wait to finall

closed the app, gathered my things, and walked

the perfect version of Anastasia Sokolova. Three da

I break my most

************************

AI DR

e on the desk and reclined in my leather chair. The city stretched out beneath the

reed,"

ing. The Brigadier of the Dragunov Bratva was a mountain of a man, al

ho's been scamming y

fun if I spill that out anyway." My lips curled into something that wasn't quite a smile. "An

ake the money. Fifty thousand today alone. Four hundred and

ickname he calls me

, my gaze dist

ssociates had mentioned being scammed by a woman online. The man had been emb

rina Volkov, twenty-four years old, living in a rundown apartment in the Tekstilshchiki district. No criminal record. No family

o the police. I wasn't a norma

ly, looking for connection. I'd made myself the perfect mark, wea

aited for he

, withi

said. This is not the first time he'd said that. "Wh

housand euros. That's more than enough to pay off her debt and start over. Sh

ries to scam

l let her. One more time. I want to see how far she'll go

ing this," Dm

d in expected patterns. My allies played their parts. The business operated smoothly, with viol

usly crafted, yet somehow the conversations I had with her had been the most honest ones I'd had in

ke me

admitte

What's next after y

er, Dmitri, I'm going to make sure Irina Volkov under

There was no judgment in Dmi

going to

hook his head and returned to his reports, mutte

over the city below. In my pocket, my phone buzzed

Expressing her exci

es, of

fine. I'd b

er. But I held all the card

wa