A few moments later, the white jacketed waiter delivered the special.
As the caviar was served on a bed of ice, Matt tried again "You guys discovered caviar?"
"Getting closer" said Natasha as she passed the bottle of champagne to Matt.
The white jacketed waiter nearly had heart failure when he saw one of his customers serving themselves. He hoped the maitre de had not noticed this move, or his job was history.
"Its ok, my boss just wants to read the label" Natasha told the running waiter, remembering to stay in her role as Matt’s secretary.
There inside a small golden shield almost invisible to the naked eye were the words Natasha had remembered…"Louis Roederer founded in 1776".
"I don’t believe you knew that! I have never even seen a bottle of this stuff much less tasted it" said an amused Matt.
After a wonderful dinner, Matt finally said what was on his mind all night "Natasha, when are you going to level with me? I need to know what our plan is here".
"Ok, you can pay the bill and I will tell you more on the walk back to our hotel, I need to change."
Three thousand dollars lighter in the Amex Card, they began the walk home. Natasha stepped very close to Matt and whispered in his ear "When my father questioned the captain in Vladivostok, he gave the name of the man he sold the weapons to. It is the "Leopard".
"His name is Vladimir Petrov, but he is always known as "The Leopard" after the nightclub he runs right here in St Petersburg. "The Snow Leopard" is the most exclusive entertainment venue in Russia. He is a leading mafia figure here in Russia, and is a man to be feared.
"We are going to pay a visit to his club. But first I need to change into something a little more suited to the venue" quipped Natasha.
Chapter 64
Matt tried to prevent his jaw from hitting the floor as Natasha slowly strolled toward him. Even in his fantasies, which were very enticing in their own right, could he have imagined a sexier, more beautiful woman.
Her short black dress barely covered the curves that he knew existed beneath her more austere attire. Gold stiletto heels accentuated her long shapely legs. Expertly applied makeup accentuated her high cheek bones and luminous eyes which so fascinated him. She wore expensive gold jewellery and her long black hair cascaded all the way down her back.
"Wow", he said, finally recovering from the shock and regaining his ability to speak, "I’ve never seen such a drop dead gorgeous secretary, I think I am going to really enjoy being an oil magnate."
Natasha laughed softly, greatly enjoying his praises, then said "Down boy, this isn’t for you. Our friend The Leopard is a notorious womanizer. But don’t worry, I have arranged for some company for you as well" said Natasha with a wink. "We will split up when we get there. I am planning on having a chat with our host. Be ready to leave in a hurry if I tell you I feel tired."
They walked outside, and a limousine was waiting for them for the short trip to the club. When the driver came to open the door for Natasha, Matt rushed forward. It was the same man who tried to rob him with a knife when he went for a run on his second day in Russia.
"Relax Matt, this is Arseny, I believe you are old friends yes?" said Natasha.
"This is the guy who tried to rob me, don’t get in the car" said Matt barring the way.
"That was a test Matt. You passed by the way. You gave Arseny quite a headache. Don’t worry, Arseny works for me. I told you nothing is as it seems in Russia" said Natasha with a grin.
Natasha had a few private words with Arseny and away they went.
Chapter 65
The club was obviously an exclusive place, but the Hummer limo bypassed the long line of prospective revelers. Two burly bouncers opened the doors and showed them straight to the metal detector archway at the door and they marched straight through.
The Snow Leopard was true to its name, everything was dazzling white. The staff uniforms were all trimmed in Leopard skin and the bass beat of the live band was loud without being overpowering.
No sooner had they sat at a small table close to the bar, than a slim Russian with spiky hair and dripping in gold chains and bracelets, came up and introduced himself. He was flanked by two large minders who remained within reach.
"You must be our guests from Exxon, let me introduce myself, I am Vladimir Petrov, but everyone calls me ’the Leopard’. Welcome to my humble establishment" said the mafia man in heavily accented English.
Matt took the lead "Thank you sir, you have a beautiful club, I am Matthew Harrison and this is my personal assistant Natalie Laurence." He was enjoying his new acting role, he wondered if he had found a new career. Slipping into character came easily for him.
Thank you for accepting our reservation Mr. Petrov. Were you able to make the other arrangements? I spoke to your secretary earlier" asked Natasha.
"Of course Miss Laurence, it is a pleasure to be of assistance to our new friends from Exxon" said the Leopard. He snapped his fingers and two of the most stunning women Matt had ever seen instantly appeared beside him. Each of the ladies grabbed one of Matt’s arms and dragged him to the dance floor.
Matt glanced back and noticed The Leopard extend his hand to Natasha. She took it and stood up.
Chapter 66
The Leopard and Natasha had danced for a little while on the noisy dance floor before he offered to show her around the club. The minders followed them everywhere from a respectful distance. But they still stuck out like sore thumbs in their ill fitting suits with large underarm bulges.
As they walked past the stage the singer stopped and introduced the host to the guests followed by rousing applause.
At the bar, champagne was produced instantly by a well trained barman.
Natasha was even keen to see the kitchen, in fact she was just determining other possible evacuation routes in the unlikely event that things went south.
The kitchen was covered in gleaming stainless steel, and there seemed to be an open back door. Natasha guessed that this was probably leading to the trash bins.
It did not take too long before the tour included his private apartment upstairs.
The Leopard pushed a series of numbers on a keypad beside the door, and it sprang open.
From a small bar refrigerator he revealed a bottle of Dom Perignon champagne and opened it with a well practiced flurry and filled two Waterford cut crystal flutes.
"Natalie, a toast to new friends" said the Leopard.
Chapter 67
Matt was enjoying the attention from his magnificent female companions. He could not help but wonder if their chests were real or not, but then he decided that if he could touch it that it was real enough anyway! They really were Miss World quality and Matt was certainly enjoying himself. He could not even pronounce their names, but Miss Russia Brunette, the tall black haired one was all over him, while her blonde companion Miss Russia Blonde, danced back a pace. Matt was certain that this could be reversed if he so chose.
He was sweating when he announced "I need more champagne, how about a rest?"
The ladies grabbed his hands and walked him back to a booth in the back corner, where one snuggled under each arm. Miss Blonde filled the glasses and tried to begin a conversation, but they were under a loudspeaker, and it was impossible to hear a thing over the load bass dance beat. This did not stop Miss Brunette however from gazing into Matt’s eyes with fascination and stroking his inner thigh.