The Rich and the Dead by Liv Spector

a thick accent.
    â€œDoes any of this look free to you? Now, get up,” Effie commanded.
    The Russian slapped his big, muscular thighs, relishing his role as an obstacle between a drunken socialite and something she wanted. “Climb up here, stomach first. I’m strong just like any good chair. Part wood also.” He looked at Lila, then winked. “Same offer for you. I don’t play favorites.”
    â€œAs sweet as that sounds, I’ll pass,” Lila said, rolling her eyes.
    â€œAll you American girls don’t know a good time when you see it,” the man said, standing up from the chair. It was now covered in small, curly black hairs from his back. “You can stop buzzing around me. I go now.” As he stood, a young blond woman appeared out of nowhere holding a black robe, which she placed around his shoulders.
    â€œMy name is Alexei Dortzovich,” he said to Lila, placing his hand on the small of her back. “You are new here?”
    â€œJust in from New York,” Lila answered. “My name’s Camilla.”
    At this information, Alexei shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t seem to care what her name was. “People around here will tell you I’m a bad man,” Alexei said as he leaned into Lila. His fingers trailed up the side of her body and curled around her upper arm, brushing against her breast as he whispered, “But what they don’t know is that I’m much worse than they think.” Then he and his tiny blond shadow walked away.
    â€œWhat a lovely man,” Lila said to Effie, shaking off the feeling of his hand on her body.
    â€œIt’s awful, the Russians are taking over Miami. And I thought the Cubans were bad.”
    Once the chaise longue was swept free of body hair and covered with fresh towels, Effie and Lila took off the dresses that were covering their bikinis and lay back in the hot sun. Alexei was now on the other side of the pool, having what looked like an intense conversation with Fernando Salazar, the so-called Cuban Kissinger and member of the Janus Society.
    Just as Lila was about to make another excuse so that she could listen in on their conversation, the two men nodded at each other, then parted ways.
    Effie saw Lila looking at Alexei. “Just a warning,” she said. “That guy is not someone you want to cross, at all.”
    â€œWhy?” Lila asked, excited to finally be getting some valuable information out of Effie.
    â€œPeople say he’s Russian mob for sure.”
    â€œYou believe them?”
    â€œSeems likely. He’s always got armed guards. He’s as rich as a sultan. Supposedly he’s some oil tycoon, but who knows?”
    â€œAnd what about that guy he was just talking to?” Lila pointed at Salazar, hoping that now, unlike with Meredith, Effie might reveal something about the Janus Society.
    â€œUgh. He’s, like, the king of the Cubans. My dad told me he fought in the day of the pigs, or whatever?”
    â€œThe Bay of Pigs?”
    â€œThat’s it,” Effie said, putting her finger to the tip of her surgically perfected nose.
    â€œDo you know him?” Lila pressed. She hoped that Effie was drunk enough to let something slip.
    Effie shot her a devilish smile. “Of course,” she said. “Isn’t it clear to you by now that I know absolutely everyone?” Effie flagged a passing waitress for another vodka drink and a bottle of Evian, and Lila knew the moment had passed.
    As the afternoon went on, Effie worked away at her drink, inundating Lila with the gossip on every man, woman, and child that passed by. “Oh, that guy? He spent five years in prison for insider trading. See that woman over there? She travels to Brazil so some quack can inject her butt with this weird stuff that’s totally illegal in this country. That girl got kicked out of school for cutting herself; rumor is that she and her brother, who’s over there, are