Mia awoke with Kirill by her side. She turned around and looked at his large chest move up and down with his steady breathing and smiled from happiness that he was beside her again. But then his words from last night instantaneously ran through her mind.
Not everything.
She pondered what she should do. Yes, she would follow his plan and wait until everything quieted down and then they could start their lives, to use his words. But she was angry and she had never felt this slighted before and for the first time in her life, she wanted to get revenge.
She felt both incredibly in love with him and exceptionally pissed off at him and she hated that she felt these juxtaposing feelings.
That morning she met with the estate lawyer as planned and saw Kirill's will: all his possessions and assets were left to her. His homes in New York, Russia, and the Bahamas, his cars, all his jewelry and his yachts which Mia never knew about. He also owned a few investment properties both in the US and in Europe which Mia also knew little or nothing about and finally, his private jet.
His assets totaled a little over 9 billion dollars and Mia almost fell off the chair when she saw the number.
She began to feel like she didn't know Kirill at all. He was a billionaire. He did let her in on his business slightly, but mostly he tried to keep her out of it.
Mia never asked how much money he had and she didn't care particularly much but felt like this was too big of a number to not share with his wife.
If he had so much money, why did he need to stage his death for everyone to see? Why couldn't they just move somewhere else and disappear and avoid all this?
Again, she felt like she had more questions than answers.
"Mrs. Alexeev?" The lawyer called her by her new married name and at first Mia thought there was a mistake. Then she realized that it was her, she was now Mrs. Alexeev.
"Is everything clear, do you have any questions about anything? Kirill had made you joint on all accounts and he made sure to do everything to avoid probate so once you sign, basically everything will be done." The lawyer smiled reassuringly.
Mia looked at him and tried to catch her own racing thoughts. Why didn't they ever discuss any of this? But then again, she never thought Kirill would die now, why would they discuss their wills. She felt nauseous but took the pen and signed it all.
She rushed out of the office and told her driver to leave. She wanted to walk a few blocks to clear everything in her head but she was shocked and alarmed to see Artyom standing outside the building waiting for her. He looked at her and smiled,
"Hello stranger. You never called me about tonight." He said half jokingly.
His sudden appearance and clear determination to pursue her annoyed her to no end. At the same time, he was a perfect tool to rile up Kirill.
"I'm sorry. There is a lot going on. What are you doing here?" She answered sweetly but at the same time she wanted to know how the hell he knew where she was.
"I saw your car pull up a little while ago, I was actually just walking by but hung around for the last little bit hoping to catch you." He made up a lie but knew it was a bad one. "If not dinner, come for a coffee with me, yes? I think Americans love having coffee." He chuckled.
Mia noticed that he looked a little nervous but having coffee with him was a lot less daunting than dinner and she wanted to use him to annoy Kirill.
She agreed and they walked across the street to a little café. Sitting by the window with her latté, she wasn't sure what he wanted from her. Suddenly, he began in Russian, speaking carefully and slowly to make sure she understood,
"You're a stunning woman, Mia. It's hard to resist you. You will have many men chasing you after Kirill's death. His so called friends. They will all start calling you now and wanting your time. Choose who you spend your time with carefully." He finished and looked out the window as if wanting to see someone there.
A shiver of fear ran down Mia's back and her hair stood on end. Kirill was right, Artyom gave off very bad vibes and she instantly regretted agreeing to sit down with him.
"Why are you here?" Mia asked bravely.
He looked her straight in her eyes with both his hands on the table. He blinked at her and without a smile said,
"I'm worried about you. Kirill was a true friend and his death leaves you vulnerable."
Mia knew this was all a complete lie. Maybe she didn't know all of Kirill's affairs but she knew him and Artyom were just acquaintances and never friends.
She realized she had to get out of there quickly and her intuition was telling her something was wrong. Kirill was not by her side and didn't know she was with Artyom and there would be no one who would come to her aid. She remembered how Tamik had tricked her and knew these guys played very skillful games.
As she was thinking of what to respond, she lifted her coffee cup to her lips.
"Artyom, I...I'm safe. Why do you say all this?" She faked confusion but as he opened his mouth to respond she suddenly fumbled with the cup and hot coffee spilled all over her lap and stomach. She loudly gasped in pain and quickly stood up trying to swat the hot coffee off of her.
"Are you ok?! Let me help you!" Artyom looked concerned as he tried to approach her while glancing out the window again.
Mia declined and said she could be so clumsy and would go to the bathroom to clean up as she grabbed her purse. Artyom tried to help but she was already across the café, walking toward the restrooms.
Once there, she headed straight for the Employees Only door which led to an alleyway behind the café.
Mia's blood was pumping through her veins as it dawned on her that Artyom had something sinister planned and his subtle glances through the window were not innocent or accidental.
She knew she only had a few minutes and ran to one end of the alleyway and peeked out. She knew the neighbourhood and her quickest and safest route would be to jump on the subway.
Gathering her hair into a ponytail and popping the collar of her white shirt to alter her appearance as much as she could, she quickly walked down the street looking back every now and then to make sure no one was following her.
She ran into the subway and got on a half empty train and grabbed a seat by a door but right before the train doors shut, she saw two men enter the train.
She knew right away that they were there for her. They both looked exactly like you would imagine Russian bratva to look. Buff guys dressed in black and with a look that said they gave zero fucks about anything. They looked straight at her with a small smile and slowly began walking toward her as she was beginning to panic. They sat down right in front of her staring at her and smirking.
The train slowed down at the next stop but Mia didn't dare move. At this time of day the subway was almost deserted but she needed people to create a commotion or distraction. As the train braked, the two men stood up and one of them presented his hand for her to take. She didn't look at them but looked at the floor and then one of them bent down to her ear and said,
"You come quietly, or we carry you out. What do you want, baby?" He smiled and roughly grabbed at her wrist.
Mia was both petrified and panicked. She wanted to not lose this game but saw no way out so she obeyed as they all exited the train with one of them still holding her wrist tightly.
As the trio walked up the escalator, Mia was cursing herself for getting into this situation and was astounded to realize how quickly everything went downhill.
Artyom was not losing any time and Kirill's warning popped into her head again. Exiting the subway and turning into a small street, she saw Artyom standing there with the same smile as in front of the lawyer's office.
"I'm disappointed in you, Mia." He said chastising her. "We were having a nice date and you ran away from me like that. I thought you would want to hear what I have to say."
"There is nothing you can say to me that I care to hear Artyom. What the fuck do you want? With Kirill gone, you think you can fucking kidnap me, now?" She laughed slightly. "Been there, done that." She looked him straight in his eyes but his expression didn't change.
"Ohh, well, if it isn't Miss Russian Mafia herself!" He laughed and his thugs behind her chuckled too.
"Or should I say Mrs. now? You came into Kirill's inheritance today, didn't you? Was he really that fucking stupid to just let you wander the streets after that? It's his own fault that he didn't arrange for any protection for you. Get in the car." Artyom finished seriously.
Mia was shocked at how this day was turning out to be. She decided she was not getting in that car and she would fight for her life if she had to.
"Go fuck yourself." She responded slowly, her words drenched in disgust and anger. Artyom came close to her and his arm wrapped around her waist as she tried to push him away. For a thin man he was pretty strong, she thought.
"I have been fucking myself while thinking of you, my little firecracker." He said and couldn't stop himself from breaking out into a big smile. He grabbed her hand and they looked like they were dancing as she tried her best to lean away from him.
"I have thought about you while pleasuring myself many times. I can't wait to taste you and see what you're like in bed. Oh yes...I bet you're a real fucking dirty bitch if you managed to lock down Kirill." And he almost moaned at the thought of her naked as he pulled her in closer.
Mia felt his erection on her leg and tried to push him away but he held her so strongly, she was beginning to have difficulty breathing and her hand was going numb. She closed her eyes tightly as he came close to her ear and whispered,
"Fuck...the things we will do together. I won't hurt you, don't worry. Just obey. Your life will be different but not worse. I promise, I will make you happy." He sounded like he genuinely believed his words.
All of a sudden, he fully released her from his grasp. Mia carefully opened her eyes and saw him back away and looking behind her with a bewildered expression on his face.
She heard two muffled gunshots one after another and the two thugs fell on either side of her. Before she could even lift up her eyes to look at Artyom, two men in balaclavas were standing on either side of him with their guns at his temples.
One looked at her and asked in Russian,
"Do you want to kill him? Or should we let him walk?"
Mia couldn't believe they were addressing her. She had no idea who these men were or why they were suddenly holding him hostage and she was standing free.
"Well?" The other asked, hurrying her along. She stood there having to make a decision to either take or spare someone's life. She was not a killer but she did want to have her say. She shook her head and slowly approached an angry looking Artyom and took off one shoe.
With all her might she swung her heel right at his balls and he involuntarily doubled over in pain yelping and losing his breath as the two men held onto his arms. She then took the same shoe and swung it right into his face breaking his glasses and cutting the delicate skin on his face.
"If you ever fucking touch me again, I won't be as forgiving." Mia was acting wild and she knew it. Not only had she absolutely no clue what was happening or who these men were, she was acting extremely brazen and threatening a man who had done way worse things in his life than lightly scare someone as he did to her.
Still, she loved this feeling of power and freedom to be violent.
The two men in balaclavas let Artyom go and as he fell to the ground from the pain in his groin, they motioned for her to follow them. She put her shoe back on and one man in front and one behind her, they gave her a helmet and told her to get on one of their motorcycles.
As the wind rushed by, Mia realized she was sitting behind someone she didn't know, going to a place she had zero clue about.
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