"Mia, I'm so sorry, are you ok? Let me see!" Danila's voice was worried and caring, as he gently took her face into his hands once they were in his car.
As he inspected her bruise and cut, she had her eyes closed, not daring to look at him so she didn't break down.
He silently observed her facial features and ran his thumb over her cheek. He longed to have her in his arms and for his hands to be the only ones she ever made contact with.
"Should have taken the opportunity to kill him when I was presented with that choice." Mia spoke bitterly with her eyes still closed.
Danila lightly smiled with his hands still on her. He didn't want to let go.
"You're going to have to fight me for that opportunity next time it comes up."
He meant it. Next time he was going to see Artyom, he was going to kill him.
The next morning Mia didn't get out of bed and laid in her soft sheets and stared at the wall thinking about her life. She had woken up early but it was almost noon and she had not gotten out of bed. While Danila always gave her privacy, he knew she was awake and didn't want to show him her face.
He lightly knocked on the door of her bedroom but didn't hear her say anything so he slowly opened it and let himself in.
There she was, like a Goddess, her back naked and her hair splayed over her pillows. She moved her head to hide her face in between the pillows and he timidly came over to her side of the bed and slowly sat down beside her.
He hesitated and reached out his hand to touch her but then pulled it back quickly not making contact. He tried again and touched her shoulder as she flinched. Her skin was so soft, Danila thought. He longed to run his hands up and down her body and drag his lips on her skin.
He gently ran his hand down her back and let her go but she quietly said,
"Don't stop."
Surprised but not at all planning to argue, he made contact again and gently ran his hand up and down her back as she laid in the same position and sighed. He moved her hair and made sure to cover her so she wasn't over exposed.
She slowly sat up beside him but still faced away.
He felt so awful for her and he wanted to do anything to comfort her and tell her it was going to be ok.
"I never thought any of this would happen to me." She said quietly. "The bruises...the exposure... the...belonging to someone. That happened to other...dirty girls...not me." She wiped her tears and sniffled.
Danila just listened and cursed himself for what happened last night.
"I'm so sorry, Mia. I'm so sorry you got involved with us and this -"
She scoffed as she interrupted him.
"Please, Danila. Don't apologize...pretending you're better than Artyom." And with that she turned to him and showed him her face, eyes closed.
It was actually better than Danila imagined. Her nose was intact but her lip had a deep cut and her cheek had a large bruise. The swelling had gone down significantly but she still looked mangled.
He looked at her with sorrow in his eyes and said painfully,
"I'm not like Artyom. Neither is Kirill." And she nodded as she smiled sarcastically.
"Yes...you two are so good. I should have listened to Tamik that one time. He asked me how could Kirill be good if he did what he did..."
"Tamik was a crazy coke head, Mia. And yeah, ok, I run a strip club and sell drugs, but I don't sell girls like Artyom." And he realized she didn't know what Artyom did from the look of disgust and shock on her face.
He sighed and moved her hair out of her face. As she sat naked beneath her sheets, he looked at her beautiful body and only wanted for her to be in his arms. He was ready to throw this whole plan out the window and whatever happens would just have to happen but he wanted her, with him, forever.
Tears dropped down her face as she sat in front of him wrapped in her thin sheets. He leaned in closer and brought her over to his chest as she slowly fell into him and cried.
Danila loved this as much as he hated seeing her distressed. Just them two, no one would interrupt and he wanted to enjoy every second of holding her close.
He knew she needed time before this whole ordeal would break her. Besides dealing with whoever let Artyom in with her, he knew he had to meet with Oleg and delay everything he wanted.
He sent last night's video to Oleg and that day he took a massive risk and went to visit him without being invited. They spoke at length about what Oleg wanted and why but Danila held his ground. The agreement was that she would be his girl and not a toy that belonged only to Oleg.
She needed time to heal and if he wanted to keep her around for a while, he would have to be patient.
Oleg liked Danila and wanted to uphold his side of the agreement. There would always be time to stab him in the back but right now, Danila was a perfect tool to get to his goals. Oleg was not responsible for anything but Kirill was seeing the damage.
They decided that they would reconvene after the holidays as Danila said he had plans to get away with her. Oleg agreed but warned that after they came back, Danila was to deliver what Oleg wanted.
After leaving Oleg's, he called Mia and asked her to come to the club with him. She obliged and he asked her to wait for him in his office where she had never been before.
Danila's office was luxurious and large. With a window the size of the whole wall that overlooked the club, it looked like a library or cigar room with Persian carpets on the floor and lots of plush expensive furniture to sit on. It smelled of whisky and dark chocolate.
Danila walked in with Arseniy behind him as she sat on the big couch and looked at her nails. She immediately felt uncomfortable as she wasn't sure why he was there but Danila asked him to sit down in an arm chair and came over to sit beside Mia and placed his hand on her knee.
"What happened last night?" Danila asked calmly.
Arseniy launched into a story about how he didn't arrange it all and was just told by one of the floor managers that Danila was waiting for her. He didn't seem nervous and sounded truthful.
Danila listened without any expression on his face and then said to him using lots of slang that Mia didn't fully understand in Russian.
"How many Gs do you make a month? Between your salary, drugs you push, money you take from the girls...how much does it all add up to?" He asked knowing perfectly well what Arseniy made.
Arseniy gulped and answered that it was about ten thousand a month.
"10K US a month?!" Danila asked surprised. "That's a very good salary, you live like a king! But you wanted more? You should have just asked me for a raise then."
Arseniy said nothing and Mia was confused why she was there. Did he bring her here to discuss Arseniy's financial situation?
Danila got up and walked to the window to look at the club beneath them.
"It's too bad you betrayed me. You've worked for me for a while and you ran the club well, I have to admit."
"Danila Sergeevich, I...I didn't do anything, I swear, I'm still trying to figure out-"
"How much did Artyom pay you?" Danila interrupted loudly.
And Mia looked up at Arseniy suddenly as he sat there with a scared expression overcoming his face.
"I'm going to guess. Because I know Artyom but I'm curious how much you think your life is worth...fifteen thousand? No...twenty?" Danila turned around and spoke matter of factly.
At this point two men that Mia had never seen before walked into the office and shut the door. They were absolutely massive and one had a garbage bag in his hand as he swiftly put his hands behind his back.
Mia looked at Danila and didn't recognize him. He was usually calm and collected and always looked gentle and put together. But now, his blue eyes radiated danger and his head held high, his body movements looked like one of a fighter.
A scowl on his face and his brows furrowed, he withdrew his gun from somewhere as Arseniy breathed in quickly knowing that he fucked up big time.
He began to plead with Danila but without letting him get two words out, Danila forcefully punched him in the face and Arseniy fell off his chair. Danila then kicked him in the stomach as if kicking a soccer ball while Mia sat frozen on the couch watching the scene unfold in front of her.
At this point, the two huge men came up and placed the garbage bag on Arseniy's head and tightly wrapped a string around his neck as they brought him over to a wall beside the entrance door.
Calm and unshaken, Danila walked over to his desk, took a silencer out and placed it on his gun as he made his way to a yelling and struggling Arseniy.
"Снайпер бьёт редко, да попадает метко." (The sniper hits rarely, but his hit is precise.) Danila taunted Arseniy as he placed his hand to his neck and shoved the gun into Arseniy's mouth through the bag.
In an instant, a muffled gunshot, and Arseniy dropped to the ground as Danila watched the men pick him up and carry him out without any words. The large splash of blood remained on the wall.
Danila closed and locked the door and without looking at Mia, walked back to his desk and put the silencer away.
Mia sat on the couch shaking and forgetting to breathe. As she looked at Danila, it suddenly dawned on her that she was in way over her head and didn't fully understand the danger she was truly in.
She remembered how anxious Kirill was before letting her go and now it made sense: he had all of the information but she only saw snippets of what she was getting herself into.
"You ready to go home?" Danila turned to her as she sat on the couch with her jaw still hanging open. "Actually, let's go for early dinner. You don't drink vodka but maybe you drink wine?" He smiled at her as if nothing just happened.
He helped her stand up but her legs were weak from witnessing Arseniy's death and as she took her first step, she tripped and Danila swiftly caught her.
"Come on. It's ok, it's going to go away." He said helping her and holding onto her waist gently as he led her out of his office.