"How have you been living without me?" Danila startled Mia while she was quietly reading a book on the bed.
"Danila! Jesus, you gave me a heart attack!" She responded alarmed and jumped off the bed to approach him. He looked exhausted but his smile was undeniable as he watched her walk over to him. "I came to visit you today but you weren't there, where did you go, how are you feeling?" She asked concerned as he walked to the bed with her. He sat down and closed his eyes and she climbed on the bed beside him and sat on her knees.
"I had to go to Vladislav's and then I had a work call and then one thing after another." He lied with his eyes closed. God, he felt so good being beside her again. She was here and she was waiting for him, what a lovely gift.
"Are you in pain? You look tired." She asked concerned and he smiled and looked at her.
"A bit tired. But I'm so happy to have you beside me, Mia." He spoke genuinely but she only smiled shyly. "I hate the fucking hospital, ugh. I'm going to go shower." He got up from the bed but she dared to ask,
"Do...you need help?"
Danila smiled widely at her words but quickly hid his smile and turned to her, "Yes. I think I do."
As they stood in the bright bathroom, Mia helped him take off his t-shirt and he diligently watched her. She raised it over his head and quietly stood in front of his naked chest while meticulously studying his tattoo.
"Why did you get a tattoo, Danila..." She asked as if lamenting it.
"You don't like it? I'll get it removed for you." He said without hesitation. Mia was surprised he would say that,
"You would take your tattoo off if I didn't like it?" She double checked.
"Of course, I would do anything for you, I lov-" but Mia clasped her hand to his mouth.
"Don't say it!" She shook her head quickly.
"Love you." He finished and brought her hand down from his face, "I love you, Mia. I'm not going to stop saying it." He watched her bring her eyes down from his face and sigh heavily. He knew he was so close to turning it all around. A few more weeks and there would be no turning back, she would say it to him too one day.
Mia continued undressing him silently as he relaxed in her presence.
"Do you remember I undressed you here when you came to live with me? Almost two months ago?" He asked her as she hooked her thumbs into his boxer briefs.
"Yes." She looked up at him and bent down to pull them down. "How could I forget." She spoke quietly once she came back up and didn't dare look down at his naked body.
"Why do you still act like a stranger with me, Mia?" Danila asked kindly, his good hand coming up to cup her cheek. "We've known each other for a long time...we've had sex, we've been through so much..." He almost pleaded for an answer from her. Mia didn't know what to respond to him.
She had a husband. And while she had a hard time resisting Danila and felt something for him too, he could never replace Kirill. It turned over in her mind that Danila was like the younger, gentler version of Kirill. But she was infatuated with and belonged to The Original, her One and Only.
"Maybe because...even though...we've had sex...and done other things...I feel like I don't know who you are." Mia tried to make something up that was sort of truthful. "And the circumstances I am placed in now, are weird as fuck." She laughed under her breath. "And I'm having trouble recognizing reality."
Danila thought about her words and then couldn't stop himself from saying, "I see...maybe one day soon, it will all become clear to you."
Mia had no idea what that meant and didn't give that any second thought. She helped him shower and helped him re-bandage his shoulder. She was gentle and caring, her personality and kind nature couldn't not shine through.
The next morning, Mia woke up to a text from Kirill.
You can't visit me again this month. The third visit was taken away.
Mia stared at the text while Danila slept beside her and felt heartbroken. The text was abrupt and the information was harsh. She wanted to see him so badly. She decided to see him right after New Years.
I will come see you right after New Year's? I miss you so much.
Yes. Come right after that. K.
Ok. I love you.
Mia responded and read his text again and waited for something else but Kirill sent nothing. She was surprised and worried, he was usually so affectionate even in his texts from prison. She decided maybe there was something going on and he couldn't text. She deleted the conversation and sighed. It was only ten days before New Year's, she could be patient.
Vladislav told her to relax for the rest of December and during the January holidays and the days dragged on. She stayed in the house with Danila and sometimes cooked and baked.
She made chocolate chip muffins with some difficulty as not only could she not find proper chocolate chips in Russia, she couldn't find the correct muffin tins either.
"Why are you guys so obsessed with muffins?" Danila asked laughing while he watched her struggle to get the muffins out of the tin. She smiled and said,
"Why are you not obsessed with muffins?! They are delicious, can be nutritious, they have a soft bottom and a crispy top hat! The perfect treat!" She placed a muffin on a small plate and walked over to sit in front of Danila at the round breakfast table as darkness enveloped the outside once more in the late afternoon.
She broke off a piece of a muffin and when he reached for it, she moved it out of his way and brought the piece to his mouth instead. He smiled and opened his mouth so she could feed him. What a blissful moment, he thought.
"I don't want to get married so soon." She told him and placed her hand on his cheek. "I can't possibly reconcile what's happening in my life with getting married...so quickly. And it's freezing outside." She ended with a small smile.
Danila chewed slowly, his moment of joy crushed with her words. At the same time, she didn't say she didn't want to get married at all, she said she didn't want to get married so soon. He quickly thought about it. He wanted to get her on his side so badly, he could concede to that.
"Okay." He said simply. "We will postpone. Pick a time that you like."
Her eyes lit up and she smiled at him with excitement. "Really? You mean that?" She asked him in disbelief.
"Yes...of course...I want you to be happy. I lo-"
"You love my baking!" She interrupted him and brought her face closer to him. "I know, some things we just do better than you guys." She smiled at him and tried to run past his words.
He recognized it but didn't push it. Danila was patient. He was waiting for Kirill's decision and knew that no matter what it would be, the wheels were already in motion.
He gave Kirill's words a lot of thought. He really did seem certain that she would kill herself if he died. Danila didn't fully believe it but he didn't want to play with such a serious possibility.
One evening as they finished up dinner, Danila turned to her and said,
"You told me you felt like you didn't know who I was. Come, let's have a drink and I'll tell you everything."
Arriving back in the living room with the big couch, Mia felt like she was on a first date. She giggled at his one handed handling of wine glasses and helped him open the wine bottle as he poured them both some wine and dimmed the lights.
She sat there silently and felt nervous, butterflies in her stomach and her breath trapped in her chest.
"So? What did you want to know about me?" He smiled kindly as he took a sip of his wine and watched her sit in front of him with her legs crossed.
Mia took a deep breath and a big sip and didn't know what to ask. She realized she didn't really know anything.
"It's hard to ask anything...I only know snippets of your life." Mia said uncertainly while sipping on her wine. "Actually, here is one. How many women have you slept with?" She felt emboldened as he sat in front of her and raised his eyebrows. He was silent for a moment and looked like he was trying to find the words. "Just be honest. You said you don't lie." She added.
"Pfff...honestly? I have no idea." He sighed.
"You have no idea how many women your dick has been in?!" Mia asked loudly and he smiled widely.
"Not really. Fifty? Sixty? I couldn't tell you. But I've only ever not used a condom with you and my ex-wife. I should invest in condom companies, I've used so many in my life." He laughed and brought the wine glass to his lips again.
Mia's eyes widened at that number and she was blown away by what he said. He had been with sixty women?! That number seemed absolutely crazy to her.
"How many men have you slept with?" He asked in return, dying to find out.
"Like...five?" She said still shocked by his number. Now it was Danila's turn to be surprised.
"You've only been with five guys? And that includes me?!" He asked in disbelief. What a pure girl, he thought. Her pussy was magical and only five men on the planet got to experience it. He felt so special.
"Yes, of course. But I'm the one asking questions right now." She paused and thoughts of what else she wanted to know about him. "You told me about Yuri which shocked me that he was your uncle. Tell me about your family, your mom and dad, what they do, do you have siblings?" Mia became more confident in her questioning by the second and he responded diligently.
"Yuri was my dad's brother. My dad worked for the National Guard while Yuri was in Spetznaz. My dad then retired early and had a security company and got involved in all kinds of crime. He did security for...for the Bratva. My mom was a teacher her whole life. I don't have any siblings, thankfully." He said as if relieved.
"Why thankfully?" Mia found the answer strange.
"Because. People like that are used as leverage, quite often. Especially sisters and such." He wondered if he should tell her about his trip to see Alexei's sister two years ago but decided against it.
"Is that who Masha was?" Mia stunned him with her next question. He stared at her trying to figure out how to respond and decided to play dumb.
"Who is Masha?" He asked trying to look confused.
"You tell me." She said seriously as if she already knew. Danila paused and breathed as he didn't know what to say but in the end, decided to tell the truth.
"Yes. Masha was Alexei's big weakness. And yes, we used her to put pressure on him to get the job done and get you safe." Danila explained not looking at her.
"What did you do to her?" Mia asked scared of the answer.
"Nothing." Danila replied simply. "I just met her and from then on, Alexei knew we had her and her family under surveillance. That's all." Danila tried to make it light but Mia didn't let up.
"What were your terms with Alexei?"
Danila closed his eyes as he didn't want to speak about this. "Like they always are; he doesn't do what we tell him or he makes a mistake, we start killing." He continued looking away while revealing the details. He didn't like where this was going but she surprised him with a completely different question.
"Tell me about a very happy time in your life." She took a sip of her wine, smiling at him. Danila thought for a bit.
"Hmm...I mean, there were many happy times in my life. My childhood was happy. My teenage years were great too, even though I was getting involved in crime. My wedding and the first few months of my previous marriage were a happy time. And any time that I get to spend with you." He responded honestly and saw her blush.
"Why did you get divorced?"
"Because...it just wasn't meant to be. We were both very young and I didn't really know her that long before we got married. And after the wedding, when we lived together, we both knew it just wasn't working. It was difficult...and also boring...and there was nothing that was really linking us. And then when I met you and I saw you two chatting, I knew for certain that I had made a mistake. When she lost the baby, it was like a weight fell off both of our shoulders and we mutually decided that we weren't meant to be."
"When did you have time to fuck around so much?" Mia asked laughing. Danila shook his head at her questions as he loved her curiosity about him and his bedroom conquests.
"Before and after marriage. And the last two years." He replied as he watched her sit in front of him. "Can I ask a question now?"