Dirty Obsessions - The Lion and The Mouse

“There are ways.”

“Dude, you can’t kill her.”

“Why not?”

“Because you wouldn’t be able to live with yourself.” Maxwell lit his joint.

I smiled. “With Valentina dead and my daughter next to me, I would sleep like a baby.”

“Remind me to never upset you.”

I winked. “You could never.”

“You’re really serious about Valentina?”

“I am.”

Maxwell handed me the joint. “Then I hope Valentina is smart about this and allows you to see your daughter.”

I took the joint. “Me too.”Chapter 16

Ava

Where’s Yefim? What did he have to do?

Yefim explained that Misha gave him a special order. In these past weeks, I’d become used to having him around. While I appreciated my other guards, Yefim was turning into a friend.

As I watched Circuit and the rest of Misha’s hackers shut off Japan, I realized that Misha was more powerful than anyone I’d ever been close to. His Rainbow Hats had executed such a large job within seconds. For a while, they typed and chatted between each other. Minutes later all of their screens displayed Japan shutting off with ease. Additionally, they had a satellite on the Xecutioners’ movements.

An hour later, Misha and his men returned. Their clothes were ripped. Smudges and stains covered their skin. Jesus Christ. Without giving me a hug he went straight to the underground bedroom and took a shower. I knew he had to be cleaning away blood. That fact was hard to swallow.

I thought back to our earlier conversation.

“We can’t have a relationship if I’m in the dark.”

“Many of my fellow brothers have girlfriends or wives that remain completely in the dark. Most of their women chose that.”

Would this be my new normal? A boyfriend that murdered? Would he stop killing after this stuff with the Turgenev family was done? Or would there be other times he would kill and I would have to deal with it?

For now, he was protecting us. In the future months, he may kill again and it might have nothing to do with protection. It could all be about money. Could I stomach that? How long would I be able to be by his side?

Perhaps I could completely ignore this part of his life. I watched gangster movies. Although the wives hid themselves from the world, they eventually were killed or lured into the crime with their men. If I were going to be with Misha there would be no easy decision on this.

I’ll have to make that hard decision later. For now, there’s no time for these thoughts.

Freshly showered, Misha walked over to me, leaned down, and kissed my cheek. “How have you been doing?”

“It’s been an interesting day.”

“Have you talked to your grandmother?”

“Yes. She’s doing fine.”

“In Prague?”

“No. I forgot the country that Rolan took her too.”

Misha groaned and sat down next to me. “Of course he sees this opportunity to be romantic. I’ll have to deal with him later.”

I smirked. “At least they’re having fun. Grandma sounded happy.”

“Any other calls?”

“My possible future agent called.”

He quirked his brows. “Agent?”

“Her name is Mrs. Hightower. She used to be O’s agent. I thought she was excellent at getting O tons of opportunities and handling her contracts.”

“That’s right.” He nodded. “When will you meet with her?”

“I didn’t even answer the phone. I thought that it would be better to wait until all of this is done.”

“We’re not putting your career on pause due to this. Your meeting with a new agent would be enough reason to take you out of here for a few hours with several heavily guarded men.”

I sighed. “Are you sure?”

“We’ll figure it out.”

“What else?”

“That’s it on my side.” I gestured to the screens. “Meanwhile, Japan is in the dark.”

For a few minutes, he studied each of the screens. “Circuit!”

The man rushed over. “I didn’t realize you returned.”

“What are the Xecutioners doing?”

Circuit pointed to the screen behind us. All I could gather was colors shaped in the form of several bodies moving from one point to another. “They’re taking around twenty people out of the Dragon’s building.”

“Keep the camera on them. They know the power will be back on within the hour.”

Circuit left.

Misha took my hand and rose. “Let’s go.”

“Go? Shouldn’t we follow what’s going on or—”

“The day has been busy enough.” Misha took me in the opposite direction of our bedroom. “We both need a break.”

“I don’t need a break. I have to follow this until the end.”

“You don’t. This isn’t your world.” He led me down a long hallway. “Besides, I have a surprise for you. I didn’t get to show you this morning.”

I arched my brows. “What sort of surprise?”

He stopped us at the door at the end of the hallway. “Open it.”

I did and entered the room. It was a column-free space close to 25 x 35 ft. Mirrors surrounded all the walls. The whole place smelled like a fresh coat of paint.