She would be a difficult bitch for a long time. I saw a future of her bothering me as much as possible. She was the sort of person that only knew how to bully and dominate. I couldn’t see a soft side to her.
Am I going to have to keep a gun around her all the time?
When the limo stopped at Misha’s building, a new set of his men met us. Yefim must’ve called ahead. An older woman with a gray bun stood there too.
Valentina sighed. “Thank God Angelina is okay. I thought they might have killed her.”
The old woman held a worried expression. Yefim hurried out and opened the door. I left the purse there and exited the limo.
Valentina came out with Natalya and handed her to the old woman. “Angelina, take Natalya up for her bath. It’s been a long day.”
“Aww. I bet you both had a rough time.” The old woman held onto Natalya and gave her several kisses on her cheeks. “Come little one. Angelina is here, my sweet.”
Angelina walked off with Natalya.
Valentina turned around and stared at me. “Misha is lucky I don’t want my brother worried right now. He must focus on getting Emily back and then leaving France. However, when Misha is done helping Kazimir, you have him come to me immediately.”
Girl, are you crazy?
I shook my head and headed to the limo.
Valentina grabbed my arm and turned me around. “Did you hear me?”
I snatched my arm away. “Don’t touch me.”
Yefim and Misha’s guards looked unsure of what to do.
Valentina leaned forward. “When I give you an order, you say yes or no to let me know that you understand.”
I didn’t know what came over me. Perhaps, it was my playing gangster for the day or seeing the Xecutioners kill so easily. Maybe, I was exhausted and had enough of the bullshit today. Or it could have been something else. I knew that if I continued to let Valentina talk to me any sort of way, then I would spend the rest of my life being punked by her.
So, I slapped the shit out of Valentina. So hard, pain exploded in my fingers. It sounded like the crack of a bullwhip.
Shocked, she stumbled back and held the side of her face. “You fucking bitch!”
She charged forward.
Yefim jumped in front of me to block her advance.
Misha’s other men grabbed Valentina.
“Get your hands off me!” Valentina hissed.
They let her go but made sure they were between the both of us.
I pointed at her. “I am not your little bitch! You have a message for Misha, then call him. You know the number.”
“You hit me?!” Valentina tried to get around the men. “Hit me again!”
“And you’re welcome, by the way!”
Shocked, she sneered. “I’m welcome?”
I climbed into the limo. A stunned Yefim followed in after me and shut the door. The limo left. I checked the window.
Misha’s men were still holding Valentina back. She looked like she had planned on racing after us.
Far away from the bitch, I trembled in the seat.
What the hell did I just do?
I looked at Yefim.
He still wore a shocked expression.
I sighed. “That was a bad idea wasn’t it?”
“It was, but. . .you would have done it eventually. Today was as good a day as any.”
I shook my head. “Will that get Misha in trouble?”
“With whom?” Yefim quirked his bushy eyebrows.
“I don’t know. Valentina or even Kazimir.”
“Kazimir doesn’t get in the middle of situations involving women. However, Misha will deal with Valentina’s yelling but my understanding is that he’s very used to that.”
Sighing, I tried to move my fingers. They ached.
“You’ll need ice for that hand.” Yefim shook his head. “You hit her so hard, I felt it. You might have sprained a finger.”
I gently placed my hand on my lap. “I shouldn’t have done that, but damn that felt so good. What am I becoming? I just did a contract with eight assassins. I watched those assassins kill a bunch of men. And then I ended the day off with slapping one of the most dangerous women in St Petersburg.”
“Russia,” Yefim corrected.
“What?”
“Valentina is one of the most dangerous women in Russia.”
“Thanks for that.”
Yefim smiled. “Valentina won’t be much of a problem. The Brotherhood is an interesting group. It doesn’t matter if you win when you fight back. But it does matter that you fight back. If you just take it, then no one will ever respect you.”
I widened my eyes. “So it was good that I slapped her?”
“No. It was still a bad idea.”
I frowned.
He shrugged. “But one that couldn’t be avoided.”
I let out a long breath. “I hope Misha sees it that way.”
Yefim grinned. “I bet Misha will wish that he was there to see it!”Chapter 32
Misha
I sliced Leonid into hundreds of chunks and bits.
This month had been stressful. There was nothing more relaxing than taking my enemy apart piece by piece. In the end, a mountain of dismembered flesh and cracked bones lay before me. Most of my guards looked away. Two vomited in the sinks.