“Don’t drive like an asshole,” he mumbles.
“Then don’t say asshole stuff.”
“She’s been my friend on social media for the last eight years. Never once did she ask about you, Serafin. Don’t you think if she was really looking for you she would’ve found you by now?”
I’ve thought about it a million times over in my head. I’ve beaten myself up over this woman for the last twelve years of my life. I’ve tried to blame it on the fact that I don’t have social media, that I keep a low profile, that I don’t let myself succumb to the tabloid lifestyle that Fabian and Rafal do, but I know in my heart, if she wanted to find me, or if she wanted to be found, she had plenty of opportunity.
I push my foot down on the gas pedal, barely gripping the steering wheel as I take off down the highway.
“I just need to talk to her. She’ll remember.”
“And what if she doesn’t? What if you spent your whole life building up some fantasy of this woman in your head and it turns out to be complete bullshit? What if she wants to blackmail Jakub?”
“Then I’ll take care of it.” I put my foot to the floor, pushing the speed.
My little misui would never do anything to purposely hurt me or my men. She’s perfect. Maybe she’s gone down a dark path, but I’ll remind her who she really is, no matter what it takes.
“Take this exit,” he says. “We’re going to Weilki Gardens.”
I swallow the lump down in my throat. Mia shouldn’t be living in the slums. She’s a queen. I’m sure I can convince her to come with me today. We can start all over again, start our new life together, and put the last twelve years behind us.
“I’m coming for you little mouse.” I roll up my windows and slow down my pace while Fabian stares at me like I’ve lost my damn mind. Maybe I have. That’s just what she does to me. Always has. Always will.
7
Mia:
I wake up on the couch, my head spinning from a massive hangover, my feet aching from wearing those stupid high heel boots all night, and immediately, my heart starts to race when I realize what went down last night.
When I got back to the apartment, it was obvious Janka had gotten there first by the way everything was flipped and scattered all over the place. She was in a hurry, but from the looks of things, she didn’t forget a single valuable item, including my rainy day coffee can.
Left with no cash except whatever is floating around in the bottom of my purse and the sneaking suspicion that Janka is exactly who Serafin said she is, the only thing I have going for me is my paranoia.
I know there’s security cameras all over that hotel. I know that security guard got a good enough look at me that he could definitely point me out in a lineup. Then there’s the whole potentially dead guy we left back at the hotel. I didn’t even catch his name, but I’m sure he’s someone rich and prominent. I’m sure his family will want to know every last detail of the last few minutes of his life, and without Janka as a witness, everything is going to land on me.
Drunk Mia must’ve thought she was being followed, because I have the end tables stacked up in front of the door like that’ll stop someone who wants to get in from being able to bust it down.
Drunk Mia is an idiot. Drunk Mia is the reason why I’m in this fucking position to begin with. I pull the blanket up over my head and squeeze my eyes shut so hard I see stars. I have no idea what my next move is supposed to be, but I wish Janka was here to bring me a bottle of water and some aspirin so I could drag my weary ass up off the couch.
There’s a pounding on the door, and for a moment, I think it might be her. She’s been my rock through all this, and maybe after the initial fear wore off, she realized we were better off facing this together. Between the deadbolt and the stack of end tables, there’s no way she’s going to be able to get inside.
I throw off the blanket and quietly tiptoe across the carpet.
As I look out the peep hole, I immediately slap my hand over my mouth and take off running into the bathroom.
How the fuck does he know where I live?
I splash some water on my face, last night’s mascara all caked and clumped. His birthday party must not have been that exciting if he’s already here pounding down my door at this hour.
My stomach twists in knots, and I gag as I brush my teeth as quickly as possible. I toss on a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, flip my hair up into a bun, and look at my phone. It’s two in the afternoon. Apparently, I slept a little better than I thought, or at the very least drank enough that I blacked out for over twelve hours.
I take a look at myself in the mirror and am slightly mortified and slightly pleased. Surely if he gets one good look at me like this, he’ll take off running. I don’t know what he wants with me anyway.
He’s powerful. He’s rich. He’s charming, and he’s still fucking gorgeous after all these years. Even more, now that he’s grown up a little bit. I want him now more than I ever did before, which is all the more reason why I need to stay as far away from him as possible.
I signed a legal document a long time ago promising his parents I would never come anywhere near him again, and yet, instead of pulling down the blinds and calling it a day, I’ve convinced myself one more bad decision isn’t going to be the death of me.
“Sorry! Coming!” I shout as I walk toward the doorway, the pounding escalating. I struggle to move the end tables wondering where drunk Mia got this superhuman strength to stack them like that. After a few minutes of fidgeting I unclasp the deadbolt and pull the big heavy steel door open just enough that I can peek out.
Before I can start my apology for ditching him last night spiel, Serafin, Fabian, and Rafal push through my doorway, knocking the furniture littering the doorway area around. Fabian hasn’t aged a day since we were in high school, other than the fact that his hair and facial hair are a lot longer and he’s covered in tattoos. Rafal looks like he’s spent the last twelve years in the gym, his body nearly as wide as it is tall. They instantly start opening doors and flipping my apartment upside down as Serafin stands in the corner with his arms across his chest.
“What is this all about?” I shout. I storm over to Serafin, getting right in his face. “What the fuck do you guys think you’re doing?”
“Where is she?” he asks. His face looks cold and empty, like he’s asking a clerk at the grocery store where the potatoes are. This isn’t the man who falls over his feet for me, or even the man who was so happy to see me last night that he almost convinced me to fall in bed with him.
I notice there’s something not quite right about his eyes. They’re still dark and gorgeous, just like I remembered, but something seems off.
“She’s not here,” I say. “I haven’t seen her since last night. Now can you guys stop wrecking my shit? It’s not like I have a lot to my name.”
“Call her up. Get her over here,” Serafin says.
“Why?” I ask.
“Because we need to have a little talk about what happened with Jakub last night.”
I purse my lips and my eyes grow wide. My palms start to sweat and it feels like the room is spinning.