Page 28 of The Tsar's Obsession
Let Them Watch
Kirill
IlikedAmericansfora few things, like their love of wasting money on stupid shit, like these events they pretended were important. The whole thing cost four times what we’d raise for charity, but the RSVPs flooded in anyway. Mix a few politicians, a handful of criminals like us, and some regular innocents like Mia, and you have the magic formula to success.
But this was good. I immersed myself in organizing this, having absolutely no desire to, but Ineededa distraction before I went fucking bananas.
Those candy cane shorts were burned into my memory, but it’s as if I came to after I left her home. What the fuck was I doing? I was pushing too fast, too hard, and I was going to scare her the fuck off.
Mia and I were meant to be. I knew it better than I knew anything else in my life, but it would never work if she didn’t fall into it voluntarily.
So, I reassessed my approach. I calmed the fuck down. And we were back to being professional with each other, except for those late-night phone calls, where she would let her guard down. One conversation after another, she was falling into it—intous.
Our connection was deepening, the foundationbeing built brick by brick. And here we were, showing up to the gala hand in hand, my gifts around her neck and inside her pussy. Perfect.
“Mia, this is my friend and business partner, Dmitry.” She was stepping into my world. A genuine smile graced her lips as she shook his hand.
“It’s a pleasure, Mia.” Dmitry was courteous, but then, never looking away from her, he said one word to me, “Krasivaya.”
Beautiful.
And something crashed inside my chest. I didn’t want any man, no matter how close to me, to ever think about her in any way.
Mia held her own. “Spasibo,” she responded politely, surprising him with her language skills.
Their empty chatter took a backseat to my own thoughts as I marveled at her. The dress clung to her body like it was made for her. Just enough plunge to tease, just enough restraint to make me want to rip it off.
She was so delicate. The thin straps that rested on her shoulders were the only barrier between her naked body and me. A barrier I was salivating to break.
I watched her from a distance, how she seamlessly belonged to this world, how she thrived in it. She was speaking with Jeremy, a developer we were well acquainted with and the one whose fingers suffered at the hands of my man Vova. Vova also burned his Maserati convertible to ashes, just for good measure.
Miraculously, that form of dialogue worked like magic; Jeremy delivered on his promises and became responsive again. Jeremy was the Ari type: tall, lanky, and sleazy, the kind of man who never gave without taking. He got his shit done, but only when we reminded him what would happen if he didn’t. His fingers and his charred car were our mellow approach.
And I really didn’t like the way Jeremy chatted with Mia. He was looking at her like he fucking knew her. Not just a simple work contact, heknewher.
My grip tightened around my whisky glass, and the pressure builtinside me when Mia laughed at something he said. It wasn’t the polite and professional laugh either. It was easy and familiar. Like it had been there beforeme.
Fuck it, my large stride toward them caught Jeremy’s eyes, and he hesitated. Good. He fucking should.
“Good evening, Kirill. Lovely party.” He greeted me with a fake smile.
“Good evening,” I responded simply, waiting to see what would happen next, but then Mia spoke, and my heart sank.
“You guys know each other?” she asked curiously, as if this was hard for her to believe. She looked up at me and then at Jeremy, who seemed just as surprised as her.
“Yes,” he responded immediately. “Doyouknow each other? How?” And it was clear that he wasn’t happy about it.
“Kirill is my client. I guess it makes sense that you guys know each other, since we’re all here,” Mia added.
“Ki– Kirill is your client?” Jeremy gulped, his eyes jumping between Mia and me while I watched the interaction with trepidation. “Wow. Small world. Kirill’s firm is financing our project.” I still had no idea how they knew each other!
“Oh!” Mia turned to me, her eyes as devoted and as beautiful as ever, while she delivered the bad, awful news. “Jerry is my stepbrother. Look at you, working with the entire family!” She chuckled and turned to me with a big smile.
Fuck. Me.
Her fucking stepbrother?How did my team miss this?! A decade of surveillance, and not one of my guys put it together? Useless.
Mia waited for a reaction from me, completely unaware of the war raging inside me. “Oh, yeah? Small world indeed,” I responded with humor, ready to murder Jeremy in the bathroom so he wouldn’t start spewing shit about me to Mia.
