Chapter 20 Wine Stained Voyeurism #2
Tapping on his cell phone, Mikko abused his power.
It was too easy not to.
Pulling up Anika’s cellphone number, he let his fingers hover over the keyboard. Entering her number was a simple and easy act a week ago. Spelling out her name was like second nature, the letters making a permanent home behind his eyelids.
Typing a message out to her right now? Now, that was difficult.
I wonder if he can tell how bored you are, little moon :unknown
Okay, maybe not that hard, but he’d been simmering in his angst for too long and needed to blow off some steam.
Watching, he took a sip of vodka as his muscles tingled with anticipation.
Licking a stray drop from his lip, Mikko knew when she received the text.
Anika’s eyes quickly flicked to her phone, which she kept on the table, the screen lighting up.
Her mouth moved as she explained to Levi what the interruption was as she picked up her phone.
A grin spread across Mikko’s face.
With a quick response of his own, Levi stood and excused himself. They shared a knowing look as he glanced over at Mikko’s darkened spot on his way to the bathrooms.
Perfect.
Humor replaced the general intrigue that had been evident on her delicate features. He found himself torn between looking at his own phone in anticipation of her text and meeting her head on as she looked around the restaurant. Scanning the dimly lit interior, she tried to find him.
The small piece of power he’d gained through his reckless act was what he needed to erase the sickly feeling growing in his chest from Levi’s work.
Her honeyed eyes were almost indistinguishable from this distance as they roved over each table and booth until finally landing on him.
And against his better judgment, he didn’t avert his gaze.
The pounding in his chest stopped, seemingly commanded by her. While the distance between them and his shadowed nook prevented her from seeing him fully, he could still discern the recognition passing over her countenance. And he swore the edges of her lips tipped up in a smile.
Schooling her features back to disinterest, Anika tore her eyes away from his and looked back at her phone. Three little ellipses danced on his own phone screen while he waited. Impatiently.
Anika: He can’t tell his asshole from a hole in the ground
Mikko stifled a snort.
Sounds like he makes a great first impression :unknown
Anika: You would know, you sent him after me…
I don’t think I understand what you mean :unknown
Anika: Playing stupid isn’t a good look on you, Mikko
He froze; she sent another text.
Anika: Does that mean you’re still sipping vodka over there?
And if I am :unknown
Anika: I guess the bottle I sent you was a waste then
Anika: I’m sure Levi will drink it for you
She had already pieced together that it was him who was texting her.
Of fucking course she did. Mikko’s hand shook as he gripped the phone.
Every time he tried to be in control, she managed to throw him off.
A different kind of rage settled over his bones, one cooling the previous emotion running through him. It focused him in the way he needed.
Maybe I was saving it for a special occasion :unknown
Anika: That’s exactly something a cuck would say
That’s quite the assumption :unknown
Anika: Says you, sitting in a dark corner watching my dinner date
Oh, what an evil little minx.
His stomach dropped, but he also couldn’t help the small laugh slipping past his lips. She was playing his game and not being meek about it. Her double texts were purposeful, meant to distract him. He hated to admit it did.
And that he liked it.
When was the last time he’d had fun like this?
If that’s the kinda stuff you’re into, the guy you’re with isn’t the one for the job :unknown
Anika: And how would you know? Have you slept with him?
Mikko huffed and took another sip from his snifter.
He left a woman upon finding out about her OnlyFans account :unknown
I, on the other hand, don’t shame people :unknown
Anika: Just harass them?
Our definitions of harassment are vastly different :unknown
Anika: Does following someone to their gym count?
That was a coincidence :unknown
Anika: Riiiight
Quickly, before Levi came back and diverted her attention, Mikko typed out one last message.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you, though :unknown
He doesn’t know how to find the clit :unknown
Slipping his phone into his pant’s pocket, Mikko left money for his drink and a tip on the table before quietly standing. Without another thought, he walked out the back door, Anika’s eyes on his back the whole time.
Hopefully, Levi could handle the rest.
* * *
THE DARK CONFINES of his penthouse consoled him while Mikko’s heart beat wildly against his ribcage.
His body was in sync with the storm opening up overhead, dousing the city in rainwater.
He’d made it back to his penthouse before it’d begun.
Luck was on his side sometimes. Just not when it came to Anika…
Anika: Sent an image
Anika: Looks like he might find it
It’d been an hour, but his brain was still in shambles. The picture she’d sent burned into his mind; even when he wasn’t looking at it, he could still see it. Which might’ve been a worse fate.
There, each pixel clear as day on his phone screen, was Anika.
Well, her toned and tattooed legs. On one thigh, there was the head of a wolf inked there bordered in roses.
It appeared she was sitting down somewhere—in her house if the wood floors and eclectic rugs were any indication to him—while Levi was kneeling in front of her.
Mikko had never seen his employee in such a compromising position before.
And even though nothing scandalous was happening in the photo, the way it was angled, and her words, made it feel naughty. Her intent no doubt.
Upon closer inspection, he noticed Levi’s hands were undoing her shoes. The picture had been taken while he’d been in the middle of slipping them from her feet. A dainty vine tattoo wrapped itself around the same ankle.
Shaking his head with an incredulous huff, Mikko closed out of the photo and resumed trying to type up a snarky response. He’d tried many times throughout the course of the night since he received it, but everything he typed felt desperate.
Maybe because I am? he thought sullenly.
But he couldn’t let her have the last word.
You might need to brush up on your anatomy knowledge… :unknown
Wow, an award winning response, for sure. Mikko rolled his eyes, pressing send anyway. Nothing would suffice; it was best to message her and get it out of the way.
Expecting her to take a while to text back, for reasons he tried to ignore, Mikko paced around his darkened penthouse.
Why was he letting Anika bother him so much?
How had she clawed beneath his skin so thoroughly?
Maybe this was his karma for all the years of living a life riddled with crime and wrongdoings.
With his father gone, someone had to step into the dark reign, but it made Mikko’s skin itch.
He avoided the nefarious dealings the best he could, but it was inevitable.
People had lived and died by his hand, and now at his command.
The thoughts of it kept him up at night.
All the lives he’d taken or changed all for the name of development expansion or money.
Portland’s landscape had changed over the last couple decades, prices of land and real estate increasing all while pushing thousands out who could no longer afford the rent.
It was a terrible occurrence, one Alek had deemed necessary for the city’s resurgence.
It made Mikko’s stomach turn.
Small communities and cultures were erased all for the sake of dollar signs. Maybe one day, Mikko could speak up and change everything, but such radicalities took time. So he’d wait—
His phone rang in his pocket and cut through his spiraling. Groaning, his head fell forward to press against the cool glass overlooking the city.
Let it go to voicemail.
But it continued to ring as if sensing his lack of action.
The sound grated on his nerves, or maybe that was apprehension creeping in from sending Anika a text.
Regardless, he looked down and saw the name Cristiano glaring back up at him.
His friend had a bad habit of calling Mikko when he was the most inconvenienced.
“I swear, if you’re calling me to tell me that Levi went out on a date, I already know,” Mikko said immediately. His annoyance was palpable, but he couldn’t hold it in. “Besides, you know I like my evenings quiet.”
“If that doesn’t sound like a guilty conscience, I don’t know what does,” Cristiano huffed in his ear. “Especially, since I wasn’t calling about that. Good to know though; Anika and Levi: a touchy subject.”
“I’m sorry, the stress of it all must be getting to me.”
“We both know you’re not actually sorry but you don’t have to go through all this alone, y’know.
” Cristiano waited a couple seconds before continuing, changing the subject thankfully.
“Besides, your quiet evenings can still consist of you walking around naked and flexing in the reflection of your big windows. I would never stand in the way of your self-care, but”—his friend drew out the last word—“I’ve got a development on Ivan. ”
Mikko’s mouth opened to counter Cristiano’s idea of what he did at night when he shook his head and decided against it. “Go on.”
“Oh, all business despite my dig, unless what I said is true which I could’ve done without that mental image—”
“Cristiano,” Mikko interrupted with a small smile on his face, “you’re the one who planted that image in your own head. Now, tell me about Ivan.”
“Right, right. The morgue called about an hour ago to tell me about Ivan’s autopsy. I’m heading there now.”
“I hope you told them the excessive amount of drugs in his system wouldn’t be unusual.” It was common knowledge Ivan—and others in his circle—struggled with substance abuse. An unavoidable side effect of the job.
“They didn’t even mention it, but they did say they found something…unique.”
“Please tell me they told you more than that,” Mikko said, mind racing to uncover the answers to Cristiano’s cryptic sentences. “Unique how?”
“Uh…” his friend cleared his throat, “they found something inside his body, something that was, erm, placed there intentionally.”
“Like a clue?”
“All the mortician would say was it wasn’t organic material.”
Mikko’s eyebrows raised in surprise.
A foreign object?
He opened his mouth to speak, but Cristiano took his silence as an answer all on its own. “I think it’d be best if you came by the morgue too and saw for yourself.” Cristiano accelerated on the other end of the line, his destination the same.
“Let me change my clothes and I’ll head that way,” Mikko said.
“Okay, I’ll send you the address. See you when you get there.”
With that, they both hung up, leaving Mikko with more questions than answers.
While Ivan’s reputation wasn’t the best, it wasn’t any worse than most of the men Mikko worked with.
Mikko’s associates usually remained within their own sectors of the city.
It prevented internal conflict, for the most part.
And what couldn’t be prevented, Mikko and his men squashed, snuffing out the root of the problem before it became a bigger one.
But with Ivan, he thought he’d done that.
“Should’ve killed him like I taught you,” his father’s voice echoed in his head. Pressing his palms against the cool panes of glass, Mikko pushed off. The frigid temperature irritated the burn scars on his left hand, but now was not the time to dwell on old wounds.
Turning and heading toward his bedroom, Mikko checked his phone for the address Cristiano sent. He already had an idea where it was, but he wanted to make sure. Before he got that far another message caught his attention.
Ah, fuck, about that…
It was from Anika, her response coming in only a couple minutes after he’d sent his.
Anika: Haven’t you heard of foreplay?
Anika: Besides, the foot IS an erogenous zone
The thought of kissing her instep flashed across his mind—
With a sigh, he closed their message thread and changed his clothes so he could meet up with his friend. Her, and her schemes, would have to wait.