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Chapter 3 - The Mutual Friend

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!"

Mikael stared lazily at the girl he had known since he was a child with barely concealed amusement who was scowling ferociously at him.

"You ditched me yesterday for some fluffy chit you saw at a club a few nights ago? Rude!" Kat huffed and childishly threw a french fry in his direction.

Fortunately for him, it landed on the table before sliding to the ground.

He rolled his eyes. "I'm apologising now, aren't I? I'm buying you lunch."

"Bitch," Kat sneered and leaned back in her seat. "You were already supposed to buy me lunch yesterday."

He snorted but refrained from saying anything even though he didn't recall agreeing to that. But to dispel that notion, Kat would have his head.

"So?" Kat chewed her fries obnoxiously, clearly knowing how much he hated it. "What's her name? Who is she?"

He sneered. "I think it's none of your business."

"Fuck you. You ditched me for her yesterday. You're a really shitty friend." Kat declared, brown eyes giving him a disdainful glare.

"I told you I'm sorry," he replied soothingly and this time, a french fry landed on his lap. "You're behaving like a child," he growled.

Kat ignored him and rested her chin on her palm. "You can make it up to me by telling me who she is and where did you meet her."

Mikael stared at her, knowing that there was no way he could leave without giving Kat what she wanted. She was ridiculously stubborn. However, he didn't want to say much. Whatever that was between him and Lexi was new and he didn't want anyone butting in and ruining it.

Knowing Kat, she would do all that she could to track her down and conduct an interrogation. No, it was best to stay silent and give minimal details.

He wouldn't even mention the club that they had been attending that night.

The funny thing was, he had totally met Lexi by chance. He wasn't even supposed to be at that particular club last night but there was some business that had suddenly came up and he had been quite irritated at being there.

Until he saw her.

The way she moved about in the crowd screamed elegance and she had a regal quality to her that he couldn't quite name entirely.

Someone like her didn't particularly belong in a place like this.

Impulsively, he'd approached her.

What he didn't expect was the big pair of eyes to be directed at him. What he also didn't expect was the skepticism that appeared in those eyes of hers when he slipped her his number on a napkin.

She had the elegance of a ruling queen but the reservations of a nun. Subtly, he could pick up the slight discomfort from her in being in environments such as the club they were in.

The constant fidgeting was a tell-tale sign. That coupled with the conservative outfit she had on screamed total innocence to him. Where the other patrons of the club were dressed provocatively, baring almost everything they had to offer, she was almost covered from top to toe.

However, he had to admit that that was one of the things that caught his attention.

The other thing that caught his eyes was the discomfort that she wore like second skin of being in the club.

He almost snorted at the name she had given him.

Katherine Kolosova

What kind of name was that? With the way she had been pausing with her eyes flicking everywhere, avoiding his, Mikael could definitely confirm that she was lying about her name.

But honestly, what exactly was the coincidence of him having a childhood friend with a name so similar to that?

He eyed Kat contemplatively who was now on a rant and tilted his head slightly as he studied her. Could Kat even know Lexi?

Maybe.

Kat's name wasn't exactly common, especially the Russian surname didn't help.

He had been intrigued and rather attracted to her and a tad disappointed when she hadn't called even though he had slipped the napkin to her when she wasn't looking.

Mikael had thought that he wouldn't see her again.

Until, by some stroke of luck, he had bumped into her yesterday.

Lexi was her name and it did suit her much more than the ill-fitting Katherine.

What he didn't expect was the big pair of blue eyes to be swung his way. Those eyes of her reminded him of the ocean and he longed to swim in them. Thick lashes framed those eyes of hers and they matched the thick curls that fell against her shoulders. He guessed that she was probably about five feet and five inches, which was a head shorter than him but he didn't mind.

From that chance encounter, he had found her to be interesting and witty. A drastic change from the usual simpering and batting of eyelashes.

He had coerced her into having a drink with him and from there, they had spent hours talking and he hadn't noticed how much time had passed until the sky had turned dark.

Driving her home, they continued talking and somehow, it felt almost...right with Lexi being in the passenger seat as he drove.

Call him ridiculous but he could tell that she was different.

He did notice that she had been rather uncomfortable and unsure of herself at the beginning but it was soon replaced by confidence that came out of nowhere.

In short, Lexi was a contradiction he couldn't figure out entirely.

"Strelkov!" Kat growled and snapped her fingers in front of his face. "God, you weren't even listening to me. You're the worst friend ever."

He scowled. "Don't call me that here."

"Why you need two surnames, I don't know." Kat snorted before crossing her arms over her chest. "Strelkov is a perfectly appropriate respectable name. Carson sounds as if you're running an auto repair shop"

Mikael barked out a laugh before running his hands through his hair. "It's to protect my family." Kat made a face before sighing. "That's true, you are rather prominent back in Chicago."

He shrugged, the movement elegant and well practiced before gesturing to the ice-blended monstrosity that Kat had ordered. "Aren't you going to finish that?"

"What? This?" She pointed a well-manicured finger to the cup before grinning. "I was waiting for it to melt before drinking it. It's rather hard to suck it through the straw."

The lascivious smirk she sent to him made him roll his eyes. Kat liked to bring up sexual topics to make him uncomfortable. She knew that he saw her like a younger sister and that resulted in her being able to tease and disturb with outrageous statements.

Mikael grimaced, not wanting to imagine anything in his head and he was about to open his mouth to berate her as Kat grinned mischievously.

A man brushed by and muttered, "Whore."

Mikael paused and from the tensing in Kat's countenance, Mikael could see that she was pissed as hell.

And so was he.

Kat had been his childhood friend and well, Russians looked after their own. Especially when they were from the same background. Loyalty ran deep in the Russian mob in Chicago and them living in different cities didn't change a thing.

"Excuse me," he called out coolly and gave a stern glare to Kat to indicate that he would take care of it.

"What?" The man sneered as he approached them again and placed his two hands domineeringly on the table.

"I believe you ought to apologise to my friend," Mikael said calmly as his hand came over the man's right hand. With that, he began exerting pressure.

The man turned pale as he attempted to pull his hands away. "What are you?" He spat as Mikael continued to crush the man's hand under his own with unrelenting pressure.

"I believe you owe my friend an apology," he continued, uncaring of the way the man was now whimpering in pain.

A knuckle popped.

He sneaked a glance at Kat to see a look of vindictive glee on her face.

Typical Kat.

"I'm sorry," the man burst out and Mikael raised an eyebrow, tilting his head as he studied the man.

"What exactly are you sorry for?" he prompted smoothly with a beguiling smile on his face.

The man was now almost on his knees as he gave a desperate look at Kat who was observing the scene in front her with glowing pleasure while chewing slowly on a french fry.

"I'm sorry for calling you a whore," the man cried out.

Mikael smirked. "Louder."

"I'm sorry that I called you a whore!"

He sat back and released the man's hand with a small smile. "Thank you. I do hope you have learned some manners. Have a good day."

The man shuddered before scrambling away, clutching tightly to his very bruised hand and Kat cackled. "Good."

"It's hard to believe you're getting married with that attitude and behaviour of yours," he pointed out teasingly.

"Well, I always knew Raphael had a kink for weirdos," she replied nonplussed between a mouthful of fries and he grimaced.

"Anyway," Kat continued, brown eyes piercing his. "You'll be there for the wedding won't you?"

He nodded, a sincere smile crossing his face. "Of course. How could I not? Katerina Kolosov getting married."

Kat beamed and he added, "But to be honest, I'm mostly there to see your father's reaction. I can't say that I expect him to be handling all of this well."

She burst into raucous laughter before rolling her eyes in what seemed like affection. "True," she paused before swallowing another mouthful of fries. "As the wedding won't be in four months, how long will you be here in New York?"

Mikael paused.

He had only dropped by to clear up some issues and conflicts, meet some of his clients, scope up more prospective businesses to acquire; in all, he had intended to stay for about two weeks.

But now, there was Lexi. Lexi with her big blue eyes and contrary behaviour.

Lexi who was a New Yorker through and through.

He cleared his throat. "Maybe until the wedding."

Kat's perfect eyebrows arched and she gaped at him. "Why? You hate New York!"

He shot her an insouciant smirk. "Maybe, I'll like to do some sightseeing and spend more time with you before you're hooked to the ball."

His childhood friend snorted. Hard.

"Please. I know that I'm not that special in your books to warrant a longer stay in a city you can't really stand. What is it? Or," she paused dramatically and he rolled his eyes. "Who is it?"

Was he really that obvious? He hoped not.

"There's no such thing," he said in a tone that he hoped that came across as dismissive. "Even if there was something or someone, it'll still be none of your business."

"Wow, rude," Kat remarked casually as she eyed him contemplatively. "Fine, I'll not probe and demand you tell me."

Mikael resisted raising his eyebrows in skepticism. Ever since he knew Kat, she always had to know everything. If someone was keeping something from her, she would be the most irritating being on earth.

Maybe it was good that she was getting married to someone who made that trait of hers go away.

Idly, he glanced at his watch and frowned.

"Don't you have that dinner thing to attend?"

Kat paled. "What? What time is it?"

"A quarter to seven."

Mikael watched as she scrambled around in her seat, throwing everything back into her purse. "It's that late? Fuck! I'm late!"

"Since when has that ever bothered you?" he drawled lazily as Kat began searching her bag.

"Fucking hell, where is my phone?" she growled and he sighed.

"It's on the table in front of you," he pointed out and Kat shot him a grateful smile before throwing it into her bag.

"I can't be late for this because I have to rescue my best friend," she announced before leaning over the table to press a quick peck on his cheek. "I'll see you soon, yeah?"

Mikael nodded and watched in mild amusement as Kat stalked out of the restaurant they were in before he pulled his phone out from his pocket.

His hands itched to text Lexi but his mind struggled against it. Wasn't it too soon to do so? He had only gotten her number after meeting her yesterday.

But on the other hand, he didn't want Lexi to think that he couldn't be bothered to send her a text, which he was definitely not.

He didn't know what exactly had drawn him to her but he wanted to see her again. Soon.

Giving up the battle in his mind, he unlocked his phone and typed a quick message and without giving himself a chance to read it and to back out of it, he pressed 'send'.

Katherine Kolosova, its Mikael

It took less than a minute for her reply and her response made him bark out a laugh.

You're never going to let me live it down, are you?

Probably not. he typed back and on impulse, he added a smiley face, 😃

Did you just you an emoji?!

Was it odd or strange that he used one? He was under thirty, surely he could still get away with sending emojis.

Yes.😉

Oh my god

He chuckled under his breath before typing quickly and his thumb hovered over the send button for close to a minute before he pressed it.

Dinner with me at seven this Saturday?

This time, Lexi's response wasn't immediate and he could feel his heart thundering away in his chest. Doubt began creeping in as the seconds passed.

Was this how anxiety was supposed to feel like? He really, really abhorred it.

It was ten minutes later when her response came and Mikael could feel a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

Only if you promise to never bring up the name Katherine Kolosova again 😉

Exhilarated, Mikael grinned.

Deal

* * *

A/N: Here is the next chapter and fun fact, things didn't work out with Inkitt so I'll just be posting regular updates here on Wattpad! :) 

Also, I've created a second account in case anything goes wrong with the current one. Apparently, there's been an increase in cases where accounts are deleted out of the blue and that worries me. So, for all of you who wants to find me in case my account does get deleted with all my books, I would head over to my second account to continue there. My second account is @cheryl_is_not_here_