Mia and Gio Ch. 02

"Mr. Reyes isn't here," I offered.

"I know. I'm here to see you. You look beautiful today Mia," he commented.

I smiled a polite smile and opened the door beckoning him in. I closed the door but kept it unlocked just in case. Just in case what Mia? I didn't have an answer for that, but just in case.

"How can I help you?" I asked.

"I need an assistant and I was wondering if you could help me Mia. I pay generously and the job comes with a lot of perks." He winked.

"I already have a job sir. I'm sure that it would conflict if I took on being your assistant. Sorry." I wasn't the least bit sorry.

"Well then allow me to take you on as my date to a wedding Friday instead. I would love to have some of your time. Just even the tiniest amount. I'd love to have the prettiest girl in the world on my side."

So this is what his father meant when he said he liked to charm women out their panties. I was glad I had that knowledge so I didn't fall for it. Maybe a night out is what I needed. Just one innocent night.

"I don't have anything to wear Jacob," I explained.

"All of that will be taken care of if you just allow me the pleasure of your company. I'm sure I can make it worth it."

"Fine."

It's not like I had anything holding me back. Gio didn't want me and I wanted to move on. So what the hell. Why not? I was single. I didn't have any strings nor did anyone have any claims on me. I might as well enjoy myself.

"I'll send a truck for you Friday morning," he promised kissing my hand.

"I'll be waiting," I said.

He left and I picked up the phone and saw I had 3 texts and a missed call from Gio. I called him back and he answered after the first ring.

"Why didn't you answer when I called you?" He growled.

"It was on vibrate and I was talking to Jacob."

"What did he want?"

"To take me to the wedding with him Friday... As his date," I hesitated on the last part.

There was a bit of silence before he spoke again. "What did you say?"

"What do you think I said?"

"He's only going to try to get in your panties Mia. I hope you said no."

"Why would it matter to you what he did? You're spoken for yourself. Remember? And for the record, I said yes."

"Well I guess I'll see you there."

"I guess you will. What should I wear to the club tonight?"

"Nothing. You're no longer needed."

The line disconnected and I stared at the phone in disbelief. He just hung up on me! I HATED to be hung up on. That was the ultimate form of disrespect. I ran upstairs and changed into a white tank top and a nice high-waisted skirt. Sarah had really come through with her promise to send nicer clothes. She even threw in some nice strappy heels. Of course I was still going to the club. I was curious.

"Now how am I going to get there?" I asked myself.

At that moment a car honked outside and I remembered that Matthew had sent me the answer to my own question. Well wasn't that a lucky coincidence?

Running downstairs I grabbed my phone and wallet and zoomed to the car before I lost my nerve. I was nervous and excited at the same time. The driver opened the door and I was delighted to see I was alone.

"Thank you," I said to him.

"My pleasure," he smiled back.

The ride to the club was long and boring. I played a game on my phone but gave up after losing all my lives trying to get the stupid chocolate off the board. I really hated this addicting game.

Finally after 30 minutes we pulled up to a booming loud club. It was only 10 on a Tuesday night and it seemed that the whole city was here.

The door opened and I got out and looked around. Ok so what now? Did I wait on someone to come get me? Well Gio didn't know I was coming so that wasn't an option. I spotted the bouncer at the door and walked up to him.

"Hi," I said to him.

"Name?" he asked in a booming voice.

"I'm Mr. Reyes assistant. Mia Johnson," I told him with what I hoped was a genuine smile.

He flipped through papers and after what felt like forever looked at me up and down.

"Go straight to the back and make a left. Go through the door labeled Private and continue down that hall until you get to the glass door," he instructed.

I was so happy I got in I threw my arms around him and thanked him in his ear. I could tell this made him uncomfortable because he stiffened under my arms for a second and then relaxed. When I pulled back I saw a shadow of a smile on his face.

"Go little lady," he said again.

I looked around the venue in shock at all the people dancing and drinking. It was really packed and the music was booming. I could barely hear myself think. My first club! This was really exciting. I almost got distracted but shook it off and followed the bouncer's directions until I made it to the glass door. I could see it led upstairs and I decided to just go.

Halfway up the stairs I could barely hear the music. I could only hear the thump thump of the bass. Once I got to the top I heard screaming. I didn't hear the music anymore and the thump thump was now my heart in my throat. I walked up to the cracked door and saw Gio and 4 men surrounding a bloody man tied to a chair. I spotted Tony holding a chainsaw and Gio was shirtless. Their backs was to me but I could tell those 2 from anywhere.

I watched as one of the men stepped up and stood in front of the tied up man blocking my view. Whatever he did made the man scream and I was glad I couldn't see. Whatever he did made Gio laugh with much happiness.

Suddenly a hand clamped over my mouth and pushed me through the door which bounced off the wall behind it making a loud boom.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Gio yelled turning around.

He looked at me in confusion and I was sure I looked at him with fear. I didn't want to be around him at this moment and would've rather stayed home. The person who had my mouth clamped, also had my arms pinned to my sides so I was stuck.

"I found her peeping in the hallway Boss. What should I do with her?" the voice asked.

"Mia? What are you doing here?" Gio asked.

The hand around my mouth fell away, but the one around my arms did not.

"I was l-looking for you for something, but n-now that I found you. I'm no longer interested in finding you," I admitted.

"Let's talk outside. Brutus let her go," he said.

He walked past me grabbing my arm and closing the door behind him. It was just me and him in the hallway now and I instantly stepped out his arms and as far away from him as possible.

"Why are you scared of me Mia? I would never hurt you," he said.

He had blood on his chest and I could see it glistening in the light. Everything about him made me want to throw up. I suddenly felt faint. I braced myself against the wall and tried to control my breathing.

"Mia, you know what I do. Why are you so scared right now? You aren't supposed to be here. Please stop moving away from," he begged.

I had no idea why I was afraid of him. It was true that I knew what he did, but I didn't know he enjoyed it! He was a killer, so why was I surprised?

"Please just stay away from me. I'm ok. I'm cool!" I promised.

"Did you forget what I was doing when you met me Mia? I was killing somebody Mia! This is what I do! This is me! Why do keep forgetting that fact?"

"I'm sorry. I don't know! I'll remember from now on!" I cried.

I was scared. I was terrified. But he was right. I knew what he did. I just chose to ignore the fact when we were together. I was so stupid. I was so so so stupid. And fucked up. I couldn't ignore what he did anymore. He was no better than Angel. I was stupid for being so quick to trust Gio. I was even quicker to bed him. I should've never put myself in this position again. Always trying to see the good in people, blatantly ignoring the bad.

"Don't be scared of me Mia. This isn't even what it looks like. I'm not going to kill him Mia. I won't hurt him anymore. Ok? Give me a second." He walked back into the room closing the door behind him. He came back out almost 5 minutes later with a shirt and a jacket on.

"Let's go Mia," he said reaching for my hand.

I pretended I didn't see him and folded my arms under across me. Together we walked down the stairs and out the glass door. I didn't even look up as I got into the car and slid in with me. I was seriously battling some issues. Part of me was scared of him, and the other part of me wanted to pretend like this never happened.

"I think it would be best if you didn't work for me anymore Mia," he said once the driver raised the partition.

I shook my head. "I don't agree. I like my job."

"I wasn't going to kill him. I was just scaring him into giving me my money. He stole 2 million dollars from me Mia. That was all you saw," he explained. "As for that time with Rickey... Mia he killed my father. Broke my mother's heart. A life for a life."

"Ok."

"Mia. Please don't be scared of me. I need you in my life. Don't push me out. I don't want you to walk away from me. You're a good friend," he said sounding small and sad.

I slid over to him and grabbed his hand in my own. "I'm not."

Here I was again. Ignoring the bad and focusing on the good. This would be my downfall. I knew deep deep down that it would.

"I don't want you to work for me anymore. Just live with me as a friend," he requested.

"Ok," I agreed.

I laid my head on his shoulder still holding his hand. So I guess I was making my choice. I was choosing Gio over my own intuition.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," he whispered.

"Me too," I sighed.

My parents were probably in heaven pissed with me.

---

Friday morning had come sooner than I expected. I hadn't seen Gio since that night Tuesday but it was probably better that way. Things were still a little awkward between us but I had chosen to totally ignore my intuition, conscience and morals. Also, I missed Sarah something serious.

I had just gotten out the shower when I ran downstairs to grab a quick bite. Picking up my phone off the couch I checked my notifications.

I had one text from Gio and one from Jacob. I opened the one from Jacob first.

"Cnt W8 2 c u lookn sexc 2nite ;)"

I felt like every time I texted Jacob for more than 30 minutes, I lost a lot of brain cells. How hard was it to spell out your words and use punctuation? I spent more time trying to decode his texts, than actually thinking of what to reply. I just sent a smiley face back.

Gio's text was much more legible.

"Wear a jacket, it'll be cold out."

Another text came through from an unknown number.

"I found you Mia."

My heart started racing a mile a minute. Is that the correct term? Whatever. Who was this is? Why were they texting me? Another text from Gio.

"GET OUT THE HOUSE!"

Suddenly gun shots rang out and I threw myself to the floor. What was going on? Glass flew everywhere from the windows and a bullet struck the TV making more glass shower everything. The gun shots continued and I crawled to the kitchen ignoring the pain in my knees and hands from the glass. I folded myself under the cabinets. Why could I fit under here? That was kind of annoying. I was hoping I had picked up some weight and would be a bit thicker! More gun shots. Ok ok! Wrong thing to worry about. The shots stopped momentarily before I heard one more round of gun shots. Finally I heard tires squeal but I was too terrified to get out. 10 minutes or maybe an hour had passed and I was still under the cabinet. I refused to make any movement. My phone was going off like crazy. I could hear it dinging in the living room.

I heard car doors slam and my heart dropped down to my stomach. I was dead. I was deader than dead. I would never beat that level on Candy Crush and I had just bought more lives. I would never become an A list celebrity and have a million followers on my Kim game.

If I made it out this alive, I was seriously going to reevaluate this childish thinking of mine.

"MIA! MIA WHERE ARE YOU?!" Gio yelled.

"In the kitchen," I yelled as I was climbing out the cabinets.

I stood up and dusted myself off. I decided to ignore the fact that I was in the one cabinet nobody went into and that it probably was home to a lot of bugs! Gio pulled me into his arms and hugged me tightly before checking me for bullet wounds. Besides the cuts from the glass on my legs and arms, I was fine.

"What is going on Gio?!?!" I asked after he had stopped checking me.

"We gotta get you out of here! Tony, grab her a bag. Mia, let's go," he instructed.

We speed walked outside to a white truck and he all but tossed me in the backseat. The windows were tinted black and the seats were lowered. He slammed the door behind me and I could see him talking to Tony about something. 2 other men came up and I recognized them as Matthew and the bouncer from the club. Gio was now walking back to the truck and I scooted far away from the door.

"We're going to keep you safe Mia," he said while jumping in.

"What is going on?" I asked again.

"I have something the Russian's want. More importantly, I have something Alekzandr Mecherykov wants," he grimaced.

"And what is that? What is so important to him that he would shoot up your house to get it? I could've been killed! It better be damn valuable!" I exclaimed.

"It is Mia," he looked at me full-on. "It's very valuable and he'll kill to get his hands on it."

"Well what is it?"

"You."

My heart started beating again. All of this extreme heart beating could not be good for my health. I was going to push my heart too hard one time too many and end up dead.

"Me? He doesn't even know me!" I yelled. "I didn't know anybody named Alekzandr!"

He pulled out his phone and brought up a picture. I was almost afraid to look... almost. I looked at the picture and the blood in my veins went cold. The very man I was running from had found me. Again! I looked up at Gio and shook my head.

"That's not Alekzandr... That's Angel..." I whispered.