“I want to start by thanking you, Missy. Yury was very open with me about all of his mistresses. I know how you refused to sleep with him and how he kept that as a very big secret. I don’t know how you managed blackmailing him so you could pose as his fake mistress but he told me that was what you were doing. He hated that and he hated not being able to abuse you the way he abused all his other women, me included. I actually found that fact to be very satisfying and I am therefore indebted to you.”
Missy was surprised at hearing this but she could sense that Natalya was being truthful and indeed felt that way. She said, “If he admitted all that to you then I’m sure you also know I often scolded him for the way he treated women.”
“Yes, he found your insolent manner to be almost as frustrating as he found your refusal to satisfy his lusty sexual desires.” Pausing for a moment, Natalya studied Missy. Then she said, “You are both beautiful and incredibly sexy. He wanted you more than he’d ever wanted any woman before. But,you refused and teased him mercilessly when in private while fawning all over him out in public.”
“Yes, I admit that is true, Natalya,” said Missy with a short laugh. “I was fond of him in many ways, however, and I want you to know I never wanted him to come to any harm. This tragedy never should have happened. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to interfere and somehow prevent it. I can tell you that he did not suffer. His death was instantaneous from the explosion and not from the fire which came later.”
Natalya smiled sadly and said, “I wondered about that. Thank you for telling me. It helps to know that. At any rate, I also wanted to tell you how much he respected you and appreciated all that you managed to do on his behalf. He was constantly amazed at all of your … how did he describe them? Ah, yes … all of yourwin-wins.”
They chatted for another twenty minutes and then Natalya said, “I must go now. I have much to do. I don’t know if we will see one another in the future, but that’s okay. I think I can see why Yury was so mesmerized by you, Missy. Thank you for meeting with me today.”
Chapter Fifteen
Wednesday, June 15, 2022
After Natalya left, there were several associates who wanted to offer Missy their condolences. They came into the room in ones and twos, expressed their sorrow concerning Yury’s demise and explained how grateful they were that she had survived. Several even mentioned how Yury had been outspoken about how valuable he had considered his relationship with her. They told her he often had praised her ability to influence his various business deals.
Many of these men had been with Yury and Missy at one or more of the various social engagements and nightclubs which they had gone to. Everyone was very respectful towards her and Missy was quite pleased about that.
Gavriil Reznikov was very quick to complement her when he came in. He then said, “Yury told me how the contract he obtained with the Germans for his company Boris-Apteka was the result of you somehow bribing Julius de Weck atthe Suisse Bank AG in Zurich. He never shared the details about that but I know he and Julius became close friends afterwards.”
Missy smiled and said, “Yes, after I gifted Julius with a Porsche for his mistress Emilia, things went very well indeed. Please do not tell anyone about that. And do not mention Emilia to anyone either. Julius keeps their relationship a secret which he only shares with those he is very close with.”
“Ahh, that explains a great deal!” exclaimed Gavriil with a smile. “I will be careful not to disclose any of his secrets. SinceNatalya is naming me as chief executive for Boris-Apteka, I do anticipate that I will get to meet Julius in the weeks ahead.”
Missy was able to sense Gavriil could be trusted which was why she had revealed what she did. He was an attractive man in his early forties and she could also sense he was very attracted to her. She said, “If Julius should happen to ask about me, please tell him I wish him well and that I send my regards to his lovely Emilia.”
“Actually, if you can stay a little longer today … that is, after you’ve met with Yury’s other associates …”
Missy chuckled and said, “How many more of you are there? I hope they will all be as nice as you.Aleksandr Novikoff advised me how certainarrangementswhich Yury made concerning me are to be changed.”
Gavriil nodded and said, “Yury’s lawyer NikolaiVassiliev and I have been asked to discuss those matters with you after we have lunch, Missy. That’s why I’m asking if you can stay longer. Once everyone else has met with you in here like this, Alek will bring you down to our executive dining room.”
“So, I won’t be learning about those matters untilafterlunch. Okay, I can understand how that’s probably best. The suspense does whet my appetite.”
“I’m supposed to bring you to Nikolai’s office where all those arrangements will be clarified,” explained Gavriil. “If you can agree to certain terms, I am confident you will be quite pleased.”
“I see. Of course. I look forward to hearing about those terms.”
After Gavriil left there were several more associates. Then, at last, Alek returned and said, “Please come with me and I’ll show you where our lunch is being served.”
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After enjoying an excellent lunch where Missy had sat near both Alek and Gavriil, it was time for the meeting with Nicolai. Although there were close to thirty associates at the luncheon, only two of them were women besides Missy. Natalya was not there and Nicolai had sat far away. Missy had been gracious and all the conversations had been pleasant enough. The underlying weight on everyone with Yury being dead did dampen things, of course.
In Nikolai’s office, Missy was formally introduced to Yury’s lawyer at long last. She had been blackmailing him, of course, with the threat of exposure for those funds which he had stolen from Yury’s accounts. However, she had never made any demands. She could sense that he now believed she no longer was a threat. She found that to be rather interesting.
After the introduction, they all took their seats on some comfortable chairs over by a window. Gavriil then began by saying, “We know you spoke to Natalya today and I’m guessing she told you that she was actually quite okay about your relationship with Yury. She did not share her reasons for that with us but perhaps she did share them with you.” He looked at Missy with raised eyebrows and then, when she said nothing, he looked over at Nikolai.
Nikolai said, “After Natalya told everyone about that she then went on to ask the rest of us to describe what payments, if anything, her various businesses might be making on your behalf. She is inheriting pretty much everything, all Yury’spersonal assets as well as all his businesses. Thus, they are nowherbusinesses.”
Gavriil added, “She told us she had already reviewed all the personal assets and had determined there were no payments going to you from those. She told us how Yury had explained to her that whatever money he provided his various mistresses with would always be somehow arranged asbusiness expenses. That way, he could take some tax benefits, something he got a kick out of.”
Missy smiled and said, “I see. He was very generous to me but he never explained that side of things.”
Nikolai said, “Rather than explaining what those sources were and how he claimed them all as expenses, let’s get to what Natalya has asked us to do. She wants us to continue whatever arrangements Yury was making and do so until the end of the year. She tasked us with continuing to make those a business expense.”
Missy was quite surprised at this but was now recalling Gavriil’s earlier comment that she would be pleased provided she could agree to certain terms. Before asking about those, however, she wanted to know about Yury’s prior mistresses. She asked, “When I agreed to be Yury’s mistress, I insisted he show me some documents proving his former mistresses were being provided for. Are those arrangements being continued? I know he was using one of his businesses in Izhevsk for that.”
