I open the door a crack and ask, “Can I help you?”
She pauses, a momentary look of surprise in her eyes, then, “Is Anton here?”
“No, he’s not. I can leave him a message if you'd like.”
Her eyes narrow slightly. I imagine if she could see more than just my head, she’d be assessing me fully, looking me up and down. “And who are you?”
I start to answer, but then I remember what Anton said. Nobody gets in unless they say they’re from Iggy. I would imagine that goes for giving out my identity as well. “I don’t know that that’s any of your business,” I respond.
Abject offense appears on her face. She scoffs, her red lips in a surprised, gaping smile. “Well,” she says, “I hate to tell you this, dear, but it is very much my business. Can I come in?”
“I don’t think—” She pushes the door and nearly knocks me back. A cloud of heavy perfume envelopes me as she walks in and looks around the foyer and living room, her eyes are trained on the pools of blood in the couch.
“Looks like he had quite an evening,” she said. “Are you responsible for this?”
“No,” I say. “Listen, Anton isn’t here. He had some business he needed to handle?—”
“Oh? So, you’renotthe cleaning lady? Interesting.” Now, her eyes scan me, from my face down to my bare feet and back again. Then she puts her hand out to me, palm down as if I’m supposed to kiss it. She’s got long, fake nails painted the same shade as her lipstick. “Katarina Baburin.”
I shake her hand gingerly, taking her fingers and moving it up and down. “Natalya Petrov. Nice to meet you.”
“Petrov… Why does that name sound familiar?”
“I’m sorry, who are you to Anton?”
Her smile broadens, making her face look like there’s a large gash in it. “Oh, I’m his fiancée, dear.”
“Fiancée?” I must be scowling because her smile drops.
“Yes. I suppose he never mentioned me? Well, details like that do tend to slip his mind when he gets horny for something new. He always returns to me, though. I am his one true love.”
I almost want to laugh at this woman. There’s nothing about her that even suggests that Anton would be into her, let aloneengagedto her. I cross my arms. “Is that so?”
“It is.”
“That’s really weird that he’s never mentioned you. I mean, a fiancée is typically a pretty important person in a man’s life and yet, your name never came up. Not even once.”
She glares, her eyes studying me. “I don’t know why he would bother mentioning me to one of his fuck toys. I allow him to play every now and then with whoever, but make no mistake, he’s mine. He always has been and he always will be.”
I laugh. I can’t help it. I just bust out into laughter as she stares at me with disgust. I laugh until tears form in my eyes.
“And what is so funny?”
“You,” I say, wiping my cheeks. “You barge in here with your expensive shoes and bad dye job and claim Anton like he’s your prized poodle and actually expect me to believe that you are the one he’s going to marry? I seriously doubt a man like him would have anything to do with anyone as rude as you.”
Her jaw clenches and for a second, I think she might hit me. She takes a step toward me. “You think I’m rude? Oh, you haven’t seen rude,yet.”
Her hand shoots like the strike of a snake and the next thing I know, she has me by the hair. Immediately, I struggle, clawing at her hands as she drags me to the stairs. With an angry grunt,she shifts her body weight and throws me down on the steps, but I catch myself, grabbing the railing before I collide face first into the wood. My arm is shoved into one of the steps, however, hard. I cry out in pain.
“Stupid little cunt,” she growls, kicking my legs. The hard toes of her shoe dig into my thigh and pains shoots through me. “The next time you even think about talking shit about me?—”
She goes to kick me again, but I shift out of her way, causing her to lose her balance. She stumbles, and I take that opportunity and shove my leg out, stomping her in the shin.
“Fuck!” she yells as she goes down. I scramble, turning to get up the stairs to get Mikki. I only get a couple of steps before I’m grabbed by my hair again. She lifts me up and slams my head into the steps.
Stars flash before my eyes as my forehead hits the wood. She goes to do it again, but I stiffen my arms, fighting against her momentum. For a moment, we’re both stuck, with her trying to push my head down and me pushing back. She finally yanks me up to my feet. I bring my elbow up and catch her in the jaw. She yells out, her grip loosening as I twist around and push her, shoving the heel of my hand into her face.
“Fucking bitch!” she screams, tightening her grip on my hair. She yanks me backward and pushes me down the stairs.
