Chapter 10
CHAPTER
TEN
QUIN
The second I walked into Dimitri’s room, everything changed for me. This op was no longer about the painting or Juno or even Felix. For me, it was only about Dimitri. The more he told me about the way Dasselaar treated him, the more rage burned through my blood, obliterating any of my previous plans and replacing them with one singular mission.
To keep Dimitri safe.
And the only way to do that was to get him as far away from Stefan Dasselaar as possible.
“If I’m going to help you, I need to get dressed.” Dimitri started to push the blanket away, and I stood, offering him a hand to help him up. He smiled up at me but didn’t take my hand. For a second I wondered if it was because he didn’t want to feel the connection between us again. My skin still hummed where we’d touched, and I ached to feel the sensation anew. “I, uh, sleep in the nude, so, I, um, need you to turn around.”
Without my permission, my gaze slid over his naked chest and down to where his smooth bronze flesh disappeared under the duvet. He’d been naked this whole time? Why did that turn me on? Shaking my head, I forced my eyes to meet Dimitri’s again. He was smirking and raised a finger in the air, making a circling motion.
“Oh, right.” I stepped away from the bed and turned around, listening as he climbed out of bed and crossed the room to the large chest of drawers between the windows, sliding one of the drawers open.
Despite our circumstances, the electric heat of Dimitri’s touch still burned in my veins, and I couldn’t keep my mind from conjuring up images of what he’d look like naked. I pictured his smooth skin stretched over a sweet, round ass and long, lean legs, that I knew would feel amazing wrapped around my body as I slid deep inside him. My mouth would find his and his plush lips would taste so sweet I’d be instantly addicted. I would get lost in him for hours, and when I was done taking him apart and his pupils were blown wide in his brilliant green eyes, I would draw him sprawled out beneath me, ecstasy on his face.
Dimitri cleared his throat like he’d tried to get my attention more than once. The fantasy was so vivid, I’d forgotten for a second where I was. When I turned to face Dimitri, his eyes immediately fell to my cock, which was more than half hard beneath the black tactical pants I’d borrowed from Cal.
Embarrassed by my lack of self-control, I ignored Dimitri’s hungry gaze and pushed forward with my plan.
“My brother’s mate is looping the camera feeds, but we don’t have much time. Are you ready?”
Dimitri nodded. He’d put on a black long-sleeved T-shirt and black jeans, and I wanted to strip him bare, to see his golden skin again. I wished more than anything that he wasn’t involved in this at all, but the only way I could get him out was to get the information we needed and hopefully find something else we could use as a bargaining chip to get Dimitri out from under Dasselaar’s control.
Dimitri nodded. “It feels weird to be leaving the room without one of Dasselaar’s goons.”
Rage simmered low in my belly, but I pushed it away, attempting to focus on what we needed to do. “I promise it won’t be the last.”
Dimitri smiled but it faded quickly, and I watched him war with something before locking his emotions down and smiling again. “Okay.”
I wasn’t sure what that meant, but we were wasting time, and we needed to get to Dasselaar’s office. I settled the comm device back in my ear and immediately heard Felix on the other end.
“Quin? Thank fuck. Nero was losing his shit.”
“Sorry.”
Felix chuckled. “No, I get it. You needed to have a private conversation. Just do me a favor and maybe don’t do that again.”
“Sorry.”
Dimitri was watching me, clearly confused, so I pointed at my ear. “Felix. He’s running comms and watching the cameras for me.”
He nodded and took another step toward the door. I followed, and reaching out, I turned the doorknob and peeked out into the silent hall.
“Clear on my end,” Felix said in my ear.
“It’s clear. Lead the way.”
Dimitri stepped over the threshold and took a deep breath like he was tasting his freedom, then he looked up and down the hall like he was trying to decide which way to go while I relocked the door.
“This way.” He pointed to the right, toward the rear staircase, and we made our way in that direction on nearly silent feet, the plush antique rugs along the hall muffling our footsteps.
Dimitri took the stairs all the way to the ground level, then paused and once again considered where he was in the house. “I’m pretty sure it’s this way.” He pointed to the left. I knew from my walkaround earlier that the dining room, salon, and foyer were that way, but I nodded and followed Dimitri.
All the rooms were dark, and the halls were lit by sconces that had been turned down low, creating long shadows along each corridor.
“You’re clear.” Felix’s voice made me jump and my heart race more than it already had been. “I don’t see anyone up and about right now, so it should be smooth sailing.” I wanted to tell him those sounded an awful lot like famous last words, but I didn’t dare make a sound.
Dimitri instinctively stuck to the shadows, and I followed him down the hall past the dining room. Once we passed the dining room, the hallway opened up and became a gallery with windows that looked out over the circular front drive. Moonlight lit the hall, making the shadows harder to come by, and I stepped up alongside Dimitri, blocking him from the windows, just in case someone was outside and saw us moving through the house. I believed Felix when he said he didn’t see anyone wandering the estate, but I didn’t want to take a chance. I could blame curiosity and insomnia for why I was up prowling around Dasselaar’s home if caught, but that wouldn’t explain Dimitri’s presence.
“It’s this way,” Dimitri whispered low and pointed to the right.
We turned down another hallway and moved past a conservatory. The walls and ceiling were glass, and potted trees lined the space. Other plants were positioned in tall iron holders, long vines spilling over the edges until they almost brushed the floor. Two low white couches sat in the middle of the room facing each other with a marble coffee table in between. During the day, the space was probably lovely, but now, bathed in blue light from the moon, it looked otherworldly, the leaves of the plants caught in shadows that stretched unnaturally across the floor.
At the turn in the hallway, there was a set of dark wood double doors, and Dimitri walked up to them and tried the doorknob but it didn’t turn. “It’s locked.”
I fumbled in the pocket of my borrowed tactical pants and produced my lockpick set. “Not a problem.”
Dimitri stepped back, and I knelt in front of the door.
“Do you need a light?”
I shook my head. “No. There’s nothing to see, and I can do this by feel.” I found the pins and adjusted my pressure until the lock clicked and the door swung in, the hinges creaking slightly.
Dimitri and I both froze, the small sound feeling too loud in the silent stillness of the house.
“You’re still good.” Felix’s reassuring voice in my ear made me release the breath I was holding.
“Thanks, Felix.”
Dimitri stepped into the room, and I followed. Ambient light from outside filtered into the room from floor-to-ceiling windows bracketing a stone hearth on the far wall. Books lined the room-height shelves, and a large leather sofa and two wingback chairs were positioned in the center of the room just in front of the fireplace.
“I’ve only been in here twice, but I wish Dasselaar would let me at least visit this room.” The longing in Dimitri’s voice was almost tangible, and I mentally promised myself we would get him out of here. We had to. There was no other acceptable option. He was mine, and he would be coming home with me. No matter what.
“Do you like to read?”
“I do, but the light in here is beautiful, and I’d love to be able to lounge in front of a roaring fire and sketch.”
“You draw?”
“And paint and sculpt, though I haven’t had the chance to do much of either over the past year. Dasselaar would only give me a sketchbook and drawing pencils.”
“We’re going to get you out of here, and I will make sure you have every art supply you could ever want.”
“What is your favorite medium?”
His question brought me up short. “What makes you think I’m an artist?”
“I’ve seen your hands.” I looked down at them, but in the dark I couldn’t make out the imperfections I knew were there. “Only an artist has stains and calluses like that on their hands.”
While I kept my hands as clean and neatly manicured as possible, Dimitri was right, there were certain things that couldn’t be hidden as much as I tried. Years of crafting and working with pigment-based oil paints had left their mark in the form of stains I could no longer remove no matter how hard I scrubbed. Long-healed scars earned from carving up blocks of marble crisscrossed my palms, and calluses had formed from hours of wielding paintbrushes and other tools.
“I like to paint.”
Dimitri hummed like that was the answer he was expecting and moved farther into the room. He disappeared into a small alcove between two bookcases, then poked his head out. “This is Dasselaar’s study. The door here is locked too.”
He stepped out of the alcove completely, and I stepped in, removing my lockpick set and getting to work. This lock was more complicated and more difficult to open than the one on Dimitri’s door or the one to the library, and it took me longer than it should have to understand the placement of the pins. Sweat beaded on my brow. I knew in my gut that some of our answers lay on the other side of the door, and the pressure to open the lock and find the information that might be able to help us set Dimitri free bore down on me.
A cool hand touched the back of my neck, making me freeze even as heat emanated from the spot and sent my blood rushing south. It was an innocent touch, but the slide of Dimitri’s elegant fingers against the back of my neck was almost as arousing as if he’d been stroking his hand over my cock. He kneaded the muscles where my neck met my shoulders, and the self-induced tension seeped from my bones.
“Relax, Quin. You can do this.” His hand slid down my arm, his long fingers wrapping around my wrist. His words brushed the shell of my ear, making me shiver.
I took a deep breath, feeling for the pins in the lock again, and this time, I was able to get the tension just right. The lock gave, and I turned the knob, opening the door to Dasselaar’s private study. “Thank you.” I turned over my shoulder to find Dimitri’s face only inches from mine. His full lips were tipped up in a soft smile, and I wanted to close the tiny distance between us and lock our mouths together. His tongue peeked out and swiped across his lower lip before he bit down on it with his top teeth.
Without thought, I reached out and pulled the soft flesh free. Dimitri’s mouth fell open, inviting me to kiss him, and I was moving forward, closing the distance between us when Felix’s voice in my ear snapped me back to the present.
“What’s happening? It’s really quiet. Quin? Are you still there?”
I sighed, pulling myself back from the brink of kissing Dimitri. “Yes. I’m still here. I just got the door to Dasselaar’s study open.”
“Okay. Good. A light just went on in the second-floor hallway, so you might want to hurry.”
“Got it.” Turning to Dimitri, I tipped my head toward the office. “Let’s go.”
“What are we looking for again?”
I rattled off the list Nero had made me memorize. “Guest list, guard count and schedule, security schematics for the auction.” I added anything we can use as leverage to get Dimitri out to the list.
“Got it.”
Inside Dasselaar’s study, we went separate ways. Dimitri started looking through the built-in shelves and drawers while I took the desk. Unlike his desk at the gallery, which had been neat and uncluttered, Dasselaar’s desk at the estate was covered with file folders and papers. I started at the top of one pile, being careful to keep everything exactly as it was. The first few papers were shipping manifests. As Cal and Jack had assumed, he’d run the items for the auction into the gallery instead of having them brought directly to his estate. At first, I thought moving the paintings twice was stupid, but if any crew interested in stealing from Dasselaar had access to his home, they would have access to everything he had at the estate. Letting everything come to the gallery and then trickle out to his estate meant anyone who thought they were going to hit a big score by taking out one of the trucks moving between the gallery and the estate would be sorely disappointed since he moved a painting at a time, all on different routes. It was either incredibly inefficient or some sort of genius.
But it wasn’t overly helpful at this point.
Carefully, I moved that stack of papers aside. A hint of blue caught my eye, and I moved several file folders to unearth the blue folder. Ilse had brought in a similar folder when Dasselaar had asked for the guest list during our meeting and I crossed my fingers that this was it. Flipping it open, I let out a breath.
“Found the guest list.”
Dimitri jumped at the sound of my voice but recovered quickly and came to look over my shoulder. “I recognize a few of the names. Dasselaar has done business with some of these people in the past.”
“That’s good to know. As Felix and my brother Julius dig into this, they might have questions.”
“I don’t know much, but I’ll help however I can.”
“Thank you.” Pulling out my phone, I took a picture and sent it to Felix. The list was completely handwritten, which explained why Felix and Julius had been unable to find it on Dasselaar’s computer and further supported Nero’s claim that he would rather rely on people than technology for his security.
I worked through each page, mentally tallying two hundred and fifty names. On the last page, a note written to the side in a different pen caught my eye.
Quin Hunter. Security concern?
My instinct that Dasselaar was suspicious of me had been spot on. Not that it mattered. He’d let me into his house, despite those suspicions, and now I had one piece of the information we needed.
I slid the folder back where I’d found it, and Dimitri continued to go through the drawers.
“I think I found something.” He held a drawer open and gestured for me to come over.
“What is it?”
“Looks like a ledger. I can’t really tell if it’s useful or not.”
In the drawer was a large leatherbound book. Dimitri had it open to the first page where a list of debits and credits dated this week were listed. Several of the debits were for ten thousand dollars apiece to a list of thirty individual names. “These could be the added security personnel for the gala.”
“I’m not sure. I can tell you there are ten different men who have been in charge of drugging me and moving me where Dasselaar wants me. I don’t know any of their names to be able to tell you if they are on this list.”
“That’s okay. Between Felix and my brother, they’ll figure it out.” I snapped a picture and sent it off, then flipped through a few more of the ledger’s pages and sent those over too.
Felix had been quiet in my ear, and I wondered if I’d gotten disconnected from him or if he was already working on combing through the guest list.
We worked for a little while longer, going through everything we could find, but all I’d found that was helpful after the guest list and the ledger had been the schematics for some concealed pressure sensor alarms. I figured Dasselaar would be using those in the auction room to make sure no one tried to walk away with a painting. I hadn’t found anything incriminating we could use against Dasselaar, and I was beginning to think we were going to have to break Dimitri out the old-fashioned way with a smash-and-grab.
“Let’s go. I don’t think we’re going to find anything else.”
Dimitri had his back to me, a manilla file folder in his hand. He didn’t turn around when I spoke to him, so I moved to stand next to him, reading over his shoulder.
“Who is Athina?”
Dimitri jumped like he didn’t know I was standing there. “Uh, no one.” He dropped the file back into the drawer and closed it. “Are you done?”
“I think so.” I tipped my head toward the drawer he’d just shut. “Are you?”
“What?” He shook his head. “Oh, yeah. I’m good.”
But he didn’t look good. He looked rattled. And I wanted to know what was in that file. But we’d already pressed our luck long enough.
“Let’s get out of here.”