Chapter 16
CHAPTER
SIXTEEN
Maxim
She had the damn dog…in my pool.
Sia splashed around with the animal. Rather, it splashed her. She was laughing with it, laughing with…Polly.
I was trying to be better about that, acknowledging the dog had a name. This was mostly to appease her trainer. Sia waved her hand, gesturing toward the pool. “Come on. Get in.”
Yeah, that wasn’t happening. I folded my arms. “I’m good up here.”
My location was the pool’s deck, watching the two with a drink in my hand. It was too early for liquor unfortunately, even for me, and leaving Polly, Sia waded toward the side of the pool.
She lifted herself out of it, a bikini on her little frame. She was certainly more developed than my daughter’s other friends, more curvy.
My eyes narrowed, I paid more attention to the dog than her. Polly was dog paddling while Sia crossed her arms in front of me.
“Come on ,” she urged, sitting on the side of the pool. The sun hit her glistening skin. She held a natural tan, and it took the sun nicely, made her glow.
I averted my eyes again as she huffed and got back into the water. It covered her up to her shoulders, and her grin was wiry when she shielded her eyes from the sun. “You said you’d cooperate.”
I said I’d train with her and nowhere in that plan was a dog being in my pool .
Sia explained it was best that the pup and I shared each other’s spaces. Apparently, my space was the pool I’d now have to clean out in order for me to do my morning laps tomorrow.
Sia’s grin transformed into a frown, and she eyed me until I sighed and worked my robe off.
“Fine,” I cut, bunching it up. I tossed it on a lounge chair before taking the stairs into the pool. “And you owe me for a pool cleaning.”
She obviously wouldn’t be able to pay. There was a reason she was desperate enough to work for me, and I studied her when I got into the pool. Her dark gaze appraised the length of me, unashamed across my shoulders and down my abs…
To my cock.
Dangerous, malyshka.
That was another reason I didn’t want to get into the pool with her, be half-naked with her. She obviously developed some kind of little crush on me, and I didn’t want to entertain it. That certainly wasn’t unusual with one of my daughter’s friends, but… I eyed her. “Dog trainer?”
Well, that zapped her out of her fascination with my cock and abs. Both still had her attention and at one point wetting her lips.
My cock hardened, but then I watched my dog trainer click her little tongue at me. She huffed, putting distance between us. Perhaps, she didn’t enjoy being called by her title. That was her position in this house, and she shouldn’t forget it.
“Over here, Mr. Petrov,” she said, and I tried not to smirk at her terse tone. I enjoyed getting a rise out of this little one, playing with her.
I came over, keeping my own distance. The dog hadn’t attacked me yet, but who knew what the fuck could happen. Animals went rogue so I didn’t fuck with them. People were easier to read.
Usually, people were. Sia appeared to be a recent exception. There’s no reason she should still be here in my home, not with the things I’d subjected her to. She also surprised me by what she’d said about that traitor possibly deserving death. Young, innocent girls didn’t say such things so openly.
“Come closer to Polly, closer to me,” Sia said, observing me for a different reason now. She studied my cautious approach. “You don’t need to be scared of her. She won’t hurt you.”
She didn’t know that. My eyebrow lifted. “I’m not scared.”
“I’m sure you’re not.”
The words had been under her breath, bold. I got close to her and the dog, but kept what I felt was a comfortable distance. “I’m close enough. What next?”
Her eyes rolled, dark brown, deep. She also had this mark above them, a scar cutting her eyebrow into two parts. I’d seen a lot of animal bites, and that appeared to be one of them. It could have even been a dog bite. I’d seen lots of those as well, and the scar had that same shape.
Regardless, Sia didn’t appear to be scared of Polly. She obviously loved dogs and was good with them. Sia smiled at the pup before eventually having the dog swim around me.
I stiffened. “What are you doing?”
“You have to let her into your space. How can you train her if you can’t even relax enough to be around her?”
“Easy. Fear.” I studied the animal, its circle around me. “Speak to anything directly enough, and you can get them to break for you.”
“Is that how you treat everyone in your life, Mr. Petrov?” she questioned, wading backwards. “Maxim?”
My head shot up and away from the dog.
Sia didn’t correct herself, but I noticed the column of her throat shift. I wasn’t sure if she always knew my name, but never dared to call me by it before.
Studying her, I waded close. I got about a foot away from her and noticed the red tint the tops of her ears, her cheeks.
“Many, yes. Most,” I said, answering her question but also enjoying the fact I still maintained the power in this relationship. It would be so easy to break this girl.
Malyshka.
I got closer, probably dumb because at this point her soft scent absolutely radiated in my lungs. I caught a whiff of her within moments of being outside with her actually.
I’d been ignoring it.
Blood flushed her brown skin all over, her neck, her tits. If I had to guess, she was a mixture of races. Her tone light, the flush across her body could be easily seen.
How I affected her could be easily seen.
My growl was low.
“That’s enough water fun,” I said, drawing back. The dog approached me, but I ignored it. I cut around it. “I have to work.”
“You said we had until 8:30.”
“Well, I’m saying I have to work,” I basically barked, rerouting. I swam to the side of the pool and immediately got out.
I was drying off by the time Sia waded over to Polly. After commanding her, Sia took the stairs out of the pool with the dog beside her. She had Polly by the collar, the dog trainer dripping wet down to her pert little toes.
Growling again, I picked up my phone. I had a few missed texts from Val. I responded to one, then noticed over my shoulder Sia had covered herself and was starting to dry Polly off with one of my good towels.
Christ.
Was there anything this girl did that didn’t annoy me?
Grumbling, I started to chastise her but noticed her phone illuminate. She placed it right near mine before getting into the pool earlier, and when I picked it up, I bared my teeth.
Sia had a message. Actually, she had a match . I couldn’t swipe the phone open, but I was well aware of the notification from a familiar dating app.
I used it to find a good fuck.
I had specific needs. As a man yes, but also as someone who had specific kinks. This particular dating app catered to both.
What are you into, Miss Reynolds?
Some cocksucker named Derek matched with her, and before I thought better of it…
I slammed the phone against the stone table on my deck. I managed to muffle the sound beneath my palm, but after, I dropped the phone on the deck.
Sia heard that, and when she looked up, I was picking up her phone.
“Damn,” I said, showing her the shattered screen. She came over, and I shrugged. “Sorry.”
Her mouth parted, she took it. “Fuck.”
“Must have been on my robe when I went to pick it up,” I lied, then held out my hand. “I can get you a new one though. I’ll have someone take care of it before I go to work.”
She didn’t look like she wanted to, but she did give it to me. She sighed. “Okay, thanks.”
She said this but didn’t look okay. I could imagine the phone was the only thing she had to connect her to the outside world since she didn’t leave my property.
You don’t let her.
I wrapped my towel around my waist.
“Do you need anything else today?” I asked for some reason. I forced out a breath. “I mean, besides the phone.”
I’d made sure she had jellybeans, and once she got through the ones in her room, she had about ten pounds of them downstairs in the kitchen pantry. I’d asked Sophia about the ones Sia liked.
“No, I’m okay,” she said, and for some reason, I was disappointed. Odd. She rubbed her arms. “Actually, can you get me a pillowcase?”
“Are the ones in your room not sufficient?” I found that hard to believe. I had the best sheets flown in from overseas to the house.
“No, they’re fine. I just need a special one for my hair.” She waved a hand to her damp curls. “Helps with my texture.”
I nodded. “What kind do you need?”
She proceeded to tell me silk, and I bobbed my head twice in acknowledgement. That shouldn’t be an issue.
“But if you can’t find it, whatever.” She waved it off, and I didn’t know why. Did she not feel she was worth catering to or her needs met?
I tossed the towel on the lounge chair, replacing it with my robe. “I’m sure I can manage, and I’ll work on the commands.”
She taught me a couple for Polly before getting into the pool, and it was like I was seeking approval from Sia by telling her I’d work on what she instructed.
Again, odd.
I watched Sia go. She took Polly with her, and before I knew it, I was getting Val on the phone. I had a few questions for her.