Chapter Five #2
“Can I have a garden?” I ask on the drive. My voice sounds hallow even to my own ears.
“Yes. You can have a garden. But I don’t like the idea of you getting your hands dirty. I’ll have a gardener take care of one for you.”
But the point of wanting a garden was to do the work myself. Right now though, I don’t bother objecting.
We arrive at the house. Or should I say mansion? The entire house is up a long circular driveway surrounded by trees, giving the allusion of privacy, even though there’s another house just across the street.
The house itself is a beautiful white and black home. White brick and black shutters. It screams elegance. I guess I shouldn’t have expected anything else for Dimitri.
But despite the house’s beauty, the urge to cry hits me all over again and I can’t stop my tears from falling. I’m going to be living with Dimitri for the rest of my life. This is it now. Nothing will ever be the same again.
“I wasn’t expecting that reaction,” Dimitri comments, shutting the car off.
“It’s all so much change,” I say through my tears.
“Just focus on me, Sofiya. That’s all that matters. Let me show you around the house.”
I calm my breathing enough to make my tears go away and follow Dimitri inside. Everything about the house is big. A large foyer, a large living room that leads to an even larger kitchen. Even the bathrooms are the sizes of a small apartment.
And everything is cream and green and black, giving the space a modern yet fairytale vibe to it. If I hadn’t gone through what I just went through, I’d love this place, but all I can think about is how I’m officially Dimitri’s forever. I’ll never live with my parents again.
And thinking of my parents…
“I need to call my dad,” I say. “I need to tell him about what happened.”
Dimitri places his fingers under my chin.
“If you tell him about that, it will only make him worry. You may call him to tell him you’re back home.
But don’t give too many details. I don’t need your father thinking I can’t protect you.
He might try to take you back from me and I’m not letting you go for anything. ”
The warning in Dimitri’s voice is clear. I am his and no one else’s. Not even my father has a claim to me any longer.
“Ok,” I whisper. “I don’t want to worry him.”
He taps my chin before dropping his hand. “That’s my good girl. I’ll go set our suitcases in the bedroom while you call him. And then I want you all to myself.”
I shiver at his words. My body still remembers what Dimitri has done to me. The spankings. The arousal I feel in between my legs whenever he’s around.
My hands are shaking as I call my dad. At least Dimitri hasn’t denied me a cell phone. I’m not sure what lengths he’ll go to, to keep me under his control.
“Sofiya,” my dad answers. “Why are you calling? Aren’t you still on your honeymoon?”
“No. We came back home.”
“Early. Why?”
I squeeze my eyes shut and try to forget about what happened to me back in Greece. “I missed being at home. I missed you and Mom. So Dimitri had us come home early.”
“We’ll have to plan a day to meet up. I’ve missed you too. Are you being a good wife to Dimitri?”
“Yes.” Trying to be anyway. There’s no way I can tell my father about all the spankings I’ve endured. Or how Dimitri tied me to a bed for hours. Or how he lights my body on fire in a way it never has before.
“Good. Be on your best behavior. Make me proud.”
“I always strive to do that. Tell Mom I love her.”
“I will.”
We hang up after that. My phone drops from my hand before I can even react. It doesn’t break fortunately but the sound of it slamming against the ground startles me.
Panic zips up my throat and chest and mind. Memories of being kidnapped. The horror and fear I was in. The utter nightmare. If Dimitri hadn’t found me, who knows where I’d be right now?
My body slams against the wall and I slide right down to the floor, trying to catch my breath but I can’t. I can’t think of anything other than the fear I was in. The pain. The loneliness.
This is how Dimitri finds me.
“Sofiya?” He kneels down before me. “What’s going on? Why are you on the floor?”
“I can’t stop thinking about it,” I whisper, squeezing my eyes shut. “I can’t stop.”
He pauses. “The kidnapping?”
“Yes.”
“Come along. You should rest. It was a long flight back to New York.” He picks me up into his arms and carries me into the master bedroom. The bed is the softest mattress I’ve ever laid on.
Dimitri lets me go and starts to walk away when I grab his hand.
“Please,” I whisper. “Please stay with me. I can’t be alone right now. I’m scared.”
A slow, satisfied smile crosses Dimitri’s face. I’m giving him exactly what he wants: my utter devotion. The need for him.
“I’ll stay. I’ll be right here. Just sleep, Sofiya.”
My eyes flutter closed as I hold onto Dimitri’s hand but once the darkness overtakes me, I feel my hand slip right from his.
Dimitri
My plan is working. Alekos did his job. Kidnap Sofiya for me so I could swoop in and save her life. It was the only way to get her to trust me. The only way to break her down until she wanted nothing but me.
But Sofiya isn’t fully broken yet. I want her to be a shell that only has me in it. Soon, in time.
For now, I’m content to just look down at my lovely wife as she sleeps and know I’ll have complete control over her in time.
Sofiya
When I wake back up, it’s the next day. Dimitri isn’t beside me. In fact, he’s not in the room at all.
I change into a long skirt and crop top and go in search of my husband. The need to be around him is too great. I need him to make me feel safe again. Secure.
But it’s not Dimitri I find in the kitchen. It’s an older woman, probably in her sixties, who’s currently cooking omelets on the stove.
“Hello,” I say in surprise.
She gives me a glance over and a huff. Clearly, she doesn’t approve of how I’m dressed. Or she just doesn’t approve of me in general.
“I’m Sofiya,” I say, ignoring the sting of her dismissal. “Who are you?”
“I’m Ann,” she says. “The chef and maid. I make sure Mr. Ivanov is always fed and that his clothes are always washed and steamed and pressed and that his house is kept neat and tidy. Who are you? Another girl he’s brought home?”
I frown. “I’m his wife.”
Her eyes widen and her hand stills on the pan. “His… wife? He didn’t tell me he got married.”
“What did he tell you?”
“Just that he was going to be gone for a few days. Why didn’t he tell me he got married?”
“I have no idea.” I pause, thinking back to her words. “Another girl? Has Dimitri brought home a lot of girls before?”
“That’s something you need to talk about with him.”
I don’t want to upset Ann, especially since she works here. Dimitri probably won’t like it.
But there is something I’ve been curious about Dimitri that I know he won’t tell me the answer.
“Is it true that he keeps his sister locked up in a dungeon?”
Ann goes still but then scoffs. “No. She’s not locked away in a dungeon.”
“Does she live with him or somewhere else? I’d love to meet her.”
“No one has met Katya in a long time. I doubt you’re going to get to meet her. So stop asking.”
Katya. So that’s his sister’s name. Pretty.
“Where is she then?”
“She lives here,” is all Ann says.
“Here? In the house? Where?”
She places the omelet on a plate and holds it out to me. “Eat. And stop asking questions.”
My stomach is grumbling for food so I do take the plate and I eat the omelet like the good girl I am. Ann goes back to ignoring me as she cleans the kitchen.
Why is she being so secretive about Katya? What is Dimitri hiding?
And why do I still feel like he’s keeping something from me about the kidnapping? I just feel it in my gut that I don’t have all the answers.
Once I finish eating, I go in search of Dimitri. He’s the man who saved my life. I have to make an effort with him.
After searching around the house for a while, I finally find him in his office. His eyes are locked onto his laptop.
I gently knock on the half-open door. “Hi.”
“Sofiya. You’ve sought me out. I never thought I would see the day.”
“I met Ann.”
“Oh? Good.” He turns back to his laptop. The way he ignores me stings. It only serves to make me want his attention more.
“How come you didn’t tell her you got married?”
“Ann is a busy body. She likes to know everything. I just didn’t bother telling her. I figured she’d find out when we came back. And now she has.” He keeps his eyes glued to the laptop. The urge to cry hits me all over again.
“Are you busy today?” I ask.
“I do have work, yes.”
“Could I go out?”
“Go out… where?”
“Shopping. The movies. Anything. Something. I just… I can’t get what happened in Greece out of my head. I was hoping a day out of the house could help with that.”
“I’m busy with work, Sofiya, so no. We can go out later. But for now, you’re staying put.”
If I leaved to spend the day by myself, I’m sure Dimitri would spank me for it and I promised both Dimitri and my father that I would aim to make them proud. Going against his wishes will not make Dimitri proud.
“That’s not fair,” I whine softly. “I thought after everything I went through…”
“That I would be a changed man? That I would shower you with kindness? I have work, Sofiya.”
“I am an adult. I can leave the house by myself.”
He finally meets my eyes and there so intense, it makes me lose my breath. “I said no, Sofiya. End of discussion.”
“Fine.” I pause for a moment before I blurt out the words. “Where is your sister?”
“My sister?” His tone is filled with ice. “What about my sister?”
“Where is she? Ann said she lives here.”
“She’s in her room. Leave her alone. She likes to not be disturbed by anyone. I have a library filled with books. Go read. Expand your mind. And when I’m don’t with work, I’ll come see you.”
“I just –,” I stop myself when he gives me a hard look.
“Clearly, you can’t do as I instruct without complaint.
I don’t think you’re fully broken yet, Sofiya.
Not even what you went through broke you down.
You will listen to me. I said we can go out later.
Not right now. But since you’re so inclined to object to my command, I have some place to show you.
” He finally closes his laptop and walks over to me.
“This will teach you a lesson. You will obey me. I will be in control of you. All you have to do is give in.”
“Show me what?” I whisper as another bout of arousal hits me. Whenever Dimitri stands close to me, I feel it everywhere in my entire body.
Dimitri’s expression is dark as he leads me from his office and to a door in the foyer. “In here.” The door opens to reveal a set of stairs, leading down into darkness.
I follow behind Dimitri as he takes me down into a basement. Except, this isn’t just an ordinary basement.
It looks more like a dungeon.