Chapter 20
Chapter twenty
Dmitri
Distracting.
That’s the only word I could use to describe the woman who had gotten under my skin and into my thoughts. Alisa wasn’t even in the fucking room with me. Probably going through the numbers in the ledger while curling up in a stiff chair-
Like I said, distracting.
And I couldn’t afford to be distracted, not when my instinct was telling me there was something off about all of this.
After Jayden gave me a tour of his operations that was obviously rehearsed to show that nothing was amiss, I was finally back in the room with the object of my distractions.
While she excitedly bounced up on her toes while explaining something she’d found inside the ledger, I kept myself from slamming her down on the desk and making her toes curl for an entirely different reason.
When I remained silent, her bouncing stopped, and the enthusiasm withered off her.
“What?” I said, forcing myself to stop imagining the exact hue of her cheeks when she came on my cock.
Alisa’s shoulders tightened, and she set the ledger down. “Forget it. I don’t even know what I’m doing.”
“I’m pretty sure anybody who's never seen a ledger before today would have absolutely no idea what they are doing,” I said, but I frowned when I noticed her eyes were glued to the ground. “You’re doing fine, just repeat what you said before.”
Her enthusiasm was gone as she launched into a hesitant explanation about some unusual numbers she’d come across. She didn’t completely understand why they seemed off.
Before I could say a single word, she cut in that it was probably wrong and a stupid idea.
“It’s not stupid,” I said, glancing at the page she’d mentioned. If I’d gone through the numbers, the same thing likely would’ve caught my attention. “Good job.”
She lit up with a smile that encompassed her entire face.
I’d bet my favorite sports car that this girl had a praise kink. And I wanted to tease out each and every one of this girl’s kinks and fantasies.
Fuck, I’d never cared what a girl’s fantasies were beyond the moment I was fucking them. Let alone a girl who I’d never even touched. This girl was fucking with my mind.
A knock sounded at the door, and the tension seemed to reignite within her. I wanted to amplify her body’s tension and watch her release it.
Over and over again.
Instead, I just watched as she launched herself towards the door. I had to remind myself that I’d promised myself that I’d let her come to me.
As painful as that was becoming.
Jayden’s slimy smile broadened when he locked eyes with Alisa’s chest. Alisa’s shoulders became so rigid that if someone put a rock between her shoulder blades, it’d split in half.
Well, at least it was obvious that Jayden wouldn’t be fulfilling any of her repressed fantasies. Probably the inverse, if the irritated expression she was trying to keep off her face was any indication.
But from the glint in Jayden’s eyes, he either didn’t care what she wanted, or was stupid enough to think she was just playing hard to get. Which was another fucking problem.
Why did all my other missions seem simple compared to this one?
With a suppressed groan, I followed him into the ‘smoking lounge’. Once again, Jayden patted the seat beside him, and my kitten choose the furthest fucking horizontal surface.
Good girl.
For the first time since we’d entered the room, a hesitant smile appeared on Alisa’s face. I instinctively turned to see the source of it.
A lithe brunette slithered into the room, her breasts nearly spilling out of her low cut top.
Exactly my usual type. And for some reason, I felt…
Absolutely nothing.
“I’m Alisa Solovyova,” kitten said, standing up to shake her hand.
“Luna Barlowe.” She spared Alisa a dismissive glance before settling her attention fully on me. Her voice turned smoky as she said, “And who are you?”
“Dmitri Novikov,” I said.
Despite the brunette eye fucking me into the next century, my attention was focused on Alisa. Whose fingers clenched together the longer Luna stared at me.
Was my little kitten jealous?
“Such a pleasure to meet you,” Luna said to me, swiping an imaginary crumb off her chest.
But that wasn’t what caught my eye. It was the way Alisa’s teeth ground together.
“Let me grab you a drink, Dmitri,” Luna purred.
Not a chance in hell of that. I didn’t trust a single person in this room not to poison me. And my kitten was at the top of that list.
“I’ll get it myself. Want anything, Alisa?” I said, keeping myself from calling her by her nickname.
I was more than aware that anything that happened on this trip might leak back to the Pakhan. In fact, I was almost sure of it.
The Pakhan’s and I’s relationship was… interesting. And I wasn’t planning on giving him any fuel.
“No,” Alisa said, her posture turning defensive.
“Worried I’m going to poison you?” I shot back in Russian.
Lust intensified in Luna’s eyes as she took in the foreign syllables while confusion formed in Jayden’s. I’d subtly tested him earlier, seeing if his eyes narrowed in recognition when I’d slipped into Russian. He didn’t understand a single word.
I unscrewed the top off the vodka, and poured it into a crystal glass sitting on the bar cart. To Alisa’s credit she didn’t respond with a ‘yes’, but irritation still brimmed in me.
Based off my stalking, I knew how overly cautious she’d become with her drinks after the incident. But I’d saved her fucking life and taken her back to my house when I never brought anyone to my sanctuary.
How could she have an inkling of doubt that I’d choose this moment to poison my temporary ally when I was staring down a man who was looking for any opportunity to hurt me and to grow his own renown?
She frowned at the floor, and then said, “I changed my mind. Would you mind making me a drink, Dmitri?”
My eyebrows jumped so high that they nearly disappeared into my hair. While I fixed her drink–mai thai, her current favorite when she wasn’t working–I made sure she had a clear view of my drink making process.
I handed her the peace offering drink, and settled into the seat adjacent to her. Still, I didn’t miss the shake in her hands as she raised it to her lips. Trust didn’t come easily to my kitten.
I watched the bob of her throat far more closely than was healthy, and now I was imagining her swallowing something else down.
She set the drink down after only a sip, but that heated feeling didn’t come close to fading.
“Can you teach me Russian, Dmitri?” Luna said, obviously put out from the attention being off her. “It sounds so wonderful coming out of your lips.”
Alisa snorted, and Luna narrowed her eyes on her.
I smirked. “What is it, Alisa?”
“The only time your lips are wonderful is when they aren’t moving,” Alisa teased in Russian.
I leaned into her. “Would you like me to demonstrate how wrong you are?”
My gaze tilted to her lips. They parted slightly as she sucked in a breath.
My smirk deepened when she jerked away from me, a flush rising across her cheeks.
Jayden tapped his fingernails against the wood coffee table. “I might need to learn Russian if it can make a beautiful girl react like that.”
The reminder that we weren’t alone slammed back into me. This wasn’t the time to play with my kitten as much as her very presence incited me to do exactly that.