Chapter 5 - Diomid
The glimmer of tears in her eyes gets blinked away, and now she’s glaring at me again.
Her arms are folded over her chest, and she’s giving me a look as though she wants to scold me.
I risked my life to rescue a Shev. She should have told me who she was the night we met.
Shaking my head, I turn away from her, slipping my hand into my pocket to pull out my phone as I walk to the other side of the living room. I should call Jaroslav and just get rid of her. Drop her at her family home and be done with her.
Turning back to face her, my eyes trace up and down her gorgeous figure. Still wearing the same dress she had danced in the night before. My heart clenches. She’s been through a lot. I would also be moody after a day like that. After someone tried to auction me off to dirty old men.
Let her go home to her family.
No, she was rude and ungrateful.
It’s not your problem.
No, it’s not my problem. But there is no reason she should get away with it.
Maybe I’ll teach her a little lesson. A lesson that maybe she shouldn’t backchat so much. A lesson about her attitude.
Dialing Jaroslav, I clear my throat gruffly and set my eyes right on Angelika.
She frowns, watching me closely.
A smirk teases the corner of my lip, and I look away, so she doesn’t see it.
“Diomid?” Jaroslav answers tensely. “Have you got any news for us?”
“I got something better than news. I have Angelika. Your sister is safe with me,” I say calmly.
“Are you fucking kidding. Oh man, this is such a relief. I can’t believe it. What happened? Where was she? How did you find her?”
“It was an auction ring, and it was as you suspected. Bardil Popov took your sister and tried to sell her to the highest bidder. I got some intel on where and when and… listen, man … it got ugly there. I had to shoot the whole place up to get her out. I don’t know how many of them I took down, but it was intense. ”
“Fuck, Diomid, why didn’t you call for backup?” he murmurs, shocked.
“There wasn’t any time, and I knew I could handle it.”
“I don’t know what to say. How can I even thank you enough for what you did for her?”
“The problem is that because I went in guns blazing, I guarantee it’s not safe out there for her.
There will be many angry people looking for her.
Right now she’s safe. She’s with me. In my opinion, it’s not a good idea for us to leave the hideout until at least most of the storm has passed.
But it’s up to you.” I already know what he’s going to say.
“No, I agree. If she’s hidden, she needs to stay hidden. I can’t imagine Bardil would have taken lightly to you gatecrashing and tearing down his auction party. But is this a problem for you? I don’t want to cause issues for you.”
“No issues for me. I’m good to stay with her. I’m glad I could help.”
“You’ve done more than help, Diomid. You saved her life,” he says. Guilt scrapes at me, making me wonder if I’m doing the right thing. But my explanation for keeping her here is legitimate enough. It’s not necessary, but it makes sense.
I’m just not used to Jaroslav being so generous with his friendliness. This is all new to me, this alliance dynamic. I’ve been against it the whole time to the point where I didn’t even try to get to know the guy. He doesn’t seem so bad.
“Is that my brother?” Angelika snaps, her eyes wide. “Did he just agree to you keeping me here?” she hisses.
“You’re staying with me for a while.”
Her eyes flare. “I’m doing what? Put the phone on speaker. I want to talk to him.”
In a hurry, I end the call with her brother.
“Listen, man, I want to get her something to eat and some fresh clothes. She’s been through a lot,” I say.
“Of course, of course. Get her to call us when she’s rested. We’d love to speak with her. But for now, I’m sure she’s exhausted and just wants to get some sleep.” Jaroslav says goodbye, and I hang up.
“I wanted to talk to my brother,” she says tightly, fighting for control of herself.
Her voice breaks a little at the edges, and I realize how emotional she feels. A soft sadness glimmers over her face, and she bites at her lip, making me remember how she used those lips to do delightful things to me last night. Wow, it feels like a lifetime ago.
I shove the thought from my mind.
Now is hardly the time to be thinking of such things.
But still, my eyes drift over her, my heart rate spiking, my cock stirring.
Angelika’s softness suddenly disappears.
“You can’t keep me any safer than my brothers can at home, and you know it,” she snarls.
This time, I can’t hide the smirk. I do know it.
But I also want to teach her a lesson—that little Bratva pampered princesses don’t always get what they want and sometimes, they actually have to show gratitude when someone saves their life.
One corner of my lip curves upward, and she notices right away. “Is this funny?” she snaps harshly.
Her cheeks are flushed from frustration.
“It’s for your own safety, Angelika. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure nothing happens to you,” I muse.
“You’ll make sure…” she says in disbelief. “This is a nightmare. This can’t be real.”
“Well, you’d better make yourself comfortable because you will be staying here for a while. I’ll be keeping you…”
“Keeping me!? So basically, I’m your prisoner now? Is that what’s going on?” She’s furious.
“If you let me finish what I was going to say,” I muse. “I’ll be keeping you safe.”
“Stop saying that. Let me call my brother,” she demands, holding out her hand to take my phone.
“The battery died,” I smirk, slipping it back into my pocket. “I’ll put it on charge while you shower and get changed. There’s plenty of clothes in the bedroom closet.”
“I’m not wearing one of your one-night stands’ old clothes,” she huffs.
“The clothes are all new. This is a safe house, not a frat house. It’s stocked for emergencies. Including clothing in various sizes. And don’t be so judgmental of my one-night stands, Angel. You are one of them.”
Laughter rumbles from my chest when I see the look of absolute horror and embarrassment on her face. She hates me right now, and I don’t give a shit. I might even go so far as to say I’m enjoying myself. I’ve managed to steal her away and keep her to myself, even if just for a few days.
“I’m not staying,” she snarls, shoving past me toward the door. She is determined to play hardball in this situation.
“Did you see what happened at the auction, Angel?” I ask calmly as she tries to punch guessed codes pointlessly into the lock.
The question pauses her. She doesn’t turn to look at me, though, but she stops her frantic attempt to escape.
“Did you see how many people I killed to get you out of there? How many do you think? Thirty? Fifty?”
When she turns to look at me, her face is pale.
She swallows, pressing her lips together.
“How angry do you think the people who took you are?”
“I suppose… I guess…”
“They’ll be angry enough to be hunting for you, princess. They’ll want revenge on the worthless little whore that they planned to make money off, but ended up losing half their customers and men to. You cost them a lot of money.”
“It wasn’t my fault that they…”
“They won’t see it that way. What do you think you are to them?”
“Worthless,” she mutters in distress. “I think they saw me as a fun toy. I think they… I think they were going to kill me when they were done with me…” Tears begin streaking down her cheeks. This time, she doesn’t fight them.
I don’t want to hurt her like this, but I do need her to be reasonable.
“And tell me, Angel, if you are with your family when those men come looking for you, what do you think they will do to your family?”
Angelika bites down hard, her face distorting with pain and guilt.
“I get it. I get your point. You can stop now.”
“You can’t go home,” I reinforce.
“But my brothers have safe houses too. I can go to one of them,” she argues.
“Don’t you think you’ve caused your family enough trouble?”
This question stings her. But it also ends the argument.
“I’m going to shower,” she mutters, walking away from the locked front door and stomping her way toward the bedroom.
“There are fresh towels in the…”
“I’m sure I’ll figure it out without you, thank you very much,” she snaps.
Laughter ripples through me. Feisty. Rude. It’s going to be fun bringing her down a notch. Teaching her a lesson is going to bring me some pleasure. After all, that is my whole reason for keeping her here.
I watch Angelika walk up the stairs, my eyes struggling to tear off her.
She’s gorgeous. Even filthy, covered in a layer of grime from wherever they held her, and dirt from when she fought back, and a few blood stains from our escape.
Even looking disheveled, angry, and tired, she’s still the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.
Groaning inwardly, I look down at myself. I’m also in need of a shower. That rescue mission left me splattered with blood and soaked in sweat.
Climb into the shower with her.
I scoff at myself.
What happened last night should have been enough to satisfy me for a while. Why the hell am I so fired up over her? I had her. It was great. That’s that. There’s no need to dwell on it anymore.
Yet, my body still yearns for her. Craves her.
While Angelika is in the shower, I scratch around in the kitchen and put together an easy dinner of macaroni and cheese with bacon bits and creamy sauce.
She comes back downstairs looking calmer, her wet hair hanging loose down her back. She’s wearing some sweatpants that are a little too big for her, hanging low on her hips to show off her sharp hipbones and slender waist. The T-shirt is tight around her breasts and cropped.
Isn’t it funny how she looks ten times hotter in this outfit than she did in that dress?
Fuck.
I might be in trouble here.
“I, er, made some food.”
“Thanks, I could smell it from upstairs, and my stomach was already growling.” She smiles sweetly as she looks at me, then reaches out to touch my arm, sending a wave of heat spilling through me.
“Thank you, Diomid. You saved my life. I can’t imagine… I don’t want to imagine. I mean. Just thank you.” She looks up at me with those gorgeous, big green eyes, and my heart softens.
I’ve been too hard on her.
No, wait. What the hell? She’s manipulating me with charm, seeing as I refused to bend to her outright demands.
My heart hardens again, and I smile, nodding curtly. “No need to thank me. I did it for your brother.”
She doesn’t like my answer at all. In a flash, she’s withdrawn her hand, and with a sulky pout, she picks up her bowl of pasta and storms from the kitchen.
I bite back the laughter.
I didn’t budge on her demands. And I won’t fall for her charm. She’s not going to get control of me, no matter how hard she tries.
I pick up my dinner and walk through to the living room, finding her sitting on the sofa, tucked into the corner, eating silently. I sit on a different sofa, set on enjoying my dinner and then heading up to shower. But I keep finding my eyes on her.
Why is she so fascinating to me?
Is it because she’s such a brat and I’m determined to teach her a lesson? Or is it something else?
No.
There’s nothing else going on here.
This princess just needs to be brought down a notch.
Once I’ve taught her some manners, I’ll send her right back to her brothers and likely never see her again after that.
My chest tightens and my jaw clenches.
Whatever.
She’s a Shev.