Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Dmitri
We’re at the Maressa, a rooftop restaurant in the heart of Boston.
I haven’t been here before. It’s fancy and a three-Michelin star restaurant but not the kind of place I would have chosen. I’m also vastly underdressed in my long-sleeved T-shirt and black jeans—the result of being dragged into this out-of-the-blue dinner gathering.
The restaurant is all gold trim and crystal chandeliers, the kind of place where the air feels too clean and suffocating. Perfect for my father.
The walls are lined with floor-to-ceiling windows that look out over the city skyline, where a million lights blink against the night, mocking me with their freedom.
Freedom I can’t have right now.
The scent of overpriced truffle oil lingers in the air, mixing with my growing anger. Anger towards my father, who sits at the head of the long, polished table, talking proudly about his latest investments and his plans for Raventhorn.
Beside him, my stepmother smiles that saccharine smile of hers, a glass of wine dangling between her manicured fingers. At least she looks happy.
Maybe she can’t see that this dinner is a damn circus and set up for me.
Across from Yuliana is Pat Liebermann—the Patriots’ scout and the bait used to lure me out. Sitting next to him is his niece, Alina—the wild card and the other bait my father is trying to use to attract me.
I took one look at her honey-blonde hair, puckered lips, and nip-tuck body and knew she was here because my father wants to set me up with her.
I should’ve known better than to agree to this.
I should be on my third or fourth round of taking Mackenzie by now. Instead, I’m here.
Even though leaving made sense, I shouldn’t have left her.
I can’t believe I was almost inside her. I almost, almost made her mine in ways that only exist in my fantasies.
The image of her naked body is still burned into my mind.
Her gorgeous breasts were just like I imagined. Perfectly round and full, with tight dusty-rose nipples that pebbled on my tongue.
Her milky skin was as smooth and as flawless as her, her waist tapering into little curvy hips and long elegant ballerina legs.
And her pussy… that felt like the homerun. I could feast on her for days and never get tired.
Instead of being here, all I want to do is get back to two hours ago when I was feasting on my girl.
Mackenzie can try to resist all she wants, but her body betrayed her.
It spoke to me, telling me everything she was hiding away from me—how badly she liked my touch, how badly she craved everything I was doing to her, how badly she wanted me.
As she gave in and yielded to me, there was nothing my fucked-up mind wouldn’t think of to keep her. It was irritating as hell that meant leaving when my father came by and almost caught us.
My father was clearly on the hunt for me, so he wouldn’t have left me alone if I’d sent him away and turned down the invite to dinner.
Chances are he’d have had his minions watching me. Then, even if Mackenzie and I left the locker room separately, they would have picked up some clue that we were together.
Accepting the dinner invite hopefully threw my father off my scent and safeguarded my secret affair with Mackenzie.
Secret affair. So, that’s what this is. That’s what I created. A game of secrets.
Except there was nothing about earlier that felt like a game. The idea of a game suggests playing around. I wasn’t playing around when I was with her.
I don’t even think of football as a game. It’s my life. She feels the same, and we’ve barely done anything. Probably because Mackenzie and I have history.
We didn’t just get together in college like many of our friends. And although she doesn’t know this version of me, she knows the secret parts of me I never show anyone.
My eyes drift to my father as he says something funny that has everyone laughing. I don’t know what the fuck he said, but Pat is laughing his head off. Yuliana is chuckling, so it must have been funny.
I can’t always tell with her because she’s like a robot sometimes. She does whatever she thinks my father wants her to do.
She’s been smiling away tonight, but I’ve noticed the dullness in her eyes, suggesting she’s not herself. I can only guess that means Father either did or said something to hurt her. I pity her sometimes for being in love with him.
“That is absolutely hilarious,” Pat says, still laughing. He’s a burly guy with a Wreck it Ralph build, so it almost looks comical to see him laughing so hard when he looks like he’s always prepped to smash things.
“I know. It took me days to figure it out,” Father chuckles.
I still don’t know what the hell they’re talking about, and I don’t care to find out.
What I do care about is this …
Them together —Pat and my father talking like old buddies who lived life together, attended each other’s weddings, and were present for the birth of each other’s children.
What the hell is up with that?
I didn’t even know my father was in contact with Pat or knew him.
My father is the kind of man who can meet anyone on the planet he wishes to meet. I’m guessing his football career helped here. But he’s only talking to Pat to have some fucking control over me.
It was obvious he used Pat to lure me here tonight because he knew I’d come. Although, I almost turned him down.
The niece— Alina —is another story.
She’s what my father would call pretty. I’ve seen him with girls like her. Perfectly polished in that fake, Instagram-filtered kind of way, but she has a high-pitched laugh that grates on my nerves.
Her designer dress hugs her fake tits too tightly every time she tries to get my attention by batting her lashes at me. She’s doing it again now.
Jesus, I wish I could leave.
I can’t believe I’m here and that I left Mackenzie for this.
“Your father is definitely my kind of man,” Pat says to me in a hearty voice and an emphasized nod. “I’m so glad we did this.”
“Me too.” I try to keep the irritation out of my voice to put on a good front for Pat.
“Feel free to message me anytime you’re in town. We should do this again,” Father says, nodding at me.
“Absolutely.”
“It would also give Dmitri and Alina a chance to get to know each other. Although, I’m hoping they’ll get acquainted outside our meetings.” Father throws a determined smile at me.
Bastard. Sometimes I want to strangle him. This is his response to me saying I needed to focus on football. Get the scout’s niece to entice me.
It’s not going to work.
“Me too,” Alina replies, tossing me that look again. “I’m at Harvard, so it wouldn’t be that hard to meet up.”
Raventhorn is right next door to Harvard. They even share a part of the campus, so I could potentially run into her or meet up like she’s suggesting. That’s just not going to happen.
I want to tell her exactly that, and why, but I hold off the asshole in me and decide to play nice with a polite smile. It’s not her fault this is happening.
“Ever the matchmaker.” Yuliana shifts in her chair, and her gaze flickers to mine. She knows I’m not happy about this, but like always, she won’t say anything. She’ll do what she must to please my father.
“I try my best because I have the best wife.” Father grins easily and plants a kiss on Yuliana’s cheek.
She gives him a forced smile and takes a sip of her drink, looking uncomfortable again.
I take that to mean my previous assumptions were right and there’s trouble in paradise. My father only displays affection when he’s been caught doing something.
I pray he’s not fucking around with any of the students like the last Lord Chancellor. That’s not his style, but one can never tell.
“Matchmaking would be a lot easier if Dmitri showed some sign of life.” Father’s lips press into a thin line, and he glowers at me.
"I’m here, aren’t I?" I bite out, my voice low and edged with defiance.
Pat chuckles. “Maybe my star athlete here is just unsure. It’s a tough year with the championships coming up.”
I give Pat an appreciative smile and nod. “And I want to make sure I’m even better than last year.”
He raises his glass of wine, looking proud and pleased with me. “Hear, hear to that. You were a force to be reckoned with. I can’t wait to see what you’ll do this year.”
“Me too, but rest assured, I’m bringing it to the table.” That’s the most words I’ve said since we got here.
“I believe you.”
I cast a glance at my father, who’s giving me his arrogant smirk.
“Football aside, I can assure you, my Alina is top tier, so you’ve got nothing to worry about if you two want to get to know each other.” Pat slips an arm around his niece and gives her a little hug.
“Thank you, uncle. You’re the best,” Alina replies, awed at her uncle’s praise.
“You’d have to be top tier to go to Harvard,” Father chimes in. “Dmitri actually got a scholarship offer for Harvard.”
Listen to him— hypocrite . He hated that I got a scholarship for Harvard. His actual words were don’t even think about going there. As a Knight family, we’re expected to attend Raventhorn. We never argued about it because I already had my heart set on Raventhorn.
“That’s so impressive.” Alina’s eyes glitter with interest as she looks me over, admiring my tattoos.
“Thank you.” I spare her a glance.
“Shame you didn’t go there. Harvard is amazing with a fantastic football team.”
“Duty called a Raventhorn. But that doesn’t stop him from visiting Harvard to see his friends,” Father rattles on like a door-to-door vacuum salesman.
He’s such a fucking hypocrite. Although it’s allowed, he knows it’s undesirable for me be with anyone outside of the Knights. He’s just doing this to piss with me.
“Well, maybe you’ll see me sometime when you’re there.” Alina gives me her flirtiest smile.
I’m done with nice. I’m not the guy who will be bullied into doing shit I don’t want to do, so I give her a small smile. It’s not rude and it’s not encouraging. It’s just a smile. One that hopefully conveys she’s not going to see me anytime soon.
Thankfully, Yuliana shifts the conversation to Bradway shows, of which Alina is a huge fan.
It’s times like these when I’m grateful for my stepmother.
As for my father, I don’t know what his angle is.
He only ever acts like this when he’s got some shit on his mind. He was like this after Tommy died and he wanted to make sure I didn’t go anywhere near Mackenzie.
He didn’t even care about what happened to her or that I did.
My worry now is that I don’t know if this dinner thing tonight was because he suspects that something is going on between Mackenzie and me.
I don’t think my mindless staring at her at the assembly tipped him off. I think this is just him being himself and taking precautions.
I’ll have to wait and see. Watch his movements and try to figure out his next move.
I assumed being Lord Chancellor would keep him occupied. I didn’t think he’d have time to run after me. It seems I was wrong.
Another agonizing half an hour passes before the waiter comes by to clear away our plates and take orders for dessert. I don’t order anything, but everyone else does.
While they gobble that up, I watch my father as he continues talking it up with Pat.
I almost rejoice when it’s time to pay the bill and leave.
Pat and Alina leave first, giving me the chance to speak to my father properly.
I can see he wants to do the same with me.
They’ve hardly walked through the door when the fake smile falls off his face and he snaps his attention to me with that seething look in his eyes.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” He tries to keep his voice low so the people at the nearby tables don’t hear him, but his rage raises his tone.
“Me? Are you fucking serious?” I don’t bother to try for subtly. “Why the hell are you matchmaking when I told you I wanted to focus on football?”
He leans forward, fists on the table, eyes on me, his intensified glare probing. “You seem to prefer blondes. I thought Alina would be a good match.”
Fuck. I was right. Blondes. Like Mackenzie.
He is taking precautions. That could be because he might suspect something is going on between Mackenzie and me.
“I’m focusing on football.” I ignore the comment about blondes, but he knows he fazed me. “Don’t do spontaneous shit like this again to me, or try to trap me by using Pat.”
“I will do what I see fit.” A malicious glint enters his eyes, dark and cold, like smoke and frost. “You are still my son and a student at my college. I still have control over you. And other people.”
I don’t miss the distinct threat in the words he hasn’t voiced.
Mackenzie.
My bastard father is telling me he has control over her, too.
I want to rip his face off for the threat, but my God do I hold back. Retaliating would be showing my ass and proving guilt. Proving there’s something to worry about.
Silence is better in this instance because it makes things vague. It keeps everything in that sphere of uncertainty where he’s still not sure.
Mackenzie wasn’t wrong to be worried about him. My father is very a powerful and untouchable son of a bitch no one fucks with. That’s why he’s the Lord Chancellor of Raventhorn.
I all but assured Mackenzie she wouldn’t have to worry about him. I can’t let her down. She has more to lose than me. He’d make sure of it. He’d get to her if he can’t get to me.
“Guys, please,” Yuliana cuts into the tense stare-off, placing a delicate hand on Father’s arm. Her touch seems to pacify him because he glances at her and his face softens. “I hate when you fight. Can’t we just enjoy being together?”
“Of course, dear.” Father leans forward and gives her another kiss on her cheek. His phone rings at the same time. He retrieves it from his pocket, glances at the caller ID, and looks back at both of us. “I have to take this. Be ready to leave when I get back.”
He hits me with one last scathing look before he pushes to his feet and makes his way outside on the terrace.
I watch him, hating his power and the authority he tries to use to dominate me.
I’m not a fool, nor a weakling. I won’t allow him to rule me.
The problem is, how do I stop it?
Warm hands reach across the table and touch mine. It’s Yuliana.
I look at her and offer a kind smile.
“Are you okay?” she asks in a gentle tone.
“No. Are you?” I search her eyes, remembering my previous thoughts about her and my father.
“No.” I like that she’s honest with me.
“Please tell me he’s not cheating on you with a student.”
She shakes her head, and her eyes become glassy with unshed tears. “His new assistant. Apparently, they were an item back in high school.”
I hate being right. “You should leave him.”
She pulls in a slow, tired breath. “Maybe one day. Not now.” Her hands squeeze mine. “Be careful with her.”
“Her?” I hold her gaze.
“You know who I mean. He’s always worrying that you’ll find some way to be with her behind his back. I know you. You always find a way.”
The unsettling feeling that she knows my secret grips me, but I feel like it may be safe with her. At least she’s given me a heads-up, and I guess from what she said that my father has no confirmation about Mackenzie and me. His suspicions are just as bad, though.
“I’m focusing on football.” The less I say, the better.
“Yes. Do that. But be careful with everything else.”
I nod. “I will.”
“Your uncle is coming in two weeks. That should loosen your father up. They’re planning a weekend at the lake house. He’s going to ask you to join us. I hope you’ll say yes.”
“I’ll think about it.” If I agree, it will only be because I haven’t seen Uncle Eric since last year, and if I miss this chance, I may not see him again until next year, as he’s always traveling.
“Okay.” She releases my hand and gives me a warm smile, but it falters when the door opens and my father returns.
Nothing is said after.
We leave and head back to Raventhorn. I don’t even consider meeting up with the guys. I’m no longer in the mood, and I don’t want to spoil theirs.
Alek and Logan were looking forward to hanging out off campus because we’ve been bogged down with all the prep work for initiation. Kade has also been focused on Isabelle.
They deserve their fun, whatever they get up to.
I’m glad to see my father’s back when we reach campus and go our separate ways.
Tonight has been so different to the night I thought I was going to have.
Thoughts of Mackenzie float back into my mind, and I decide to head to Myrrdin House.
I won’t see her. Or at least, I won’t let her know I’m watching her.
It’s ten, so she may not even be in. Mackenzie is the party girl who’s always doing something.
My heart lifts when I reach my spying spot on the bridge and I see her in her room practicing some ballet moves. It’s arm work, and she’s as graceful as she was the night I went to watch her perform in the show.
I lean against the post, knowing I’m on a one-way train to fuck myself over, but damn my fucking heart. I can’t stop wanting her.
I’m the guy who’ll take what belongs to him. But what happens when there are so many obstacles in the way that I constantly feel like I’m falling off a cliff?
My father is taking precautions to make sure I’m not with her.
Maybe I have to take precautions, too.
Maybe lay low for a few days.
I don’t want to. My fucking cock is still aching to be inside her, but it’s best to err on the side of caution when it comes to my father.
I stare at the beautiful girl dancing beyond her window and promise myself that I’ll see her soon. I’ll have her soon.
Soon.
The word is bittersweet in my mind, like acid mixed with honey.
Mackenzie Domachenkov may just be the one thing in this world I want that I can’t have. But that’s not going to stop me from trying.
She’s still mine.