Chapter 13 #2
She studied me intently for a few seconds, finally nodding.
“I can respect that.” With her hand trembling, she rubbed the tips of her fingers across my cheek.
When she pulled it away, she glanced down at the blood staining her skin.
“You’re also very dangerous.” The statement was made definitively as if she’d made up her mind about me.
The fire engine swung into the parking lot, firefighters immediately jumping off the engine and into action. “Your company?”
After flitting her gaze toward the engine, she shook her head. “Thankfully, no.”
Thankfully, no. That meant she didn’t want to be seen with me.
Another telling statement and one I longed to change.
The lovely woman certainly had a way of turning my world upside down without even trying.
A few seconds later, two police cars rushed onto the scene. “Why don’t you go inside. You’re shaking. Get something to drink. I’ll let the police officers know where to find you.”
Her hesitation and the way she pursed her lips was as if she wanted to say something to me.
I could tell the moment she decided otherwise.
While there was nothing frail about her, at that moment she seemed entirely too vulnerable.
For my life. For what just being seen with me would continue putting her through. For my sadistic needs.
And I was a dominating man. She’d pegged me correctly.
I took what I wanted without questioning motives or obtaining permission.
The realization nagged at me for the first time in perhaps my entire life.
With the scene all around us turning chaotic, I cupped her face, refusing to let her go just yet.
While she didn’t pull away, she did press her palm against my chest, creating a space between us. It was obvious she didn’t want to get but so close. I took a step closer until there were only inches between us. “In spite of the ending, I very much enjoyed our night.”
There were still so many questions weighing heavily on her mind, but she chose not to ask a single one of them, instead curling her bloodied fingers around my shirt. “I did too.”
The inflection in her voice, the way the last word was stated meant there wouldn’t be a repeat. Lowering my head, I brushed my lips across hers, moving slowly to the softness of her long neck just below her ear before whispering, “We’re not finished yet, Captain. Not by a long shot.”
“Mr. Dmitriyev.” The booming male voice interrupted the moment and irritated the hell out of me.
Pulling back, I smiled before tipping my head. “Yes?”
“I’m Officer Riley. I understand you were attacked.”
I was forced to turn and look at him, nodding a couple of times. “Yes, I was.”
“Then I’ll need you to answer a few questions.”
“Of course.” When I turned back to encourage Halle to make herself comfortable in the hotel’s lobby, she’d already disappeared into the crowd. Another even more brutal pang of sadness hit me. Maybe even a touch of guilt for ruining our evening. Whatever the case, I’d meant what I’d said to her.
Our time together was far from being over. She’d become a part of my world whether she wanted it or not. At least she understood my motives.
I had no intentions of letting her go.
“Mr. Dmitriyev. Can you tell us what happened here tonight?” The reporter had his microphone jammed inches away from my face. Ordinarily, I’d answer by offering a smile, adjusting my jacket and spending just enough time to mesmerize the person with my dazzling personality.
Not tonight.
Tonight, I wanted to punch him in the face. Plus, I hadn’t realized until Halle had walked away that my shirt was stained with blood, the dark patches proving my involvement in the shooting.
Sasha lifted his eyebrow, in his own way reminding me to keep my cool. Something that was difficult when I was this angry.
“I was attacked while leaving the hotel.” Why not tell the truth and bait Papadakis?
“Do you have any idea of the identification of your attacker?” The reporter was too eager for his fifteen minutes of fame.
I took a step closer, grinning for the cameras and for those watching.
“Not yet, but the police are already working diligently to discover those behind the assassination attempt. And when they do, justice will be served.” Yes, my phone would likely blow up from my attempt to bait the attacker on camera, but I just didn’t care.
“I’m certain they will, sir. Can you tell me if you were alone when this happened?”
The question had already become tangled in my brain. I’d made the choice to tell the police a little white lie in that I’d been alone during the attack. I had no intention of changing my story. “Thank God, I was. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to get home and recover from the heinous attack.”
“Of course, sir. Thank you for your time.”
I turned away, thereby shutting down the other reporters.
“Nice acting job,” Sasha mused, keeping his voice low.
“Necessary.”
“Mmm… Protecting her.”
Shaking my head, I scoured the parking lot with my gaze searching for anyone who might be with the Papadakis clan. “There is no reason to bring her into this shit storm.”
“From what you told me, you’re lucky to be alive.” Sasha had made it to the scene in record time and without his amazing daughter.
“You underestimate my skills, cousin. Who’d you get to watch Nina?”
He laughed. “My next-door neighbor. I have to admit she was pretty weirded out that the neighbor she’s only waved to a few mornings from passing cars suddenly appeared on her doorstep in the middle of the night.”
“Send her flowers. That makes it all better.”
“You should know. Isn’t that exactly what you do every time you go on a date?”
I placed my hand against my heart while glancing at the forensics team who were finally getting ready to bag and tag the victims. “You know how to hurt a guy.” Just like Halle.
“Ha. I just tell the truth. So I understand you were on a date? This wasn’t just some random woman in the parking lot who witnessed the hit.”
“Mikhail told you. Yes, I was. The woman who saved my life in the fire.”
“Oh,” Sasha half laughed. “A formidable woman. Maybe that means she’s someone special in your life.”
“Let’s just say I won’t be sending her flowers.
” He was right. That’s exactly what I’d done on numerous occasions.
My reputation and my obvious bank account had attracted women of all shapes, sizes, ages, and social standing.
None would mind being Mrs. Dmitriyev so long as with the ring there also came an unlimited spending account.
And that’s what marrying me would be. A complete sacrifice. Why in God’s name was I even thinking about marriage at this point?
“Did she enjoy your company?”
I laughed. “Until the end. She even enjoyed my rusty piano-playing skills.”
Sasha scoffed. “You played piano for her? Then we can anticipate another Dmitriyev wedding.”
“Not happening.” I continued scanning the parking lot. How the hell had I been found? I hadn’t told anyone where I was going, Dreamscape a thought but not a plan. The realization was unnerving.
“I heard you think the hit was from Viktor Papadakis.”
Nodding, I threw a quick glance toward him. “Undoubtedly. He wasn’t thrilled with the way I handled business with his useless brother Petros.”
“Then I think it might be time to kick up our warning system to them a notch or two.” He had a wry smile on his face.
Sasha was the baby of the family, if that’s what you could call a grown man who’d endured his share of tragedies and obstacles in his life.
He was a much better person than the rest of us, truly wanting nothing to do with the fact we were Bratva.
Maybe that had to do with the fact he was a single father, his wife having died a few years before.
Whatever the case, I was shocked. Pleasantly so.
“I think you’re right and it’s something Mikhail suggested, although I’m pushing up the timing. You up for joining me?”
He chuckled. “I’m up and out in the middle of the night. Why not? It’ll break up the monotony of my life.”
Now I had to laugh. He had all the toys money could buy, but the only thing he enjoyed was spending time with his daughter. “I need to take my date home. After that, we make a run of our own.”
“Did you arrange for assistance with carrying out this proposed moment of retaliation?”
“I did.” The man had a creative way with words.
“I’m thinking a warehouse full of goodies and not all of them edible either.
” We’d learned a long time ago Papadakis had a very secure stash of cocaine and heroin located in a warehouse outside the city limits that he’d attempted to keep top secret.
Heavily guarded, he thought the location to be impenetrable.
He was wrong.
“Just let me know the address. By the way. It’s good to see you on a date. A real date.” He nodded toward the hotel since I’d never taken a single woman to one of our hotels before. I’d used another hotel on the strip. Maybe being in one of our resorts made the encounter too personal.
“I doubt the lovely captain would call it a date. More like a hostage situation.”
My cousin laughed. “Well, I’m sure you’ll destroy her resistance as you do with everyone else. Since she witnessed the attack, what are you going to tell her about the reason?”
Rubbing my jaw, I kept my eyes on the coroner who was assisting in the facilitation of removing the bodies, heading for the morgue. There were now at least two hundred people crowding the parking lot, dozens with cameras, tourists capturing a story that they’d reminisce over in years to come.
“She didn’t ask. I didn’t mention it.”
“You know having a witness out on the street isn’t in our best interest,” Sasha said. Another surprise.
“You’ve been paying attention to family politics.”
“Really? We were all indoctrinated into the Bratva lifestyle by your father and mine. I choose not to partake in the lifestyle unless necessary. So what? You’ll feel that way once you have a family.”
“Not going to happen.”
“You know what they say. Why don’t you go check on your… date. No matter how formidable she is, the woman must be terrified, shock finally settling in.”
He was right. I’d been standing outside for an hour and a half while I should have been with her. “Good point. It’ll take me thirty minutes to take her home. Then we’ll meet at the warehouse.”
“Why don’t you plan on an hour. She deserves a little of your time after almost getting killed.” He grinned and backed away, throwing up his hands as if in surrender. I knew otherwise.
But he was right.
I pushed my way through the crowd toward the hotel, avoiding the various reporters. Once inside, I glanced across the now busy lobby, unable to catch sight of her. None of the bars or restaurants were open. Where the hell had she gone?
Heading to the check-in desk, I was immediately greeted with a fearful-looking young girl behind the counter. It wasn’t every day two people died in the parking lot.
“Can I help you, sir?”
“Yes. Did you see a young woman with long, curly dark hair waiting in the lobby?”
She narrowed her eyes then finally nodded. “Yes, sir. She was here, but she left maybe thirty minutes ago. I saw her getting into a car. Maybe an Uber.”
“Huh. Okay, thank you.” I rapped my fingers on the top of the counter before turning around to face the doors.
My little firefighting captain thought she could run away from me.
She was wrong. So very wrong.