Chapter 23
Chapter twenty-three
Alisa
Later that night I laid in bed, cursing the showerhead for not relieving the throbbing ache between my legs.
That had to be the problem. And it certainly wasn’t because I kept replaying the experienced movements of Dmitri’s hands while he fixed us dinner.
Nope.
I tried to let my mother’s silent tears at my brother’s funeral rush over me. The pinched expression on her face when she heard my brother had died. The look in her eyes that plainly told me she wished it had been him who survived instead of me.
I’d been forced to take credit for Dmitri’s murder of my brother, so the Pakhan didn’t murder me for disobeying his orders. Now every time I went home, I knew without a doubt that my parents were wishing they were greeting Kiril at the door instead.
When all of that failed to dull the ache between my legs, I moved my mind to a neutral place. The look on Jayden’s face when Dmitri offered him some leftover chicken marsala. For a moment Jayden’s eyes widened comically large, and Dmitri’s lips curled into that signature smirk.
By itself, it wasn’t enough evidence, so now we just had to wait for Jayden to make his move. Just one screw up on his part, and then we’d be out of here with our mission accomplished.
Metal thumped against the wall in the other room, and tension coiled deep in my lower belly.
I squeezed my eyes shut, and willed my body to listen to reason. I needed sleep. But all my muscles clenched for an entirely different reason.
My doorknob suddenly rattled. I stared into the dark space, wondering if my ears were playing tricks on me. The sound stopped jerkily, and something that felt suspiciously like disappointment washed over my skin.
A metallic clicking noise sounded from my locked door, and my heart rate sped up. In the shield of darkness, I glanced down at my nightgown, feeling the almost painful way my nipples were straining against the cotton fabric.
The door knob slowly turned. Anger battled against arousal as the door silently swung open. Who the hell did Dmitri think he was breaking into-
My breath caught in my throat as the moonlight outlined the thin frame of the intruder.
It wasn’t Dmitri.
Jayden silently slunk into the dark room. Air was trapped in my lungs, and I couldn’t force anything out. This couldn’t be happening again. I couldn’t speak, couldn’t do anything but stare with dawning terror.
No, not like before.
A baritone groan escaped his lips, nothing like that voice that had haunted me that horrible night at the party.
With that reminder, my body returned to me. I picked up the glass cup on my nightstand and blindly threw it in his direction.
“Shit,” Jayden said. Unfortunately, it didn’t sound pained.
I groped around frantically trying to find something else. Panic ricocheted through my body when Jayden moved closer to my bed.
Suddenly, the light flicked on, and Dmitri’s rigid body took up the entire doorframe.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Dmitri growled.
Jayden froze. Despite everything, some of the tension left my shoulders.
“Wrong room,” Jayden said with a casual shrug. But the nervous look in his eyes belied the noncommittal movement.
Before I could react and call Jayden out on that blatant lie, Dmitri swept forward almost faster than I could follow. Dmitri’s huge hand wrapped around Jayden’s throat.
Pure fury spread across Dmitri’s face as he tightened his grip on Jayden’s small neck.
“It w-was an accident, I had too much to drink and mixed up the rooms,” Jayden gasped out, his face reddening under the pressure of Dmitri’s grasp.
Dmitri responded by slamming Jayden’s head against the wall. Red blood dripped down the white walls.
“You can’t kill me, I have an agreement with the Pakhan,” Jayden said, a hint of fear tingeing his eyes.
I bit down on the inside of my cheek. Unfortunately, Jayden was right, we couldn’t kill him. The Pakhan had made that order explicitly clear.
“If I snapped your neck, it’d be an accident.” Dmitri bared his teeth into a grin. “You’re familiar with those, right?”
Even though I desperately wanted to kill the man for daring to sneak into my room while he thought I was asleep, I knew we shouldn’t. I was intimately aware of the consequences of disobeying the Pakhan….
I stood up from the bed, and pressed a hand against Dmitri’s hard shoulder. Even though he was now literally strangling the life out of a man, my lower body was heating up.
“We can’t,” I said quietly.
Dmitri kept his grip around Jayden’s throat while he turned his head towards me. “Kotenok, what did I tell you about giving me orders?”
His eyes flared as he took in my nipples pressing against my nightgown. The heat of his gaze destroyed everything coherent in my mind.
Jayden wheezed. Suddenly I remembered we had an audience.
Rather, we wouldn’t have an audience for much longer if Dmitri didn’t let him go.
With a pounding heart, I stepped up on my tiptoes and whispered into Dmitri’s ear. This close, the scent of newly fallen snow fizzled my brain, but I managed to say, “We’ll deal with him after we have the evidence.”
I leaned back with a shaky inhale.
His eyes seared into mine, and I thought he’d snap Jayden’s throat just to defy me.
Finally, he nodded to himself, and released Jayden.
Jayden fell into a heap at Dmitri’s feet, breaths gasping into his chest in gulping inhalations.
“If I catch you in the same room as Alisa again, I’ll feed your body into a woodchipper while you beg me to end you.”
Jayden dashed out of the room still gasping for breath. Thankfully, Dmitri didn’t follow him and finish him off.
“Thank you,” I said. Two years ago those were the last words I ever thought I’d say to Dmitri. And yet, I seemed to be saying it an awful lot lately.
Dmitri’s jaw tightened as his gaze skimmed the room. “You’re not staying here. It isn’t safe.”
I blinked. “He’s not going to try anything after you nearly choked him to death.”
“Do you want to take that chance?”
I stared down at the floor, trying to gather my thoughts. He was right. Even if the likelihood was low he’d try again tonight…
The images from that night at the party snared my brain.
No, I wouldn’t–couldn’t–go through that again. I’d just slink into an empty guest bedroom, and wedge furniture against the door.
“Fine,” I said, grabbing my suitcase that was hiding all the poisons I hadn’t used on this trip.
I rolled it behind me–
And nearly stumbled into Dmitri’s hulking form when he stopped in front of his own door.
“Absolutely not,” I said, making my way around him.
Dmitri leaned against the doorframe. “It’s the only place you’ll be safe in this house.”
I wanted to snort at the word ‘safe’. It was the last word I should associate with this man.
But my mind and body vehemently disagreed. After all, he’d found me drugged on the dance floor, and taken me home without harming me. I tightened my grip on my suitcase’s plastic handle.
Was I seriously considering sleeping in the same room as Dmitri?
“If you try anything…” I couldn’t even figure out how to finish that threat. Dmitri could end my existence as easily as breathing.
“I won’t fuck you unless you beg for it,” he said before walking into his bedroom.
My mouth dropped open as I gaped at his muscular back. How could he say that so nonchalantly when my entire lower body was tensing up like I’d just run a marathon?
“Promise?” I said when I finally got my wits together.
A shadow of a smile skimmed across his face. “Yes. Now get your ass inside, kotenok.”
I stepped over the threshold and closed the door behind me, feeling like I’d just closed myself in a cage with a rabid wolf.