Chapter 28
Chapter twenty-eight
Alisa
I woke up the next morning and immediately laid eyes on Dmitri’s chiseled form. While I watched the steady rise and fall of his huge chest, my heart thudded unevenly. I silently lifted my head from the pillow I’d passed out on after the final soul snatching orgasm.
My eyes fell on the ledger, and the reminder of who we were slammed back into me with the force of a hurricane.
Dmitri’s narrowed eyes found mine as I tiptoed out of the room, but he remained silent.
Thankfully, no one spotted me darting back into my room. If word spread in the Bratva that we slept together, my reputation might not survive. And my father–I shook my head, refusing to finish the thought.
With unsteady breaths, I slid the heavy armchair underneath my bedroom door. Jayden wouldn’t be surprising me a second time.
After I checked it was secure, I slumped onto my bed.
…And immediately had flashbacks to the way Dmitri choked me while fucking me into another dimension. My nipples peaked against the fabric of my nightgown.
I studied the headboard, wanting to slam my head against it for being so stupid last night. There were a million reasons I shouldn’t have touched him, yet for some reason I’d thought it’d be a good idea to give into my hormones.
Through the thin walls, I could hear the rustling of his clothing. To my horror I found myself getting turned on all over again. Even though I’d come harder last night than in my entire life.
Get it together.
I needed to focus on the assignment, and try to forget about last night…
Even if that conflicted part of me was rearing its head again.
I tried to swallow back the building emotions. All I needed to do was avoid the two men in this house as much as possible, and finish everything up so I could escape back to my freezing cold apartment and get my head back on straight.
A purposeful knock sounded against my door.
So much for that.
“Who is it?” I asked.
“Meet me in the library when you’re ready. We need to go over the paperwork,” Dmitri said. His voice was controlled and emotionless.
It was obvious last night had zero effect on him.
A pang stabbed at my stomach. I reminded myself that was a good thing. Whatever had been building between us, he’d gotten out of his system. Now he was done. Ready to move on to the next hapless person.
I should be relieved. I kept repeating that to myself as I dressed for the day. Instead, the knot in the pit of my stomach grew as I silently crept through the house towards the library.
One of the positive side effects of having a father who liked to punch me when he was in a bad mood, was that I’d learned to move silently. I intimately knew how to listen for the hint of footfall, so I could creep behind a door and avoid a broken rib.
Either my talent was paying off, or Jayden was avoiding me. Whatever the case, I’d take any good luck handed my way. I slowly opened the door to the library, and Dmitri glanced up from his phone.
His eyes were as cold and distant as his voice had been earlier.
That’s a good thing.
From the aching feeling thrumming through me, my body didn’t seem to agree.
“Thanks for the coffee,” I said, picking up the extra cup next to him.
He just nodded and stared out the icy window. I took a sip of the marvelous substance called coffee, and willed myself to care as little about last night as the whistling wind cared about the lake outside.
As the silence stretched between us, I realized that I wasn’t even the least bit worried that the drink was poisoned.
Although, the man had literally choked me into ecstasy last night, if he’d wanted to kill me there were easier ways than poisoning the woman who was potentially resistant to the drugs.
My cheeks flushed at the memory of his hand wrapped around my throat.
As Dmitri took in my reaction, the frosted look on his face melted. A smirk graced his face as if he knew intimately what I was thinking about.
Dmitri’s eyes flitted to the wooden desk, and then all I could imagine was him pushing me onto it, and fucking me until we permanently scarred the wood floor underneath it.
Suddenly, the look faded from his eyes back into icy indifference. After all, he’d conquered me like a hunter claims a deer. If the rumors were to be believed, it’d be outside of his nature to stay around when there were so many other women out there.
I was just a chase. Nothing more.
“Any updates?” I asked, trying to steel my tone.
“We’re close. My men are going through his warehouse now. Then we can get the hell out of here.”
I should’ve wished for that more than anything, to put as much distance between myself and Dmitri. But that stomach pang just grew at his words.
His head tilted as he searched my face. Finally, he opened his mouth to say something.
The ring of his cell phone interrupted him. Relief flooded through me, because the last thing I wanted was for him to ask me how I was feeling. Because like hell if I knew.
Dmitri’s steps receded down the hallway, and I leaned back into the chair with a groan. I needed to get it together.
Dmitri, the consummate psychopath, was acting like a professional, and I probably looked like a pining woman who’d just lost her virginity. Granted, I’d lost my penis-induced orgasm virginity. Who knew that I could come that many times from penetration?
The doorknob softly rattled, and I forced a casual tone, “Well that was quick,” I said.
Unlike last night, I added mentally.
But when the door opened, it wasn’t Dmitri standing there.
It was Jayden.
His hair was disheveled, and there was a redness in his eyes that sent me on high alert. Jayden stumbled into the room and closed the door behind him.
“What are you doing here?” I said, hating how high-pitched my voice sounded.
“Don’t be coy. You’ve been flirting with me all weekend.”
Jayden stumbled forward, his eyes flitting over my outfit. Revulsion turned that knot in my stomach into nausea.
I shook my head, and the smile that creeped across his face looked more like a grimace.
“You’ve been wearing all those tight outfits for me. You can stop playing hard to get.”
I’d been wearing high-necked clothing all weekend, not wanting to give him even a hint of skin. Yet, even if I’d been wearing a nun’s habit, I had a feeling that wouldn’t have stopped him.
“You’re wrong.” I hated that my voice was little more than a whisper.
“You fucking tease, you’ve been leading me on all weekend,” he spit, now halfway across the room.
Those words transported me to another room and another time when I was trapped in a dimly lit bedroom.
In my mind, Jayden’s voice was replaced by Roman Komarov’s deeper one.
Memories from a year ago at the party threatened to overwhelm me, and I ground my nails into my palm to keep from disassociating into the past.
Jayden’s shiny boots squeaked against the wood floor. I opened my mouth to tell him not to come any closer, but nothing came out.
All I could do was watch in horror as Jayden marched across the room with a look in his eyes that told me this was all my fault. That I’d turned him on, and now I had to deal with the consequences whether I liked it or not.
I swallowed, trying to force the words out. But it was like my vocal cords had been yanked out and all I could do was watch what was about to happen to me.
It was going to happen again, just like a year ago. There was nothing I could do.
The door swung open, and Dmitri’s furious visage appeared.
And my voice came back.