CHAPTER EIGHT
Fyodor
Ah, there I go again. I did it again.
Yet why does something that feels so wrong feel so right? Why does it feel perfect having Anastasia in my arms? I try to sort through my emotions, thinking about what exactly it is I have done wrong.
Dimitri laughs out loud when I relay my experience to him.
“Why are you ashamed?” he asks me as we walk out of the building.
“Because she’s fifteen years younger than me,” I try to remind him.
That’s the major concern I have. Her being fifteen years younger than me makes me feel like a pervert just for getting aroused by her.
“So what?” Dimitri queries.
“What do you mean, ‘so what?’ Do you know what that means?”
Dimitri clearly doesn’t understand my stance on this matter, and it’s important that he sees things from my point of view.
“Fyodor, she’s your wife. That is all that matters. You made love to your wife, who is in her twenties and a full-grown adult.”
“But she can’t drink legally,” I remind him again, and Dimitri shrugs, reminding me that’s just a stupid law and nothing else.
To some extent, he’s right, but that doesn’t make me feel any better. Matteo seems okay with the arrangement, considering how he called me yesterday morning and went on about how he knows I am taking good care of his daughter.
The only one person who could have told him about what is going on between us is Oksana, and I wonder if it is right having her in our house.
What if she ends up revealing everything that goes on between Anastasia and me back to Matteo?
Luckily, he made no mention of the slap, and I wonder if Oksana kept it out or if he was overlooking it.
“Oh, did I tell you that Natalia tried reaching out?”
Dimitri, who is already reaching for the car door, pauses, his face turning into a deep scowl. “Let’s talk inside,” he mutters.
Once I sit right next to him, he asks me what I mean.
Katya brought it up yesterday when she came to visit.
I had asked my sister if she would be willing to come and keep Anastasia company.
I am not sure exactly how they feel about each other, but I was hopeful that somehow, Katya would be able to make Anastasia happy.
In the end, it turns out that I made the right choice.
Anastasia seemed to brighten up, though I have no idea whether it was from the sex or Katya’s graceful and wonderful company.
They have spoken a lot, and I overheard a few conversations, especially about Anastasia wanting to pursue a career in art.
Katya promised that she would be willing to help her in any way she could.
Before she left, Katya told me about running into Natalia, who somehow had heard about my marriage. The funniest thing to me so far is that Natalia was inquiring to know if I had gotten married only to spite her.
“Honestly, I never knew what you saw in her. Now I can tell you—no one really liked her.”
I’m well aware of the fact that the people around me had their reservations about her, but that’s because they just don’t know her like I do.
“Come on, she wasn't all that bad,” I try to defend her. “She can be a bit difficult to understand.”
Dimitri simply scoffs, telling me that all that he cares about is the fact that I am not with her. In his own words, Anastasia is way better than Natalia, and he’s confident that we both would make a great couple once we can get things sorted out.
“Oh, that reminds me: Halo reached out.”
With Dylan escaping and being irrational, I’m concerned that he might show up near Anastasia, which is why I asked Halo, who controls a vast network on the West Coast, to be on the lookout for Dylan. He has definitely crawled out of wherever it is he was hiding.
“Did he say anything?”
“Yeah, something about finding the man you were looking for and how he’s in LA.”
I try not to let my emotions show as I realize that he might appear in Anastasia's life again. Well, before he can do anything stupid, I need to find him and give him a stern warning. Anastasia doesn’t need him in her life, and the last thing I want is for him to sabotage the little progress she has made.
I won’t call it jealousy, since I have no reason to be jealous. I tell Dimitri that I will need the rest of the day off. He offers to give me any resources I might need, and I tell him that this is something I can handle myself.
Just like Halo promised, Dylan is holed up in a motel in the middle of nowhere.
As I climb the rickety staircase, I can’t help but wonder if he did not think things through.
I bet the only reason why he is here is to meet with Anastasia, but after what he did, did he really think she’d just open her arms and have him back?
That might be possible, seeing how she has been pining over him.
Surely, Matteo would never let him go that easily, especially after he placed Anastasia in danger.
If there is one thing I have learned about Matteo Federov, it is that he is a man who cares about his family, which is understandable after the death of his son, Alexei, ten years ago.
After losing his only son, Matteo became a different man.
The reality that he could have lost Anastasia the same way must have shaken him, which is why Dylan will never see another sunrise if Matteo catches him.
I think of breaking down the door, but that would only draw attention, which is the last thing I want. Taking the easy approach, I instead knock on the door three times.
“Coming,” a muffled voice calls out.
The door opens, and Dylan sticks his head out. Recognition flashes through his face, and before he can close the door, I kick it. Dylan falls onto the ground.
“You,” he says with shock as he tries to get away. “Are you here to kill me?”
Somehow, I can’t help but feel disgust rise deep within me. Is this the man Anastasia is moping over? I continue to observe him, thinking of how to deal with him. He tried to sell Anastasia to the Mexican cartel, but he is just a wimp.
A wimp that Anastasia loves.
Is this really the man she was planning to spend the rest of her life with? I pull him up to his feet. He doesn’t fight, and I can picture how easily Matteo would end him should he get his hands on him.
“Please, let me go,” he pleads earnestly. “Or, you know what? Just kill me!”
This idiot.
Pissed off by his behavior, I slap him hard on the face—an act that almost knocks him out. “Why would I do that? And why did you sell her out?”
He doesn’t answer, but rather begins to cry like a whining baby. I let go of him as he drops to the ground. I really don’t want to stay here any longer, but I need to get a few things straight.
“What exactly are you doing here in Los Angeles?”
“Do you need to ask? You already know the answer to that.”
I’m definitely not in the mood for games, and I reach for him again, but before I can get him, he scampers away.
“Fine, I’ll tell you. Jesus!” Dylan shouts as he rubs his cheek. “I can't stay in Texas any longer. Matteo has been threatening my family, and my older sister was almost assaulted at work. I came out here to beg Anastasia to put an end to all this.”
This boy really isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. Why would Anastasia ever love someone like this? I lean against the wall, a battle going on in my head. There are many ways to deal with him, and the best way would be to turn him over to Matteo and let him punish him. However, with that choice, I’d be destroying any hope of Anastasia and me being cordial, as she would never forgive me.
Playing a role in the death of someone who means a lot to her is something I won’t do.
Another decision would be to take him to Anastasia, but I have no idea how she’d react, and I don’t want to do that.
So, the only right option is to somehow help the boy salvage whatever is left of his miserable life.
“One question, Dylan. What exactly was your game plan when you sold Anastasia to the Mexican cartel?”
He pauses, and I remind him that I can put him in severe pain if he tries to cook up a story. He throws his hands in the air and then scratches his head as if he has lice.
“Travel to Canada. Find a small town and start my life afresh.”
The more I listen to him, the more foolish he sounds.
“Really? That was your plan?”
Did he think that Matteo would let him go just because he crossed borders? A man like Matteo has reach and connections all across the globe. Finding Dylan in a small town in Canada wouldn’t be much of a problem. Heck, it will be a miracle if Matteo doesn’t know that he’s in Los Angeles already.
“Let me tell you one thing, Dylan.” I stand, my hands in my pockets. “People like you never know what they are messing with, and you just crossed a line by betraying Anastasia. Now, left to me, I’d put you in the ground, but for Anastasia’s sake, I won’t do anything like that.”
He looks up with hope. I tell him that I’ll get him twenty thousand dollars with which he can disappear into Canada and never contact Anastasia or anyone else in his current life again.
“Why? I can’t abandon my life,” he begins to whine.
“That was something you should have thought about before,” I snap at him. “Stay here, and I’ll get the money to you.”
I almost walk out the door before Dylan says something stupid.
“Do you think she’ll love you?”
Something about his tone just doesn’t sit right with me. I turn slowly to him, wondering if he’s trying to get under my skin.
“Do you even know why Anastasia approached you in the first place? Or did you even know that everything that has happened is not a coincidence?”
I fold my hands slowly, wondering if this is some last desperate attempt to get out of his situation. If there’s one thing I have learned in all my time working for Ivan and Dimitri, it is how to spot people who are desperate, and Dylan is reeking of it.
“You might think that this is all some sort of chance encounter, but she planned it from the very start, all because of Alexei’s death. That bitch approached you so she can—” he continues, right as he lunges at me with the knife he grabbed.
A quick punch to the throat has him on the ground, choking. I press the heel of my shoe on his right hand as he tries to scream in pain.
“Why don’t we talk more about what you just said, eh?”