Chapter 3 Dimitri
DIMITRI
The casino floor finally quiets down around three in the morning when most of the high rollers cash out and stumble toward the exits.
I take the private elevator up to my penthouse office, and the doors slide open to reveal my panoramic view overlooking the Vegas lights.
My desk sits along the far wall where I have privacy but still get to admire the view, and I drop into the leather chair behind it while loosening my tie.
The fabric pulls against my neck, and I yank it free completely before tossing it onto the desk.
My fingers find the keyboard, and I pull up the security feeds from earlier tonight where Tatiana’s section appears on my screen.
I scroll back through the footage until I find her serving drinks at the baccarat table in that damn flouncy skirt that turns me on so much.
She weaves between players with that tray balanced perfectly on one hand and her hips swaying so much, it makes my cock twitch even now.
I lean forward and rest my elbows on the desk while I watch her reject some drunk's advance with a scowl that could cut glass.
That defiance does things to me that no amount of submission from other women ever has.
I've had plenty of women throw themselves at me over the years because of my last name or my money or both.
They all want something and they're willing to spread their legs to get it, but Tatiana's resistance makes me want to ruin her and own her.
I replay the moment from earlier when my hand slid up her thigh under her skirt, and I watch the expression on her face tighten.
Her skin was warm and smooth under my palm and she tensed the second I touched her, but she didn't scream or make a scene.
She handled it with that same cold control she uses to manage every drunk asshole on the floor.
But I watched her pulse racing along her throat when I squeezed her leg and I know she's not as unaffected as she pretends to be.
I want to break through those walls she's built around herself and make her admit that she feels this pull between us.
And I want her under me in my bed with her legs wrapped around my waist and her nails digging into my back while she begs me for more…
hear my name on her lips when she comes apart.
And fuck, do I want to see that defiant fire in her eyes turn into desperate need.
She'll submit to me eventually because they all do once I decide I want them.
The feed shows her stepping outside for a smoke break, and I watch her move toward the employee entrance, but there's no direct camera feed on the outside of the building where I can see her.
She works too hard for too little money and she deserves better than serving drinks to men who don't appreciate what's standing right in front of them.
I could give her everything she needs if she'd let me.
I could move her into this penthouse and dress her in silk and diamonds and make sure she never has to serve another drunk bastard for the rest of her life.
All she has to do is stop fighting me and accept that this thing between us is inevitable.
But she won't make it easy. I'm not usually wrong when I read a person this well.
She'll fight me tooth and nail, and it'll come down to her needing something from me before she breaks.
Doesn't mean I can't pull some strings to cultivate an environment where she finds it necessary to come to me, but I won't go there just yet. We'll see how she does when she's working directly for me.
I switch off the feeds and lean back in my chair while running both hands through my hair.
My phone sits on the desk next to a half empty glass of vodka, and I pick it up to dial my brother's number. Yuri answers on the second ring and his voice sounds rough from too many cigarettes and too little sleep.
"You're calling late," he grumbles, though I know he hasn't slept more than an hour at a time since we were just teenagers. "What do you want?" Ever the brooding curmudgeon….
"I wanted to check in about Vadim." I lift the glass of vodka and knock it back in one swallow.
Yuri goes quiet for a moment, and I hear him exhaling smoke on the other end of the line. "He got back three days ago and he's been staying at the house, helping with things around the property."
Vadim left months ago to hunt down every man involved in my nephew's death, and he didn't come back until the job was finished. The men who took Yuri's boy are all dead now, and their bodies were dumped where no one will ever find them.
"Good," I tell him while pouring another glass and watching the vodka slosh around my glass. "He did what needed to be done."
"He did." Talking about Dominic is hard for everyone, but we can finally put him to rest. And it brought a measure of healing to whatever was broken between my brother and me. "But we've got bigger problems than grief right now, and you know it."
I knew this was coming because the Balkan syndicate's been circling like vultures ever since we eliminated those corrupt Serbian politicians who were protecting their operations.
We cut off their political cover and their smuggling routes in one move, and they're not the type to forgive that easily.
"The Balkans are going to retaliate?" I ask while swirling vodka in my glass and watching it move. Yuri's no fool. He can deduce the same things as me. "It's only a matter of when and how hard they hit us."
"Exactly." Yuri's voice drops lower, and I hear weariness creeping in around the edges of his words. "I've got men watching every property and every business, but they're patient and they're smart."
The Balkans don't rush into fights without planning every detail down to the last bullet and the last body.
They'll wait until we let our guard down or until they find a weakness they can exploit and use against us.
Then they'll strike fast and leave corpses in their wake as a message to anyone else who thinks about crossing them.
They've already proven they can get to people around us—Yaros Veche almost ended us, as did Marat and Victoria.
"What do you need from me?" I ask while setting my glass down. "I can pull more men to rotate shifts at the casino or I can send some of mine to help cover your locations."
"Keep your people where they are for now, and stay alert for anything unusual." Yuri pauses, and I hear him taking a long drag from his cigarette again before he continues. "If something happens, I'll call you immediately, but until then, we maintain normal operations and we don't show weakness."
Normal operations while we wait for an attack that could come from any direction at any moment and catch us off guard.
It's the worst part of this life because anticipation eats at you worse than actual violence.
You end up sleeping with one eye open and living with eyes on the rearview mirror.
But at least when bullets start flying, you know where you stand and who your enemies are and what they want.
"I'll keep eyes open and ears to the ground here," I tell him while standing up to walk toward the window.
"Not sure they'll mess with the casino, though.
" If the Balkans are going to do anything, it will be through an ally, the Kozlovs maybe or the Veches.
And we have no beef with them here at the Titan.
"Good." Yuri's tone shifts slightly and becomes more brotherly and less business focused than it was a moment ago. "How's everything else going with you?"
After years of living estranged from this family in Moscow and then moving back, I've come to see the wisdom in my father's ways.
Yuri is without a doubt the right leader for this family.
I never would've been able to make the decisions he's making.
And who the hell would want that much stress, anyway?
"Everything's fine… Just keeping things running smoothly over here."
"Well, I'm glad you're back, Brother. St. Petersburg hasn’t been the same without you.
Our mother would be glad you're home, too.
" Yuri's warm sentiment is proof that his wife is changing things.
The advent of a new baby is pulling hard on our roots and reminding us that we don't live forever.
Those who are important to us matter most, and if we're not sticking together, what do we have left?
We end the call after a few more exchanges about security protocols and supply chain issues that need handling soon.
I set the phone down and turn back to face my desk where the dark monitors sit reflecting my own face back at me in the glass.
Tatiana didn't show up here tonight, so tomorrow, I'll corner her during her shift and make her an offer that she won't be able to refuse easily or walk away from.
Maybe I'll tie it to a promotion that comes with better pay and easier hours away from the floor.
Maybe I'll offer her a chance to work as my personal assistant where she'll be closer to me every single day and night.
Either way, I'll pull her deeper into my world until she has no choice but to see that fighting this attraction between us is pointless and exhausting.
She'll end up in my bed eventually because I always get what I want in the end without exception. It's just a matter of time and patience and finding the right pressure point to apply until her resistance crumbles.
I pour one more glass of vodka and down it before heading toward my bedroom where I'll spend the next few hours thinking about all the ways I plan to make Tatiana mine, whether she's ready for it or not.
And when I wake up, I'll have one objective.