Chapter 3
Sasha
Laughter wasn’t something I was used to, other than when being around my daughter. My brother, sister, and cousins would call me brooding when I’d tried to tell them my moods were all about being reflective.
They knew better.
They’d lived with my pain and anger for seven years. They’d suffered through my bouts of depression and rage so intense that at least a couple of times they’d openly feared for my safety.
The last attack of fury had finally kicked some sense into me. Or maybe it was the bitter haze of alcohol. Thank God that had been years ago and before Nina had understood why her daddy was in a bad mood all the time.
Things had brightened in my life over the years, including spending more time with one precious little princess. But laughter was difficult for me.
Yet not around Lainey.
She had a quirkiness with her personality that amused and fascinated me.
She was spunky, feisty in a way that surprised me.
While handling the business aspect of her life, she’d maintained a thick guard of armor, allowing her manager and attorney to take the lead in contractual conversations.
I’d often wondered why she’d allowed them to make decisions that I’d come to realize she didn’t like.
Maybe my surprise was because I’d never seen her with her guard down.
We’d chatted. She’d laughed. I’d watched her perform and interact with the crowd in such a personal and intimate way that it was as if she’d been giving every single person in the auditorium a private show.
I’d seen how her smile lit up the room, yet I hadn’t truly seen the woman behind the mask.
And I could tell by the way she was sitting cross-legged in jeans on the chair in the cozy bar, telling me about some of her favorite stories from being on the road. She was much more animated, using her hands and quirky expression to colorfully tell her stories. Much like she did with her music.
“You are kidding me?” I asked, leaning back in my chair, my jaw aching from smiling so damn much.
“No. Trust me. I thought his Spiderman outfit was a clever way to get backstage for an autograph, but when he whipped out his dick showing me the permanent marker with ‘will you marry me’ down his shaft, it was a moment I realized I might be in the wrong business.”
I rubbed my jaw, thinking about what kind of man would stoop so… creatively low.
“I know what you’re wondering about,” she cooed and brought the glass of wine to her lips.
“So on top of every other amazing attribute, you also read minds. What am I thinking?” I pulled my glass of vodka into my fingers, offering her a slight toast if she could truly figure out what was on my mind.
“You’re wondering if all those letters Sharpied on his dick were readable. Yes, they were. With at least two inches left over.”
That certainly wasn’t what I was thinking, but her candid statement caused an untypical reaction. I spit out the entire gulp of liquid, barely missing hitting her in the face.
She smacked her hand on the table, hooting first before bursting into laughter. It was without a doubt the cutest sound I’d ever heard.
I lifted my head slowly while she slapped her hand over her mouth, barely containing her laughter. And the little snorts that accompanied the husky sound.
Nope. That certainly hadn’t been what I’d had on my mind.
“You should… see your… face,” she managed. “I don’t think I’ve ever caught you embarrassed. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything but a deathly serious expression.”
I grabbed her cocktail napkin, wiping the few drops from my face before taking a swipe at hers. Even her tiny yelp as she pulled her head away was insufferably cute.
Even more, I was fully aroused, my stiff cock pressed against my trousers. I stared at her, shaking my head. She was even more beautiful out of her costume. She’d washed most of the makeup from her face and in her soft sweater, she looked ten years younger than she did on stage.
And maybe some would say way too young for me.
Holy shit. What was I thinking?
“Is that a true story?” I finally managed to ask after nearly choking to death.
“It is. Who could make up a story like that? Bernie was even floored and it takes a lot to rattle that man.” For a woman who’d just been strangled by a fucking asshole, she was much calmer than I felt inside.
Damien was lucky he hadn’t even lifted a single eyebrow, or the man would be lying in a pool of blood. “I was going to give credit for creativity.”
I was rewarded with another smile. “What do you do for fun, Mr. Dmitriyev?”
Thank God I hadn’t taken another gulp to replace the one I’d lost. “I have a daughter to take care of and she keeps me on a short leash.”
“That’s admirable, but what do you do for you?”
The question was something I hadn’t faced in a long time. “I read. I enjoy music. Honestly, work and being a dad keeps me very busy.”
“All work and no play makes for a very dull boy.”
“So you’re saying I’m dull?”
She sat back, tilting her head from one side to the other. “No, just jaded.”
“Jaded. How very succinct.”
“You don’t allow yourself to enjoy your life. Do you?”
“Like I said, I’m busy.” I wasn’t certain what she was looking for. Whatever it was, she’d likely be disappointed in the results.
“I’m not trying to interfere. I’ve watched you night after night ensuring I had everything that my band members did. You shoot the shit with my security team. Yet you never seem to take time for yourself.”
I leaned over the table. “All smoke and mirrors. I’ll throw it back at you. What do you do for you and just for fun?”
“No fair.” She pointed her little finger at me while taking a sip.
I could tell the question bothered her. Her shrug was slight, but I noticed it.
I also captured the slight faraway look in her eyes, the light leaving for a few seconds.
“Like you, I’m pretty busy. I also read.
I love to get lost in a new artist with music. Sometimes I like just doing nothing.”
“What did you used to do before you became famous?”
Her smile was uninhibited. “Ride horses. Play with my dogs. Go hiking. Camping. I used to love to camp. Swimming. Especially in a lake on a hot summer day, although I wouldn’t turn down the ocean.”
“An outdoors girl.”
“Very much so.”
“Then how did you become a famous pop star?”
The way she rolled her eyes drew me in like being around a firefly. My balls were thrumming with need. “That’s a story as tried and true as Americana.”
“Now you have me intrigued. You can’t stop there. I need to know more.”
“What if I don’t comply? Are you going to make me?” She was teasing me and I had a distinct feeling that was rare with her. It was for me as well. Yet I also had an image of turning her over my knee that refused to fade.
I leaned further over the table until our lips were almost touching. “Yes, I would. But in my way.”
“You have me… wanting to be very bad.”
“Be careful. I am a dangerous man.”
She wrinkled her nose. “The toughest are the easiest to turn into mush.”
Everything about this woman was unexpected. I laughed again, slow and easy. “Maybe so. But I still want to know. I might not let you go until you do.”
“Then I might forget altogether.” She darted her tongue across her bottom lip and I was forced to take a deep breath before doing something I might regret. “I was discovered on a rainy afternoon.”
“This will be delicious.”
Lainey blew a strand of hair from her face.
“I had a student who’d secured the lead in the school play.
Yet on the day of the concert, she forgot her words and froze.
As she had with every time she forgot the lines to a poem, she searched for me in the audience.
So I ran up on stage and we sang the first song together. ”
I had no idea what I’d expected, maybe being told she was a contestant on American Idol or something, a show I’d never seen, but this was… Amazing. “You’re a music teacher?”
“Oh, heavens, no. I was an English teacher.”
“In college.”
“In elementary school.” She narrowed her eyes as if it was something I should know.
“Now, I’m confused.”
Reaching over, she placed her hand on mine as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
“Understandable. The father of another student in the musical was a talent agent. He talked to me after the concert and gave me his card. I thought nothing of it and almost threw it away. Suddenly, two men appeared in my classroom door. I hadn’t realized it, but the talent guy had recorded the little duo and had shown it to a buddy of his who turned out to be a music producer.
Anyway, one thing led to another and suddenly, I had a record deal.
Most of the next few months are a huge blur so don’t try and grill me on specifics. ”
She was laughing at herself. Meanwhile, I was still floored. “That is… amazing. Now you’re a superstar.”
Another shrug. Another sip of her wine. Another faraway look, only one with very dark shadows. “Just remember that being rich and famous isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”
“I agree.”
Her face lit back up. Evidently, I’d said the right thing. “I guess you do. It’s good to talk with something who gets it, at least a little. You start hiding just to keep from being photographed at some of your worst times.”
“I don’t have that problem.”
“No, I guess you wouldn’t, as handsome as you are.”
I wrinkled my nose on purpose, which made her laugh. I did so love the sound. “It’s more about people being terrified of what I can do.”
“Yes, big. Bad. Brute. Man.” Now her voice dipped and shifted to that of a caveman.
Still adorable. “I highly doubt you have bad hair days. I do all the time and I can’t tell you how many photographers have caught me with messy hair, announcing to the world that I’d had a rough night.
Pick why. Sex. Booze. Drugs. Evidently, I’m fucked up and I didn’t even know it.
It’s a shame too because I certainly didn’t get any of the benefits. ”
“That bad?”
“That bad. Bad enough you have no idea how many times I wish I was back home in Montana teaching my fourth graders and going home to a cozy cabin where I could feel safe and able to be me.”
How very sad for a woman so beautiful to be dissected at all hours of the day and night. “And Damien? Was he your knight in shining armor at first?”
Now she choked, mostly on purpose. “Hardly. He was a plant by the record company, my public relations team, and his manager conspiring with mine. A match made in heaven and a boost for both our careers. At first, it was fine. A few public dates, an occasional kiss. All very fake and manufactured with various reporters and influencers tipped off. It worked too, but suddenly Damien believed our relationship was real. He wanted more. I didn’t.
When I told my manager I wanted to have a very public breakup, I thought Scott was going to have a coronary.
I relented and things just got progressively worse.
I won’t take his possessiveness or intimidation tactics any longer.
If he didn’t just get the message, then I will talk to the police. Especially after…”
She stopped short, looking away again.
My hackles were more than just raised. They were so far on edge they could cut like a knife. I’d sensed there was more to the story.
“I’m sorry about canceling the first residency. I’ve never done anything like that in my life. Very unprofessional.”
“You had a good reason. Didn’t you?”
“Yeah. Call it a battered face that I couldn’t hide with six bottles of makeup.”
I was forced to take a very deep breath. While a huge part of me was ready to track him down no matter what hole he’d likely tried to crawl into after my threat, I knew doing so would make Lainey’s life even more difficult. There was little I could do but listen and try to be a friend.
How in the hell was it possible with the thoughts running through my mind? Not only the full scale need to teach the man a lesson he’d never forget, but also with the desire for the beautiful woman that I had trouble denying.
I placed a finger under her chin, turning her head toward me. “I wish I could promise you that no one will ever hurt you again. If you were mine, I would and I’d make it happen.”
Her eyes were glassy as if she was trying desperately not to become emotional. At least I was rewarded with a smile. “You’re an incredible man, Sasha Dmitriyev.”
No, I was not. I’d done some terrible things in my life. Maybe not as many as the rest of my family, especially my father, but I would never call myself an incredible man.
“No, I am not, Lainey. But I do have principles. You need to protect yourself from predators like Damien Kane.” I’d yet to tell her that Damien had been hired by our production company, something I planned on having changed.
I couldn’t care less about the cost of tearing up the contract, although if I knew our attorney, he’d placed moral clauses in the body of the contract. Abuse was certainly relevant.
She opened her soft, voluptuous lips to say something when her phone chirped. The look in her eyes was enough to tell me she wasn’t excited about whoever was calling or texting.
“Let me see who this is,” she said in a dull voice, which was completely unlike her. I didn’t dare take my eyes off her as she pulled her phone from her purse, noting she held it so I wasn’t able to see the screen.
But I could easily read her face, the flash of terror mixing with anger. When she lowered her hand, she instantly chewed on her lower lip.
“Who was that, Lainey?”
“No one.”
“Lainey. Talk to me.”
“I should go.” She started to get up. “Thank you for the drink.”
Before the screen went black, I did perhaps the unthinkable after what she’d been through. I took the phone from her hand.
The text from Damien was clear.
You’re mine, Lainey. If any other man touches you, you’ll learn a lesson you won’t forget.
He had no intentions of letting her go.
Instead, he had every intention of hurting her.
That wasn’t going to happen.
Fury began to build once again. I’d meant what I’d said to him.
It would seem I’d need to have that chat with him after all.
“Don’t. Just… Don’t.” There was no imploring sound in her voice. In truth, she was pleading with me with her eyes.
“Now, you’re going to listen to me because I’m also the kind of man who won’t take no for an answer.
I simply choose to use my ability to control for the right reasons.
” At least from time to time. “You’re not going back to that house alone.
In fact, you’re not going back there at all. You’re coming home with me.”