Chapter 18
Cara
I’m getting so close to obliterating Dmitri’s willpower, along with his arranged marriage to Annika, that I can feel it slipping. Another night alone in the office with him under the pretense of discussing “real estate,” and I’ll have him.
With eagerness in my step, I venture to work, carefully touching up my lip gloss that I know catches his eye. I’ve noticed that the raspberry pink shade draws his attention the most, and I’m intent on making it hard for him to focus on anything but me today.
I’m close to rounding the corner when my phone buzzes in my hand. An incoming call from my father. My stomach knots as I stare at the caller ID, fighting the urge to ignore his call. If I do that, he’ll be pissed, and I hate it when he’s angry.
I swallow hard, preparing myself before hitting the answer button and pressing the phone against my ear. “Hello?”
“I’m getting very impatient, my dear,” Sean says in greeting. “My sources have told me that things are still going forward with the Ivanov-Suyunov alliance, and that there are whispers Dmitri will be made Pakhan at the ceremony! Are you making even a hint of progress?”
Dmitri will become Pakhan with the wedding? Is that why he refuses to call it off? He’s that desperate for the power?
I move closer to the building on my left, my shoulder pressing against the cold brick. “I’m making some progress. I’m so close, I promise.”
He sighs heavily. “You’ve told me that you were close before, but you have nothing to show for it, yeah? Why should I believe you now? The bug in his phone has been useless.”
What he means is that I have been useless.
I refrain from raking my fingers through my hair in frustration and messing up all the hard work that I put into it this morning. “He doesn’t want to marry her. I’m going to convince him that the marriage isn’t worth it.”
“You should’ve done that by now,” Sean bites out, his frustration coming through the phone and hitting me like a rough wave. “If you can’t do what needs to be done then what use are you to me?”
“Just give me some more time,” I tell him, my voice threatening to shake.
“Time is running out, yeah?” he snaps at me, making me flinch.
My eyes start burning and my chest feels painfully tight. He has no idea what kind of pressure I’m under right now, the things I’m contemplating doing with Dmitri to accomplish my goal.
“If I don’t have results from you soon, you’ll be planning your own wedding so I can raise the money I need for a war.”
He’ll sell me to the highest bidder, some perverted old billionaire who wants a young wife.
A tear slips free before I can stop it just as the call goes dead. I can’t believe him…
“Ms. Reynolds?”
I quickly wipe the tear away before spinning around to face Gabe, my blood running cold as he gives me a concerned look. “Hi. Good morning.”
He inspects my face closely, and I know that he can see the glistening in my eyes. The red flush on my cheeks. “Is everything okay?”
The last thing that I need is for him to express any concerns with Dmitri. If Dmitri suspects anything suspicious of me, he’ll unravel everything.
“I’m fine,” I assure him as I force a smile onto my face. “I was just heading to the office.”
Gabe’s eyes drop to my phone that I’m clutching tightly in my hand. “Are you sure something isn’t bothering you, Ms. Reynolds? Or someone?”
My heart races faster as I stare at him, realizing that he’s going to report this incident to Dmitri no matter what I say. I need to redirect him, to draw Dmitri as far away from the truth as possible.
“Just a stupid fight with one of my friends in Boston,” I tell him as I roll my eyes. “I’ve been working so much that I haven’t been able to keep in touch with them, and they make me feel bad about it. It’s so stupid.”
Gabe frowns a little. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“You’re busy working all the time too. It’s hard to make time for other people sometimes,” I say as I gesture to him.
Then again, I catch him making time to chat with Karly quite a bit.
Gabe nods. “Yes, it can be.”
I give him a small smile and wipe my eyes again. “We can go to the office now. I’m over it.”
Gabe gestures for me to lead the way.
Hopefully, he buys my story. If he does, Dmitri will, and I’ll just make up a friendship that I don’t have.
I walk ahead of Gabe, blinking my eyes and adjusting my hair and snug blue dress with a low V-neck. I need to focus on the goal. Maybe I can convince Dmitri to get coffee with me and teasingly lick icing off my lip again.
It worked before.
Luckily, Gabe lets me walk ahead so that he can chat with Karly, and I step into Dmitri’s office alone to find him on the phone. It looks like people want both of our attention this morning.
“I can assure you, Artur, I’m getting closer to finding those responsible,” Dmitri says with that typical stormy look on his face. Since I’m so good at exaggerating about my own progress, I figure my boss is lying too. His men still don’t have any clue who the shooters were, which is scary.
I quietly set my things down on the desk, straining my ears to try to hear what’s being said on the other end. All I hear is muffled mumblings, though.
“Well, I’ve told Annika that I can’t always be at her beck and call, especially when I’m busy at work. I’m sure you can understand that as a busy man yourself,” Dmitri mutters to Artur. His voice sounds like a tightening rubber band that’s about to snap.
If he gets mad enough at Artur, it’s possible he’ll pull the plug on the whole arrangement and save me a lot of trouble. A girl can hope.
And if Dmitri were going to be the new Pakhan, then I doubt he would be taking orders from Artur, right? My father’s intel must be mistaken.
Dmitri’s hand forms a fist as whatever Artur says to him frustrates him even more. “I’ll keep that in mind. Yeah, you too. See you tonight.”
Without a cheery goodbye, Dmitri hangs up the phone and shakes his head, his jaw clenching. “Annika told her father that I haven’t been available enough for her. She feels neglected and terrified after the shooting. Now, I have to go to dinner with them and play nice.”
Oh, he’s so pissed. I barely withhold a laugh.
“I’m sure she can entertain herself while you’re busy at work,” I tell him as I remain standing, my hand resting on the top of my chair. “You can’t always jump when she snaps her fingers and run a successful business at the same time.”
Dmitri looks over at me, his eyes darkening in a manner that makes me nervous and turns me on at the same time. “It’ll always be this way while we’re married. She’ll never be satisfied. She’ll run to daddy when she’s angry with me. It’s so fucking frustrating.”
That makes me even more confident that it’s Artur who is going to be Pakhan. Perhaps that’s why he’s so insistent on the wedding.
“It doesn’t have to be that way,” I say to Dmitri, seeing my golden opportunity. I need him to know that there’s another way. A better way.
Dmitri suddenly stands from his seat and walks over to me, his eyes narrowing as they roam over my outfit. “You want to know what else is frustrating? You, walking into my office wearing that cock-teasing dress during my phone call, driving me fucking crazy.”
My adrenaline fires up as I stand there, letting him admire me. “Is there anything I can do to ease some of your frustration?”
Dmitri’s gaze bears down on me, making me feel smaller as he looms over me. “I can think of a few things...”
Warmth pools low in my stomach as he comes closer to me. This is it, right? It has to be. I’m starting to fear that if he doesn’t make a move that I’ll pounce on him myself at this point.
“Tell me,” I say in a whisper.
“Name your price for a night with me,” Dmitri replies.
I blink up at him in shock, not expecting that particular approach from him. “What?”
“What will it cost for me to finally have you?” he asks, his deep blue eyes dipping from my breasts to my toes twice before meeting my eyes again. “I’ll pay whatever you ask. You deserve every dollar for all the hard work you’ve already done for me.”
My jaw nearly drops. He’s treating intimacy like some sort of a business arrangement? Like this is just an extra duty that he can tack on to everything that I already do for him as his assistant?
“You want to pay me for sex?” I question him, making sure that I’m hearing this right because this is one of the most insane things that has ever come out of his mouth. I thought I was prepared for everything when it came to the Russian mobster, but I was wrong.
Dmitri nods. “This way seems…simpler.”
He means safer. If he can make our night of passion a scheduled, paid-for session rather than a moment of wild desire, probably one with an NDA, that allows him to get away with sleeping with me with less of a chance of getting caught.
That’s not going to work. He needs to put aside everything for me.
I gently place my palms on his chest. My breath hitches when his large hands grip both of my hips possessively. “As tempting as that is…I can’t.”
Dmitri frowns down at me. “Why not? I know you want me too.”
My cheeks burn as he pulls me closer to his body, my sense of control threatening to snap. He feels so hard, so strong and powerful. One night with him would be priceless.
But the plan has to come first.
“I’m sorry. I can’t…I won’t be the other woman,” I tell him as I gaze up at him, seeing the disappointment written all over his face.
Dmitri eventually drops his hands, releasing me from his strong hold. “I see.”
I force a deep breath into my lungs, strengthening my resolve.
“I appreciate the offer, though,” I say, not wanting him to think that I’m not interested. Sending Annika proof of a one-night stand with Dmitri before they’re official may not be enough to end the alliance. Besides, he would immediately know it was me who tipped them off if I went that route.
Dmitri nods and moves back to his chair, seeming to be stuck in his own head. Hopefully, I’ve given him something to think about and reconsider. He’s not the type of man used to rejection. I’m sure he’s used to getting everything he wants, when he wants it.
With a small smile on my face, I sit down in my own seat and turn on my laptop, but my mind is so far away from work right now. All I can think about is how close I am to unraveling his marriage and ruining his relationship with the Suyunovs.
Dmitri loves a challenge.
It won’t be long now before he chooses me.