Chapter Twenty-Four
Sarah
Dmitri left the house early this morning, claiming he had to handle some business before the trial resumed this afternoon. A part of me wondered if he was just trying to give me space to think without having to look at him and feel guilty for considering lying on the stand.
He kissed me goodbye without mentioning the testimony at all, and I blushed as Ronnie looked at me pointedly.
Things changed between us last night when I went into his bedroom.
I hadn’t planned on going to him. I’d simply had trouble sleeping after the stressful day I had, and I decided to go to the kitchen to make myself some hot tea.
But when I heard him moan my name as I passed his bedroom, I couldn’t help myself.
All of my resistance to the fire burning between us faded away, and I couldn’t even pretend I regretted it.
Being with him was just as satisfying as I remembered it being four years ago.
But I didn’t necessarily expect him to kiss me in front of his housekeeper as if we were a real couple. It shocked me, and for the first time, I thought about what it would be like to be with him outside of all this. The idea made warmth spread through my chest.
Shaking my head, I pushed those thoughts away. I couldn’t even comprehend such a possibility until I knew what I was going to say in court today.
I fretted about it all morning. The fear and the guilt pulled me in separate directions until I felt like I was losing my mind. I tried to focus on Alexis, making sure she ate breakfast and had everything she needed to spend the day with my mother.
I hadn’t told her what happened in the parking lot or that I was staying with Dmitri. It would only worry her. After the way Mira reacted, I didn’t think I had the emotional capacity to deal with more concern and questions about my decision-making.
But I didn’t want to leave Alexis with her without protection, so Dmitri arranged for someone to sit in a car outside my mother’s house and keep an eye on things while I was at the courthouse.
It wasn’t a long-term solution. I’d have to eventually tell my mother what was going on and figure out how the new threat to us affected my job and childcare arrangement, but for now, I just needed to know my daughter was safe while I testified.
It felt different to arrive at the courthouse today.
Before, I was nervous about testifying. Now, my heart felt like a lead ball sitting in my chest as I walked inside the building.
Was I really going to lie on the stand? Could I do something that would increase the chances of Dmitri ending up behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit?
There was already a target on my back, and telling the truth today would just make it worse. I meant it when I told him last night that I should lie to the jury. My safety and Alexis’s were at stake.
But what guarantee did I have that the men who threatened me would leave me alone if I did what they wanted? Men who would threaten a child and then try to kidnap her weren’t to be trusted. There was no honor there.
Plus, lying on the stand came with consequences. Lie to protect my daughter but send an innocent man to jail, and possibly me too if the lies were discovered. Or tell the truth and risk Dmitri’s enemies coming after me and Alexis.
The only guarantee I’d received came from Dmitri. He promised he would keep me safe, and there were no conditions attached to that declaration.
So, how could I betray him?
The courtroom looked the same as it did on Friday afternoon. The DA sat at a table to the right, and Dmitri was seated to the left with his lawyer. I hesitated before going to the right, taking a seat on the side that made me look loyal to the prosecutor.
A few days ago, just choosing a seat here wouldn’t have felt wrong.
But things had changed so quickly. My feelings for Dmitri had grown from a spark of attraction to a deeper connection that I wouldn’t have thought was possible when I first walked into this courtroom and saw him on trial for Mr. Moss’s murder.
I arrived just before the judge entered the room. I wasn’t ready when I was called to the stand right away, but I didn’t think more time would have done me any good. No matter how long I mulled over my decision, I would just keep going back and forth about it.
As I took the stand, my eyes landed on Dmitri.
He looked so handsome in a black suit, his dark hair brushed back from his forehead as if he’d run his fingers through it multiple times.
His brown eyes locked on mine, and I saw nothing but understanding in their depths.
He heard me last night, and he thought I was going to lie.
He believed I would tell this whole courtroom that I saw him kill my boss, and that look on his face told me he supported that decision.
But I couldn’t do it.
Lying, even if it was to save myself, would only end up putting me at the mercy of the men who killed my boss. I had to trust that Dmitri would protect me and my daughter.
Our daughter.
“Miss White, can you tell us what you saw that day?”
DA Reid looked at me expectantly. I swallowed hard around a lump in my throat and straightened my spine. From what Dmitri had said, the DA might be in cahoots with his enemies. I no longer knew who to trust.
“I came back from lunch and heard strange voices in Mr. Moss’s office. They mentioned that he owed them money—”
“Them or their boss?”
The interruption made me falter. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dmitri’s hands tighten into fists where they were resting on the table in front of him.
“They said it was their boss,” I replied. “They told Mr. Moss that their boss would deal with him if he didn’t pay them back soon.”
“Then what happened?”
“I saw them leave, and Mr. Moss sent me home.”
“And when did you return to the office?”
I paused. There was something about the way he asked that question and the gleam in his eye that made me wonder if he thought my story was about to change from my initial witness statement. Was it true? Did he know I’d been threatened into lying?
But I didn’t tell him what those intimidating men wanted me to say. I didn’t lie about coming to the office the night before the body was discovered and watching Dmitri kill my boss. I didn’t change my story.
“I didn’t come back to the office until three days later. That’s when I found my boss’s body.”
The displeasure that flickered across the DA’s face was there and gone so fast I wasn’t sure if I imagined it. As I answered his questions about finding Mr. Moss’s body, I felt a profound sense of relief that no matter what it cost me. I was doing the right thing.
“Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?” the DA asked. “I want you to know that anything you say will go on the legal record, and you will be protected from the defendant.”
“Objection,” Dmitri’s lawyer called out. “The witness hasn’t indicated that she has anything else to add, and there’s no reason to imply that she needs protection from my client.”
“Sustained,” the judge said before turning to the DA. “Please move on, Mr. Reid.”
The district attorney ground his teeth together for a moment, and I couldn’t help glancing at Dmitri. He was watching the DA with a deep frown on his face. It seemed like he might have had the same thoughts I did. The district attorney was acting suspicious as hell.
“No further questions,” he said before turning on his heel and striding back to his seat.
After what Dmitri’s lawyer said in his opening statement to cast doubt upon me, I braced myself for his questions to be upsetting, but he surprised me when he declined to ask anything.
That was it. I was dismissed from the stand, and I knew it would have been fine if I left, but I sat back down in the gallery. Even if I felt that it looked better to sit on the opposite side, I wanted to stick around to support Dmitri through this.
Over the next couple of hours, the district attorney called up more witnesses to testify about Mr. Moss’s money troubles, his state of mind in the days before his death, and the connection between Dmitri and the men I saw intimidating Mr. Moss.
But it all seemed circumstantial to me. There was no real evidence which explained why I was being pressured to lie. The proof that Dmitri was behind Mr. Moss’s murder just didn’t exist.
By the end of the day, the district attorney had to be worried. From behind, I could see his shoulders bunched up, and the way he paced in front of the witness stand spoke volumes.
The trial would recommence tomorrow, where the defense would be calling their witnesses.
I didn’t want anyone to see me talking to Dmitri at the courthouse, so I slipped out of the building with the others who were watching the trial, leaving him behind as he talked to his lawyer.
I knew I’d see him at his house soon enough.
Stopping to get Alexis from my mother’s house, I spotted the man who was guarding the house sitting in a dark sedan across the street.
Giving him a discreet wave and a thankful smile, I put Alexis in her car seat and headed to Dmitri’s house.
The dark sedan followed me until I pulled into the driveway.
Having mafia men follow me around would take some getting used to, but I’d never complain about it after what nearly happened at the gym. It’d be impossible to feel anything other than grateful for the men keeping us safe.
“Mommy, is Mitri home?” Alexis asked as we walked into the house. She looked around hopefully.
“I don’t think so, sweetie,” I said. His car wasn’t in the garage, and the house was quiet.
She looked disappointed for a moment, and I felt my heart clench. So little time had passed since Dmitri brought us to stay here, and yet it looked like I wasn’t the only one getting attached. Alexis cared about him too. He was indulgent and patient, and that was all that mattered to her.
Maybe that’s all that should matter.
“I’m sure he’ll be here soon,” I said.
“I wanna make a picture.”
“You want to draw?”
“For Mitri.”
I couldn’t help smiling at the way she said his name. Pronouncing it was difficult for her, so this was her nickname for him.
But she could call him Dad if you told the truth.
My heart skipped a beat at that thought. After the choice I made on the stand today, it felt right to tell him about Alexis. I made a choice to trust him, and I needed to see it through. He deserved to know that she was his daughter, and Alexis deserved to have a father.
“Okay,” I said, holding her hand and leading her to the living room. “I’ll get some paper and your colored pencils so that you can make Dmitri a picture.”
She could give it to him when he got home, and then I’d tell him about her being his daughter. I just hoped he was happy about it.
I gave Alexis the paper and pencils before settling in on the couch and watching a little television.
She took her time drawing her picture, and an hour passed.
When it was complete, she stood in front of me with it held up with a bright smile on her face.
The drawing was a man with comically long legs that was obviously supposed to be Dmitri.
He was standing next to a house, and he was as tall as the building.
I wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be Dmitri’s home because she’d colored it purple.
He was holding a little girl’s hand, and I didn’t have to ask to know that it was supposed to be her.
If I wasn’t sure that she didn’t know that Dmitri was her father, I would think that she’d somehow figured it out.
“That’s beautiful,” I said, smiling. “How about we put it on the refrigerator where he’ll be sure to see it?”
“Yeah!”
She raced off to the kitchen, and I followed closely behind her, using a sensible chip-clip magnet to hang the picture on the otherwise empty front of the refrigerator.
Seeing Alexis’s proud face, I suddenly couldn’t wait for Dmitri to get here.
After days of indecision, I was eager to tell him about her being his child.
But where was he? I assumed he’d come back right after the trial concluded for the day. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I expected to see a text or missed phone call, but there was nothing.
I knew he wasn’t accountable to me, but I couldn’t help feeling a little hurt. I thought he’d at least keep me updated on when he’d be here, considering the way our relationship was growing.
I decided to send him a message, asking when he would be home.
It was getting close to dinnertime, so it was a reasonable question.
Ronnie told me that she usually prepared a dinner for Dmitri every day and left it in the refrigerator with instructions on how to heat it up.
Opening it, I saw what looked like some kind of meat and potatoes dish with a Post-it note stuck to the top with the information I’d need to heat it up.
I returned to the living room with Alexis, and she settled back onto the floor in front of the coffee table to keep drawing. I checked my phone and frowned when I saw there’d been no response from Dmitri.
Where was he?
I’d just asked myself that question when I heard a key unlocking the front door.
I’d set the alarm, even though we were home, because Dmitri instructed me to always do that and showed me how to.
It started to go off as a man who was not Dmitri walked into the house.
My breath caught as panic swept through me, but then the stranger turned to the alarm panel and disarmed it.
I stood, positioning my body between the stranger and Alexis, who had looked up from her drawing but was still sitting on the floor.
“Who are you?” I asked, not quite freaking out because the man knew the code to the alarm system but still uncomfortable with his unexpected presence in the house.
“Lev,” he said, taking a step closer to me. I shifted back, but not far. I wanted to stay between this man and my daughter. “I’m Dmitri’s cousin. I was in the restaurant when you arrived yesterday.”
I thought back to the unfamiliar faces in that room.
Dmitri didn’t introduce me to many of them, and I couldn’t remember seeing this man there.
But as I scanned his features, I could see the resemblance to Dmitri.
They had the same nose and strong jaw. His hair was thick and black, just like Dmitri’s.
Glancing down, I saw the key to the house in his hand. If he had that and knew the alarm code, he was probably telling the truth.
“Why are you here?” I asked, crossing my arms across my chest and trying to sound brave.
The truth was that I was rattled from so much that had happened the past few days, and trusting a new person was nearly impossible without Dmitri around to tell me I had nothing to worry about.
“I’ve come to get you, to take you to Dmitri. There’s been an accident.”
And just like that, the panic was back.