Chapter 2

TORI

I lay on Phoebe’s sofa, but I’m restless and end up tossing and turning as my mind races through memories of me and Dmitry. And when I do eventually find myself drifting off, I’m startled by the smallest of noises.

My heart ricochets in my chest when I hear the key in the front door. I brace myself, just in case Vladamir has somehow tracked me down, even though I know it could only be Phoebe.

I sit up straighter as she walks through the door and force a smile, which soon fades when I spot Marshall behind her. I stand abruptly, half expecting Dmitry to follow, but I’m relieved when Marshall shuts the door behind him.

I clench my jaw and ball my fists. “What the fuck is he doing here?”

Phoebe reassuringly rubs my arm and offers a sympathetic smile. It reminds me of the way I was treated when everyone thought I was crazy, and I stiffen. “He just wanted to make sure you’re okay.” She bows her head slightly, and I’m pleased that she has the decency to look remorseful.

I fold my arms over my chest. “Well, as you can see, I’m still alive,” I spit angrily. “No thanks to you and your boss.”

Marshall steps closer, and I instinctively step back so he can’t make any kind of contact. His expression fills with hurt, and for a second, I feel bad. I know I shouldn’t hold Marshall responsible, but I’m still angry, and he’s the closest to Dmitry. Plus, he talked me into going even though we both knew I wasn’t crazy.

Phoebe gently takes my arm, and I stare at where her fingers hold me. It reminds me of the last few days, and I shudder. She notices my reaction and releases me. “Sorry,” she says sadly. “Why don’t we all sit down? I thought it would be good for you to get some answers about this whole messed-up situation, and Marshall can give you them,” she murmurs, glancing over at Marshall. He offers her a small smile, and she returns it, her eyes glinting in that way they do when she likes someone. I narrow my eyes, glancing back and forth between the pair in annoyance until they spot me and break their little eye flirt.

I drop down onto the sofa, pulling the fluffy blanket around me as if it were a coat of armour. Phoebe lowers herself beside me, a look of relief on her face.

She’s right, I need answers, and I can’t sit in the same room as Dmitry for a second, so Marshall is the next best thing, and it might help me work through some of the questions circling around my head.

Tears fill my eyes as I rest my head on my knees. There’s a conflict between my head and my heart. Part of me wants to know everything, but I’m not sure I can take much more pain.

Marshall eventually sits in the single chair beside me. He leans over, his fingers tentatively hovering near my face, giving me a chance to pull away. When I don’t, he smiles and pushes my hair away from my eyes. “I’m so sorry,” he whispers, and I feel his pain radiating from him. “I never gave up. Dmitry never gave up.”

The tears flow down my cheeks, soaking into the fluffy blanket resting over my knees. I swallow hard, trying to rid the lump in my throat. “Please, Marshall, I can’t hear his name right now.”

He nods in understanding. “Just know we’ll make this right, Tori. They’ll pay for everything they’ve done to you.” He takes a breath before adding, “You were never crazy.” He laughs. “Maybe a little unhinged at times, but you were never crazy,” he teases.

I sniffle a laugh as I swipe at my tears, dreading to think how puffy my eyes are after all the crying I’ve been doing recently. “You must have a lot of questions,” he says, “and I’ll try my best to answer from what I know. We’re still piecing a lot of it together.”

I nod, wrapping my arms around myself. “Where did the notes come from?”

“We suspect it was Nik. He had access to your room and the cameras to disable them.”

I process his words, sadness filling my heart. “He had everyone think I was responsible,” I mutter. “I even doubted myself. They made me feel like I was losing my grasp on reality, and all along, they were just fucking with my head so they could have Dmitry.”

“Dmitry has to believe and trust in his men,” Marshall tells me. “They hold his life in their hands on a daily basis. He never expected to have one of his closest men do this sort of shit?—”

I put my hand up to stop him. “Listen, Marshall, I appreciate that you’re here to answer my questions, and Dmitry is your boss, but I don’t want to hear his feeble excuses or how he feels about everything that happened.” I inhale sharply. “He took everyone’s word over my own, the woman he claims to love. They wanted me dead, and if it hadn’t been for you, I could’ve been killed. And the worst thing is, he wouldn’t have even known, all because he listened to them.”

I place a protective hand over my stomach. “And now, I’m responsible for his unborn child, so I’ll be damned if I take any of his fucking pitiful excuses. If all this causes my child’s death, it’s on his head.”

He runs his hands through his dishevelled hair and stares down at the floor. He looks exhausted, and I wonder if Dmitry looks the same. I give my head a shake. Right now, I’m the fucking victim, and I shouldn’t have to consider anyone else’s feelings.

“I get it, Tori, I do. And you have every right to feel angry and let down. We let you down. But this isn’t your brother we’re dealing with. It’s the head of the fucking Russian Mafia. You need to be safe.”

“If he wanted me dead, I’d be dead,” I snap.

“Maybe. But we got you out of there, remember. Who knows what he was planning or why he waited that long? It’s not like him, and we’re suspicious. So, we,” he glances at Phoebe, who has the decency to look away, “think it would be safer for you to stay somewhere else.” I’m already shaking my head before he’s finished speaking. “I’ve got a place where you can stay. Nobody will know you’re there, not even Dmitry,” he rushes to tell me.

I look at him sceptically. Dmitry would only have to threaten his life and he would tell him where I am. I’m certain Dmitry is in on this.

“Maybe it’s a good idea, Tori,” Phoebe says gently, giving my knee a reassuring squeeze.

I weigh up my options. It may be my safest option right now, and even if Dmitry does know where I’ll be, at least Vladimir and Vivian won’t know. It’s not the first place I’ve stayed at that they know nothing about. My anger won’t let me see past the hurt and pain right now, but it doesn’t mean I’m stupid enough to think I can fight those pair off on my own.

And I know deep down that Dmitry wouldn’t harm me. Right now, he is just the father to my unborn child, but he should protect us because this entire mess is his fault. I rub my stomach again, briefly closing my eyes before giving a slight nod.

Marshall looks relieved, then he winces. “There’s something else, and I don’t know how to tell you.”

“Just spit it out,” I mutter.

“Harriet was part of it too.”

I stare at him, my mouth falling open in shock. “What the fuck do you mean?”

“She’s been feeding information to Vladimir and making out to everyone else that you’re losing it. She was the one who was poisoning Dmitry’s mind. She also signed your paperwork so the hospital would release you.”

“But . . . no, I mean, she . . . oh my god, she medicated me. Marshall, she diagnosed me with personality disorder.” I bury my face in my hands, my mind racing. “She made me believe that I was spiralling, and she was part of the reason I did some of the crazy shit I did. She planted seeds in my head, making me more suspicious of Vivian and Dmitry.” I groan, the feeling of betrayal burning deep. The one woman I thought I could trust with my life, and she was just a cog in their machine.

“I know, we were shocked too. Honestly, we never saw this coming. But don’t worry, she won’t ever contact you again.” I stare him in the eye, and something passes between us, letting me know Harriet is more than likely in the same place as Nik. He pats my leg. “Maybe you should see our doctor too, just to make sure you and that baby are okay. Who knows what stress being locked-up like that has caused?”

I frown, knowing I can’t trust anyone who’s associated with Dmitry. Especially not after learning about Harriet. As if he reads my thoughts, Marshall smirks, holding up his hands. “It doesn’t have to be anyone Dmitry knows. You can find your own, but we do need to be careful,” he warns. “We can’t trust anyone working for the NHS as we won’t know who’s on Vladimir’s payroll. Maybe find a private one.”

I mull over what he’s trying to say, and I know he’s right. I need treatment, and I need to prove I’m not clinically insane like each and every one of them believed. Not only that, but if this baby stands a chance of surviving after the ordeal I’ve been through, I need to get the best treatment I can.

“I’ll find my own private care team,” I agree, standing and making my way to Phoebe’s kitchenette. “I’ll bill Dmitry.” He’s responsible for this fucking mess, so he can pick up the bill.

I open Phoebe’s freezer. What I really crave right now is a glass of wine to ease this ache in my heart, but that’s no longer possible, so I’ll have to go for the next best thing—ice cream. I rummage around the drawers, huffing when I don’t find what I’m looking for. Phoebe watches me questioningly. “I need ice cream,” I snap, slamming the freezer door.

She throws her head back laughing, and Marshall arches a brow. “What’s so funny?”

“It’s our go-to in times of crisis,” she tells him. “And with all our recent crises, we’re all out.” She laughs again. “Maybe you can stock us up?” She smiles suggestively, and I screw my face up in annoyance.

“Ugh, get a fucking room, will you?” I flop back down on the sofa. “Do you not realise I’ve just walked out on the love of my life and the last thing I want to see is you two drooling over each other?”

“Yeh, whatever, Tori.” She rolls her eyes, but she doesn’t deny my accusation, which tells me all I need to know—she’s into Marshall.

Marshall stands and removes the keys from his pocket. “I’ll get ice cream under one condition.”

“What’s that?” I ask.

“When I get back, we head to my safe place.”

I nod. “Fine, but you’d better bring a lot of ice cream.”

“Great. I’ll let you pack.”

Phoebe shows him out, and I don’t miss the way she touches his arm and the way her tongue darts out, licking her lips.

DMITRY

There’s a knock on my office door as I stare aimlessly at my laptop, debating my next move. If there is one thing I know for sure, it’s that I can’t let these idiots get away with what they’ve done to my krasota .

“Enter,” I shout. It’s short and sharp, but as the rage courses through my veins, I have no time for fucking pleasantries.

Leo proceeds to enter with a wary expression, as if he can already read the room. The uncertainty and mistrust I have towards my men only fuels the burning rage. “You asked for me, boss?”

“Sit,” I snap, and he does so immediately.

“Is everything okay?”

I lean forward, closing my laptop. “I need you to gather all my men for a meeting here at the manor. We have a serious fucking issue that needs rectifying and quickly,” I order as I crack my knuckles. I stare down at the grazes on them, my skin broken and sore, and it makes me smile remembering how good it felt to watch Nik’s nose explode.

“Of course. What’s the issue?” It’s his job to know, but until I’ve made my point, I can’t let him in on this. “You’ve been distant lately, boss. I don’t want to step out of line, but as your advisor, I’ve been pretty much out of the loop.”

I run my hands through my hair, agitated that I’ve been so preoccupied with everything else. Maybe this is why my men are starting to turn on me.

Leo has been part of my world since we were kids, and I should be able to trust him. He hasn’t once failed me, but neither had Nik, and yet all along he was working for my father.

I stand and make my way to the window, staring out over the courtyard. Memories of Victoria assault my brain as I recall her escaping from the boot of my car and trashing everything in sight. Oh, that punishment was bittersweet . My lips curl into a smile as I remember the way her body craved me. One day soon, she will be home where she belongs and anyone who stands in my way will meet an untimely end.

“Nik’s dead,” I announce casually, like it’s no big deal.

“Boss?”

I turn to face him. “The fucker was working for my father all along. Not only that, but they took Victoria. They were planning to kill her.”

His frown deepens, and I see this is news to him too. “Since when?”

“Since the day we brought him in. He said as much before I slit his throat. He’s been feeding everything back to my father. Every move I made was reported back. All those times we wondered why my father was showing up at the most inconvenient times, now it all makes sense,” I say as I walk over to the bar to pour us each a whiskey. I hand one to him before knocking my own back. “I want to make sure all my men know what will happen if they screw me over. And from now on, we keep everything close. I don’t want anything getting back to my father.”

“I hear you. I’ll get right on it.” He knocks back his own whiskey, placing the glass on the desk before heading for the door.

“Leo,” I say, and his hand pauses on the doorknob. He turns to look at me. “If this reaches anyone, I’ll know you’re one of my father’s men. Don’t cross me.”

“Never, Dmitry. We are like brothers, and I’ll be by your side when you bring that bastard down.” We stare at one another for a few seconds before I nod stiffly, and he leaves.

The silence in this office is deadly, giving me time to think about every fuck-up I’ve made over the last few months. How could I be so fucking stupid? I growl, picking up the empty glass and launching it across the room. I watch it splinter into a hundred tiny pieces. She needed me to protect her, and I was too busy letting everyone else dictate our path. I won’t make that same mistake again.

I run my hands over my five o’clock shadow, taking deep breaths to calm my anger. My mobile rings out and I glance at the screen, seeing Marshall’s name. I snatch it up and ask, “How is she?”

“She’s agreed to go to the safe house, boss, but she isn’t in a good way. It’s going to take time.”

“It’s such a mess,” I mutter, “and I can’t stop going over all the fuck-ups I made.”

“She’ll be okay. She’s a fighter. That’s why you fell for her, remember?”

I hear traffic background noise. “Where are you? You’re meant to be with her.”

“I’m getting ice cream,” he mutters dryly.

“Ice cream?” I yell. “Her life is in danger and you’re out getting fucking ice cream?”

“Boss, it’s the only way I could get her to agree. Besides, if I’d have refused her, my life would have been in danger.” I smile, knowing how demanding my krasota can be, especially when it comes to her favourite treats. “She’s also agreed to see a doctor.”

I begin to relax. At least she’s wanting to take care of our baby. “Great, I’ll arrange one for her.”

I hear him sigh. “Actually boss, she wants to arrange her own healthcare. She doesn’t trust any of your men.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. It’s understandable. “Okay, but I want the details of the doctor she’s going to be using.”

“Of course, that shouldn’t be a problem at all,” and I hear a smirk in his voice.

“Oh?”

“She’s billing you for her care,” he says with a laugh.

The tension lifts and I shake out my shoulders. Knowing she’s fine and will be at the safe house soon enough, gives me hope. She agreed. That’s a good sign when it comes to my krasota .

And Marshall is right—she needs time to come to terms with everything that’s happened. In the meantime, I need to show her that she can trust me.

There’s hope for us, I know there is. My sweet krasota will come back to me soon enough.