Chapter 10

Dmitri

This woman continues to surprise me at every turn. My mind scrambles to figure out why she’d ask such a ridiculous question and I end up settling on the way we first met. She was, after all, my prize for winning a brutal series of cage fights that would have put weaker men into their graves. Lord knows I’ve beaten plenty of people within an inch of their life, but they either asked for it, or fucking deserved it.

Her sudden question, however, hits way too close to home, and I don’t like it. Keeping calm, I say, “Not yet.”

That’s honest enough.

My stomach twists as I hold Daelyn’s gaze a moment longer. She’s just stirred up something that’s been riding my ass these past couple of months, and it’s hard to swallow the guilt lodged in my throat.

Daelyn huffs, and her nose crinkles in this adorable way as she frowns at me. I think she’s disappointed with my answer.

“My turn.” I tip my head to the side. “Have you murdered anyone?”

She cocks her eyebrow and sarcastically responds with, “Not yet.”

Brat . God, what I wouldn’t give to bend her over my knee and spank her ass until it was cherry red right now. Then I’d make her —

“Welcome to Maggie’s. I’m Rory and I’ll be serving you today. What drinks can I start you off with?”

Daelyn breaks our staring match first and fake smiles at our server. “I’ll take a black coffee and an orange juice, please.”

“No problem. And for you?”

“Water.”

“Okay. I’ll be right back with those, then I’ll take your order.” Rory spins around and walks off.

I keep my attention on Daelyn. “Do you know what you want?”

She swallows hard, then plucks the menu back up. “Nothing has a price.”

My heart squeezes. I remember when I always had to math out what I could afford to eat each day. I don’t like that Daelyn’s doing it now.

“This is my treat. Order anything you want.”

She doesn’t look happy with my offer. Jesus Christ, I’m trying to be a good guy here and she’s making it extremely difficult. Between her sleeping pills, leaving the door unsecured so I could break back in, her tears during the bike ride, and now asking me about murder, I’m overwhelmed with the number of red flags red flagging.

A sensible man would walk away immediately.

Too bad I’m not sensible.

I run on intuition and there’s a delusional part of me that keeps whispering she’s in danger and that I should help her. Time to lighten up a little and see if I can salvage this dismal date.

“What do you do for a living, Daelyn?”

Her eyes dart around the menu. “I’m a medical coder.”

I knew that already but can’t tell her that. It’s nice to know she told the truth, though.

“What do you do? I mean, besides beat the shit out of people in fight rings at night in the middle of nowhere.”

“I’m in security.”

She rests the menu on the table. “Really?”

“Lie for a lie, truth for a truth.” I nod. “Yeah, really.”

She eyes me up and down. “I can totally see it.”

“Here you go.” Rory sets our drinks down and pulls out her tablet. “Do you know what you’d like to order?”

I tip my head at Daelyn, letting her go first.

“I’ll have the shrimp and grits with a side of home fries, and an order of the hushpuppies, please.”

Damn. A woman with a big appetite is a hell of a turn on.

“You got it. And for you, Sir?”

“Steak hash, hold the onions.”

“Alright, that’ll be out shortly.”

Once Rory leaves, I dive right into another question. “Do you have a roommate?”

The color instantly drains from Daelyn’s face. “What?”

“I saw another bedroom at your house. Do you have a roommate or a kid or something?”

She takes a sip of her orange juice and I notice her hand’s trembling. It makes me want to ease whatever fears she has because I’ve unknowingly pushed a button. “I’m just asking because I want to be careful if you leave your sliding door unsecured again. I don’t want to scare someone else by accident.”

“I hardly think you need to sneak into my house anymore, Dmitri.”

“I disagree.”

She sets her drink down. “Why?”

“Because you like it.”

Boom . The way her pale cheeks suddenly turn crimson tells me I’m right. My girl has some fun kinks. I can’t wait to unlock them all.

“Yes. I have a roommate.” Daelyn clears her throat. “And she’s off limits.”

Fine by me. I’m not interested in anyone but the menacing beauty glowering across from me. She fidgets in her seat, and I can’t tell if she’s debating on stabbing me with her butter knife or bolting out the door.

“I’ll stay clear of her,” I promise. “And again, if you don’t want me to come back, just put a baseball bat or a large piece of wood on the bottom of your sliding glass door. I won’t get in any other way other than that entrance. You have my word.”

Scoffing, she crosses her arms. “Words don’t mean much where I come from.”

I almost ask where that is, but table it, for now.

“Your turn,” I say, giving her the control. I don’t want this to be an interrogation, but I also want to know as much as I can about her. There’s a reason I’m drawn to her, and it’s not just her great tits and juicy ass. Nor is it her sparkling personality.

She takes another sip of OJ, and her hands aren’t shaking so much anymore. That eases my protective instincts a fraction. “Um. What’s your favorite color?”

“Blue green.”

“Like the Caribbean?”

“Like your eyes.”

She rolls them hard, but her smile pops out even though it’s obvious she’s not impressed by being flattered. “That is super lame, Dmitri.”

“It’s also super honest.” I chug half my water. “Your eyes look like the Caribbean to me. I was obsessed with seeing those waters when I was a kid. I couldn’t fathom there being something that pretty in this world and was convinced all the pictures I saw were photoshopped.”

“I’ve never been there, so I can’t confirm or deny if it’s true.”

“Me either.”

Her brow pinches together. “Your turn.”

“What’s your favorite color?”

“Green.”

“What shade?”

“All of them.” She visibly relaxes. “Beach or Mountains?”

“Don’t have a preference.” I’ve never been to either. In fact, I’ve barely left my hometown. “You?”

“Beach.” She gets this dreamy smile on her face. “I went once when I was a kid and I loved it.”

“Here you go.” Rory pops over with our food. We both lean back as she places dish after dish on the table. “Enjoy!”

Daelyn stabs a shrimp and forkful of grits. “Why do you fight?”

Ah. We’re back to personal, serious topics. Fine by me. “It’s a way to blow off steam.”

“So is going on a run, or fucking, or—”

“I do all those too,” I say, cutting her off. “Trust me.”

Her cheeks redden again.

I stab into my steak hash and shovel a huge bite into my mouth. It’s pretty good, but my boy Knox could make this much better. He’s been having me, Ryker, and Vault hop around to all the fancy spots in town, taste testing random dishes so we can tell him if they’re worth reinventing or not. He’s a damn good chef, self-taught, and is always eager to put his own twist on things at his club’s secret restaurant.

“Have you ever lost a fight?”

“No.” It’s suddenly hard to swallow my food. “Does it bother you that I fight?”

She stuffs an entire hushpuppy into her mouth. I swear she does it on purpose to give herself extra time to come up with an answer.

“Be honest,” I warn.

As I wait for her answer, my body starts coiling tight. My mother hated that my dad fought for side money. She didn’t mind spending it on booze every fucking chance she got, though. And for someone who pitched a fit and said his violence was juvenile, she sure knew how to swing a punch herself.

Fuck, I feel sick now.

“No,” Daelyn says quietly. “But I would think it’s kind of hard to be with a fighter.”

Does she want to be with me? It’s a little early in the game to be thinking about commitment. But damn my pathetic heart for gasping at the thought of it being a possibility. “Hard, how?”

She shrugs and takes a sip of her coffee. “I’d be pretty upset if you came home busted up all the time.”

“You weren’t sad when I came to you all busted up the night of the fight.”

“I didn’t know you then.”

And still, she fucked me. “You don’t know me now, either.”

“True.” Daelyn carefully sets her coffee down. “Have you ever hit a woman?”

“Absolutely not.” I don’t realize my grip is so tight around my fork and knife until Daelyn gawks at it. Shit. I bent the fork handle. “I don’t tolerate physical violence against a woman. Ever .” Then I do one better, because we’re all about honesty today, right? “The last time I found a man hitting a woman, I beat him within an inch of his life.”

She stares at me for a long moment and then shoves another hushpuppy in her mouth. At least she cut it up this time, so she won’t risk choking on it.

“Does my fighting disgust you?” I hold my finger up just as she takes a sip of her OJ. “Let me rephrase. Did the way I fucked you that night disgust you?”

She snarfs her juice.

Laughter blows out of me because it feels nice to catch her off guard. I swear she’s been a concrete wall this entire time, and I’ve finally managed a little foothold.

Daelyn wipes her face with a napkin. “Oh my god, it’s in my sinus cavity!”

That makes me laugh harder.

She tosses her napkin at me. “Nice to see my pain brings you pleasure.”

I stop laughing immediately. “Are you hurt?”

She sniffs hard and takes another sip of her juice. “Ugh. Not physically, but my pride is likely on life support from it.”

Rory comes out of nowhere and asks, “How’s everything so far?”

I swear this server is stealthier than a ninja with the way she keeps showing up out of the blue. Either that, or I’m way too entranced by the woman across from me to stay aware of my surroundings. I hope it’s not the latter. I can’t afford to be lazy in that department. Especially after the news I got a few weeks ago.

Fuck… I don’t want to think about that right now. It won’t do me any good because I can’t go back and change a damned thing.

I can’t save him.

Never could.

“—you mean.”

Wait. What did she say? I missed it. And where did Rory go? “Repeat that?”

“I said yes, I liked it, in a gory, dangerous, adrenaline rush kind of way, if that’s what you mean.”

I don’t even remember the question I’d asked. Grabbing my water to buy myself time to re-collect my thoughts, I’m fucked because there’s no water left in my glass. The ice at the bottom tips and falls into my face.

“I like it rough,” Daelyn says casually. “It’s usually the only way I can come. I need that extra oomph to penetrate my chaotic brain and dominate it so my body will submit.”

Sweet Jesus . I remember what I’d asked now. And her answer has my dick hard as steel. “How do you know it’s the only way you can come?”

“Uh, because it’s me and I know me.”

Not good enough. People make new self-discoveries all the time. “I bet I could show you other ways.”

She rolls her eyes so hard I don’t know how they haven’t detached. “Eat your steak, Dmitri.”

“I’d rather eat you.”

She leans back and frowns. “We’re shit at conversation.”

“I disagree. Murder, orgasms, and beaches are perfectly acceptable topics for a first date.”

That makes her laugh. God damn, she’s beautiful. I’m dying to strip her down, both physically and mentally, to see the real woman hiding beneath the mask she keeps wearing around me.

A terribly brilliant idea hits me. “Have you ever heard of the Monarch Club?”