Chapter Twenty- Two - Dimitri

I can’t get her out of my head. And I’ve tried, but Ava’s sticking inside it like glue. Where does she get off talking to me like that? With all that sassiness and wit? And how the fuck did she get smarter and more beautiful? A woman who betrayed me doesn’t deserve for that to happen to her.

I sit in my hotel chair waiting for Viktor to come, contemplating, stewing and plotting what I should do with Ms. Knight. There’s a punishment she needs to receive, but my head’s not clear enough to work out what it is. All I can remember from the meeting is how those curvaceous hips of hers moved in the night. Or how she used to laugh when I tickled her under her armpit. She had all these places she was squirming in when I touched her. I liked how smart she was and when I used to ask her about how she would maneuver in a deal it had me thinking I could give her an arm of the Bratva business to open up.

Every man deserves one time to be foolish, and that’s it. I had my fool’s dream, and thankfully I’ve recovered from it. Twisting the ring around on my finger, I think about Cara, trying to do a dance in my head in order to convince myself that she’s the right person for me to marry, but Ava’s blowing that ideal to smithereens.

I’m angry, and she’s the problem. She can’t exist anymore for me, but here she is in sunny L.A. thriving in her law career after I turned her out of my house four years ago. No, no, no. Can’t be.

The phone rings, interrupting my toxic thoughts, and I answer. It’s Cara. “Shit,” I say out loud under my breath, a flash of irritation riding over my face. She’s the last person I want to talk to right now, even if she’s my fiancée.

“Hey, how are you?” I ask tersely, hoping the call is quick.

“Nothing much. I haven’t heard from you since you got to L.A., and I wanted to know how the deal is going?”

Not about me. You wanted to know about the deal. I stare at the phone, my nostrils flaring, and heat flaming through my veins. “The deal’s going well. We’re on the last legs with it, and likely finalizing it this morning.”

Gasping, Cara claps as I wince. “Congratulations! That’s such a big deal, right? I’m proud of you,” she replies, knowing how to say all the right things at the right time, and frankly it pisses me off.

“Thanks. Is that all you wanted?” I snap, wanting to cause a fight—something that will show me a deeper depth to Cara, but she doesn’t fold, turning up the sickly sweetness in her voice even more.

“Yes, that’s all I wanted. Enjoy your celebrations, and I look forward to sharing the win with you when you get home. Bye, fiancé.”

“Bye, Cara.” I hang up the phone, the last sentence frying me. Bye, fiancé. The tone in which she said it made me feel as if she were taunting me a little, or maybe I’m paranoid because of Ava.

Viktor knocks on the door announcing himself. “Hey. It’s me. Open up.” Standing, I get myself together, wrenching the door back in a foul mood. “Ah, that bad a morning, is it?” He clamps a hand down on my shoulder with a smile. “Boss, it’s going to get better. We’re about to sign the deal of a lifetime. This will send profits through the roof!” Viktor swipes his hand against the other in a gesture that normally would make me smile. Because if there’s anything I like more, it’s power and more money, but Ava’s got her claws in my heart and mind, and she’s not letting go.

“Fuck. I need a drink.”

Viktor stares at me in surprise. “You don’t drink when you’re in meetings. Is this about seeing Ava?”

“Yes.” I pick up the whisky on the bar, adding two glasses and filling one for each of us. “That’s what this is about. You’re drinking with me. I need something to take the edge off.” Slamming the golden liquid down my throat I let the burn hurt good, shaking it out.

“What’s your plan for her. I know you have one.”

“Punishment.”

“Ah, punishment.” Viktor swirls his drink in the glass but knocks it back. “Ahh, I’m going to have plenty more of these after the deal. Come on. We have to go. We can talk about it on the ride over.”

“Alright, let’s seal the deal and be done.” On the way over, we don’t discuss Ava. As close as Viktor is to my operations, I don’t want him finding out the depths of my disdain for Ms. Knight. That’s my burden to carry, and mine alone.

As we near the building, I hear the hammer in my chest but ignore it as we ascend in the elevator and then enter the boardroom. Ava’s already in the room with Anatoly, prepared as usual. All the documents are laid out in front of us with tabs to be signed and discussed. I have to hand it to her; she’s savvy, methodical, and extremely good at her job. I hate to admit that Thompson and Associates are lucky to have her, but that’s maybe something I can set about changing….

Smirking, I greet Anatoly first as he stands with a grin on his face. As he should, he stands to make a lot of money from this deal. “Morning, gentlemen, are we ready to make history here?”

“That’s exactly what we’re here to do,” I say, staring at Ava, who looks particularly tasty this morning, her familiar scent of orange blossom wafting through the air. I know the perfume; it’s one she picked out when she was with me. A stabbing ache hits my chest. I don’t want to remember. Fuck. Why couldn’t she pick a new perfume?

“Good morning, everyone,” she says professionally to both Viktor and me. Of course you won’t say my name, will you? You should be ashamed, Ava, not standing in here in your black dress with red lips and your glossy mane ready to cut deals. A man could die in her curves, and I should know; I had the pleasure of enjoying them every night in my bed. “Now that everyone’s here we can get started in a few minutes. Feel free to grab a drink and something to eat before we get started.”

I can’t let her get away with anything. Viktor and Anatoly catch up as Ava turns to the coffee station set up behind with cookies, croissants, and juice, making herself a coffee. I walk over, snatching the opportunity before the others join us. Ava side-eyes me, and I feel her shiver.

Good. I want to make her sweat as much as possible in this meeting. She holds her ground, pouring water from the urn and stirring in milk. The sugar is on the other side of her and all I have to do is step around her back, but I don’t. I reach my arm across in front, grazing her breast, and she gasps, her cherry-red lips parting, her eyes glaring at me.

“Sorry, Ms. Knight.”

“Don’t be a dickhead, Dimitri,” she hisses under her breath, taking a croissant with her, alarming me with her straightforwardness.

“Ms. Knight, you are full of surprises.” I stare her down as the others step up to the station preparing their own drinks.

Shit. I didn’t rattle her the way I wanted to. I’m going to have to work harder. Maybe L.A. and me kicking her out has done the opposite of what I wanted it to do. She’s resilient, ready to fight. I don’t fucking like it one bit.

The meeting commences after a few minutes, and Ava gets straight down to business. “I received your emails about Section C ii and iii regarding the issue with energy consumption and the values. Thank you, Anatoly. Those have now been amended as you’ll see. If we can read through page by page and initial each then that will be the way we can start.”

“Great. Were you good with the changes, Dimitri?” Anatoly asks me, and I nod.

“I’m fine with them. Raven’s Peak deserves the right person to handle its affairs.” I say with a smart mouth, wanting to undermine Ava, but when I look up, she’s stony-faced, sipping her coffee and looking towards Anatoly.

“You’re absolutely right, and by the looks of this deal, we’ve got it in good hands.” Anatoly grins, and he’s a happy man.

“You’re on the money. If you only knew what I had to do to acquire the property,” I add with loaded sarcasm, indirectly throwing the blow at Ava. She doesn’t flinch, but Anatoly takes the bait raising his head from the document.

“How so?” I grin as Ava wriggles in her seat. Gotcha. How does it feel, Ms. Knight, to be humiliated?

“I had to pull a few strings to get it, but it’s worked out in my favor,” I tell him as Anatoly chuckles.

“I’ll say, and in both our favors.”

“I think we’re onto page thirty-one. I think we should continue,” Ava states and for the first time in the meeting other than the coffee stand, she glances up at me, but it’s not a glare. No, I would have been good with that because that would have told me I was successful in getting under her skin.

Oh no. This is something else. A stoicism, almost as if I’m glass and she’s staring right through me. This isn’t working out, not that I had a plan, other than to throw her off some. Ultimately, I want the deal signed as much as Anatoly does.

Ava’s phone lights up on the table towards the end of the meeting, and I observe her reaction carefully. There’s worry there, and whoever’s on the other end of the line is causing it. I keep initialing the pages, but I can feel the energy in the room shift.

“Excuse me, I have to step out for a minute. I have an important call to take,” she says, distracted by the caller.

“Hey, no problem, I think we only have ten pages to go. Am I right, Ava?” Anatoly asks as Ava looks between the phone and him, clearly flustered. Oh, this is fucking good.

“Yes—yes, that’s correct. I won’t be long.” She steps out of the room, and I perk my ears up to see if I can catch anything, but all I hear is a hushed tone, but the real magic begins when she returns. She’s clearly in distress and her cheeks are reddened.

Something’s happened, and it’s got my attention. “Everything alright, Ava?” Anatoly asks in concern.

“Ah no, it’s not actually. I have an emergency. I need to go. The deal is pretty much wrapped up, all you really need is both your signatures, and you have a deal,” she pushes out, her hand streaking through her hair.

“Yep, I’m ready to sign these pages. I’ve already seen them enough,” Anatoly pipes up, but my eyes glisten for the opportunity to fuck with her. I could stall, make it hard for her, and she’s clearly stressed out, her leg bouncing as she waits for Anatoly to sign.

With my pen firmly in hand, I stare at her blankly. What to do? An even better plan pops into my head. “Dimitri, can you sign your section please? There’s a few to get through,” she nudges as Viktor and I exchange glances.

“Fine. I don’t want to hold you up,” I reply, but that’s contrary to the fact. However, it’s Anatoly I’m thinking about.

After we sign, Ava stands quickly, shaking Anatoly and Viktor’s hands sneakily bypassing mine, but I don’t offer it either. There’s no chance I’m offering my hand to shake for a cheater.

Ava leaves only the scent of her orange blossom behind as I shake hands with Anatoly, and we agree to meet in the future to kick off proceedings. I’m aware of Ava being ahead of us and want to move out of the meeting as soon as possible to get to her.

Once in the car with Viktor driving, my obsession gets the better of me. I remember Ava’s silver car from our last little meeting and point it out. “Follow her. I want to see where she’s going.”

Viktor nods solemnly. “Okay. Let’s see what the emergency is.” As the wheel screeches and he hooks a left, we trail behind Ava. Viktor poses a question I don’t want to answer. “Are you in love with her? Only a man who is in love with a woman would go to these lengths to get to them.”

“She betrayed me, Viktor. How can there be love?” I reply, a rawness catching in my throat. I should be in a celebratory mood given how big the deal I just signed is, but all I want to think about is wielding a sword of wrath down on Ava so fierce that she crumbles like I did when I discovered what she did to me.

Viktor slides neatly behind a car, directly diagonally to Ava, whose hands are thumping on the steering wheel. I keep my eyes on her side profile, wondering what has her so stressed. Is it a new lover? If it is, I want to know if it’s him. The one she betrayed me for.

“That’s not the question I asked, Boss, but I’ll say this, only a woman can drive a man mad like this.” Viktor’s wise words are unwelcome at this time, but I see his point.

Yet I don’t care. I want Ava to fall. Hard. If I can find her weakness, then I can work at chipping away at it and have my sweet revenge. We follow along, reaching a hospital and parking at the same time Ava does. In hot pursuit, I go in alone behind her as she speaks to reception, jogging through to the pediatrics section where a waiting nurse directs her to a room.

“Thank you so much!” I hear her say as she opens the door to the room. I slow my walk, my heart pounding in my chest. A kid? When the nurse departs, I approach the door, seeing her hugging a small kid who has a Band-Aid on his forehead.

My blood freezes when I see the little boy’s face. He has the very same piercing blue eyes I have. An identical nose. His hair is a sandy blond color. The same as mine was when I was his age, and there’s a woman, maybe a little younger than Ava—pretty with brown hair.

This better not be what I think it is, but it is. The heart pounding doesn’t end. It only expands as I watch them on the inside as the boy hugs Ava’s legs. I can’t just stand here.

Unlocking the door, I enter the waiting room.