Chapter Twenty- Four - Dimitri

One week later…

There’s a light breeze in L.A., but there’s redemption coursing through my veins as I stand on the tarmac, the sweet revenge I wanted for Ava, falling right into my lap. Together, we’ve got a son, and that’s one thing she didn’t lie about.

I had the DNA results rushed through using my connections.

“Yes. I want the results from the lab rushed through, and I will pay extra under the table. I don’t care if you have to work overtime to do it. Get me the results and get them back to me in the next three days or else,” I advised the head of the pathology lab.

He overdelivered, producing the results in less than forty-eight hours. Viktor delivering the news with an envelope. “Here, I think you’re going to be pleased with the result.”

I’d taken the envelope silently from him in my Chicago office, the wait for the results—agonizing as I replayed the movie of Ava betraying me over and over again on loop. What if it wasn’t my kid? But again, the evidence was too great. I saw Ethan with my own two eyes. The kid was a doppelganger for me in the flesh and my seed was not going to stay in some condo in L.A. with Ava as a single mother. No. I would give him the world, and he would live like a king.

I opened the envelope staring at the results again and again searching for the right information, my name in the fine print in the bottom right-hand corner.

Father: Dimitri Utkin. Confirmed. I’d thrown the paper on my office desk, standing, fuming that Ava would add another knife in my back, keeping my son from me without my permission.

“Ah, Ms. Knight. You have no idea who you’re dealing with. I’m going to make your life a living hell on earth.”

“Sooo, not okay with the result?” Viktor chipped in, but I’d forgotten he was standing in my office. Grinning, I turned around to him, his smirk mirroring mine.

“No. The opposite. This is fucking too perfect. Revenge has fallen right into my lap. I want you to track Ava for the rest of the week, and maybe give her a shove in the right direction if you smell anything fishy.”

“Already on it, but my dibs are on her coming with Ethan to Chicago.”

“Oh. I want her there. How can I inflict the maximum amount of heartache if she’s not,” I countered with a wry smile. “But I’m going to rip away everything she holds dear. Then she’s going to see what type of monster I can really be.”

So, it was decided my son was coming back to Chicago with me. I didn’t tell Cara the truth. Ethan is my son and she’s going to have to deal with it. With my shades on, I wait for Ava and Ethan to arrive. I don’t care about her fucking career, her happiness, or how badly I’ve fucked things up for her. She took something from me when I gave her my all, and I would never let a woman do that again.

She knew she had no choice but to come with me. My legal team is too strong for her, and it would have been an easy win for me in the courtroom. If she defied me, I planned to pull out all the stops, including her infidelity during our relationship, and showing how bad a parent she is for not telling me she was with child.

Ava never stood a chance. The sun’s direction changes, causing me to drop my sunglasses down on my head, covering my eyes. Despite the revenge I’ve enacted, I never planned to take Ava away from Ethan. No. That was a back-up plan in case she decided to make foolish moves.

She might be a high and mighty lawyer, but she’s not a stupid one. I hate Ava. With every bone in my body, I hate her for what she did to us, and the secret she carried for four years without my knowledge. She arrives and my heart rate picks up as Viktor walks beside her, making sure she doesn’t make a last-ditch attempt to escape.

It’s not as if she hasn’t done that before. I’ve got hired guns in place if she does, but given she’s walking with Ethan hand in hand, I assume she doesn’t plan on doing that. The anger lifts as Ava walks to the plane, sophisticated with her shades on. Ethan’s carrying some sort of bear in his hand, and he’s pointing at the plane. A part of me softens when I see him. He has the same wide-eyed wonder about the world as his mother, but he’s too young. I can’t parent the little boy by myself.

Ava reaches me, her pretty mouth tight as she places a protective hand on Ethan’s back. He buries his face in Ava’s leg. I’m bringing her along for good reason. She’s his mother, and Ethan needs her for survival. If there’s one thing she is, it’s a good mother. I can see that, but once Ethan is old enough, maybe Cara can step in and play the role. She’ll have to learn to give up her coldhearted ways, but I don’t give a damn. I’m going to send Ava away, dragging out my revenge over several years, just like she wants to milk the Raven’s Peak deal until the end.

She’s lucky I haven’t found some way to annihilate the contract and put her in the poor house on the street. Once Ethan sees my smile as I lift my sunglasses, I crouch down to his level, not wanting to intimidate the little fella.

He’s mine. My flesh and blood, looking up to me, and Ethan doesn’t think I’m a bad man. He doesn’t know that unless Ava’s tainted him against me already. She better not have, otherwise I’ll send her packing quicker than intended.

I can’t tell what’s behind her eyes, and I’m sure she won’t show me. Either way I don’t care because I’ve got what’s mine. A son. It feels good to meet him, and there’s something we both did right together producing him. I can’t believe I have one. There’s no shame, only happiness when I look into his eyes.

Ethan steps forward courageously, his finger in his mouth. “Hey, Ethan. Have you ever been on a plane?” I ask him, running a hand over the back of his neck, wanting to hug him, but letting him take the time to get used to me first.

“No. It’s loud! Big jet plane.”

“That’s right. A big jet plane. You’re going to be on it with me. Are you ready?”

Ethan nods, a big grin on his face. Looking into his innocent eyes makes me want to cry. I can’t believe I have a son. This is a dream come true. I didn’t know when I would have one or if it were a good idea, but seeing Ethan answers all those questions.

As much as I hate it, Ava is the perfect mother figure for Ethan. Cara is one I’m going to have to work on if I decide to go through with our marriage. “Dad?” Ethan says, chewing on his brown bear’s arm.

Tears glisten in my eyes as Ava watches the exchange from a short distance. “Yes,” I tell him enthusiastically. “I’m your father, Ethan.” I draw the little boy into a hug, my heart opening to him. He lays his tiny head on my shoulder, and I lift him up in my arms. “My big strong boy.”

He grins showing me all his teeth, holding his bear up to my face. “Can Mr. Bear come too?”

Nodding, I laugh a real laugh, like the ones I used to share with Ava.

“Yes. You can bring Mr. Bear and whatever else you want.” Ethan spreads his tiny arms open wide, his bright blue eyes shining as I take him up the stairs, Ava cutting a solemn figure following behind with a duffel bag.

“Yay! Mommy, Mommy, we’re going on the airplane! Mommy!”

“Yes, we are, Ethan.” Her voice is strained, but Ava’s sharp tongue has done nothing but get her in trouble. There’s no way out—I’ve banished any hopes she’s ever going to have. Soon she’ll be a washed-up lawyer who lost her son, broken and lost forever.

I’m Dimitri Utkin, and I always have a master plan. It’s how I got on top, and it’s how I’m going to stay on top.