Chapter Nine - Ava

The meal has nourished me enough to start clarifying a plan. Now that I’ve agreed to be in business with the monster, he seems to have backed down. He’s playing nice, but I don’t trust it. Or him.

How did I let myself get so run-down? Beating myself up about my health probably isn’t the best thing to do right now, but as I devour the best food I’ve ever had in my life, there’s so many reasons why. I’ve been running on empty for the longest, and I guess my body’s broken down and can’t take it anymore. I’ve been barely making it from university to work, or making ends meet, only to face gross customers and a tyrant of a boss for shitty tips with nobody to help me.

The door opens and my automatic response is to jump, but it’s more food and my phone is on the tray. “Hi, dessert, Ms. Knight. Have a good evening.”

“Thank you.” I check under the silver lid, my eyes boggling at how pretty the dessert is and how my mouth is watering.

It’s a trap, Ava. Don’t fall for it.

Picking up my phone, I look it over, while scanning the room. There must be hidden cameras somewhere within it, and I’m no dummy. It’s likely Dimitri has bugged the phone and is tracking it. A burning sensation grows in my chest. I might have made the biggest deal with the devil ever, but I don’t like the fact he’s monitoring me, and he’s probably already looked through my text messages and knows my friends.

He’s Bratva. A fucking Russian mobster and doesn’t trust you either. Shaking my head, I smooth my hands over the phone noticing the bottom of it is scuffed. Almost as if someone has peeled the back off, or maybe I’m paranoid. Either way, I know this is a test. There’s a lot riding on the situation for Dimitri. He made that part plain, and I despise the fact we have backstories in common. His father is nothing like mine. Mine loved me, he was just poor and didn’t know how to handle money.

Prickles of heat ride up the back of my neck as I consider my friends and their well-being. I’m not completely without help, though. My friend married into Bratva, and Sophia would probably be the best person to help me navigate yet another shitty situation I find myself in.

My legs are cramped, and I don’t want to sit around in bed any longer, so I get up and take a look around the rest of the suite, feeling safe enough to do so. The drapes are as dark as Dimitri, a rich tone of jet black. I stare at the paintings on the wall. It’s clear the art is fairly expensive, the gold-gilded frames holding hauntingly beautiful pictures inside them. Frowning, I study one painting, which has skulls stacked on top of them and a knife plunged through the middle. Skimming my fingers over it, I ponder what it means. Dimitri has so many tattoos on his body, and it’s hard not to notice them.

They’re kind of darkly sexy, and the three-day shadow of his dirty blond beard invokes feelings I want to deeply repress. I touch the large black vases in their corners, admiring the red flowers inside them. Clearly, he has a theme, and I know the colors must mean something significant. Boldly, I look into the expansive bathroom with his and hers showers, everything immaculate and in its place. Wow. The entire suite is almost bigger than my tiny apartment. I’m involved with a man who’s going to bring me riches, but he’s on the wrong side of the law.

If my father is watching me from the heavens, I wonder what he thinks about it. How would he get out of this? I hope he can see I’ve made the best possible decision I can, and one that will keep me alive. Treading lightly, I open the door, trembling in anticipation of walking down the corridor. When I do, I take note of more art on the walls. Not all of it is dark, and some of it is more of what you would expect to see in an art museum. What a life. Skimming my hands along the walls, I peer down the long hallway noticing all the different passageways, wanting to venture down them, but also scared of what I might discover. I pass a theater room with huge speakers, and a giant TV embedded into the wall, but an evocative scent invades my nostrils reminding me of him.

His room must be close…. It can’t hurt to look. The temptation is too great for me not to look in. Pushing the cracked door back, my mouth drops open. The sultry seduction of the room blows me away, tingles sprinkling down the length of my spine. What kind of room is this? It’s big enough to be its own department and on the wall is a large sword encased in glass and a thick black frame. His poster bed is black, but there’s a strange element to it. My gaze is drawn to the ceiling because on it is a long rectangular mirror.

What the hell is a mirror doing on the ceiling? Especially above his bed? His dresser drawers are black too, but on them are exquisite mini sculptures and there’s a painting of a phoenix and a tiger on the far side of the huge room. It’s got the usual trimmings, like the room I was held in, with a large screen TV, a chair, and a study desk with potted plants in each corner. What I can’t get over is the mirror. The carpet is a cream color, and the entire space screams seduction. I want to touch everything in the room, but I keep my hands to myself admiring from afar.

Shit! A light and a blanket of steam billows out from under the ensuite bathroom, and immediately I want to pivot, but I don’t. If I’m here, I might as well ask to leave. We have an agreement now. Surely, we can go our separate ways and keep this silent agreement between us.

The door opens, Dimitri emerging from the smoke, only a towel slung haphazardly around his waist. Deep sensations of dirty lust fill me as his suffocating darkness fills the space. Fuck. Run. You should run. Gulping hard, I hold my ground, my palms sweaty from nervousness plaguing me. Every inch of his body is chiseled and ready for war. His chest is covered with stars and skulls, and I can’t drag my eyes away. The stars must mean something because there’s another near his knee.

“Ah, you’re roaming around now. You look much better. I see you’ve found my room,” he replies in amusement, his slickened strands of dirty blond hair overhanging his icy blue eyes. The scruffy beard is still there, but I can’t concentrate on one area because I’m busy staring at the river of veins popping down the middle of his biceps. There’s the same tiger on the inside of his arm that’s on the wall, and if I don’t get my bearings quick, I’m going to faint again, and not from malnutrition.

“Er… yes. I’ve been finding my way around.” I try to play it cool, but the searing heat in my cheeks gives me away. “I was looking for you, and um, it looks like I’ve found you.”

“Yes.” Dimitri nods, stepping forward, but I keep my eyes upward, not daring to look down any further than his waist. I’m sure he’s ripped from head to toe. “What can I help you with?” he asks in a silken tone.

“Um, now that we’ve worked out an agreement, I want to leave. I’ve got a lot to get back to. School, finishing up at work. That type of stuff,” I justify in a casual tone, to which Dimitri frowns, skimming a hand through his hair, slicking it back, leaving his icy blue eyes on full display.

Fuck. He must have women throwing themselves at him. He has to know how hot he is.

“Oh no. That’s not going to happen. You can go where you want here, but you can’t leave.” Dimitri’s cold eyes sink into mine, blood flow rushing to my feet.

“What?” I squawk. “Why not?” I blurt in outrage.

“I have good reason, and it’s for your protection. You can’t leave because I’m not the only one after Raven’s Peak. You met those people at the funeral. Didn’t you?” The observation hits more like an accusation as my eyes smart from anger.

“Sure, but they didn’t kidnap me like you did,” I point out, not wanting the argument to become heated and lead to Dimitri punishing and trapping me further.

“Kidnap?” Dimitri quips. “No, Ms. Knight, what I did was on the milder end of the scale, and as you’ve already established—we have a deal.”

“I think you should let me go,” I tell him with force, regaining my equilibrium.

“Uh-uh.” Dimitri shakes his head, propping himself up against his dresser drawers resembling a male model. “No. These people after you aren’t just investors or developers. They are rival mafia families and businesses with more power than you. They will eat you alive. With me, you’re protected.” Dimitri regards me with intense eye contact, the imminent threat sinking in.

“Right,” I whisper.

“They will do way worse things than I’ve done.” He stands, his well-cut physique intimidating. There’s enough tension in the room to draw a bowstring, and I fear if I don’t change the subject, trouble will come.

“What is the mirror for?” I ask, desperately wanting to escape the awkwardness of the situation.

Dimitri grins, his x-ray vision seeming to pierce right through my clothing in violation. Stop fucking undressing me. Instead of looking at him, I keep my eyes on the ceiling, hoping it will give me a break from his gaze, but the humiliation is just getting started it seems.

“What? Are you a virgin?” He grins, a forcefield of heat fanning over my cheeks.

“That’s none of your business.”

Dimitri pauses for a beat, the grin softening, but a quick reckoning flickering in his death-trap eyes. Great. Now he knows I’m a virgin. Somehow all the secrets I want to keep hidden from him are unveiled. “The mirror is to add more spice to sex. It’s an experience to watch yourself being pleasured or vice versa. Do you want to try it, Ms. Knight?” And just like the tiger on his wall and inked into his skin, he flirts making me squirm, lighting up dormant parts of my anatomy that I don’t want him to.

My heart gallops in my chest, my mouth dry. What he would do to me. The man could break me in half, and God—maybe I would want him to. Fuck. “No,” I reply, flustered out of my mind, while Dimitri tucks his fingers into his towel. Please don’t take it off. I can’t handle that .

“Are you sure. It’s a lot of fun, especially when you’re coming,” he adds, adding in explicit details, his eyes roaming my body as a throbbing ache pounds between my legs.

“I said no. I thought it might be for something else.” I shrug, but keeping my cool isn’t working. Backing off, I turn towards the door, weak at the knees. No.

“Okay. Your choice, but let me know if you change your mind,” he sings out with a dirty chuckle.

“I won’t.” Quickly, I leave, heading back to my room silently reprimanding myself for seeking him out. I should have known better.