15. Dimitri

15

DIMITRI

I’m almost sad that Zara doesn’t have a chance to see me looking my best in this all-black suit, but I’ve been at my family’s penthouse all morning with Mikhail and Danil before heading to my meeting early this evening. Though I was tempted to swing by my apartment after receiving a notification that Zara arrived home just after twelve when I know she was meant to be at the office all day…

That makes me think that perhaps she hasn’t had a good day. The thought makes my chest tighten, but I can’t afford to be late.

Massimo Conti is not an easy man to pin down, and it’s even harder to make an appointment when you’re at the top of his shit list.

But Alexei pulled some strings and got me a meeting.

Feliks pulls up outside Massimo’s club. “Are you sure you don’t want me to come in with you?”

“I’m a big boy.” I chuckle. “I can handle him,” I pat the holster hidden inside my jacket where my gun is .

Feliks grins. “If you’re not back here in thirty minutes, I’ll open fire on the joint,”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

Alexei eventually came around to my plan of meeting with Massimo directly to explain the situation. Perhaps if he hears the truth straight from the source, he might be willing to forgive our deception.

And if all else fails, I’ll offer up Mikhail instead.

I climb out of the hummer, smoothing my hands over my jacket as I glance at the entrance to the club.

The place is all locked up with no lights on. Looks empty, though I know better.

Massimo’s likely got a dozen men guarding the property, all armed and ready at the slightest hint of trouble. I can understand Feliks’s hesitation at letting me enter the lion’s den alone, but I want to send the right message.

If I go storming in there with all two hundred and fifty pounds of tatted up muscle, Massimo will think I’m looking to pick a fight.

Plus, I’m enough of a threat on my own.

I glance at my watch to check the time. It’s one minute to the hour.

Right on schedule, A bolt slides before the door opens, and one of Massimo’s men appears. He looks rough as hell with a deep gash down his cheek as well as a black eye.

“Inside.” The guy steps aside to let me pass.

“This is all rather sketchy, don’t you think?” I chuckle as he bolts the door behind me.

A few lights are turned on, casting the place in an eerie glow. I’ve never made a visit to this particular club before, and I hope I never have to again.

Massimo’s Lackey stays quiet as he storms past me .

Adrenaline starts to build as I follow him through the empty club, cracking my knuckles as we pass empty booths.

Is this all some hoax? The place seems to be completely empty.

“Where’s Massimo?” My hand reaches inside my jacket for my gun.

“Back here.” The guy nods toward a red velvet curtain that’s at the back of the club. He pulls it back to reveal a separate VIP area with smoking chairs and a private bar.

Massimo leans against the bar, his back to me.

It would be so easy to pull out my gun and take him down with one shot, but Alexei would never forgive me. I’ve already screwed his plan up once. The least I can do is try to rectify my mistake.

“Massimo.” I’m not easily intimidated, but Massimo Conti is the exception—not that I’d ever let it show.

He’s a big guy, not far from Feliks's size, with a shaved head and a nasty scar running from his jaw up to his temple. For being in his late fifties, he’s still packing a hell of a lot of muscle beneath his navy three piece. Tattoos cover almost every inch of skin, and I don’t fail to notice that the one trailing the side of his neck reads Lucia .

“Koslov.” Massimo turns to face me.

He looks pissed as hell, his heavily-ringed fingers tapping against the bar top as he glares at me.

I flash him a grin as I undo the button of my jacket.

“Got any vodka? I’m parched.”

Massimo narrows his blue eyes as I sink myself down into the closest chair and cross an ankle over the other.

I glance around, clocking the two men behind the bar, the one by the door, plus another to my left. The Lackey with the black eye has disappeared, no doubt on door duty.

I’m severely outnumbered .

This should be fun .

“You fuck up my deal, and now you want to drink my booze?”

I shrug.

“It’s polite to offer your guests a drink.”

“You’re not a guest. You’re a fucking liability.”

“You’re not the first person to call me that.” I run my hand through my hair.

Massimo grunts but waves at one of the men behind the bar who gets to work making us both a drink.

“Why are you here?” He hands me a rocks glass filled with vodka before taking the seat opposite me.

“I wanted to offer you my apologies in person.” I twist my wedding ring around my finger.

Massimo’s eyes narrow as he takes in the thin platinum band.

“I didn’t realize I had to send you a save the date.”

“It seems you missed quite a few people off that list, including your own brother,” Massimo retorts. “Not hiding something, are we, Koslov?”

I say nothing, sipping on my drink as I notice one of the men behind the bar reaching into the inside pocket of his jacket.

Here we fucking go .

“He was unaware of your engagement when he made a deal to marry you to my daughter.”

“I don’t like to share everything with my brothers.”

“So it would seem.”

I take a drink, my eyes darting to the two men behind the bar who watch me warily.

“I assume you’re familiar with the situation that went down with my family and Mario Gilanto last year?”

Massimo nods, taking a sip of his drink .

“Not only did he kidnap my brother’s wife, but he also took mine. She almost died, so forgive me for wanting to put a ring on her finger before it’s too late.”

Massimo scoffs. “Took you a year to get her to say I do?”

“Binding yourself to a Koslov takes some thought. I wanted to make sure she knew what she was getting herself into.”

Massimo is quiet for a moment, his right hand moving to rub his scarred jaw.

“I don’t take well to being blindsided, Koslov.”

“It was an honest misunderstanding. I’m sure Lucia is a wonderful girl.”

“Too good for you.” He huffs. “But it seems Bellucci got to your eldest brother first.”

“Alexei is a popular guy.” I chuckle.

Massimo sets his glass down on the table before reaching into the inside pocket of his jacket.

My body tenses, my right hand itching to mirror him, but the moment I pull my weapon, I’ll have a room full of men opening fire on my ass.

I have to play this right.

“I’m sorry it didn’t work out with Lucia. Though really, it might be a blessing in disguise. I’m not sure I’m the best son-in-law material.”

“Enough with the fucking jokes, Koslov.” Massimo pulls a silver handgun out of his pocket and sets in on the table between us. “If I get so much of a hint that this marriage isn’t legitimate…” His blue eyes flick to the weapon.

“You’ll shoot my fucking brains out. Yeah, I know the drill.”

“Oh, I’ll do much more than that, Koslov. Now, get the hell out of my club.”

When I stroll into the penthouse an hour later, I sigh in relief at the sight of Zara lounging on the couch reading a book.

She glances over at me and offers me a small smile. She must have just had a shower as her hair is wet, and she’s wearing a pair of pink checked pjs.

I can’t deny she looks fucking adorable, and I want nothing more than to snuggle up beside her.

“I brought us some Chinese for dinner.” I figured if she had a bad day, the least I could do was pick up her favorite take out.

I make my way over to the kitchen and get to work dishing up the food.

“Thanks.” She sets down her book to come and join me at the island as she eyes the containers. “How did you know this is my order?”

“When I saw four separate charges on my card at the same place, I figured you liked it.” I pull containers of egg rolls and dumplings out of the bag. “I called them up and asked for your regular order and got myself the same.”

I watch Zara’s expression, and I’m surprised when her face starts to crumple.

“That wasn’t meant to upset you, I’m sorry,” I blurt but Zara shakes her head, running her hands through her wet hair.

“No, it’s…so sweet of you.”

I shrug. “It’s nothing.” I pick up the plates of food. “Come on, let’s break in my dining table.”

I leave Zara to get the cutlery and glasses while I carry the rest of the food over to the table. To Zara’s credit, the food looks delicious and my stomach growls with anticipation. I decide to pop open a bottle of her favorite rosé to finish off the meal, hoping that once she eats, she might start to feel better.

Though it soon becomes apparent that whatever is bothering Zara is worse than I thought because she barely touches her food, and her eyes are downcast as she nibbles on her lower lip.

I set down my fork and lean back in my chair, deciding I need to do some damage control.

“How was your day?”

Zara grimaces as she pushes her noodles around her plate, barely taking a bite.

“Zara?”

“I… It doesn’t matter.”

“Do you want to tell me why you came home at lunchtime and didn’t go back to the office?”

Zara’s eyes widen as she looks at me.

“I got a notification on my phone that you were home.”

I push my plate to the side and lean forward, resting my forearms on the table as I watch Zara carefully.

She opens and closes her mouth, as if deciding how much to tell me.

That won’t do .

“He’s still bothering you, isn’t he?” My chest tightens at the way Zara’s shoulders hunch over, and her lower lip trembles.

“Yeah,” she whispers. “It’s…worse.”

“ Sladkaya .” I sigh, reaching across the table for her hand.

Zara’s face crumples, but she doesn’t pull away from me.

I gently stroke my thumb over the back of her hand, not wanting to push her to talk if she doesn’t want to .

“H-he seems to like that I’m married.” She sniffles, wiping her cheeks on her pajamas sleeve. “It’s like it’s a game.”

I nod, grinding my teeth together at the thought of this fucker making Zara cry. I made a promise to her that I would take care of Giovanni Saccone, and it’s about time I honored that promise.

“I don’t want you to worry, okay? I’m going to take care of it.”

She nods as tears stream down her cheeks.

I desperately want to reach across to wipe them away, but I don’t want to push it, especially after the way she bolted from the hot tub the other night.

I don’t know how long I stayed in the water after she left, cursing myself for being so forward.

I thought it was only some playful flirting, nothing more. But it’s clear that Zara doesn’t see it that way. I should have known better, considering the way she left in the middle of the night after we slept together.

Perhaps this situation with Giovanni is worse than she’s letting on…

“Trust me, Zara. I’m going to fix this.” I get to my feet.

“What are you going to do?” She looks panicked.

“I’m just going to remind him who you’re married to.” I flash her a wink. “I’ll be back in a few hours. Now, eat your food before it gets cold. I don’t want my wife going hungry.”

I pull my phone out of my pocket as I head over to the elevator, scrolling through my contacts until I find Rurik’s name.

As the doors open, I step inside and turn to look at Zara, who’s watching me with wide eyes.

I offer her a reassuring nod as I lift the phone to my ear, and the doors slide shut .

“Rurik, I need an address for Giovanni Saccone.”

It turns out Giovanni resides in a brownstone not too far away from my penthouse.

My skin prickles at the thought of how close he is to Zara, but I just have to remind myself that she’s safe. No one is getting in or out of my penthouse without me knowing about it.

As I pull up outside Giovanni’s place and wait for him, my thoughts are plagued by the haunted look in Zara’s eyes over dinner.

This wasn’t meant to happen. Putting a ring on her finger was meant to show this asshole that she’s mine , but I should have known better. I know guys like Giovanni. They thrive on a challenge. But I’m going to be the one raising the stakes.

If he wants to get to Zara, he’s going to have to go through me.

The sun has almost completely set over the city when I notice a shadowy figure staggering down the street toward the townhouse.

“Here we fucking go.” I throw open my car door and climb out.

As I flex my fingers, I watch Giovanni fumble with his key, anticipating how good it’s going to feel to slam my fist into his jaw.

He hasn’t even noticed my approaching footsteps, too busy trying to turn the key in the lock. The guy reeks of booze, which means he’s unlikely to remember anything I have to say. But no matter .

I guess I’ll just have to give him a physical reminder of who he’s messing with.

As soon as he gets the door open and steps over the threshold, I lunge, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and slamming the side of his head against the exposed brick wall of the entryway.

“You’re one slimy motherfucker, you know that?” I spit, throwing him to the floor.

He grunts as he rolls onto his back, clutching at the wound on his head.

“I’m only going to say this once,” I snarl. “Leave my wife alone.”

“Or what?” He pulls his bloody hand away from his head.

“Oh, trust me, you don’t want to know the answer to that.”

Giovanni huffs, wincing as he tries to sit up, but I force him back with a foot to the chest, pinning him in place.

“You don’t scare me, Koslov. I’ve got friends in high places.”

“Is that so?” I roll my eyes, not believing a word that comes out of this asshole’s mouth.

“Yeah. I’m familiar with the circles you run in. You’d be wise not to underestimate me.”

I frown, trying to place if Giovanni is someone I’ve run into before.

My family has made many enemies over the decades, but many of them are buried six feet under. Perhaps one of them slipped through the cracks without me realizing…

A sly grin tugs at Giovanni’s lips, as if he can read the thoughts on my face.

“How’s that pretty little wife of yo?—”

I pull back my foot, sending it straight into his ribs .

Giovanni grunts as he clutches at his side, his breath coming in short pants as he grins up at me. No doubt I cracked at least a few ribs, though he deserves a hell of a lot worse.

I crouch down, my face barely an inch from his.

“Stay the hell away from Zara, or I won’t hesitate to blow your fucking brains out. If you do know my world, then you’ll know I was the one to put a bullet in Mario Gilanto’s head, and I’d happily do the same to you.”

I get to my feet, smoothing my hands over my jacket.

I want nothing more than to beat the living shit out of this guy, but I need more information on him first.

If Giovanni is somehow linked to my world, killing him might cause more harm than good. I have to make sure to cover my ass before I put a bullet in his skull.

As I slide back behind the wheel, I dial my private investigator once more as my eyes linger on Giovanni’s brownstone.

Rurik answers after the first ring.

I clutch my phone to my ear. “I need everything you can find on Giovanni Saccone. ASAP.”