17. Dimitri

17

DIMITRI

“This was not how I wanted to spend my evening.” I fold my arms across my chest as I glare at Giovanni.

Blood already coats his shirt from where he smashed into the glass desk top.

I was tempted to take a shard and run it across his neck, but Alexei would have had my balls if I killed the fucker out in the open like that.

Lucky for me, we own a warehouse in Chinatown specifically for occasions like this.

Blood already stains the concrete floor, and Giovanni eyes it warily.

Good. He should be fucking worried.

His wrists and ankles are tied to a chair with rope, his head hanging down as blood gushes from a wound on his temple from where I knocked him out with a paperweight.

I was getting tired of him, and I wanted my focus to be on Zara until Mikhail arrived, so I had to make sure he wasn’t going anywhere.

I would have taken Zara back to the penthouse myself, but I didn’t want Giovanni to leave my sight. I made her a promise that I would take care of him, so as much as it pained me to watch her leave with Mikhail, the thought of getting back to her gives me a reason to get this done quick.

“Did you forget our little conversation the other night? Or do you need reminding?”

Giovanni lifts his head just enough to look at me, his gray eyes bloodshot as he bares his teeth.

“You can’t protect her,” he hisses.

“Watch me.” I ball my hand into a fist, slamming it into his jaw.

His head snaps to the side, and I grunt as I flex my fingers.

Fuck, that felt good.

Giovanni spits bloody drool onto the floor, and I laugh at how pathetic he looks.

“You really thought you could get away with touching my girl?” I reach into my pocket, pulling out a six-inch blade.

Putting a bullet in his head would be an easy way out. He deserves to suffer.

Giovanni only grins at the sight of the blade.

“Couldn’t help myself when her thighs are so soft?—”

His words have me seeing red.

I’m all too aware of how close he got to Zara, and I will no doubt remember the look on her face, the fear in her eyes, for the rest of my life.

I lash out, slicing my blade across his face, narrowly missing his eye.

“You started without me.” Mikhail snaps me out of my fury.

I turn to look at my younger brother over my shoulder.

“Trust me, there will be ample opportunity to get your hands dirty with this fucker. ”

A cruel smile tugs at Mikhail’s lips as he glances at Giovanni, taking in the blood now pouring down the side of his face.

“I look forward to it.” He cracks his knuckles.

After an hour, Mikhail and I are both panting, covered in blood and sweat as Giovanni’s body leaks blood onto the concrete floor. He’s still alive, but not for much longer if we keep going.

Mikhail spits at him. “Remind me why we can’t kill him?”

“The headache isn’t worth it. But trust me, once I’m finished, he’s going to wish he was dead. There’s just one more thing I want to do…” I muse, cracking my neck from side to side and picking up a sledgehammer from the corner. “Tell me Giovanni, are you right or left-handed?”

Mikhail looks at me as if I’ve lost my damn mind, but I hold up a finger, silently instructing him to hold back.

“L-left,” he groans, lifting his head just enough to look at me.

His dark hair is matted with blood, and his right eye has completely swollen shut.

Mikhail scoffs. “Fucking liar.”

“Untie his right hand.”

Mikhail does as I say, and Giovanni’s eyes widen as I take hold of his wrist.

“P-please?—”

I don’t give Giovanni a chance to finish before I smash the sledgehammer to his wrist.

He throws his head back and howls, and the sound is like fucking music to my ears.

“Brutal.” Mikhail chuckles under his breath.

The tendons in Giovanni’s neck strain as he gasps for air .

My lips pull up in a feral grin as I get in his face.

“Just making sure you can no longer jerk off to the thought of my girl.” I grin. “Or anyone else for that matter.”

“F-fuck you,” he gasps.

“Next time I’ll chop off your dick and make you eat it. Are we clear?”

The last of the color drains from Giovanni’s face, but he nods.

I breathe a sigh of relief as I turn to face my brother. “Can I trust you to deal with this? I need to get back to my wife.”

Mikhail lets out a long sigh, but he nods, wrinkling his nose as he looks down at Giovanni. “You owe me one.”

“If I haven’t told you recently, you’re my favorite brother.” I chuckle, gripping Mikhail’s shoulder and squeezing it once.

My brother shrugs out of my touch and waves me off. “Fuck off. Get back to your girl.”

I’m covered in blood, and I reek of sweat. I can’t have Zara seeing me like this, it’ll only make her worry.

So, the moment I walk through the door of the penthouse, I head straight up to my bathroom to take a quick shower to wash away any trace of Giovanni Saccone.

After pulling on a fresh black T-shirt and joggers, I cross the hall and gently tap my bruised knuckles against Zara’s door.

It opens immediately, and the next thing I know I’m wrapping my arms around her shaking body as she sobs into my T-shirt.

“I-I was so worried. ”

“Do you really have that little faith in me?” I run a hand over her hair.

She responds by tightening her arms around my waist, and I can’t deny the fact that it feels fucking good to hold her.

“I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t gotten there when you did.”

“Shh, don’t think about that, sladkaya . I promise he won’t be bothering you again. In fact, I’d be surprised if he’s back at work in the near future.”

Zara’s body tenses, and she pulls back, looking up at me with wide eyes. “You didn’t kill him, did you?”

“I wanted to.” My teeth are clenched hard at the thought of leaving that fucker alive. “I simply reminded him of a very important lesson instead.”

“What kind of lesson?” She nibbles on her bottom lip.

“That there are always consequences to touching a woman without her consent.”

Zara’s throat bobs, and I can practically see the last few hours replaying in her mind.

I reach out to run my thumb along it as I stare into her green eyes. “I promised you I would take care of it, and I did, so you don’t need to worry about it anymore.”

Her eyes glisten with unshed tears, and the sight makes my chest ache.

How could anyone ever want to do something to hurt her?

“It’s late, sladkaya. Let’s get you tucked up into bed.”

“I’m not a child.” Zara huffs.

“No, but it turns out I like taking care of you.” I tuck her under my arm as I lead her back into her room. All the blinds are up giving us the perfect view of the city at night.

She doesn’t object as I guide her over to the bed .

I eye the messed up sheets. “Shit, did I wake you?”

“No.” She shakes her head. “I couldn’t sleep. I was too worried about you...” She climbs onto the bed and switches on the bedside light.

Under the soft orange glow, I notice a blush start to creep up her neck.

“You were worried about me?” I perch on the edge of the mattress. I can’t stop the smile from spreading across my face at the thought.

“I was… but then Mikhail said he was going to help, which made me feel much better.” Her lips twitching.

I scowl.

“I’m a lot tougher than Mikhail. Don’t let all the tattoos fool you.”

She tucks her knees up to her chin. She’s wearing those cute checked pjs again.

I touch her sleeve. “I like these.”

“They were in my closet when I moved in.”

“Well, I clearly have great taste.”

She rolls her eyes but then she looks at me, her expression softening.

“Thank you,” she whispers. “For…everything.

“You don’t need to thank me, Zara. I will always protect you.”

She nods, turning to look out the windows as she lets out a breath.

I can tell she’s about to get lost in her head again, so I move to stretch out on the bed, leaning back against the mountain of pillows. “Come here.”

Zara glances at me and lets out a shaky laugh as I pat the bed beside me. For a moment, I fear she’s going to say no, but then she scoots across the bed and tucks herself against my side, her fingers sinking into the soft fabric of my T-shirt.

I wrap my arm around her, pulling her even tighter against me.

She’s so small and warm against me, and I’m reminded of our wedding night.

What it felt like to hold her naked body as we slept…

“Will you stay until I fall asleep?”

I blink away the memory before my cock has a chance to harden. The last thing Zara needs right now is to think that I only did this to get her into bed.

“Of course.”

She looks at her hands. “It might take a while.”

I squeeze her tighter. “I’ve got all the time in the world, And if you want to stay up and talk all night, that’s cool with me too.”

“Like a slumber party?” She chuckles.

“Except without the naked pillow fights.” I wink at her.

“Oh, I was down for the naked pillow fights.”

I bark a laugh as Zara’s body shakes with silent laughter.

It seems she’s starting to feel a little better, and I’m glad that I’m the one to bring her comfort.

I can’t deny that it’s nice to feel needed.

“You start,” I suggest, moving my hand up and down her back in a soothing motion. “Tell me about your family.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Whatever you want to tell me.”

“Umm…” She’s quiet for a moment. “Well, I’m insanely close with Emily though we’re complete polar opposites.”

“In what way?”

“Well, our parents have always had very high expectations of us, but especially my dad. There was a lot of academic pressure, and I struggled sometimes to keep up with those expectations, working myself to the point of burnout to make sure that he would be proud of me. Emily on the other hand never seemed to care. Don’t get me wrong, she works hard, but she always makes sure to do it for her. I wish I could be like that.”

“Don’t wish to be like someone else. You’re perfect just the way you are.”

She’s quiet for a moment.

I have so many things I want to know about her. I need to know abut her. But there is one thing… “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Have you ever been in love?” I’m not sure why I ask.

The thought of Zara ever being with someone else, being in love with someone else, feels like a punch to the gut. There’s just something about her that brings out this intense possessiveness that I’ve never experienced before.

I like having her to myself, and I want to keep it that way, until she decides otherwise.

Zara’s quiet for a moment, and I wonder if she’s fallen asleep. But then her shoulders rise as she takes a breath, and I brace myself for the answer.

“No. I’ve never been in love.”

My eyebrows shoot up as relief I have no business experiencing floods me.

“Really?”

“Yeah…” She shifts to sit beside me crossed legged, and I instantly miss the feeling of her beside me. “I never really knew what falling in love felt like until…”

She looks away as her cheeks flush.

I frown, unsure of what she means, but then Zara clears her throat.

“Your turn. Tell me something other people don’t know about you.”

“Uh…” I’m not normally one to be raw and deep with someone, but I appreciate that Zara is opening up to me, and I want to give her a little in return. “Well, most people assume that I’m a bit of a playboy.”

Zara’s lip twitches.

I nudge her playfully with my knee. “Watch it.”

“I didn’t say anything!” She laughs.

“I’m being serious here.” I fold my arms across my chest.

“Please continue.” She hugs her knees to her chest as she watches me.

“As I was saying… Most people assume that I’m a playboy who doesn’t give a damn, but deep down? I’ve always wanted what my parents had.”

Or what I thought they had…

“But I’ve always been too afraid to let people in out of fear of losing them.” I frown.

I’ve never really admitted those feelings to myself before.

“Have you ever been serious with anyone?”

“Besides marrying you?”

She rolls her eyes.

“Yes, when I was eighteen I fell in love with this girl, and I thought that was it for me.”

“What happened?”

“My parents were killed, and I couldn’t handle it. I pushed her away in the hopes that it wouldn’t hurt so much if I was the one to walk away. But then…” I sit up, running my hands through my hair as all the memories come flooding back. “She got into a car accident.”

“Oh, Dimitri.” Zara covers her mouth with her hand.

“I blamed myself for years. That somehow it was my fault that she was in that car. If I hadn’t pushed her away, maybe she would have been with me that day, and none of it would have happened…”

In truth, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten over Lidyia’s death. It’s something I will carry with me for the rest of my life, as a reminder of what a coward I am.

I’m so lost in my head that I don’t notice Zara moving closer until her hands rest on my shoulders.

I barely breathe as she slowly lifts herself up onto her knees and presses the softest kiss to my lips.

It’s clear that she’s hesitant, as if she’s worried I might push her away, so I move my hand to cup the back of her neck.

I tilt her head so that I can deepen the kiss as I wrap my other arm around her waist and pull her into my lap as I slide my tongue into her mouth, fighting back a groan at the sweet taste of her. My sweet. Sladkaya moya .

But she pulls back, shaking her head as her eyes start to glisten with tears.

“Zara? What’s wrong?” I reach out to tuck her hair behind her ear. “We can stop if you want. I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

She looks up at me under damp lashes and offers me a watery smile.

“I don’t want to stop.”

“Then why are you so upset?” I’m so confused.

“I want nothing more than to be with you.”

“I don’t understand the problem.”

“There’s something you don’t know…” She fiddles with her fingers.

“Zara… I want you to know that you can tell me anything.” I rub soothing circles on her back .

She nods, biting her lip as she continues to look down at her hands.

“I was sexually assaulted a few years ago.”

Fuck.

“I’ve struggled with being…intimate ever since.”

That’s why she ran off after our wedding night .

I curse under my breath, reaching for her fingers and interlacing mine with hers.

The realization hits me like a ton of bricks. I feel like the biggest asshole on the planet.

All this time she’s been fighting the darkest of demons, and I’ve done nothing but be brazen about my attraction to her, wanting nothing more than to get her into bed.

Am I no better than the asshole who assaulted her?

“Zara, I’m so sorry?—”

“Don’t.” Her eyes plead as she looks up at me. “I know what you’re going to say, and I want you to know that sleeping with you on our wedding night was something I wanted . More than anything. It was just…a lot to process, that’s all. That’s why I left.”

“I’m glad to hear that. But I want you to know that we don’t have to do anything unless you feel ready. There’s no rush.”

She nods, biting down on her lower lip as her eyes flick to my lips.

“I want to try,” she whispers, her cheeks flushing.

My chest swells at her trust in me, at her feeling safe enough to want to be intimate with me. I reach down to press a kiss to the corner of her mouth.

“Then I suggest you get settled on your back, sladkaya .”