“Are you offering, Maria?”
She swats my arm. “Of course not.” We both know our relationship is just that of friends. I would never go after Gregor’s wife, not just because she’s in her late fifties but because I respect my old friend too much.
Besides, I have a different idea brewing. One much more fun.
“When I meet the woman of my dreams,” I say.
“You have Dimitri Ivanov breathing down your neck. You need to be careful. He might hurt you before you can meet the woman of your dreams.”
“Dimitri hasn’t hurt me so far.” He hasn’t been able to. I’m always surrounded by guards. Right now, I have five guards outside this house, keeping an eye on me.
“But he might. Why did you let him live?”
About a month ago, Dimitri and I faced off in a fight. I could have killed him but I chose to let him go. I want to hurt him and killing him is too easy. I have plans for him that require him to be alive.
“It’s better I don’t discuss business with you,” I say. “For your own safety.”
She nods. “You’re right. Those girls only have me left. If something were to happen to me…”
“I would take them in. You know that. Even after they turn eighteen. I’ll always make sure they’re ok.”
“Good. Thank you, Alek.”
“Of course. Now, I have somewhere I need to be.”
“Business you can’t talk to me about?”
“Yes. Afraid so.” I give her another hug before leaving her house. Seeing Maria’s housekeeper, Sarah, tonight planted the perfect idea in my mind. The best way to get to Dimitri.
The thing is: Dimitri and I have been at each other’s throats for months now. I’ve been encroaching on his territory, gaining strength and power, and he doesn’t fucking like it. Well too bad. Because I’m not going anywhere.
He’s been trying to kill me for months but I keep evading his attempts. I know he’s trying to kill me and make my death look like an accident. I’m not going to let that happen. Dimitri needs to be punished for what he’s attempted to do to me.
So, that’s exactly why I’m going after the thing he loves the most in this world: his elusive sister.
I went after his wife, Sofiya, a month ago but that didn’t pan out. Sofiya loves her husband too much for me to do anything about it. No. I need to target another woman in Dimitri’s life who might open her heart up to me. I want to kidnap his sister and beat her down until she’s mine. That will hurt Dimitri to his cold, icy core. It’s the only way.
The problem is trying to get to his sister. She’s been a rumor for years. People talk about her like she’s a ghost. No one has ever seen her but everyone knows she exists. It’s not hard to find out Dimitri’s past. How his father killed his mother and he took his sister in to raise her as his own daughter. I know something of being a surrogate father.
But despite never having seen Katya, I know she exists. There’s no record of her dying.
And when I kidnapped Sofiya from Dimitri a month ago, I was in Dimitri’s bedroom. I remember seeing a door against the wall in his room. A bookshelf was opened up to reveal the door as if it was hidden.
I remember Sofiya looking at it, like she was trying to decide if she wanted to hide in it or not. But then she chose not to… like she was trying to protect someone on the other side.
Dimitri’s sister, perhaps?
It won’t be possible for me to break back into his house. Dimitri has upped his guard count around his house after I kidnapped Sofiya. So, I’ll need another way into that house and I know just the way.
Ann, the housekeeper. Dimitri’s housekeeper.
Chances are, she’s too loyal to Dimitri. She won’t just tell me about his sister, even if I threaten her life. But I’ve looked into her and there’s nothing I can use against her to blackmail her. She’s squeaky clean.
So that leaves me no choice.
I call up one of my guys, Sean, and tell him to keep an eye on Ann for the week. Watch her. Follow her. Find out where she lives. And when the time is right, I’ll kill her and make room for a new housekeeper to take her place.
One I can mold to kidnap Dimitri’s sister for me.
