I immediately whipped around, my heart shuddering in my chest. I locked eyes with the monster who’d been haunting my dreams. Memories flickered across my mind. And just likethat nightat the party, I froze.
“What are you doing here, Novikov?” Roman Komarov asked, zeroing in on Dmitri like I didn’t even exist.
I was grateful for the disguise. He’d murdered a part of my soul that night, I never wanted his attention again.
Dmitri glanced at him boredly. Then continued checking across the bar for our target as if Roman’s existence wasn’t worth his time.
Roman’s jaw tightened at the slight, and it brought me back to that night when I’d whispered for him to stop. Roman hadn’t even reacted to the word. Just grunted in irritation that he was struggling with my pants.
Involuntarily, my body inched closer to Dmitri. I could taste the irony that the man who’d murdered my brother was now my only respite from the frozen chill running through my veins.
Dmitri’s gaze flicked to me, a questioning look in his eyes. I swallowed unsteadily. After a moment, he stood up, obviously expecting me to follow him. Never in my life had I been so relieved to let Dmitri take the lead.
Unable to summon words past the knot in my throat, I silently waved goodbye to Natalya.
I found my voice when we were halfway across the room. “Did you find the target?”
Dmitri nodded.
“You okay?” he asked quietly.
“Peachy,” I said, plastering a smile on my face.
Dmitri’s gaze seemed to penetrate me for a moment, rooting around silently for some sort of answer. But I allowed nothing to show on my face.
“It’s the older man heading towards the bathroom,” he said. “Follow my lead.”
“Gladly,” I replied as we shadowed the man to the bathroom.
I shot one last glance over my shoulder at Natalya and Roman cuddled up against the bar. The overly bright smile on Natalya’s face had been replaced with something akin to softness.
I turned back towards the target. Even if I could find the words to warn Natalya, I couldn’t do it now. Dmitri might have treated Roman like he wasn’t worth breathing the same airspace as him, but Roman ranked number two in our competition. His reputation might not be as notorious as Dmitri’s, but even beforethat nightI’d always felt a sense of foreboding when he’d looked in my general direction.
Timing. That’d be the key to warning Natalya.
Our target ducked into the bathroom. Dmitri followed behind, grabbing my wrist to keep me close.
The second the door snicked shut behind us, Dmitri released my hand and silently locked the three of us in. As if sensing Dmitri’s dangerous energy, our target’s head turned towards us. Without preamble, Dmitri snatched him up by the throat and slammed him against the white tile wall.
I jerked backwards, surprised at the sudden violence. Dmitri slammed the man’s head against the wall until red mixed with white. I stood there while the life drained out of the man’s eyes.
When our target was staring blankly up at the ceiling, Dmitri began nonchalantly texting on his phone. He was completely unconcerned that a man was lying in a bloody pile at his feet.
While Dmitri was casually washing his hands of the blood, I said, “Shouldn’t we-”
“Kitten, I told you I’d handle everything.”
And I believed him.
Chapter thirty-four
Dmitri
Alisa stared blankly out the window as I drove towards my apartment. I’d promised to bring her to orgasm the moment the job was done, but something had slid into that pretty head of hers while we’d been out.
And I intended to crack open all those thoughts.
I led her up the elevator, and she still didn't say a word. Not even a flicker of emotion when I tried to tease a glare out of her. As I held the door open for her, I wasn’t sure if she was even in the mood to fuck.
