He leans back, absently swirling the wine in his glass. “It sounds chaotic but good, someone always having your back?”
“You’d be surprised,” I say dryly. “Fewer resources meant every man for himself. My sister Tamara? She could snatch the food off your fork with the speed of a striking cobra.”
He does that sexy hearty laughing thing again and my inner thighs clench.
Down, girl. He’s not for you.
We talk for a while, moving to the couch in front of the fireplace. A proper, wood-burning one with a substantial stone mantel. He watches me eyeing it longingly and says, “I could turn up the air conditioner and make you a fire.”
“You’re too good to me,” I laugh. “That would move me into entitled princess territory, so I’ll pass. It looks like you use it, though. That makes me happy.”
“In our hunting lodge near Lake Ladoga,” he says, “there’s fifteen fireplaces. It was built during the reign of Tsar Alexander, around 1780.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “Well, damn.”
“The one in the great room is magnificent.” Dmitri smiles, but it’s more of a dark curl of his lips. “You could roast an entire ox in it. The woods surrounding the lodge are particularly dark, the trees grow high there. We’d hunt for hours at a time.”
The way he says ‘hunt’ makes me question if he means rabbits or something much bigger, so I let that comment pass by. There’s Charming Dmitri, Caring Dmitri, and now I’m seeing Dark and Scary as Hell Dmitri. And damn my lady garden, she’s finding him hotter than ever.
Chapter Fourteen
In which Ava has a nightmare and Dmitri is a sick bastard.
Dmitri…
“I think you should bring Ava to Adam’s wedding as your date.”
“Roman, you’ve well and truly lost it,” I say, pacing the length of my office. “Showcase Ava in front of half the crime world in North America?”
While my best friend Adam’s accounting firm appears squeaky clean and above board, he and his father, Efrem, handle a huge flow of the Morozov Bratva’s legitimate financial interests, along with a few other allied crime families here in New York.
“Nothing says ‘back the fuck off’ better than showing up with the girl who survived the trafficking ring,” he points out. He’s slouching in the armchair by the bar. “They may want to kill her, but finding out she’s under Morozov protection is a hell of a deterrent.”
“I can't take proper care of her,” I say. “I’m the best man.” With all the tedious duties that cling to the title like a barnacle.
“I’ll be there,” he says, “along with Alexsey and Mother. I think Father might even be back. Having Ava hang out with the family makes it look even better.”
“No one will believe it,” I say. “Our parents have never approved of anyone I’ve dated.”
“Since you’ve never dated anyone past the… what? The thirty day mark? I’m not sure you can use that as proof. Nothing sells a story like the approval of the parents.”
"This feels more like dangling in her like fresh meat in front of the wolves," I say.
"Didn't she say you could use her as bait?" Roman points out. "If it gets us closer to finding the motherfuckers who set this trafficking scheme up?"
"So sensitive and caring of you Roman,” I say acidly. “She's been through enough. I'm not using her as bait."
He shrugs. "I'm just saying, it's a good strategy. We’ll keep her safe, no one will touch her."
I rub the back of my neck, walking over to stare out the window. “Putting Ava in an evening gown and exposing her to an avid crowd of vultures isn't going to help her recovery. Though there might be someone there that she recognizes as part of this.”
There are dozens of criminal organizations who run in the Red Trade, but we've knocked those fuckers out of New York with punishments brutal enough that most crime families aren't willing to attempt it here.
“This new trafficking scheme is close enough to us that they’re rubbing our noses in it.” Roman says. “Someone's making a power move.”
"All right," I say reluctantly. "I'll ask her if she wants to go. If she's not feeling it, I'm not going to force her."
"That seems fair," Roman says, drinking my most expensive vodka. “Where is she, anyway? I want to meet the woman who took out a thug who had to be triple her body weight.”
