How can he be so considerate and kind while still being so cold? There's not a hint of regret on his face, or in his actions. He's justified, vindicated, and just having me in his hands is enough.
"I'd never let them hurt you," he murmurs into my flesh before he moves me, settling me onto the floor of the tub. The water pours over us like a warm rainfall, absolving us of our sins as his stiff erection prods my belly.
It's cramped, but neither of us minds as he presses into me, making us one once more.
"Oh God," I gasp, and he takes no time before thrusting into me harder, faster. There's no teasing, no games, only our bodies meeting in a frenzy of need and desire. My legs wrap around him, slippery from the water, and I'm already so turned on that he meets no resistance.
It scares me how horny I am, how much I need this intimacy in the face of danger. Maybe that's all it is. I nearly died, and now I need to feel alive. But deep down, I know it's something more than that. Something I can't bring myself to dwell on.
"I thought I almost lost you," he growls, and I feel him swell within me. "I won't let anyone take you from me, not ever!"
My head rests against the rim of the tub as he presses me forward, his grunts and groans echoing off the walls of the shower. The erotic sounds fill my ears, my senses overcome with arousal.
"Dimitri!" I whimper as his hand goes to my breast, rubbing my nipple until it's stiff before pinching and tugging it.
The pain excites me, and I scream louder, the sound reverberating through me.
And when we're finally left in a writhing, pleasured mess, and cold water is pounding down on us, I finally feel that clarity I've been seeking. That I can accept him, for who he is. For the risks it brings me, for the anxiety and fear.
I belong with him.
Grinning, he helps me up, his skin covered in goosebumps from the chilly water, and he wraps his large arms around me.
The knock at the door startles us out of our pleasant afterglow.
"Sarah, you almost done in there? I gotta pee." Joanna's voice sounds strained, on the brink of a giggle fit, and I blush brilliantly.
"Y-yea! Just a second."
I glance at Dimitri as I step out of the tub, and his dark eyes twinkle with devious delight. I toss him a towel before wrapping myself in one as well, picking up our blood stained clothes.
"Sorry," I mutter as I open the door, my face still burning with embarrassment. "Figured you were at work."
"Yea, but I come home for lunch, remember?" She pushes past me, though not before looking Dimitri up and down, the towel slung around his hips not leaving much to the imagination. He bows his head before he follows after me, back into the privacy of my bedroom.
"Well, that was embarrassing..."
"Why?" Dimitri asks, shutting the door behind us.
"She probably heard everything."
He shrugs his heavy shoulders.
"Not the worst thing we could have been caught doing today."
"Yea... Fuck, you warned me. I can't say you didn't."
"No, you can't."
"I knew I should have just walked away, like, a million times. But after I saw you at the cafe, and realized you were involved with Slava again..."
For some reason, that makes him pause.
"The cafe... That day you followed me, in the rain?"
"Yea. I mean, I saw that Slava was calling you again, and I had a bad feeling. When I saw him go into the cafe after you left, I figured out that the owner must be an intermediary and I just got really worried about what you two are into. I guess for good reason," I say with a sigh, grabbing a simple t-shirt from my dresser. "I don't have a change of clothes for y-."
I can't finish my sentence as his heavy hand bears down on my shoulder and he spins me to look at him.
"Sarah, you're telling me you saw Slava go into that building?"
His tone makes my blood run cold.
"Yes. Just after you left. I figured it was a drop site."
His jaw tenses.
"You took pictures of this?"
"Yea..."
"And you're absolutely positive it was him? It couldn't have been anyone else?"
"No. I mean, I don't think so. I remember him really well, Dimitri. He was always over at the house."
He sucks air through his teeth, his face reddening.
"What's wrong?"
"Slava isn't supposed to have anything to do with that cafe. That is my contact for doing what I do. He's not even supposed to know it exists."
"But... what does that mean?"
"No one is to have contact with the Kassir but for the Avtoritet, hm? But he was a family friend. My father and mother go way back with him, and he always took care of us. So I take care of him, on top of what I give to the Avtoritet. Slava isn't even to know he exists."
"What would Slava want with him?"
"He handles all the money. If Slava was going to him and I didn't hear about it..."
"Dimitri... that was right before we found out Rebecca was killed. Only an hour or two had passed before we got the call."
Dimitri's face hardens into stone, his body rippling with muscles, hidden only by the towel still at his waist.
"It was Slava's guys that had you. I thought maybe Slava was tailing me again, and that's how they knew you were there that night. That capturing you was revenge for you spying. But if he's going behind my back..."
"We need to find him and stop him, Dimitri! If he killed Rebecca and tried to have me killed..."
He nods, grabbing for his phone.
"We need to get back to my place. Now."
Chapter 26.
His condo looks even worse than I anticipated. Apparently I'd done some real damage when I was captured. Worse still is the now stale smell of breakfast that reminds me how I still haven't eaten.
Dimitri's talking on his phone in Russian, and getting angrier by the second as he starts throwing clothes into a suitcase.
I grab a bag to start packing my own stuff, but he puts a hand on it and shakes his head no before motioning me out of the room. I'm too exhausted and hungry to put up a fight, so I grab something from the fridge, eating quickly to calm my gnawing hunger.
I don't know how long it is before he comes out of the room, but he looks angry as hell, and I can't help but cringe a little from his rage.
"Slava's gone. He knows he fucked up, and he's on the run."
"Well that's good, isn't it? I mean, if he's not here to cause us more trouble..."
"He won't stop. Once he's set his sight on something, that's it, Sarah. I have to go after him."
I knew it was coming but it still stings.
"Dimitri, you can't."
"Yes, Sarah, I can, and I will. I don't have time to argue with you. I have to head to the airport."
"Let me come with you."
His hands ball into fists and he stares at me.
"If you're there, I'm just going to be worried about you the entire time."
"And if I'm here, alone, surrounded by the mob? We don't know who's on his side, Dimitri!"
That makes him stop for a second, so I keep going.
"I know he's not going to stop. I saw you, that night. After dad died, and you and Slava went to punish Anton. You took the truck for some reason, and I was in the back, sleeping. I know what he's capable of. I know what you're capable of. But I'm still here."
"Bozhe moi," he curses that now familiar saying, and he takes a few steps towards me. For a second, I'm afraid of what he's going to do now that he knows my secret, but instead he simply nods.
"Fine. Go. Pack. I'm not leaving you here unprotected, and I don't know who Slava's polluted with his corruption."
I move quickly to the bedroom and he barks orders behind me.
"Dress light, but bring some black with you. Your camera too, with the biggest lens you have. We're going to have to play this careful. He's being unpredictable. I've never known him to run from a fight before."
I nod, tossing everything I can into a bag.
"So where's he going?"
"Cyprus. He has friends there. Friends that will hide him."
Chapter 27.
Rebecca had a vacation home in Cyprus, though to call it a vacation home is an understatement. The modern villa has a beach lounge, a spa, and a Presidential Suite to die for. I've only been here once before on a family vacation, but now it all seems so different.
When I was a kid, it was just another place, and I complained about the morning sun waking me up. Now I'm taken aback by the luxury and the ostentatious interior.
But this is not a vacation, and the tension in the air infects even the most beautiful and lavish of rooms. Dimitri has been pacing since we arrived, calling his local contacts and trying to find Slava without Slava knowing. It's harder than I anticipated, and way more boring.
I've done a few stakeouts on my own, but it doesn't feel right, being in such a beautiful place and not being able to enjoy it.
Dimitri comes out of the room, giving me a half-hearted smile before he joins me on the couch.
"This is going to take some time. He's likely deep in hiding now."
I nod. "Sure, Dimitri. So what do we do now?"
"I have some money in the bank here. I'd like to give it to you to tide you over before your trust kicks in. It's untraceable."
"Dimitri, you don't have to..."
"I know. But no one knows of these accounts, and if something happens to me, I don't want the money to disappear into banker's pockets."
My lip quivers, but I nod. It's a distraction, and that's what we need. We landed hours ago and have gotten nothing accomplished. All we know is that Slava landed at Nicosia Airport just ahead of us, and he's likely in Limassol. Apparently that's where most of the Russian Mafia has property.
"Fine, but can we grab dinner out?"
His expression softens and he nods.
"Of course, Sarah. I'd give you everything if I could. Anything that you want. And once Slava is taken care of, then we will be free, and mother will be vindicated."
"You're sure it was Slava that killed her?"
"Da. I had a feeling things had gotten strange between them, but had no idea why. The accountant, he had said some things that raised my suspicions, but I had no proof until you told me what you'd seen."