Chapter 23

When several of his men brought Bepa to his office, he tapped his gun on the desk as they entered.

He saw the fear in her eyes; she knew she was in big trouble.

“Sir, you wanted to see me?” she asked, glancing around at the other men who were leaning against the wall.

“Yes, you do know that Danica fell down the stairs and was rushed to the hospital.”

She cleared her throat and looked around nervously.

“Yes, I am aware of it. How is she? I do hope she and the baby are okay.”

He sat there clenching his fist.

“So you have no clue how she fell?”

“How would I know?”

“Were you not arguing with her before she fell down the stairs?”

“I haven’t been near her since you told me to stay away.”

“That’s funny. My men talked to the staff, and they saw you standing on the stairs with her lying at the bottom. You even walked right past them without saying a word.”

“They are lying because they hate me.”

He knew she was lying; he could see it on her face.

His temper exploded, and—jumping out of his seat—he ran over to her, pushed her up against the wall, placed his hands around her neck, and started choking her.

She started hitting his arms, begging him to stop.

Her eyes were wide with fear; she couldn’t breathe, and not one of the other men tried to stop him.

“Dmitry, please stop, I can’t breathe.”

It was not her begging for her life that made him stop.

He wanted her alive and back in Russia on the streets where he found her.

There, she would get what she deserved.

Back home, there were people looking for her; she had ripped off a couple of her pimps.

When they find out that she’s back, they will use her until she is of no more value to them, and then they will kill her, and it would be a violent and vicious murder.

When he released her throat, she began coughing, trying to get air back into her lungs.

“Thank you, sir, I promise I will never let you down again.”

He couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

“You stupid bitch, do you think I spared your life because I care? I have a much better punishment for you. My boys here are going to put you on my plane and take you back to Russia, where I should have left you in the first place.”

She ran to him, got down on her knees, and wrapped her arms around his legs.

“No, please do not send me back there. I’d rather you put a bullet in my head than go back there. I beg of you, show me some compassion; be lenient. Have I not served you well all these years?”

When his men pulled her off Dmitry, he glared at her.

“Show you compassion? What compassion did you show Danica from the moment she came to live here? You push the woman I… You pushed the woman who’s carrying my child; you could have killed them both.”

He looked at his men, barking orders at them.

“Take this worthless piece of garbage away from me. Get her on that plane, go with her, and make sure she’s put on the street.”

As they were dragging her away, she kept crying and screaming for him to forgive her.

Turning a deaf ear to her pleas, he poured himself and Dennis a shot of scotch and handed it to him.

“Why I ever saved her all those years ago I’ll never know. She has always been trouble, but what she did to Danica is unforgivable.”

Dennis raised his glass to him.

“I say good riddance to that evil witch.”

Dmitry swallowed his drink in one shot.

“I got to get back to the hospital before she wakes up. I want you to keep tabs on the plane and ensure she gets off and is put back where her enemies will find her.”

When Danica woke up, her wrist was throbbing, and her head was pounding.

She was disappointed when she didn’t see Dmitry.

She actually thought he would stay with her.

But then again, maybe he had to take care of some business.

Then, when the door to her room opened and he walked in carrying a bouquet of red roses, she felt better.

“I thought you went home for the night or had to go away on business.”

He walked over to the bed and leaned over to kiss her.

“I just went to get you some flowers.”

He didn’t want to tell her what he was up to; he wanted to wait until she was feeling better.

She smiled, taking the flowers from him and smelling them.

“Thank you. They’re beautiful, and you know how much I love red roses.”

“I’ll have the nurse put these in some water for you.”

He took them from her hand and placed them on the table.

Going back over, he sat on the bed beside her.

“How are you feeling now?”

“A little sore,” she said and started to cry.

He quickly put his arms around her to comfort her.

“Baby, are you in pain? Should I get the nurse to give you something?”

She shook her head, resting it against his chest.

“No, it’s just that I keep thinking that I could have lost the baby.”

He stroked her hair, loving how soft it felt—almost like silk—and it smelled amazing.

“But you didn’t, and that’s what matters. I was going to wait until you felt better, but I have some news to tell you. I have put Bepa on a plane back to Russia. That woman is never going to be able to hurt you again. I am sorry; I should have gotten rid of her a long time ago.”

She did feel a sense of relief knowing that he hadn’t killed her.

“I’m so glad she’s gone from our lives.”

She looked up at him and could tell that he was tired.

“You look beat. Go home and get some rest.”

“No, I don’t want to leave you.”

“I’ll be all right. I’m tired, and I’ll probably go right back to sleep. It’s okay. Go home and get some rest.”

He had to admit that he was tired, so he finally gave in.

“I will go, but I will have one of my men stand guard outside your door.”

“Why do you have to do that? I’m not in any danger, am I?”

“Being with me, there’s always that possibility; this is just a precaution. I’ll be back first thing in the morning to get you, and if you get lonely or need to talk to me, just call me.”

“I don’t have my phone.”

He smiled and reached into his pocket, taking out her phone.

“You do now.”

“Wait, I thought you said you just went to get flowers?”

“I stopped for a few minutes at home to make the arrangements to put Bepa on the plane, and while I was there, I picked up your phone.”

“Oh, OK.”

He leaned over, putting his hand behind her head, and pulled her closer for a kiss.

“You sleep now, and I’ll be back early.”

When he was leaving, he stopped to talk to the guard outside and instructed him not to leave her alone for one minute.

He also told him he would send another man to relieve him in a couple of hours.

He was only able to sleep for a couple of hours, so he got up, got dressed, and headed to the hospital.

It just wasn’t the same without her lying next to him.

When he arrived, he walked right into her room and found her wide awake.

The smile she gave him melted his heart.

“I missed you,” she said, smiling up at him.

“I take it you’re feeling better?”

“I’m much better, and I’m ready to go home. I have to wait for the doctor to sign my release papers. He should be here soon with them, so help me get dressed.”

“I would prefer undressing you,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

She rolled her eyes at him, and she slowly got out of the bed.

“Are all men as horny as you?”

But to be honest, she preferred him this way rather than him being aloof toward her.

He picked up her bra; putting it on her, he did up the hooks on the back.

A grin appeared on his face.

“Pregnancy suits you, and your breasts are getting bigger,” he said, making sure to cop a feel.

“Dmitry, not here,” she said, removing his hands from her chest.

Standing behind her, he leaned in and whispered in her ear.

“When are you going to learn not to stop me?” he asked grumpily.

She giggled.

“And when are you going to learn not to mess with a pregnant woman?”

He placed her dress over her head and did the zipper in the back.

“How long are you going to keep playing the pregnancy card?”

“As long as I can,” she replied with a smirk on her face.

“No one gets away with talking to me the way you do. I do not think I care for it and don’t understand why I let you get away with it.”

She turned around to face him, putting her arms around his neck.

“You let me get away with it because I’m pregnant with your baby and because you love me.”

The look on his face was priceless.

She had known for some time that he was in love with her and wanted him to say it, so she decided to give him a little push.

“I…I,” he started stuttering.

He was so taken by surprise when she said that, and he wasn’t sure how to answer.

“I’ve never said that I love you.”

She smiled back at him.

“I know you haven’t, but I know that you do.”

Before he could deny it, the nurse walked in with her discharge papers.

Before leaving, she asked him if leaving the roses at the nurse’s station would be all right.

“All the nurses were so kind to me, so would you mind terribly if I left these roses for them? I have so many now at home, and I think it would be a nice gesture to leave them for the nurses.”

By now, he was so whipped that he could not deny her anything.

“You are way too kind-hearted, but that would be a wonderful idea.”

On the drive home, he decided not to mention what was said between them back in her hospital room.

It was better to leave it be, as he wasn’t sure how he felt about her other than he was very fond of her.

He looked over at her as she rested her head on his shoulder.

She was a few years younger than he, petite with such delicate features.

She had grown up quite a bit in the short few months that she had been with him.

She was no longer the quiet little mouse she was initially.

Now, she talked back and was not afraid to speak her mind.

He turned his head and looked out the window; a smile appeared.

~The nerve of her to say that I was in love with her; she is so young and naive and has her head in the clouds if she thinks I’m in love.~ He said to himself.

When they got home, he carried her inside even though she protested, saying she could walk.

“Dmitry, I can walk, you know.”

“I know you can walk, but this way, I know you will be going straight to bed. Besides, you’re as light as a feather, and I enjoy carrying you.”

When they got upstairs, he helped her change into a nightgown and made her lie on the bed.

“The doctor says you are to stay in bed for at least two days. I will have the cook prepare you a decent breakfast, better than what the hospital gave you.”

“The food there was excellent; I just wasn’t hungry then. Dmitry, now that Bepa is no longer here, who is going to be in charge of the staff and the running of the house?”

“I haven’t given it much thought yet,” he said, pulling the covers over her.

“Perhaps I should leave that up to you.”

“What do you mean, you want me to run the house and the staff?”

He chuckled and shook his head.

“No, no, you will not have time for that. But you can do the interviewing and choose who you think would be qualified. You just have to get the right person who won’t mind living this lifestyle. Now get some rest and I’ll be back shortly.”

He kissed her lightly on the cheek before leaving.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, Craig and Dennis approached him.

“Boss, we have something we think you ought to see.”

“Why are we going to Bepa’s room?” he asked when he realized where they were headed.

“We came here to clear out her room, but before we did, we thought you’d want to see what’s in there,” Dennis said as he opened the door for Dmitry to walk in.

He stood in one spot, his eyes moving along the walls.

There were pictures of him everywhere—snapshots of him coming and leaving the property.

There were also pictures of him in the swimming pool and lounging on the chair by the pool.

Pictures of him in different frames were lined up on her dresser.

“Holy fuck, boss, that broad was obsessed with you,” Craig said as he looked around the room.

“We found a bunch of sexy see-through lingerie and some vibrators.”

Neither one of the guys had the guts to tell their boss that they suspected she was getting herself off by looking at his picture as she used one of the vibrators on herself.

He felt anger rising in him.

It sickened him to see all of this, and to think that she felt this way about him made him want to throw up.

“Get rid of everything in this room, burn the pictures and all her clothes. Do not tell anyone what you saw in this room,” he growled, storming out of the room in a huff.

Now he knew why she was so jealous of Danica.