Chapter 7

When she came down five minutes before her time was up, Dmitry and Bepa argued in Russian. But when they saw her, they stopped, and the other woman walked away and disappeared into one of the rooms.

As much as she wanted to know what they were fighting about, she kept quiet, knowing he would only get mad if she started asking questions.

When he saw Danica walking down the stairs, his look of anger turned to pleasure. He was pleased that she listened to him and wore the red dress. He thought she looked gorgeous.

“You look stunning, and this dress fits you like a glove,” he said, loving the way it hugged her curves.

“Shall we go?” he asked, holding his hand for her to take.

She liked seeing the warmth in his eyes as she placed her hand in his. His eyes were usually dark and cold, which scared her a little.

But there were times when he seemed gentle and caring, which generally only occurred when they were making love.

She could feel the heat from his hand on her back when he opened the door for her to get in. Once seated, he sat beside her and touched her knee.

“Can I ask where we’re going?”

“I must stop at one of my clubs and talk to the manager before we go to the restaurant. It won’t take long,” he said, running his thumb over her knee.

He loved how she felt—so young, so soft—and found himself getting hard. This happened every time he touched her, and he was starting to feel like a horny teenager.

He had to get a grip on his feelings. He was a mafia boss, for crying out loud, not some lovesick kid. He had never felt this way around a woman before, and he wasn’t sure he liked it.

When they arrived at the club, he helped her out of the car and placed her arm through his. He saw heads turning when they entered and knew the men were checking her out.

The ones who knew who he was quickly turned their heads. They didn’t want him to have his bodyguards beating them up for looking at the woman on his arm.

A path through the crowd was opened to make their way to his special table. Once seated, he ordered a scotch for himself and a glass of white wine for her.

Until he knew for sure she was pregnant, he would allow her to have the odd drink now and then. He looked around the club and was pleased with how busy it was, but he still had a problem to deal with.

He turned to her, putting his arm over her shoulder. “I want you to wait here with Dennis. I’ll be back soon.”

She nodded and watched as he approached the back; she looked up at Dennis, standing so still, like a statue. Craig had gone with Dmitry.

When a guy approached her, he was chased away by the bodyguard—not that she was interested.

She played with her glass, only taking a couple of sips. Never having had alcohol before, she didn’t care for the taste of it.

It felt like Dmitry had been gone a long time, and she needed to use the ladies’ room. Getting up, Dennis stepped in front of her, blocking her from leaving.

She looked at him, letting out a loud sigh. “Oh, for crying out loud, I’m just going to the bathroom.”

All she got from him was a grunt as he stepped aside and followed her. It annoyed her that she couldn’t go anywhere alone and was being watched like a hawk.

It’s not like she had anywhere to go, no money, no friends—she was trapped. When she came out, the man was there waiting for her, but she wasn’t ready to go back to the table; she wanted to go to where Dmitry was.

Dennis grabbed her arm as she headed to the door he had entered.

“You can’t go in there. You must return to the table until the boss comes to get you.”

“Get your hands off me,” she said, trying to free herself from his grip.

“What the hell is going on?” Dmitry shouted when he came from the office and saw Dennis’s hand on her arm.

“And get your hand off of her.”

“Sorry, boss, but she was trying to go into the office, and I had to stop her,” he answered, swallowing hard as he released her arm.

“I didn’t think you would want Miss Burke walking in on you.”

Dmitry ran his hand over the dark stubble on his face when he looked at her. “Did I not tell you to wait at the table for me to return?”

She lowered her eyes, knowing he was angry, leaving her scared and speechless. She winced in pain when he grabbed her arm tightly and pulled her into the office.

“What the hell am I going to do with you? If you’re not asking questions, you’re disobeying my orders.”

“I’m sorry, I was getting bored, and you were taking so long. That goon of yours wouldn’t even let me go to the washroom alone. I felt like a child, and I’m surprised he didn’t go in with me.”

He wasn’t sure whether to be mad at her for using a snarky tone when she spoke to him or pleased that she was starting to stick up for herself. It was good that they were alone; otherwise, he wouldn’t have let her get away with it.

He had to be tough and strong in front of his men.

He went over and cupped her chin in the palm of his hand. “I will let it go this time, but don’t disobey me again, or next time I will have you chained to our bed, and there you will stay. Now, let’s go eat,” he said, kissing her on the cheek.

When they got to the restaurant, they were shown to the best table; it was obvious they all knew him. A bottle of champagne was brought over right away, and the waiter poured them both a glass, waiting for Dmitry to taste it first and give him the sign of his approval.

She noticed his knuckles were red and swollen when he picked up his glass. “How did you hurt your hand?”

“It is nothing. Have you decided what you would like? I highly recommend the beef Wellington, or if you’d prefer the seafood platter, both are excellent choices.”

She may not have been the brightest person alive, but she was smart enough to know not to pressure him into answering her questions. It would only anger him, and she did not want to leave yet or have him angry at her.

“I think I’ll have the seafood platter,” she answered, giving him a weak smile.

The meal went pretty well; he got to know more about her when he started asking questions about her life before he met her.

He did not like it when he heard how her stepfather treated her—refusing to let her go to school or have friends—and turning her into his own personal maid.

The fact that he even sold her to a strip club for a few measly thousand dollars had his blood boiling.

It became clear to him how naive she was in the way of the world.

She was innocent and sweet and did not deserve the life she was given.

On the drive back to his place, Dennis was driving the car.

Craig was sitting up front in the passenger side when they noticed a car following behind them.

“Boss, someone seems to be following us. What do you want us to do?” Dennis asked, looking back at him through the rearview mirror.

Dmitry turned his head to look out the back window.

“Just keep driving, and if he’s still following us, we’ll confront him when we leave the city.”

She looked at him, fear racing through her body, and she watched as he took out his gun.

“Dmitry, what’s going on?”

He looked at her, and reaching out, he stroked the side of her face with his fingers.

“Don’t worry; you are safe with me.”

He kept looking back to see if the vehicle was following them.

He ordered Dennis to step on the gas, and when he did, the other car sped up, too.

“The bastards are still on our tail. Do either of you men recognize the car?”

Both Dennis and Craig said they didn’t.

When they got outside the city, he had them pull the car over, and wouldn’t you know it, the other car pulled over, too, keeping some distance between them.

“What now, boss?”

“They haven’t started shooting, so maybe they want to talk. We’ll go out and see what they want, but have your guns loaded and ready to use.”

“I’m scared,” she said, placing her hand on his arm when he went to open the door.

He placed his fingers under her chin.

“I want you to get down on the floor and stay there until I come and get you. Do not be afraid. I will not let any harm come to you.”

As hard as it was to get down onto the floor wearing what she was, she did as she was told.

She could hear shouting and cursing, and then the next thing she knew, she heard the sound of gunshots.

Even though he had told her to stay down after hearing the shots, she lifted her head up and got up onto the seat.

She looked out the back window, and what she saw made her scream, causing Dmitry and his two men to look back at her.

Three men were lying on the ground with blood flowing from their bodies.

She was frozen to the spot, not able to move even when he got into the car and grabbed her arms and started shaking her. ***

Dmitry looked back toward the car when he heard her scream.

Turning to his men, he spoke angrily, not at them but at her for disobeying him.

“Get rid of the bodies and clean up this mess.”

Tucking his gun back into his holster, he headed toward the car.

Opening the door, he got in, grabbed her arms, and started shaking her.

“I told you to stay down and not to look, and again, you disobey me. I cannot and will not allow you to continue this way.”

Seeing how scared she was and the tears falling from her eyes, he felt something he had never felt toward another human being: empathy and compassion.

Pulling her into his arms, he held her tight against him, stroking the back of her hair.

“Would you kill me as easily as you did those men?” she asked, sniffling as she rested her head on his chest.

“I could never kill the mother of my child to be. It would help if you had listened to me; you weren’t meant to see what you did. Just so you know, we had no choice but to kill those men; it was either them or us.”

He lifted her head by placing his fingers under her chin.

“You know who and what I am; this is part of my life. It is on rare occasions that I need to use this type of violence, as no one has ever dared to confront me with guns. But when they do, I will defend myself.”

He held her until she stopped sobbing and her body was no longer trembling.

As scared as she was, she felt safe with his arms around her, comforting and protecting her.

Never would she have thought that this life existed until now.

It had her thinking: could she go through with giving him a child and walking away, leaving an innocent baby behind to live in this kind of lifestyle?

It was a good hour before the two men returned to the car and got in, smelling of sweat and dirt.

“It’s been taken care of, boss,” Dennis said as he started the car and drove off.

When they got back to the house, Bepa was there to greet them.

Seeing how upset Danica was, she discreetly rolled her eyes.

She looked at the two men and told them they could wash up in the kitchen.

Dmitry placed his hand on the small of Danica’s back, leading her upstairs.

Looking over his shoulder, he told Bepa to make a pot of coffee and tell his men to meet him in the den in twenty minutes.

Once they got upstairs, he turned her around to face him.

He placed the palm of his hand against her cheek, using his thumb to lightly stroke her skin.

“Why don’t you have a nice relaxing soak in the tub and get ready for bed? Don’t wait up for me.”

“Are you going out again?”

“No, I just need to talk to my men and make a few phone calls. I know what happened tonight scared you, and I’m sorry you had to witness it. But you are safe, and that’s all that matters. Would you like me to have Bepa bring you anything from the kitchen? Something to eat or to drink?”

The last thing she wanted was to see that witch and listen to her sarcastic comments.

“No, there is nothing I want.”

Putting his hands behind her head, he pulled her in for a kiss.

It was a long and passionate kiss—one to which she responded.

He would have stayed and taken her to bed, but he had important things to take care of.

So, breaking the kiss, he left the bedroom and went downstairs.