Page 7 of Dancing With Desire

“Ice cream?” I yell. “Her life is in danger and you’re out getting fucking ice cream?”

“Boss, it’s the only way I could get her to agree. Besides, if I’d have refused her, my life would have been in danger.” I smile, knowing how demanding mykrasotacan be, especially when it comes to her favourite treats. “She’s also agreed to see a doctor.”

I begin to relax. At least she’s wanting to take care of our baby. “Great, I’ll arrange one for her.”

I hear him sigh. “Actually boss, she wants to arrange her own healthcare. She doesn’t trust any of your men.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. It’s understandable. “Okay, but I want the details of the doctor she’s going to be using.”

“Of course, that shouldn’t be a problem at all,” and I hear a smirk in his voice.

“Oh?”

“She’s billing you for her care,” he says with a laugh.

The tension lifts and I shake out my shoulders. Knowing she’s fine and will be at the safe house soon enough, gives me hope. She agreed. That’s a good sign when it comes to mykrasota.

And Marshall is right—she needs time to come to terms with everything that’s happened. In the meantime, I need to show her that she can trust me.

There’s hope for us, I know there is. My sweetkrasotawill come back to me soon enough.

TORI

“The security downstairs knows nothing about me, Dmitry, or who we are,” Marshall reassures me as he sets our bags down. “They’ll only ever let authorised people in. Dmitry isn’t on the list. If anyone shows up, they’ll call up to you for permission, but like I said, no one knows about this place, so there’s no way anyone should visit. I’d advise you not to allow anyone to come up and call me right away.”

I eye the bag he has for me. “Did Dmitry just let you pack my stuff up?” I ask, arching a brow.

He smiles. “Yes. He actually packed it for me.”

I chew on my lower lip thoughtfully. “So, he thinks I’m at Phoebe’s?”

He nods, not quite meeting my eyes. “Through here is the kitchen,” he continues, pushing a door open to showcase the huge space.

Phoebe gasps and heads in, running her hands over the marble surfaces. “This place is gorgeous.”

“And what happens when he finds out I’m not there?” I ask, heading down the hallway and into the living room. The white carpet feels amazing under my toes, and I sigh in pleasure. After weeks lying on a concrete floor, I didn’t imagine I’d see extravagance again.

“I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it,” he says, moving over to the floor-to-ceiling windows and staring down at the busy streets below. We’re on the thirtieth floor, and Marshall showed us every possible escape from the building should we need it. But at least the views are amazing.

“Let’s cut the shit, Marshall,” I say, picking up a glass globe that’s nestled in a sleek silver bowl. I examine it before placing it back amongst the other globes. “He knows I’m here. In fact, if I was to check the deeds, he probably owns it, no?”

He pushes his hands into his trouser pockets and almost smirks. “Try the building.”

I roll my eyes. “Of course, he’d own the entire thing.” I look around. “The place screams Dmitry.”

“But still, no one knows he owns it. It’s not in his name. You’re safe here. Plus,” he points to a small grate in the wall, “pull that off, crawl through, and it leads to a safe room with a steel door that’s impossible to get through without the code, which I’ll send to this.” He holds out a boxed mobile phone.

I shake my head. “I don’t want it.”

“Tori,” he mutters, giving me that look that tells me he’s tired of my complaining.

“Isn’t it enough that I’ve given in and come here without fuss? Now, you want me to use a phone from him so he can contact me and track me . . .” I sigh heavily. “No.”

“We’ve already established he knows where you are, Tori. If he wanted to, he’d have you back at the manor.”

“If he wanted to?” I repeat. “So, he doesn’t want to?”

Marshall groans. “For goodness sake, that’s not what I meant. Look, the phone is brand new. I haven’t even opened the box. Look,” he pulls off the cellophane cover, “it’s new.” I hesitantly take it. “You’re gonna have to trust me pretty quickly, Tori. I’ve only ever done what’s in your best interests.”

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