Page 116 of Bratva Butcher

I gave him my back, staring down into the ballroom. It was nothing short of an insult. That I didn’t find him a big enough threat to keep my eyes on him, to watch him. “If you’re so fucking powerful, why don’t you just do the job yourself, then? Why even bother hiring me?”

“You really think my grandson would do anything I say if he found out I was behind the death of his father?” he arched an eyebrow. “That’s what I love about assassins. The anonymity.”

That’s what everyone loved about it. The ability to just name a name, and have that person killed with absolutely no evidence to trace it back to you.

My eyes locked onto Dimitri down below. At his side was Allistair, but it didn’t seem like Dimitri was listening to what the man was saying. He was scanning the room, looking for something.

Or someone.

Is it me?

Foolish, foolish woman. How many times does he need to snub you to prove he doesn’t give a shit about you?

Then, as if sensing my eyes on him, he looked up, and our gazes clashed. My heartpounded. Sexual tension still blazed between us, as hot as a fiery inferno.

Sergei stopped behind me, and leant in close to whisper in my ear. “Given what I witnessed earlier when the two of you were dancing, it should be easy for you to kill him. He trusts you. Just look at him. Look at how angry he is to see a man standing this close to you.”

I turned my head. Sergei was standing far enough behind me that his face was shrouded in darkness. I highly doubted Dimitri could see his face properly, but when I looked back at him, his narrowed gaze and clenched fists made me think he could at the very least see I was standing next to a man. Like Sergei had said.

And he didn’t like it.

Dimitri pulled his phone out of his back pocket and answered it without taking his eyes off me.

Sergei laid a hand on my shoulder. Dimitri took a threatening step forward. “You have two weeks, Miss DeValos, or the next contract I take out will be onyou.” He patted me twice. “I look forward to hearing from you.”

And then he was gone.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Dimitri Volkov

“Do you want totalk about it?” Mikhail asked as we made our way back to the ballroom.

“No,” I answered instantly, despite the fact that there was a secret part of me that actuallywantedto.

I’d had sex.

I’d had sex with another woman, and it had been…amazing.

Soft, supple skin. Glossy, luscious lips. That one kiss, that first touch to her lips had broken me. I was powerless to fight against it any longer.

Againsther.

It was like I’d been in a trance. The music, the feel of her body pressed so agonisingly perfect against mine…. Something had just come over—no, takenover—me, and I couldn’t wait a second longer to find out how she tasted. How it felt to finally kiss those lips that haunted my thoughts day and night.

And then, I’d done something I’d never done before.

I ran.

I fled the room like a little bitch, unable to come to terms with that I’d done.

Looking back, I could see why she chased me down. In the moment, I was ignorant of it, kissing her and then just dropping her like that in the middle of the dance floor, with a crowd of people watching. It was a dick fucking move, and I deserved everything she threw at me.

More, if I was being honest.

But that had kickstarted me all over again. Fighting with her just did something to me. Woke up that dark, primal beast within me that wanted to mark her. Fuck her.Own her.

So, that’s exactly what I did.

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