Page 41 of Kidnapped Bratva Virgin

“Don’t be a dickhead, Dimitri,” she hisses under her breath, taking a croissant with her, alarming me with her straightforwardness.

“Ms. Knight, you are full of surprises.” I stare her down as the others step up to the station preparing their own drinks.

Shit.I didn’t rattle her the way I wanted to. I’m going to have to work harder. Maybe L.A. and me kicking her out has done the opposite of what I wanted it to do. She’s resilient, ready to fight. I don’t fucking like it one bit.

The meeting commences after a few minutes, and Ava gets straight down to business. “I received your emails about Section C ii and iii regarding the issue with energy consumption and the values. Thank you, Anatoly. Those have now been amended as you’ll see. If we can read through page by page and initial each then that will be the way we can start.”

“Great. Were you good with the changes, Dimitri?” Anatoly asks me, and I nod.

“I’m fine with them. Raven’s Peak deserves the right person to handle its affairs.” I say with a smart mouth, wanting to undermine Ava, but when I look up, she’s stony-faced, sipping her coffee and looking towards Anatoly.

“You’re absolutely right, and by the looks of this deal, we’ve got it in good hands.” Anatoly grins, and he’s a happy man.

“You’re on the money. If you only knew what I had to do to acquire the property,” I add with loaded sarcasm, indirectly throwing the blow at Ava. She doesn’t flinch, but Anatoly takes the bait raising his head from the document.

“How so?” I grin as Ava wriggles in her seat. Gotcha.How does it feel, Ms. Knight, to be humiliated?

“I had to pull a few strings to get it, but it’s worked out in my favor,” I tell him as Anatoly chuckles.

“I’ll say, and in both our favors.”

“I think we’re onto page thirty-one. I think we should continue,” Ava states and for the first time in the meeting otherthan the coffee stand, she glances up at me, but it’s not a glare. No, I would have been good with that because that would have told me I was successful in getting under her skin.

Oh no. This is something else. A stoicism, almost as if I’m glass and she’s staring right through me. This isn’t working out, not that I had a plan, other than to throw her off some. Ultimately, I want the deal signed as much as Anatoly does.

Ava’s phone lights up on the table towards the end of the meeting, and I observe her reaction carefully. There’s worry there, and whoever’s on the other end of the line is causing it. I keep initialing the pages, but I can feel the energy in the room shift.

“Excuse me, I have to step out for a minute. I have an important call to take,” she says, distracted by the caller.

“Hey, no problem, I think we only have ten pages to go. Am I right, Ava?” Anatoly asks as Ava looks between the phone and him, clearly flustered. Oh, this is fucking good.

“Yes—yes, that’s correct. I won’t be long.” She steps out of the room, and I perk my ears up to see if I can catch anything, but all I hear is a hushed tone, but the real magic begins when she returns. She’s clearly in distress and her cheeks are reddened.

Something’s happened, and it’s got my attention. “Everything alright, Ava?” Anatoly asks in concern.

“Ah no, it’s not actually. I have an emergency. I need to go. The deal is pretty much wrapped up, all you really need is both your signatures, and you have a deal,” she pushes out, her hand streaking through her hair.

“Yep, I’m ready to sign these pages. I’ve already seen them enough,” Anatoly pipes up, but my eyes glisten for the opportunity to fuck with her. I could stall, make it hard for her,and she’s clearly stressed out, her leg bouncing as she waits for Anatoly to sign.

With my pen firmly in hand, I stare at her blankly. What to do? An even better plan pops into my head. “Dimitri, can you sign your section please? There’s a few to get through,” she nudges as Viktor and I exchange glances.

“Fine. I don’t want to hold you up,” I reply, but that’s contrary to the fact. However, it’s Anatoly I’m thinking about.

After we sign, Ava stands quickly, shaking Anatoly and Viktor’s hands sneakily bypassing mine, but I don’t offer it either. There’s no chance I’m offering my hand to shake for a cheater.

Ava leaves only the scent of her orange blossom behind as I shake hands with Anatoly, and we agree to meet in the future to kick off proceedings. I’m aware of Ava being ahead of us and want to move out of the meeting as soon as possible to get to her.

Once in the car with Viktor driving, my obsession gets the better of me. I remember Ava’s silver car from our last little meeting and point it out. “Follow her. I want to see where she’s going.”

Viktor nods solemnly. “Okay. Let’s see what the emergency is.” As the wheel screeches and he hooks a left, we trail behind Ava. Viktor poses a question I don’t want to answer. “Are you in love with her? Only a man who is in love with a woman would go to these lengths to get to them.”

“She betrayed me, Viktor. How can there be love?” I reply, a rawness catching in my throat. I should be in a celebratory mood given how big the deal I just signed is, but all I want to think about is wielding a sword of wrath down on Ava so fierce that she crumbles like I did when I discovered what she did to me.

Viktor slides neatly behind a car, directly diagonally to Ava, whose hands are thumping on the steering wheel. I keep my eyes on her side profile, wondering what has her so stressed. Is it a new lover? If it is, I want to know if it’s him. The one she betrayed me for.

“That’s not the question I asked, Boss, but I’ll say this, only a woman can drive a man mad like this.” Viktor’s wise words are unwelcome at this time, but I see his point.

Yet I don’t care. I want Ava to fall.Hard.If I can find her weakness, then I can work at chipping away at it and have my sweet revenge. We follow along, reaching a hospital and parking at the same time Ava does. In hot pursuit, I go in alone behind her as she speaks to reception, jogging through to the pediatrics section where a waiting nurse directs her to a room.

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