Page 78 of Craving Dahlia

Dimitri calls me a little while later, telling me to meet him out front. Vik has five men assembled to keep an eye on Dahlia, and I wait until Dimitri and Vik are done telling me their names and qualifications before they leave, and I turn to face Derek, the one in charge of the five.

“I need you to get about ten more men,” I tell him. “I’m taking my wife to one of the safe houses tonight. I’ll need additional security to help keep it guarded.”

Derek frowns. “Mr. Yashkov said?—”

“I’m the heir,” I snap at him, pulling rank for what I’m pretty sure is the first time in my life. “This is my decision. Ten more men, Derek. Have them here in two hours, and cars ready to leave.”

I’d told Dahlia to excuse herself from dinner earlier, and we’d slip away. I know she’s uncomfortable with the subterfuge of it, but telling her that it would keep Evelyn safe as well was the right way to approach it. And itwill. Everyone will be safer by keeping Gregoriy on his toes, rather than leaving Dahlia and Evelyn both in the mansion as targets. He won’t bother Evelyn if Dahlia isn’t there, and if Dahlia is hidden, I won’t need to worry about her.

I remind myself of that reasoning, again and again until Dahlia meets me at the back entrance with her bags. I take them from her immediately, handing them over to Derek, who loads them in the back of the SUV. In a matter of minutes, we’re off, and Dahlia tightens her fingers together in her lap, feeling nervous.

“I texted Evelyn while you were loading up and told her what we were doing,” she says. “That’s fine, right?”

“Yeah. As long as we’re headed there before she gets it, which we are.” I wasn’t going to be able to hide the situation from Dimitri for long. And I’m not really trying to keep anything from my brother, just put it all in motion before he can jump in and change or stop my plans. He’ll be pissed at me for going over his head, but I’ll deal with that when I get back to the estate. And he’ll understand, surely. It’s not as if he’s never done anything rash while trying to protect Evelyn.

Dahlia is quiet on the ride up to the safehouse. At one point, she reaches for my hand, threading her fingers through mine, and it shocks me how much I like it. Only a few days ago, I would have pulled away from a gesture like that. But something has changed between us, and I’m glad that it has.

I never thought I would have this again, but now that I do, I’m going to do whatever I have to in order to make sure I don’t lose it.

The safe house is a small cabin-like structure in a wooded area some distance from the estate. It looks like it could be a rustic AirB&B, with trees scattered around it and some of the property cleared, the woods thick on three sides. The SUVs pull up in front, and I turn to Dahlia as she looks out of the window.

“It’s nice inside. I’ve seen this one before. You’ll be comfortable here, I promise.”

She swallows hard, but nods, sliding out of the car with me. “Derek will get your bags,” I tell her. “Come on, I’ll show you around.”

The safe house is small, but large enough that Dahlia shouldn’t feel too crowded with the security coming in and out. It’s decorated cozily, with a fireplace in the front room that she’ll probably enjoy, since the nights are still cool. I show her the living room and downstairs bedrooms and bathroom, and then the kitchen with its small dining nook.

“It’s fully stocked with food. The guards can go out and get anything that needs to be replaced. You need to stay near the cabin,” I warn her. “You can go out for walks, things like that, but don’t venture too far away and make sure the security is with you.”

I half expect her to argue with me, but she just nods. “Alright,” she says softly. “I’ll make sure I don’t go out alone.”

Relief washes over me at that. “I’ll show you upstairs,” I tell her, gesturing as I lead her to the second floor, and desire stirs through me at the thought of taking her up to the bedroom.

Upstairs is just the main bedroom, and a bathroom. “This is your space,” I tell her, as we walk into the bedroom. “The security should mostly leave you alone up here, unlesssomething is an emergency, so you should be able to feel like you can get some privacy and room away from them.”

Dahlia nods, looking around. “How long can you stay?” she asks softly, and I hesitate.

“I don’t want to leave you,zhena. But I need to get back to the estate. Dimitri has Vik looking for where Gregoriy might be. As soon as there’s any concrete information, I want to act on it. I want this done, Dahlia.” I reach up, brushing my knuckles over her cheekbone. “I want this to be over, so we can put it behind us.”

“Are you ever really going to be able to do that?” She looks up at me, her eyes searching mine. “Put it behind you? I would understand if you couldn’t. I think it would be hard for anyone to put that behind them.”

“I’m going to do my best. For both of us.” I run my fingers into her hair, my hand cupping her cheek, and Dahlia’s lips part as she looks up at me.

I shouldn’t kiss her. If I do, I’m only going to stay here longer. But I can’t resist her, especially not now, when we’re no longer fighting each other.

The moment I kiss her, she moans against my lips. I push the door closed, backing her up to the bed, and she gasps as she feels my hips press against hers.

“It’ll have to be quick,zhena,” I murmur, spinning her around so that she’s bent over the bed. I flick open the button of her jeans with one hand as I undo mine, tugging them down her hips as I free my cock, and Dahlia moans again as I push against her already wet entrance.

“It never takes you long to get me there,” she gasps. “But if it’ll keep you here longer, I’ll try to hold out.”

“Oh,zhena.” I chuckle darkly as I thrust into her, groaning at the sensation of her tight heat wrapped around me. “That’s a challenge I’m happy to take.”

—

The good moodthat I’m left in after I leave Dahlia lasts only until I get back to the estate and walk into the mansion to find Dimitri waiting for me, his expression thunderous.

“So you ignored everything I said?” He bites off every word, clearly pissed beyond all reason. But that’s never stopped me from retorting before.

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