Page 52 of A Love So Wrong
Jade gasped, the words hitting her like a blow to the stomach, looking from Dimitri's waiting smile and back to Dominic's impassive face, she could tell there was a thread of truth in his vile words. She looked at Dominic with a whole new light and stepped back from him. Without even a flinch, the massive man looked from her and over her head to where Dimitri sat as if a silent exchange was taking place before giving a jerking nod and exiting the door.
Now she was alone with the man that not only threatened them but blackmailed them, and she never felt more foolish.
"Tell me, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Dimitri's silken voice glided across the room, wordlessly beckoning her to sit, but she did not move.
Standing stock-still in her spot in the foyer's open doorway, her mind raced as she tried to imagine the best way to run back out of the room and get past Dominic, who surely lingered in the hallway or nearby.
"I…I made a mistake," she breathed in building panic, her eyes darting towards the door Dominic just exited through.
"Mmm, maybe, Gideon will definitely think so when he finds out, but you're here now. You may as well sit down and talk," Dimitri gestured to the empty sofa across from him.
There was a vein of command in his tone that caused her shoulders to tense and her heart to quicken even more. Now that she was here, it was apparent, he was not going to simply allow her to change her mind.
Reluctantly, she made her way around the sofa and sat at the farthest point. Dimitri smiled at that. There was something tired about that smile she noticed, and for the first time, she realized the man was quite awake for this early hour in the morning. Glancing at the scattered papers on the coffee table before him and the open laptop to his right on the sofa, Jade surmised that he had been awake for some time.
"Do you not sleep, Mr. Dimitri?" she asked, noting the open buttons of his untucked button-down shirt. He looked a little rumpled, but in a purposeful way, like cover models for men's high fashion magazines.
For a second, Dimitri's stark blue eyes widened, and his smile faltered, and she saw the young man, probably in his late twenties, sitting in front of her for what felt like the first time. Without his purposely disarming smile and sharp gaze, he seemed like any other attractive young man, not dangerous and into twisted games at all. With a blink, however, the momentary peek behind the well-crafted façade was gone, and his mischievous smile and shrewd cutting eyes were back.
"Please," he began in his low silken tone again. "Just Dimitri is fine. I save the title of Mister for the women between my sheets," he laughed at her startled expression. "And yes, I do sleep," he said, going back to her question. "Occasionally," he conceded thoughtfully after a few seconds. "But you're not here to talk about my insomnia, are you? Because I only know of one cure, and I don't think you’re willing to offer that."
Turning away quickly, she looked out the window beyond him to the dark sky, trying not to let him see how he provoked her. Looking back at him, she hardened her resolve and reminded herself why she was there.
Leaning forward, her hands clutched at the material of her pants. "Please, don't make us play any more of your games," she said the words in one breath, fearing her throat would close up around them.
Jade couldn't stop remembering the stiff outline of Gideon's shoulders as he pulled her from the bedroom earlier that evening. He was so angry. She had fantasized a million times of him undressing and kissing her, but this was never what she imagined. She had pictured him whispering soft sweet things of love and affection in her ear. She imagined him holding her to him until the fires between them were stoked so hot they began to burn with the need to make love. She did not imagine him pulling away from her touch with a look so pained and so murderous. Nor did she imagine his stony silence as she cried herself to sleep. There just had to be another way out of this. This price was too high. Jade feared she was going to break into a million pieces if she had to witness any more of Gideon's disappointment.
"And why would I do that?" Dimitri gave her a mocking look. "Because you asked so sweetly?"
"No," she said, her tone so hushed she could barely hear it. There was a beat of silence between them that stretched on until the air pulsated with waiting tension.
Not able to withstand his piercing gaze any longer, she looked down at her lap. "Maybe we can come up with another arrangement?"
Having his full attention now, Dimitri sat forward, placing his elbows on his knees. "Are you offeringyourselfto me?" His eyes gleamed with an unholy light.
Jade swallowed thickly. "I…I don't know," she answered honestly.
Some of the glittering heat in his eyes died a bit, and he gave her a long considering look. Flattening his palms together like a prayer, he tapped his fingers to his lips thoughtfully. "Did you even think this through Jade? Do you realize what you're even doing right now?" his sober tone was surprisingly void of mischief. It made her tremble all the more.
Taking her silence as answer enough, Dimitri sat back against the sofa with a heavy sigh and a rueful shake of his head. "Good God, you should have never left your little town in Texas. You're literally in the presence of sharks, and you're putting yourself in my lap, begging me to devour you, and for what, Jade?"
Anger burst through her fear like a raging fire. "For Gideon!" she shouted, her hands balling the fabric of her pants in her fists. "He hates this. I can’t stand to see him have to do something he is going to regret."
"And he won’t hate that you snuck off to see me more?" he taunted and quirked one golden brow. "He won’t want to kill me or you for that fact when he finds out you came up here foolishly offering yourself to me?
His words felt like weights pulling her down into a dark bottomless lake. She didn't even know what she was doing. She didn’t really think of offering herself to him, not in that way. She just wanted to do something, anything to save Gideon.
Before she could even organize her thoughts, Dimitri answered, his cruel smile returning to his handsome face. "Because I'll take your offer Jade if that's what you want. I'll probably have to shoot Dominic to keep him from getting to you first, but I'll lay you down on my bed," he pointed to the black double doors on the opposite wall, where she assumed his bedroom was. "And I'll introduce you to a whole new world of pleasure and pain."
Jade shivered at that sinful promise and tried to force herself to focus. Not able to meet his gaze, she thought of his words for a moment as she stared down at her sneakers against the plush fur rug. "And you'll let Gideon go and not release my video?" she asked, feeling sick and cold at once.
Standing up from the sofa to his full height, he walked slowly around the coffee table and stopped next to her, forcing her to bring her gaze to his. His arctic blue eyes were like no one's eyes she had ever seen before. Cold and calculating, yet in this moment, she could see a flicker of warmth, as well as the cool determination, emanating like a pulsing beacon. Holding out his hand, he waited yet demanded for hers.
It felt like a Faustian contract being signed in blood as she put her hand in his, feeling his long fingers curling around hers and gently tugging her up to stand.
"Yes, you have my word," he promised as he easily began to walk backward, guiding her along, out of the enclave of the sectional sofa and slowly around towards the bedroom. All without looking back and all the while keeping his eyes locked on hers.
With every step, her stomach dropped, and her fear spiked. Beyond his broad shoulders, she could see the bedroom door loom closer, and she began to tremble. Dimitri's hand tightened around hers, sensing her fear begin to smother her senses. His strong grip around her hand only reminded her of his promise of "pleasure and pain," and she began to cry, her knees buckling.
