Page 33 of The Payback

Olivia shoves the phone in front of Bella’s face as a distraction. I say goodnight and make kissy faces at the camera until Bella slobbers all over the device. Roark takes her away to put her to sleep, and I finally let the first tears slip free.

When Olivia turns back towards the screen, her face morphs into sympathy. “Tell me what’s going on.”

I take in a shattering breath. “Have you ever... I don’t know, taken a job too far?” I ask her, putting my toes right up to the line of things we don’t talk about.

“You fucked your asset,” she says with confidence.

“I couldn’t help it,” I admit. “He—I don’t know what it is about him. He’s hard and awful. And so fuckingintense.”

“But did you have fun?” Olivia asks, cutting through all the bullshit and finding her way to the heart of the matter.

“Fun?” I ask. “Yes...?” The word comes out slowly, and it’s more of a question than an answer, but it’s the best I can give.

Do I love the way Dimitri handles me, directing us when I can’t even attempt to say the alphabet in order because I’m so lost in the feeling of his hands on me? His cock driving me wild? His eyes devouring every inch of my body, setting my skin alight with passion as he rakes his gaze down my body, his eagerness for me evident in his eyes?

Fuck. Yes, I do.

An insistent throbbing starts up in my clit again, just thinking about his touch. I ignore it as best as I can, but it’s been a week since I’ve had an orgasm that wasn’t by my own fingers or the fucking showerhead upstairs, and nothing compares to the real thing anymore.

Not when that real thing is Dimitri Motherfucker Aslanov, armed with his magic fingers and a pussy pounding cock I just can’t get enough of.

And his tongue. Oh, fuck, the things he can do with his tongue.

“And your emotions?” Olivia asks, distracting me from my inner musings. But not enough that my clit has stopped having its own heartbeat.

“Not as tightly under lock and key as I’d hoped,” I say.

“So…?” Olivia says, pausing and staring at me through the screen. “Is he a good guy or a bad guy? Or somewhere in between, like me? And could you see him with you in the future? Or you can ignore all that and just have some fun, which is what I would do. You’re there for a while. Why not get your rocks off? If you kick him to the kerb, no harm, no foul. Or, if you want to go the opposite way, consider letting him around Bella when this is all over. Do you see that happening? Trusting him with your tiny and adorable heart as it walks around outside of your body?”

“I’m not looking for forever,” I say. “I gave up on that idea a long time ago. I just met the man, and my overeager head has run off with the plot, which is unacceptable.”

The thought of Dimitri around my daughter gives me chills. Not because I think he would ever harm her, but because I like the idea a little too much. He’s protective and loyal to his own morals. Could you imagine him as a girl dad, doting on and indulging her like Rory does?

“But,” I bite out, reluctant to admit out loud that something is between us. “I could handle a for-now situation if it doesn’t impede our work.”

“Okay, then. Take it day by day. Enjoy yourself and get the fucking job done. You are Eleanor Carmichael—badass bitch, agent of chaos, and my best friend. You think I would pick just anyone for that role?” She laughs, and I follow suit.

“Fine, fine. I’ll turn off the overthinking and just try to see where the day takes me.Carpe diem, and all that shit, right?”

“Too fuckin’ right. Carpe the diem outta thatdiiiiick,” she calls down the line, and I promptly hang up on her.

Olivia has unmatched innuendo capabilities, and I know she’s just getting started. I have a few more bugs to plant around the apartment anyway. Namely, in Nik’s room, if I can ever finish picking the damned lock.

CHAPTERTHIRTEEN

Dimitri

Nik issilent as we ride the lift to the penthouse. His shoulders are tense, and his fists are balled at his sides. He’s been on edge since coming home from his dealings with the Italians. And most of that is because of Elsa’s presence.

Elsa.

Fuck, I don’t even know her real name.

Nik does, though.

As her former partner, he knows things about her I don’t.Yet.

I have plans to find out everything, but one thing I know for sure is the way her body reacts to mine is explosive. Her wit and defiance fuel my deep-seated need to bend her to my will and take her like a man starved. And I’ve never been a man starved of anything. Except for maybe freedom, but that’s in the works.

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