Page 8 of Den of Thieves

One Week Later…

“What the fuck were you thinking, Aksana?!”

Aksana knew Dimitri would be mad. Even if she didn’t, Karina warned her every chance she got. Heck, Tinkerbell was almost as pissed as Dasha. Not about what she’d done. Her sister was unsurprisingly supportive on that front.

No, Karina didn’t understand why Aksana kept it a secret from the one person she claimed to love more than anything. Aksana had her reasons, but the longer she waited, the more asinine they sounded. Still, she planned to tell Dimitri… eventually. Just not tonight.

But Murphey’s Law had other plans.

“Is the idea of having children with me that horrible?”

“What? Dasha no—”

“Do you want to leave me? Or you do not see a future together? That must be it. Those are the only reasons I can think of for you to rip out your womb—”

“Now who’s being dramatic?” Aksana waved off his concerns.

She took a generous gulp of her martini to quell her mounting frustrations. They’d been fighting in her condo for over an hour and have long missed their dinner reservations. She was close to her breaking point. She felt like Dasha would never understand, no matter what she said.

“Still you!” Dimitri yelled. “You had a hysterectomy and told no one. I would not have found out if those pills didn’t fall out of your purse!”

“This is not about you, Dimitri!”

“It never is! This relationship revolves around you and what you want. What you think is best. We fuck, we fight, we are happy on your terms. I am sick of it. This time you can be happy on your own because I’m done.” Dimitri swiped a dismissive hand through the air as he headed for the door.

“You know what he did to me! Butrov ruined me for happiness. You know that,” Aksana cried.

Talking about the abuse from her ex-husband was never easy. But she thought Dimitri was the one person who would understand her pain. Especially since he was the one that rescued her from that hell. She was wrong.

“And you know I killed him! I shattered his limbs until he cried like the svo-lach’ he was. Then I granted him the sweet kiss of death,” Dimitri seethed.

When he looked at her again, his face was one of contempt. “I do not care about children. I only cared about you. But you are so fucking determined to be unhappy and alone. I think it is time to give you what you want.”

“Get out Dimitri. You aren’t special. I have had bigger, better dicks than you in my bed and I will have them again!”

“You do that AK.”

She bristled at his words and tried to deny the ache in her chest at his use of her nickname. He never called her that. Only Aksana or Sana Bear. She didn’t know how to fix this. Dimitri’s words often rang true, but his rage was always short-lived because she had him wrapped around her pinky finger. She choked out a sob at the possibility that her relationship with Dimitri might be done. For good.

Her pride was stronger than her breaking heart. When he closed the door behind him, she did not stop him. She did throw her martini glass, but the shattered crystal made her feel worse, not better.

Her hands shook as she cleaned up the mess. Her vision blurred and her breath came out in strangled gasps. She fisted her hands until her sharp nails dug into her flesh in an attempt to numb the pain.

When her phone rang, she gripped it tight, hoping it was him. She answered on the first ring.

“Da.”

“AK stop playing house! Come out with me and have some real fun.” Vanya, Aksana’s old party friend, said without preamble.

“I’ll meet you at Ralph’s in an hour.”

“Oh yes! I’ve missed my favorite girl in all of Moscow,” Vanya squealed.

Aksana smirked as a plan formed in her head. She left the rest of her mess for the staff to handle. “She’s back, and she’s here to stay.”

**

“Mr. Popov, it’s Tim from the club.”

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