Dimitri (16 page)

"Don’t act like you didn't know!"

Aghast, I insisted, "I didn't! I asked him not
to get involved."

"Well he sure as hell doesn't
listen!"

That makes two men in my life who
don't listen to me
, I thought
crossly.

"Johnny, I'm sorry that things got ugly between
the two of you. I'll talk to him."

"I guess I should get used to him pushing me
around, huh? Since you two are together now," he added. "Maybe I
should go ahead and move out."

"Don't be ridiculous. You're not moving
anywhere."

"But we're selling the house."

My stomach knotted as I remembered our fight.
"If that's what you want, yes."

"And the bakery?"

"Do I have a choice? This morning you made it
sound like you were ready to sign the papers. I won't fight you,
Johnny."

He narrowed his eyes. "Why are you giving in so
easy all of a sudden? What's your game, Benny?"

"My game? What does that mean?"

"You know what it means." Anger and mistrust
flashed across his face. "I know what you're doing! You're going to
let that big, stupid Russian bastard buy your half of the business!
He's going to hold up my deal."

"Are you insane? I'm not letting
Dimitri buy anything.
He
wanted to make
you
an offer for your share but you've already gotten
cozy with those jerks at UpStreet so whatever, Johnny! Take this
shitty deal and let's be done with it."

"What you mean? Why is it shitty?" He came down
the stairs like a raging bull and bumped up against me. "Do you
know something I don't? You think I'm so stupid you can go behind
my back and get a better deal." He slammed his chest against me,
knocking me into the wall. "Are you trying to cheat me?"

For the first time in my life, I shrank back
with fear of my brother. I didn't know this version of Johnny. The
trust between us shattered, I threw up my hands, no longer certain
he wouldn't hit me. "Johnny! Please!"

He went rigid and blinked. With a visible gulp,
he stepped back. For an excruciatingly uncomfortable moment, we
stared at one another. Finally, he growled with frustration and
snatched my keys out of the bowl. "I'm leaving."

Stunned by the turn of events, I could only
watch him stomp away from me. At the door, he spun toward me and
snarled, "Tell your boyfriend I want my gun back or he owes me
three hundred bucks!"

The door slammed hard and I jumped. Unable to
move, I kept my gaze fixed on the door and tried to make sense of
what had just happened. In a split-second, Johnny had turned so
frightening. I'd never been afraid of him but now I wondered who
the hell he was.

Where was the brother who had been my best
friend? Was this my fault? Had I done something wrong? What had I
done to push him toward those thugs and monsters in the Hermanos
crew?

Heartbroken and feeling depressed, I locked the
front door. Johnny's parting shot rattled around in my head. "You
mean you owe me three hundred bucks…"

* * *

When Dimitri pulled into Benny's driveway, he
was pleasantly surprised to see the yard had been mowed. Johnny
wasn't the lost cause he'd considered him. Hopefully some of the
kind, sweet-natured kid he'd once been still existed under all that
gangster wannabe bullshit. The idea of moving Benny and Johnny into
a neighborhood like Ivan's bubbled to fruition. Johnny could make a
clean break and start over in a better place.

While he waited for Benny to answer the door,
Dimitri tried to picture what she would be wearing. He hoped it was
short and curve-hugging. There was nothing he liked more than
seeing her tight little ass and those luscious breasts. With all
the dark corners of the VIP areas in Faze, he would have no trouble
finding a secret spot to show her just how much he enjoyed her hot
body.

The door opened but it wasn’t
Benny's smiling face that greeted him. She seemed annoyed and
upset. His inner alarm clanged.
Proceed
with extreme caution
.

Even with that slight scowl on her face, she
looked beautiful. He made sure to let her know. "Benny, you look
amazing."

"Thanks." She waved him inside. "I have to put
on my shoes and switch some things from my purse to my clutch. I'll
be a few minutes."

"That's fine. We're in no hurry." He shut the
door behind him and took advantage of the better lighting to enjoy
the sight of her in that little black dress. Simple but sexy, it
fit her perfectly. She'd styled her dark hair half up and half
down. His fingers itched to pluck free the pins so he could tangle
his fingers in the long waves while she worked her lips up and down
his cock.

Later
, he
reminded himself. They had the whole night ahead of
them.

He noticed the way she roughly jammed makeup
and her phone into her smaller purse. Finding his courage, he
cleared his throat, "Is everything all right?"

Her hands went still. Slowly, she pivoted
toward him. The expression on her face was a mix of pain and anger.
"Did you threaten Johnny?"

Ah. Now he understood.

"After he pulled a gun on me and
said something rude about you? Yes." There was no use denying it.
"He could have shot me. He could have shot
you
if you'd been the one to wake him
up."

Her eyes closed and it was clear she was
fighting tears. When she opened them again, she blinked rapidly.
"But why did you come here in the first place? I thought you were
going to stay out of it."

"I was but I couldn't do it. I only came here
to talk to him, to make him an offer on his portion of the business
so you would be in the best position to negotiate with Jonah
Krause. When I went upstairs to look for him, he pulled his gun on
me and things…deteriorated rapidly."

"Deteriorated?" She scoffed loudly. "Yeah,
well, now Johnny is convinced we're trying to rip him off. He came
at me in a rage and—"

"He
what
?" Fury burned through him at the
thought of that little bastard coming at Benny. He moved closer and
looked her over for any signs of bruising. "Did he hit
you?"

"No."

"Benny."

"
No
. He didn't hit me." Her gaze fell
to the floor. "There was a second there where I thought he might
but he got control and it was okay."

"Okay?
Okay
?" Dimitri swore a nasty streak
in his mother tongue. With a slash of his hand through the air, he
commanded, "You're moving in with me. Tonight."

"Don't be so dramatic, Dimitri!"

"Dramatic? Johnny shoved a loaded gun in my
face this morning because I woke him up. He came at you because you
pissed him off. Do you really want to see what he's going to do
next?" He couldn't believe how blasé she was being about all this.
"Benny, I'm not going to stand by and watch him treat you like
this."

Irritated, she shouted, "Why do you care so
much?"

"Because I love you!"

She rocked back on her heels at his unexpected
outburst. He swallowed hard at the realization that his secret was
out and there was no taking it back, even if it was too soon to
tell her such a thing.

Nervousness made his voice quake but he
repeated what he'd said. "I love you, Benny. When I see you
hurting, it hurts me."

"You love me?"

"Yes."

"Me?"

His brow furrowed. "Yes.
You
. I love
you."

"But…I mean…I'm just me."

"Just you?" Shaking his head, he tried to find
the right words. "Benny, you're amazing. You're beautiful and
funny. You're the kindest, sweetest woman I've ever met. Every time
I hear you laugh, my stomach somersaults. Every time you smile at
me, I feel like I can't breathe." He steeled himself for rejection.
"Maybe I'm not the kind of man you can love but—"

"You are," she interrupted softly. With a timid
smile, she confessed, "Dimitri, I think I've been in love with you
since I was eighteen years old. From the first day you walked into
our bakery holding that classified ad in your hand, I had the
biggest crush on you."

He grinned. "Really?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Why didn't you?"

"It never seemed like the right
time."

Blushing, she admitted, "I thought you didn't
see me."

"Oh, I saw you, Benny." He wrapped his arms
around her and drew her into his embrace. "I've been watching you
and waiting for you so long."

When their lips met this time, the kiss was
tender and full of such emotion. The rush of happiness that surged
through him threatened to knock him off his feet. Benny pressed
against him, winding her arms around his waist and flicking her
tongue against his. She tempted him to drag her to the couch and
make love to her but he muscled down those primal urges. He'd
promised her a relaxed evening with friends and intended to give
her just that.

They finally broke their lingering kiss. She
smiled up at him, her eyes shining with unshed tears. There was no
mistaking the depth of her love for him. He could only hope that
she could read the same in his expression.

He ran his thumb across her silky pout. She
playfully nibbled the tip of it. Laughing, he said, "Come. Let's
celebrate."

Chapter
Nine

"Are we ready for some dessert?" Smiling
sweetly, Vivi refilled my glass of iced tea and Erin's water. She
stood at the edge of our table and waited for an answer. I had to
hand it to her. She was one hell of a waitress. Earlier, when
Dimitri had been ordering for me, she'd carefully steered him away
from an entrée featuring cabbage with the tiniest, almost
imperceptible twitch of her nose. For sparing me that cruciferous
fate, I was ready to give her a huge tip.

Dimitri ran his hand along my shoulder. "Would
you like some dessert?"

Normally, I would say no, but tonight's meal
had been such a good experience, I wanted to try something from the
sweet side of the menu. "Yes." I glanced up at Vivian. "What do you
recommend?"

"For you? Our Lady of Pastry?" Eyes glinting
with mischief, she considered for a moment. "There's this really
delicious sponge cake with layers of fluffy vanilla cream and
apricots and raisins. It's so yummy!"

"You've sold me. I'll have that."

"Great." She glanced at Dimitri. "And for
you?"

He gave a shake of his head. "Nothing for
me."

Vivi turned to Ivan and Erin who sat across
from us. The hulking fighter had an arm on the back of Erin's chair
and gazed at her with such tender affection. For such a big,
intimidating man, he showed incredible softness toward
Erin.

Ivan also shook his head but Erin studied the
menu. "Which one is the marshmallow cake with the chocolate? Bird's
milk something…"

Ivan's lips twitched with amusement.
He rubbed his thumb along the side of her neck.
"
Ptchiye moloko
."

Erin glanced up at Vivi. "Um…yeah. That
one."

Laughing, Vivian nodded and backed away from
the table. Erin turned to Ivan and bit her lower lip before trying
to say the words he'd just spoken. She butchered them twice before
getting pretty close to pronouncing it right. Ivan's eyes glowed
with such love. He leaned over and pressed a sweet kiss to her
mouth. "Good enough, angel."

He said angel with that thick Russian accent
and Erin practically melted into a puddle of goo right in front of
us.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed someone
approaching. Nikolai Kalasnikov slowly crossed the restaurant.
Dressed in that stark black suit and white shirt, he exuded such
incredible power. His eyes weren't the pale blue of Dimitri or
Ivan's but a stranger, greener shade. Unlike Dimitri's straw blond,
slightly unkempt and careless hair, Nikolai's darker, nearly brown
hair was neatly combed. Like Ivan, he had harsh tattoos on his
knuckles and the backs of his hands. No doubt his clothing hid
multitudes more.

There weren't many people who could wield that
kind of quiet, disconcerting power but Nikolai did it with such
ease. My heart started to race as he drew near our table. I'd been
in his presence only a handful times and only very briefly, usually
quick run-ins as he visited Dimitri. I knew he had nothing but
friendship toward our small party but I'd heard enough rumors about
him to know I never wanted to be on his bad side.

He stopped at the empty seat next to me and
smiled at his two friends. They exchanged greetings in Russian and
Dimitri motioned to the chair on my right. Nikolai dipped down to
brush a quick kiss against Erin's cheek before turning toward me.
He grinned warmly before softly pecking my cheek.