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Not Dmitri Volkov sitting across from her at the same table. Fuck this is not good. I’d specifically been warned not to even speak to him, let alone breathe the same air. But Ara is my client, and I’m a mix of confusion, still rattled by my phone call only a few days ago. A bodyguard stands behind her. Perhaps validating the rumors of her relationship with the Italian boss, Luca Armani. However, in New York’s social circles, that wasn’t general information. I only knew about it because I was explicitly warned to also stay away. And then there’s the public humiliation of her father being imprisoned recently. This complicated matters.
Considering up until a month ago, I was acquiring prospects of husbands for her; she seemed to move on fast. Or maybe she fell in love instead of a forced marriage at the hands of her own father. Either way, she was still a client.
I clear my throat and walk toward the table. “Miss Barone, I thought it’d be just the two of us?”
She stands and offers me her chair as she gathers what appear to be contracts. I notice the address of the building I work in on one. So, what did these two have in common? “Originally it was. I just came to tell you I won’t be needing your services anymore, but I ran into a friend who would like a few moments of your time.”
This time, I look at Dmitri. I drink him in because he looks worse for wear despite how immaculate his appearance usually is. There’s something almost frail and tired about him—though still beautiful. Those cutting blue eyes miss nothing and swallow me whole. I hate the magnetic pull he so easily holds on me.
Another serendipitous encounter. No. One that Dmitri was playing his hand as God to create, and it could get us both killed.
I should run. In fact, the one thing I was grateful to Dmitri for was he kept my family and himself far away. Until now.
“Elanee, please sit,” Dmitri says, and the plea in his tone breaks.
“You know we can’t. He’ll—” My voice breaks off as his hand shoots out and grabs mine.
“Just two minutes, please.”
The problem with this man is it’s always been hard to say no to him. But now we both understand the danger and consequences. I do all I can not to let the tears well and spill over my cheeks. That frightful edge of the other day resurfaced when The Lion called me. And when Dmitri was shot right in front of me. I want to run to him. I want to hide because I know well and truly that if anyone can fight a monster it’s Dmitri Volkov. But I’d also seen too many people go missing. Some classmates were killed in “accidental” scenarios, and friends suddenly feared standing in the same room as me.
I can’t let a notion such as hope sprinkle in because it was the most painful of all. It was dangerous to depend on anyone to help me out of this web when so much was at risk. I’d failed to escape The Lion before. His claws were in too deep.
Ara’s finished collecting her things but is acutely watching us. She offers a polite smile and leaves with her bodyguard. As quickly as that, I’m left alone with the one person I shouldn’t be. I search the rest of the restaurant and harshly state. “Dmitri, if your father knows that we’ve met up—”
“No one will see us here. It’s just a few minutes. I had to, Elanee. I promise you, I’ll get you back. For both me and your sister.”
At the mention of my twin sister, Layla, my heart splinters, and it becomes harder to cling to my resolve. I remove my hand from his but sit across from him, defeated.
“Is Layla okay?” I ask, running my hands over my leather cream skirt. Was she doing well? Was she in the hospital? Was it someone else? Was she still up to mischief? The type that got people like us into trouble like this.
His eyebrows knit together in confusion. “She’s fine. Way too much attitude as always, but fine. Why? What’s the matter?” he asks alarmed.
I clear my throat and comb over my blonde hair. I have to keep my shit together because if I show him this broken thing inside of me, this weakness, he’ll definitely try to sweep in. “I saw her leaving the hospital a few days ago. I wanted to go to her, but…” My words fall short. I can’t even see if my sister’s okay in a hospital.
“No,” Dmitri says firmly. “Nothing’s wrong with her. She’s fine. It wasn’t her.”
A gush of relief escapes me, and I hadn’t realized how much I needed to hear that over these past few days.
“You’re not going to be happy about it, but she’s helping me,” he confesses. “We’re working together to get you back.”
“No. I don’t want her involved, Dmitri.” I seethe. I hate myself for prioritizing her safety over his, but I know he can handle himself. And my sister can too, but this world… we were so naïve to it. However, a small part of me is grateful that it’s me over her. I would never wish this cage on anyone.
“She misses you. Please, Elanee, we’ll get you out of this,” he begs.
His tone breaks me. Because this man doesn’t bend to a woman’s will or show remorse for one’s situation unless he can benefit from it, so I do the only thing I can to protect him. I hurt him.
I scoff arrogantly. “Gone are the days where I’m listening to you, Dmitri. I’m not a damsel in distress. I wound up here myself, so drop it.” I go to stand, but he catches my hand again.
His gaze is like a raging storm when it lands on the bracelet that marks me as The Lion’s property.
“Please, Elanee.” He slides a small envelope into my hand.
I offer a lethal smile. “Perhaps I wasn’t clear. Should I remove the gun from my purse to make a point?”
His eyebrows knit together, and he releases his grip, but I keep the envelope. I know I shouldn’t, but I cling to it internally like it’s my last piece of salvation.
“Don’t try to find me again, Dmitri. Your father’s kept me in this city to dangle as bait. A word of advise. Don’t fall for it.” I lean in, all venom in my tone. “Leave my sister out of this. I mean it this time, Dmitri. If you ever cared about me at all, you’ll never make contact with her or me again. Drop it, or next time, I will shoot you the moment I see you.”
