Page 48 of Savage Little Lies

My heart races faster as I stare at him, realizing that he’s going to report this incident to Dmitri no matter what I say. I need to redirect him, to draw Dmitri as far away from the truth as possible.

“Just a stupid fight with one of my friends in Boston,” I tell him as I roll my eyes. “I’ve been working so much that I haven’t been able to keep in touch with them, and they make me feel bad about it. It’s so stupid.”

Gabe frowns a little. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“You’re busy working all the time too. It’s hard to make time for other people sometimes,” I say as I gesture to him.

Then again, I catch him making time to chat with Karly quite a bit.

Gabe nods. “Yes, it can be.”

I give him a small smile and wipe my eyes again. “We can go to the office now. I’m over it.”

Gabe gestures for me to lead the way.

Hopefully, he buys my story. If he does, Dmitri will, and I’ll just make up a friendship that I don’t have.

I walk ahead of Gabe, blinking my eyes and adjusting my hair and snug blue dress with a low V-neck. I need to focus on the goal. Maybe I can convince Dmitri to get coffee with me and teasingly lick icing off my lip again.

It worked before.

Luckily, Gabe lets me walk ahead so that he can chat with Karly, and I step into Dmitri’s office alone to find him on the phone. It looks like people want both of our attention this morning.

“I can assure you, Artur, I’m getting closer to finding those responsible,” Dmitri says with that typical stormy look on his face. Since I’m so good at exaggerating about my own progress, I figure my boss is lying too. His men still don’t have any clue who the shooters were, which is scary.

I quietly set my things down on the desk, straining my ears to try to hear what’s being said on the other end. All I hear is muffled mumblings, though.

“Well, I’ve told Annika that I can’t always be at her beck and call, especially when I’m busy at work. I’m sure you can understand that as a busy man yourself,” Dmitri mutters to Artur. His voice sounds like a tightening rubber band that’s about to snap.

If he gets mad enough at Artur, it’s possible he’ll pull the plug on the whole arrangement and save me a lot of trouble. A girl can hope.

And if Dmitri were going to be the new Pakhan, then I doubt he would be taking orders from Artur, right? My father’s intel must be mistaken.

Dmitri’s hand forms a fist as whatever Artur says to him frustrates him even more. “I’ll keep that in mind. Yeah, you too. See you tonight.”

Without a cheery goodbye, Dmitri hangs up the phone and shakes his head, his jaw clenching. “Annika told her father that I haven’t been available enough for her. She feels neglected and terrified after the shooting. Now, I have to go to dinner with them and play nice.”

Oh, he’s so pissed. I barely withhold a laugh.

“I’m sure she can entertain herself while you’re busy at work,” I tell him as I remain standing, my hand resting on the top of my chair. “You can’t always jump when she snaps her fingers and run a successful business at the same time.”

Dmitri looks over at me, his eyes darkening in a manner that makes me nervous and turns me on at the same time. “It’ll always be this way while we’re married. She’ll never be satisfied. She’ll run to daddy when she’s angry with me. It’s so fucking frustrating.”

That makes me even more confident that it’s Artur who is going to be Pakhan. Perhaps that’s why he’s so insistent on the wedding.

“It doesn’t have to be that way,” I say to Dmitri, seeing my golden opportunity. I need him to know that there’s another way. A better way.

Dmitri suddenly stands from his seat and walks over to me, his eyes narrowing as they roam over my outfit. “You want to know what else is frustrating? You, walking into my office wearing that cock-teasing dress during my phone call, driving me fucking crazy.”

My adrenaline fires up as I stand there, letting him admire me. “Is there anything I can do to ease some of your frustration?”

Dmitri’s gaze bears down on me, making me feel smaller as he looms over me. “I can think of a few things...”

Warmth pools low in my stomach as he comes closer to me. This is it, right? It has to be. I’m starting to fear that if he doesn’t make a move that I’ll pounce on him myself at this point.

“Tell me,” I say in a whisper.

“Name your price for a night with me,” Dmitri replies.