Chapter

Sixteen

EVIE

“ D ima has a girlfriend?” The incredulousness in my voice makes the other girl frown.

“Yes.”

“Why? Clearly, you know what he does. You were locked in a cage with those other women.” I take a subtle step back from her, but her eyes zero in on my movement.

“It’s called foreplay.” She says it like it’s obvious. It’s most definitely not obvious.

“Why are you his girlfriend?”

“Because he’s handsome and sexy and makes me feel powerful. We’ve been killing girls together for years. Now, it’s your turn.”

I take another step back. “I didn’t see you when Dima first took me to his basement.”

She scowls. “That’s because he improvised with you, which I didn’t appreciate. Now, you have to die. You’ve become an obsession of my boyfriend, and I don’t like it.”

It slowly dawns on me. She’s jealous. Of Dima. Of Dima’s desire to want me dead. I thought Dimitri’s world was messed up, but this takes the cake. It’s making me feel a little bit better about killing Tatiana. At least I’m not in love with a psychotic serial killer.

I’m just starting to fall in love with a Bratva man. Maybe not better, but it could clearly be worse.

At this moment, I miss Dimitri more than I ever thought I would. I’d be willing to forgive him over using that little girl as bait if I could just see him again.

I never should’ve gone willingly with Dima. I know that now.

I need to fight.

“How long have you known who your boyfriend is?”

“I helped him murder his first girl. Now, I’m going to do it again.”

A chill settles in my stomach. The girl has willingly murdered for her man. What am I willing to do for my man?

“What’s your name?” I ask.

“Why does it matter?”

“I just want to know the name of the woman I’m going to have to kill.”

Her scowl deepens, turning her face red. “Cassie.”

“Ok, Cassie.”

I turn around and run.

Cassie lets out a scream and follows me. Her footsteps are loud on the creaky hardwood floor. I can feel the weight of the lamp near me as she throws it at me but misses. I gasp and keep running.

I make it into the kitchen. There are no obvious knives out anywhere, so I have no choice but to start opening up drawers and looking for a weapon. Cassie tackles me to the ground.

I remember reading about self-defense techniques after my dad died. He was mugged in the street, and I never wanted something like that to happen to me again. How naive I was.

But I leaned a few things.

Cassie is holding my arms down, but I reach toward her face and bite her nose. She screams and jerks back. With my arm free, I use the palm of my hand and hit her in the throat.

Instantly, she doubles over, coughing.

I kick her in the leg and send her sprawling to the ground. Grabbing a blender off the counter, I drop it onto her face, where her head cracks.

She starts to spasm. It reminds me of Tatiana so much that it terrifies me. Tatiana was a mistake. But Cassie isn’t. I’m choosing to murder this girl. Yes, it’s self-defense. But I’m still choosing to take her life.

I can pretend Dimitri’s world hasn’t changed me, but it has. I thought it made me weak and scared, but I’m starting to think it’s made me brave and strong.

Cassie twitches a few more times before she stops moving.

I stumble back with a gasp. I need to get out of here.

I turn around and come face to face with Dima.

His busted eye is bleeding, but he can still see out of the other one. As that one good eye flicks down to Cassie’s dead body, his face contorts into anger. “You killed her!”

He wraps his arms around my throat and pushes me back against the counter. I’m without air. I can’t breathe. My feet kick out, but I don’t reach him. My hands dry grabbing his arms, but that does nothing.

Dima will kill me. He’s been trying for weeks now.

But I can’t let that happen. I have a husband to get back to.

My hands slap against the drawer behind me, and I manage to get it open. My fingers search for anything that could help me.

And that’s when I feel it.

I knife.

My hand wraps around it, wincing as my palm digs into the sharp part of the blade, but I don’t have time to let it go and re-grab it from the hilt. I need to stop Dima now before I’m completely out of air.

I raise the knife and jam it into his other eye.

Dima lets me go with another blood-curdling scream. I rip the knife from his eye and don’t hesitate.

I stab him in the neck.

Dima gurgles and claws at his neck. He makes a mistake when he rips the knife out of him. Blood instantly starts pouring down his neck .

Even though both his eyes are a bloody mess, he still widens them before he collapses to the floor. I saw fear in them.

Never have I felt so satisfied by the sight of someone dying.

Just like his girlfriend, Dima twitches a few times before he stops moving altogether.

Slumping to the ground, I let the tears come.

I survived. Dimitri has been saving me time and time again, but this time, I’m the one who saved myself. The police were of no help with Dima. I had to take him out, or no one would.

He’s gone, and he can never kill another woman again.

My hands are covered in his blood so I can’t wipe my tears away. I have to let them fall.

It’s complete and utter relief as to why I’m crying. Dima is gone. One less obstacle between Dimitri and me.

Now, I just need to get back to him. All I want to do is kiss him and feel his arms around me.

DIMITRI

“My dad!” Maria cries as I carry her away from the warehouse.

“Your dad is probably dead.” I don’t know why I say it when I just know Abram isn’t dead. Maxim might be, though. I’ll have to deal with the fallout of that later, but right now, I need to get away from this fucking place. Abram doesn’t have Evie, and I need to find her before it’s too late.

Maria gasps and instantly begins crying. I feel like the world’s worst asshole. I used to just feel like a typical asshole, and I was ok with that. But since meeting Evie, I’ve realized I want to be better, and right now, all I am is a colossal fucking asshole.

“I’m going to bring you back home,” I tell her as I reach my car and place her in the backseat. I shut the door and lock it before she can leave. I just need to get her back to her house. There’s no point in keeping her any longer. Besides, as I look back at her, all I feel is guilt.

And I hate feeling fucking guilty .

Maria cries the entire drive back to her house. Once I get there, I notice new guards stationed out front.

“Ok. I’ll unlock the car door, and you run across the street. Those guards will take care of you.”

“But my dad?” she sobs.

“I don’t know,” I admit. “I don’t know if he’s dead or alive. But you should know that if he is alive, I’m going to kill him.” I meet her eyes in the rearview mirror. “You should know that.”

“Why?”

“Because this is a dark dangerous place for young girls. It’s better you know that now rather than later.” With that sage advice, I unlock the door.

Maria doesn’t hesitate to run from the car. I’m driving away before she even makes it across the street.

By the time the guards realize who returned her, I’ll be long gone.

The drive back to the motel feels like defeat. I didn’t get Evie back. Abram may still be alive. Maxim may be dead. And I gave up the one advantage I had over fucking guilt.

I storm inside the motel room. A bullet whizzes by my head, making me jump to the side.

I look over at Katya, who’s kneeling behind one of the beds, the gun I gave her pointed right at me. “Jesus, fuck, Katya. It’s just me.”

“Oh. Sorry.” She lowers the gun. “You just told me to shoot at anyone who came inside. I didn’t really see you. I’m sorry.” She rushes over to me, and I pull her into a hug. “So, you’re alive.”

“I am.” I let her go. “But everything is fucked.”

“Evie?”

“Abram didn’t have her. Which means?—”

“Dima.”

“Yes,” I growl. “So, I still have him to deal with as well.” I sink onto the bed with a heavy sigh. “I just want all this shit to be over. I just want to settle into my life with Evie. ”

“A domestic life? I never took you for a man who wanted that.”

“I never did before. But now …” Now, domesticity sounds pretty fucking good to me.

“Where’s the girl?”

“I returned her to her home. No point keeping her. It’ll only piss off Abram even more.”

She tugs on her fingers and nervously bites her lip. Katya is not a woman who ever looks afraid, so seeing her like this pains me. I promised our father I would always protect her, and I know I’m doing a shitty job at it.

“How are you going to kill him?” she asks. “How are you going to end this?”

“Honestly? I have no fucking clue.”

The motel room door bangs open, and Maxim walks inside, his arm bleeding.

“Oh. You’re alive,” I say.

He levels me with the most exasperated expression I’ve ever seen before. “No shit, I’m alive. No thanks to you. You left me to die back there.”

“Well, you didn’t. So, that seems like a win in my book.”

“No. You don’t get to be witty right now, Dimitri. You left me to die. I managed to make it out but on my own.” He roughly shakes his head. “I don’t know how I ever thought I could trust you. You’re so fucking selfish; it’s ridiculous. You don’t have a selfless bone in your body, do you?”

“I can be selfless.”

He snorts. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

I stand up and stare him down, face to face. Maxim, to his credit, doesn’t back down at all. “I’ve put my life on the line to save Evie more times than I can count.”

“Because you put her there in the first place. We all know how you fucked up with Tatiana and Abram. We all know how you forced Evie to marry you. None of this is secret news among the Bratva. If you call that selfless, then I don’t want to know what you think is selfish behavior. I really don’t. You’ve only ever done things for yourself, Dimitri. And you only ever will.” He huffs and turns away from me. “Now, I need to go stich up my fucking arm. You’re on your own from now on. I’m done.”

“Hey,” I snap. “We had a deal. We help each other.”

“That deal ended when you left me to fight the fight you dragged me into. Have a nice life, Dimitri. Good luck finding your wife all on your own.” He storms from the motel room, slamming the door behind him.

Katya lets out a low whistle. “He was pissed.”

“He was.”

“And he was right.”

I turn to her. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“You’ve always been self-serving, Dimitri. The entire reason we’re at war is because of you. The entire reason I’m in danger—the reason Evie is in danger—is because of you.”

“Hey, I tried to let her go. Dima would’ve killed her if I hadn’t brought her back into my life. I tried to do the right thing.”

“Key word being tried . But the only way to truly end this war is by making sure we’re safe. You need to kill Abram before anyone else gets hurt.”

“It’s not my fault he’s a slippery fucker.”

“Dimitri, just end it. And get us out of this gross motel room. Seriously. It’s disgusting.”

“I need to find Evie first.”

“You don’t even know where she is. Until you do, let’s stay somewhere nicer. Please.”

Katya gives me her best puppy dog eyes. She was always good at using them against our father. Never on me.

But right now, it’s her lucky day because I’m tired and feeling guilty over Maria and Maxim and I’m missing Evie.

“Fine. Let’s go.” I open the door and come face to face with Evie herself .

EVIE

When I leave Dima’s house, I have no idea where I am. No idea how to get back to the motel. But I need to try.

My hands are covered in Dima’s blood. I could have washed my hands—I probably should have washed my hands—but I don’t care. All I care about is getting back to Dimitri. Getting back into the safety of his arms.

I don’t see the other girls Dima had kidnapped. They must be long gone by now. They’ll probably call the police, and the police will find Dima and Cassie, and they’ll find my fingerprints on everything, and I’ll be arrested for the murder of the serial killer I was trying to alert the police to in the first place.

But for some reason, I don’t care. All the guilt and anxiety I felt over Tatiana is gone. I’ve done a good thing tonight. I ended Dima’s reign of terror. I can sleep better knowing he’ll never kill another woman again.

I’m calm as I walk away from his house. As I find the nearest subway station, which takes me about an hour to reach. As I try to remember where the motel is located. As I finally find the right train and sit on a seat as the dark tunnel crosses my vision. As a woman subtly shifts away from me when she sees my bloody hands and disheveled state.

I still feel calm as I finally find the motel and approach the door.

I’m about to knock when the door opens. Dimitri is standing there. I take one look at him, and then I’m in his arms.

“Evie?” he says, holding me close. My bloody hands grip his suit jacket. I wonder if he’ll be upset. You know, I don’t think he will be.

“Just hold me,” I whisper.

Neither he nor Katya speak. They must both sense what I need at this moment, and what I need is just to feel the safety of my husband.

I sink deeper into his chest as Dimitri tightens his arms around me.

“You’re alive,” he says. “Are you hurt?” He pulls back and lifts my hands up.

“Not my blood. Dima’s. He’s dead. ”

Dimitri goes still before he cups my face. “I don’t even know what to say to that.”

“I killed him. He’s dead. You might want to send your cleanup crew to his house before the police find his body.”

“It’s freaky,” Katya says. “You kind of sound like my brother right now.”

That’s because I’m becoming a part of the Bratva. Slowly and surely, it has sunk its claws into me, and I can’t leave it even if I wanted to. But I’m not sure I do because leaving it would mean leaving Dimitri behind.

“You’re amazing,” Dimitri breathes out right before he kisses me.

“Eww. Get a room,” Katya mutters.

He pulls back. “A room. Right. Let’s get out of this motel. We should leave in case Abram followed me or Maxim back here.”

I don’t have time to celebrate with Dimitri. We’re already on the move. On the run. Still fighting for our lives.

The new hotel we stay at is much better than the motel.

Dimitri gets a room for Katya and a separate room for him and me.

The moment we’re alone in the much cleaner, much more elegant hotel room, we turn to each other.

“I want to know how you killed Dima, but right now, all I want is to kiss you.”

“So, kiss me.”

Dimitri wraps his arms around me and kisses me like he’s a dying man. My lips are just as hungry.

He picks me up around the waist and carries me over to the bed. He hasn’t touched me intimately since he put his hand between my legs and gave me an orgasm. I’ve been desperate for him to touch me again.

Now, I feel free. Dima is gone. Tatiana is growing fainter in my mind.

I just want to be with Dimitri completely.

His hands roam down to my hips, and he squeezes them, sending a flare of desire through me. I moan softly and arch my back, bringing my chest closer to his.

His strong hands move lower to my upper thighs where he pushes up my skirt. “I’ve wanted to make you mine for weeks,” he says into my ear.

And I say the words that will change the course of our relationship.

“So, make me yours.”

Letting out a low growl, he shoves my dress higher around my waist. Ignoring my underwear, he grabs my ankles and slips off each of my shoes. They fall to the floor with a thud. My breath comes out in fast pants. His touch is electric on my skin. I need more of it.

The dark look Dimitri gives me sends arousal straight to my body. I can feel the throbbing between my legs. I press my knees together to help with the ache, but Dimitri pushes my knees apart and rips my underwear down.

“God, I need to taste you.”

I gasp. His words are so vulgar, yet they don’t offend me; they only turn me on even more.

He parts my legs wider and settles his face over my lower body. His breath fans out on my pubic mound. I tremble right before he places his lips to my clit.

My hips buck up, and he holds me down as he runs his lips over my most intimate area. My toes curl at the sensation. It’s pleasure and desire and forbidden fruit all rolled into one.

My face grows hot at the knowledge of what Dimitri is doing to me.

He runs his tongue down to my folds and lower to my opening. I gasp once more. My inner abdomen clenches at the same time as my inner walls. He moves back up to my clit and rolls it around. Spike after spike of pleasure rolls through me.

I can’t stop the small gasps and moans that escape me. It’s all too much. Too much.

“Oh, Dimitri,” I whisper, my hips arching up to meet his mouth. I can’t believe this is really happening. We’ve been through so much together by now. We’ve almost died so many times .

But we’ve never had sex.

That’s all about to change.

I’m not afraid anymore of my own body or Dimitri’s.

I’m ready to truly live with him.

He’s relentless in his pleasure of my body. I can feel the growing sensation inside me as it builds, builds, builds …

… until it explodes.

“Oh!” My orgasm runs over me without a care.

Dimitri lets out a low growl, turning me on even more. Slowly, he lets me go and stands up. “I need you, Evie.”

“I need you, too.”

He takes all his clothes off, and the sight of his naked body is a thing of beauty. All hard muscle, yet he’s still so handsome. It’s hard and soft at the same time.

My eyes flick down to his erection. I’m not nervous any longer. I don’t have to fear Dimitri’s body. I can rejoice in it.

He slips my dress off over my head then takes me bra off for me. My hands are too shaky for me to do it right now.

Grabbing my hands, he kisses each of my fingers, instantly relaxing me.

“You’re a lot sweeter than you show people,” I whisper.

He flashes me his handsome grin that sends butterflies over my body. “Just don’t tell anyone.” Then he kisses me.

I moan against his lips as he lays his body on top of mine. Dimitri keeps his weight off me, though, so I can still breathe. Just another way he shows me he cares for me.

We’re chest to chest. Lips to lips. Face to face.

I grip his shoulders to hold myself steady as he settles between my legs.

Our eyes lock. And then he gently slides into me. I don’t feel an ounce of pain. I always read that I would feel that, but my body is so warmed up that there’s no pain in sight.

Dimitri slowly fills me all the way up. His groan of pleasure makes me feel special. I can make him feel this way. Only me from now on .

He wraps his arms completely around me. “Evie … God, you feel amazing around me.”

Of course, I blush. He kisses my nose and smiles that charming smile, and I blush even harder.

“I love that you’re cute and sexy and so fucking beautiful.”

“Ditto,” is all I can say.

He smiles then kisses me again before moving his hips around. He takes his slow at first. It’s obvious to me that Dimitri knows what he’s doing. He knows how to take it slow. How to get me warmed up. How to make this good for me.

After paying attention to his movements, I begin to match them. My hips rock in a circular motion as his do the same. It’s not a hard thrust. It’s a gentle rock.

Feeling bold, I wrap my legs around his waist, drawing him closer to me. Dimitri groans and kisses me deeper.

My hands roam up and down his back and chest as our hips move in perfect rhythm. Dimitri’s hands hold my waist steady. His movements help guide my own movements. Not once does he make me feel bad for not knowing what I’m doing. He only makes this good for both of us.

“You’re making me lose my mind,” he says, pressing his forehead against mine.

“Dimitri.”

“Just keep saying my name. God, I love to hear it.” His kiss is perfection. It’s light and passionate and all-consuming all at the same time.

I gasp when his pace begins to increase. “Dimitri!” I feel that familiar coiling sensation in my body. I know what’s happening.

Dimitri looks right into my eyes as my second orgasm washes over me. He doesn’t stop rolling his hips around and sending pleasure throughout my body.

His pace gets a little frantic right before he comes next. “Fuck, Evie. God.” He lets out a sigh and burrows his face into my neck. “I always knew it would be fucking phenomenal with you, but this on a whole different level. ”

I can’t help blushing once more.

He slips out of me and pulls me into his arms as he lies on his back. “Pretty good for a virgin.”

I gently slap his chest. “Pretty good for a …” For once, I’m at a loss for words.

Dimitri laughs and peppers kisses all over my face. “For a man-whore, you mean?”

“You’re not a whore.”

“No. I kind of was. I loved women. But now, there’s only one woman I can’t get off my mind.” He looks right into my eyes as he says it, and I believe every word. That doesn’t make me naive. Dimitri has saved me on too many occasions for me to think he’s lying.

“I feel free for the first time in my life,” I admit.

His eyes soften, and he cups my face and kisses me gently.

A knock on the door makes us both sit up.

Dimitri rolls his eyes. “God, Katya. Go away.”

“It’s not Katya,” a woman’s voice says. A voice I know well. “It’s Juno.”