Page 26 of Immoral (Park Avenue Kings #3)

BENOIT

T HIS ENTIRE NIGHT had taken one unexpected turn after another. Getting busted. Making deals. Heading back to the St. Regis with Dimitri…

That was the most surprising part of it all, that he’d wanted me to go back with him.

Perhaps want was too strong a word. More like wanted to punish me for my betrayal, so even though he’d promised not to hurt me, I had no doubt he was going to take pleasure in making my life miserable for the rest of our time together.

One thing I wouldn’t do was give him the satisfaction of letting him know I was bothered by this little arrangement or the consequences I’d be subjected to. I’d be my usual flirty self, the one he knew and enjoyed.

Just maybe not right at this moment. The silence between us was so tense as we walked through the streets of Venice that I wasn’t sure he wouldn’t toss me in the water the second I opened my mouth. Not that I could blame him, because if the roles were reversed, I wouldn’t be giving second chances.

Not that this was a second chance. It was just fulfilling the deal.

He’d made that abundantly clear. Dimitri wanted Libertine’s offer more than he wanted me.

I didn’t know why that stung, since getting him onboard had been the whole reason I was here, but I wasn’t in the most rational mood at the moment.

No, I was on high alert and would be for the next two weeks.

I started to turn left toward the hotel, but Dimitri grabbed my jacket and yanked me back. He walked in the opposite direction, and I frowned before jogging to catch up.

“Are you lost? The hotel is that way,” I said.

“We aren’t going back there.”

“Right now or at all?”

He didn’t answer, just kept moving.

Damn Dimitri and his penchant for switching rooms nightly. Now it had extended to changing hotels too? Or was this move directly tied to me?

As we approached a three-story terra-cotta house on the canal, an uneasy feeling settled in the pit of my stomach, and I stopped in my tracks.

“What is this?”

Dimitri turned around, a dangerous glint in his eyes.“This?” he said, walking slowly toward me. “This is a place you and your colleagues haven’t been able to infiltrate.”

He moved in so close that I had to arch my neck to look up at him, and then he grabbed my chin roughly.

“You asked me once why I change sleeping arrangements so often. The answer is you. You’re the reason.”

It wasn’t the wind chill coming off the water that froze me to my core right then. It was the pure loathing in Dimitri’s stare.

“No more spying.” He jerked his hand away from my face, turned on his heel, and opened the door.

I could choose to follow or I could renege on the deal and head back to my brothers. I knew which was the safer option, but that would mean breaking the deal and letting down my chosen family. I wouldn’t do that. I could handle Dimitri and whatever he decided to throw my way, no problem.

Throwing my shoulders back, I sauntered into the house but was immediately blocked by Omar and his security guards in the foyer. They, along with Dimitri, circled me, and while it was an intimidating sight, I wouldn’t be rattled.

“Here to escort me to dinner? Or am I on the menu this evening?” I said with a smirk.

None of them cracked a smile, because of course not.

“Make sure we weren’t followed,” Dimitri instructed Omar, who immediately headed outside with one of the guards, while the other guard left the room.“Take your clothes off,” he said to me.

“ Pardon? ”

“Take. Your clothes. Off. I won’t ask again.”

“Oh? Don’t you want to do the honors yourself?

Give me a pat-down?” I gave a little shimmy, but all I got back was a pissed-off stare.

“All right, then.” I let my coat fall down my arms to the floor, kicked out of my boots, and then pulled my sweater over my head.

I kept my eyes locked on Dimitri’s face as I tucked my thumbs into my pants and briefs and slid them down my legs to the floor.

I stepped out of them, removed my socks, and did a twirl.

“Completely naked, as you wish,” I said. “Going to search me now?”

“Yes.” He ran his hands over me in a methodical, almost robotic way. There was no funny business this time, no lingering touches. Just a thorough once-over that made me feel like I should be bending over and coughing for him.

“Happy?” I said, when he finally took a step back.

“Far fucking from it.” He bent and gathered my clothes then headed to the door his guard had left through.

“Um, hello, I need my clothes.”

“No, you need whatever I choose to put you in for the next two weeks,” he said, opening the door and handing my clothes off to someone who passed him a robe.

“As of now, you will wear what I want and do what I tell you. Your belongings are gone, along with any devices or special little tech items you had stashed away in there. As far as you’re concerned, you are mine to dress, feed, and do whatever I please with for the time we have left together. ”

Of all the ways Dimitri could’ve picked to hurt me, destroying my belongings might’ve been close to the top.

“I can’t believe you took my things.”

“And I can’t believe you fucked me for your leader.” Dimitri shoved the robe into my hands. “That’s what you call dedicated.”

“I didn’t do that for anyone other than myself.”

“More deception, more lies.”

“ Non, I?—”

“Get dressed. Dinner is waiting for us, and when we step out of this room I expect you to look and act natural. In other words, do what you’re fucking told.”

I angled my chin up as I shrugged into the robe. “Yes, sir.”

Dimitri’s jaw bunched, but he said nothing as he turned and marched over to the door, which he pulled open so hard that I was surprised it didn’t fly off the hinges.

Refusing to show any sign of intimidation, I sashayed by him and into the hall, where the remaining guard stood watch. “Which way, gentlemen?”

A firm hand at my elbow shoved me to the right.

“This way,” Dimitri growled. “And keep your mouth shut.”

I glanced at the fuming man beside me. “You told me to look and act natural.”

“And flirting with anything that breathes is natural?”

“You should know, mon monstre. Up until today, you loved the way I flirted.”

Dimitri threw open a large door. “Get in.”

“Ooh, I do love this strongman thing you have going on. So alpha,” I said, running a hand up his arm, playing my part. “So domineering.”

Dimitri directed me to a long table and pulled out a seat at the head. “Then you’re really going to love this.”

He was right, I did like that.The gesture felt considerate, gentlemanly, and for a second I almost forgot we were at odds—until he grabbed my wrist and slapped a cuff around it.

“What are you?—”

He hooked the other side of the cuff to the arm of the chair and leaned down behind me.

“I’m securing you. But as far as my staff is concerned, you are to play the part of my love slave. Got it?”

I pulled my arm up, testing the restraint. The metal rattled against the wood. “This is a little excessive, don’t you think?”

“Not at all,” Dimitri said by my ear. “You’re a traitor, and I’m going to do whatever I have to in order to make sure you don’t steal from me again.”

I turned my head until we were practically nose to nose. “Aw, you admit it, then. I stole your heart.”

Dimitri scanned my face, his expression cold as he straightened to his full height. “I don’t have a heart.”

He moved around to the other end of the table and took his seat, and my chest tightened at the distance. It was only feet, but it suddenly felt like there were miles between us.

“I don’t believe that. I think I even caught a glimpse of it the night we went dancing. You know, the night you did something for me because you wanted to.”

“Don’t you mean for Gabriele?”

“Aw, don’t be like that.” I leaned across the table and lowered my voice. “If you think about it, the fact I used my real name with you is a compliment.”

Dimitri arched a brow. “I can’t wait to hear your reasoning behind this.”

“Why, it was the orgasms, of course. I didn’t want you to be shouting someone else’s name.” I shuddered at the idea. “Even I have my limits.”

I shut my mouth as a man in a chef’s outfit brought in two bowls on a plate and set them down in front of us. Dimitri thanked him, and as the man disappeared out the door, I noticed the soup spoon sitting on the table.

“Minestrone,” Dimitri said, as if I couldn’t tell from looking at it. “Get used to it. The likelihood I ever give you a meal requiring a knife and fork again is miniscule.”

“Really? Someone like you is afraid of little old me?” I asked, picking up my spoon. “Next thing you’re going to tell me is you’re going to handcuff me to the bed.”

“Cut it out, no one is here to see you.”

“See me what?” I scooped up some soup and brought it to my mouth.

“Playing this ridiculous game you’re playing. We both know why you’re here, and it’s not to cozy up to me. So unless someone else is in the room with us, I expect you to keep your mouth shut.”

“First off,” I said after swallowing down a delicious mouthful of vegetables, potatoes, and pasta, “I was told to gather intel with you, not sleep with you. I did that because I wanted to. Despite what you might think, no amount of money could get me on my back. I have money, lots of it. But apparently, a hot body, prickly demeanor, and dangerous asshole personality seem to be what’s making my cock hard these days.

So I slept with you because, quite honestly, I couldn’t say no.

And second”—I jabbed my spoon at him—“it’s kind of hard to eat with my mouth shut.

So if you don’t mind, I’m going to just keep on opening it for life’s little pleasures. ”

My eyes wandered down his body, and I smirked. “Should you want to give me one of life’s bigger pleasures again, I’d also be willing to open it for that.”

Dimitri said nothing to that, just went back to eating his meal, so I did the same.

Let him digest what I’d just told him—let it sink in that I’d slept with him for me, not the mission. Then maybe we could find some kind of common ground for these last two weeks.

When he was finally finished, Dimitri picked up his napkin and cleaned off his mouth. Seconds later he was walking past me, toward the door.

Okay, so much for finding a truce.

“Darling Dimitri, you’ve forgotten to uncuff me,” I sing-songed, trying to lift my arm and getting caught by the chain.

He paused with his hand on the doorknob and looked at me over his shoulder. “No. I haven’t.”

Then he walked out, leaving me alone in the room with what was left of my minestrone.

My mouth fell open at the audacity.

“Hello?” I called out, and pounded my fist on the table. “I’m still tied to a chair in here. Hellooooo?”