Page 22 of King of Malice

And then he hands me the card and I stare at it, trying to understand what’s just been handed to me. “An appointment for what?”

“She’s a leading therapist who specializes in trauma like yours.”

I stare at the card and then at him. “I’m…I…what?”

“If you don’t want to attend, I understand. But it’s an excellent opportunity to speak with someone about your past. Your fear.”

He leans over and places a light kiss on myforehead, before he straightens again. “Anna’s favorite snacks are bananas, goldfish crackers, apples, and club crackers.”

Then he turns and heads back to his office.

He got me a therapist? This is the man who is holding my friend captive or worse…

I look down at the card. There must be some kind of mistake. Then again, my past has taught me that men are rarely what they seem.

I’ve got to be so careful with Dimitri Ivanov.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Dimitri

I look backat Ava who is fingering the card I gave her and biting her lip. She’s been withdrawn today, a bit leery of me.

I pushed last night with what we did on the phone. I’m patient, but I’m also an alpha through and through. I will not sit by and let her keep me out with walls.

I have every intention of knocking them down and then rebuilding them to let in the light she’s been denying herself.

I step into my office, wishing I could spend the day watching her and Anna together. Every time the three of us are in the same room, I feel this certainty that we’re meant to be a family.

I wince to think of Anna’s biological mother. I never felt this for her. Despite my business, I rarely have casual sex. It’s the indulgence of a weak man.

And it was a moment of weakness, when my father cut all my ties with my sisters to keep me under his control, that I slept with a woman I hardly knew simply for the comfort.

She was one of the madams at my highest yieldingclub. Everyone knew she was interested, but when my father denied me access to Katerina and Sasha, I’d gone to the club, gotten really drunk, and ended up in bed with Nadia.

I don’t even remember the sex.

When she told me she was pregnant, I’d stared at her in complete confusion. A month later, however, the DNA test confirmed the baby in her womb was mine.

I’d married her shortly after. Though I didn’t love Nadia, I believe in raising children in the sanctity of marriage. She was the mother of my child, she deserved my protection and the luxuries that I could afford to give her.

Nadia had been thrilled with my proposal, but things between us quickly soured. She could sense my ambivalence, and she grew increasingly resentful that she only had my respect, not my affection.

After Anna was born, she began going out late at night, drinking heavily.

I sigh as I run a hand through my hair.

I will never regret Anna. But meeting Ava, I know how I should have felt during my first marriage.

I turn into my office, softly closing the door.

Pulling out my phone, I dial Trent.

“Boss,” he says as he picks up. “Your timing is impeccable.”

“Why’s that?”

“I’m just leaving the Private Investigator’s office.” I hear his car door close.