Page 42 of No Longer Mine (Rags & Riches #2)

Chapter Thirty-Four

Dimitri

My fingers curled into fists as I paced the length of my office.

I was getting tired of waiting. It felt like a never-ending game.

It felt like no matter what I did, I would never get ahead of him.

I also knew that I somewhat no longer cared because Scarlett had wiggled her way under my skin all over again.

I shouldn’t have been worried about her or her tear-filled eyes as she ran from me again.

I should have thrown everything into the ring in order to get my father.

I didn’t like being patient. I didn’t like waiting, but Alexei kept promising me that he had a plan.

I needed to trust him because I couldn’t be caught up in a scandal.

I was doing what I could legally. It was just a slow-moving process.

The worst part? He’d had two more shipments of girls.

Not even women. Most of them looked like they weren’t even old enough to drive.

Even though we weren’t moving against my father physically, we kept tabs on the docks. It turned my stomach to think of but there was nothing that could be done yet.

All we could do was wait, and I hated every minute that passed when I couldn’t act. My mother’s face flashed across my phone screen with her incoming call.

“Yes?” I tried to answer softly, even though the thought of her married to such a monster bothered me greatly.

“What’s it like in such a position of power?”

I wished I could tell her the truth. “It’s a lot of forced smiles and bullshit to be honest.”

“Everything you thought it would be?”

“Yes and no.” I didn’t elaborate. I wasn’t a talker.

There was a beat of silence before she let out a breath. “I feel like I’m in the middle of the Cold War.”

What did I say to that? “I’m sorry.” I wasn’t.

“No need to lie. I just miss you. You never come around anymore. When are you going to tell me what happened?”

“When I’m not worried about your phone being bugged.”

She laughed, but there wasn’t much humor in it. “He wouldn’t do that.”

We both knew that he would.

“Why don’t we have lunch soon?”

“Are you and Father coming to the city?”

“We’ve been here for a while. He says he has a lot of business to attend to.”

Women. I closed my eyes and leaned against the corner of my desk. “I would love to have lunch.”

“Why don’t you bring that girl you went out to dinner with the other night?”

“What?”

“Gabriella saw you at Sistina the other night with a redhead. Said you both looked cozy and that it didn’t look like a first date.”

I let out a groan. There were eyes everywhere. How could I protect Scarlett from my father’s wrath, too? I pinched the bridge of my nose. “It was a first date.”

“I would love to meet her.”

I gritted my teeth. “Okay, let me know when you’d like to have lunch.”

If my mother knew about Scarlett, then there was a good chance that my father knew about her.

Nothing made me more nervous than that. I grabbed my coat from the back of my leather chair and walked out of my office.

Don was waiting for me at my secretary’s desk.

Both of his booted feet were kicked up, one ankle crossed over the other.

He was flicking his lighter open and then shut.

“Cut that out,” I snapped. “We have work to do.”

“You’ve been working all day. Answering calls, typing away on your computer, brooding. It’s time for dinner and a nightcap. Maybe a drink or two?”

I rolled my eyes at him. “I do not brood.”

“Politicians are supposed to be good liars.”

“Sometimes I wonder why I hired you,” I groaned out.

“Sometimes I wonder why you still keep me around, but at least I’m enjoying myself.” He winked at me which gave me the urge to smack the back of his bald head. By some miracle, I refrained.

“Fine, one drink but only after we check on something,” I ground out.

His lips curved slightly with amusement. “I knew you were going to want to stalk her sooner rather than later.”

I closed my eyes for a beat. “It isn’t stalking. It’s making sure she’s okay.”

“You could ask Benson to hack into her security.”

My brows pulled together. Why hadn’t I thought of that?

I sent off a quick text to my best friend. His response was immediate. What did he actually do in his free time?

Benson

Looks like she’s headed out. She’s wearing a dress with a deep plunging neck line.

Keep your eyes to yourself.

Benson

You asked me to check on her.

I’ll kill you.

Benson

Then who would do your stalking dirty work?

Between Don and Benson, I would never survive. I slid into the back of the SUV and shook my head. “Take me to her building.”

There was a chance I could catch her before she left.

But what would I do when I actually saw her?

Talk to her? Not likely. I still couldn’t get the look of her tears out of my head.

I should have kept the picture to myself.

I should have stopped while I was ahead.

I’d managed to gain her trust, a little bit, and what did I do with it?

She was standing in front of her building with a girl who was a good head shorter than her.

It took me a moment to recognize her as one of the girls from the picture from the manor.

She had short platinum hair and was talking to Scarlett animatedly.

Her hands were waving around, and she was shaking her head as if it were the grandest story of all time.

I could almost feel the beginnings of a smile.

But then there was Scarlett. Her hair was curled in those tight ringlets like she’d styled them at the strip club, and her dress was…

I didn’t have the words. The neckline of it dipped down all the way to her navel.

I wondered how she kept the delicious overflowing handfuls of breasts from spilling out.

It had to be sorcery. It was a long dress but that didn’t matter because it showed off delectable miles of creamy leg through two slits on either side of her.

Delicate silver chains crisscrossed over her chest and under her dress.

My mouth began to water the longer we sat there, and I knew I was sporting the worst hard-on in existence.

I let out a breath. This was bad.

All I wanted to do was follow her.

I groaned. Stalking, as Don and Benson called it. I knew that wasn’t a smart idea. I cracked my knuckles as I considered my options.

Go home and jack off to the thought and mental image of her in the dress of my dreams.

Follow her and then go home to jack off at the mental image of her out enjoying herself without me.

Neither option sounded like a good time. They were both lonely and desperate.

“Well?” Don asked from behind the wheel.

“I want her.”

“That’s evident. What do you want to do about it?”

I leaned my head back and considered my options, once again.

“Follow them.”

Don expertly maneuvered his way through traffic, following behind their Uber with precision and ease.

I hated that this was how far I’d fallen, but I also couldn’t see myself being okay with her going out and not knowing if she was safe or not.

Especially now that my father probably knew I was involved with someone.

I didn’t want his retaliation to my political status to be taken out on her.

Their Uber brought them to an underground warehouse in Brooklyn. As much as I wanted to watch from afar and stay in the car… it was no longer an option. I yanked my tie from my neck, unbuttoned the top buttons on my shirt, and rolled my sleeves up. Don pulled a cap over his head and grinned at me.

“It’s been fifteen years since I went to a rager like this.”

I rolled my eyes. “Maybe you should stay in the car then, Grandpa.”

He reared back, offended. “No chance. Do you know how dangerous it is in there?”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Don’t remind me, I hate that I’m about to tarnish my very public name by stepping into the building, but her safety is more important than my political status.”

One of Don’s brows lifted, though he was a smart man, so he kept his mouth shut.

Save for the entrance around back flanked by two massive men in black suits, the place looked abandoned.

All the walls were coated in graffiti, and the rusted roll-up doors were locked up tight.

I hated dealing with bouncers. One of them raised his brows as I got close to him.

He held up a clipboard and shot me a sly smile.

“Name?”

I reached forward and placed a hundred-dollar bill in the man’s hand. He tucked it into his pocket, but the other bouncer stepped forward. “Name?”

“Dimitri Cristof.”

The man looked down at the clipboard, his cheeks colored slightly. “I’m so sorry, sir.”

I frowned but certainly didn’t argue. If I were on the list, I wouldn’t mind it one bit.

I didn’t mind paying him off, too, but it made things a bit easier.

I probably should have started with my name to begin with.

I was sure it was my last name opening doors, but then again… I was a councilman now.

The high ceilings held crisscrossing metal beams and bright neon string lights that pulsed with the beat of the music.

The air was heavy with the scent of pot and sweat.

The floor vibrated beneath my feet. Bodies writhed and bumped against each other.

There was hardly any room to walk, but somehow we managed.

Where I thought I was drastically overdressed, I found it not to be the case.

There were people of all types mashed together.

Some were dressed fancier than I was, while others were almost nude.

Little pieces of cloth hardly covered their gyrating body parts.

At the center of it all sat the DJ booth on the raised platform with a massive screen behind him showcasing bright and flashy visuals that pulsed with every beat drop.

It wasn’t really my scene. It was something Audrey and Alexei would have been into.

I preferred quieter, more sensual places. But tonight wasn’t about me.

My eyes scanned the sweat-slicked bodies as I looked for the only redhead that mattered to me.

In the farthest corner of the warehouse, away from the crush of bodies, a roped-off VIP section loomed.

The space was sectioned off with thick velvet ropes, guarded by a bouncer built like a concrete wall.

Inside, sleek black leather couches lined the walls, then between them all were glass-topped tables covered in top-shelf liquor and spirits.

Unlike the rest of the warehouse, where the music pounded relentlessly, this area carried an air of exclusivity—of whispered conversations, illicit deals, and people who didn’t just come here to party but instead to conduct business.

And there, reclining on one of the couches with a drink in hand and a smirk on her lips, was Scarlett.

Her legs were crossed, the high slits of her dress parting just enough to make my fingers twitch.

She was laughing at something, her head tilted back slightly as her curls bounced around her face.

Cleo was at the end of the leather couch, smoking a blunt.

She smiled at something Scarlett said. All I could think about was that I was happy that she wasn’t holed up in her apartment anymore.

Don stayed on my heels as I moved over to the bar, to watch from afar. I couldn’t risk her seeing me, even if the thought of her surprised face was enough to bring my erection back in full swing.

Businessmen and socialites milled around her as I watched from across the room.

She flirted and batted her eyes, but she didn’t allow any of them to get too close.

I smiled to myself as I wondered why she didn’t entertain any of them.

They weren’t bad looking. Most of them were more than worth her time, if I were being honest with myself.

But tonight, I didn’t want to be honest with myself, and I was secretly giddy that she denied them because I knew if she didn’t, I would make myself a problem.

And that wasn’t something I could afford, not when I was so close to getting to my father.

As if his ears had been ringing, there he was. The velvet rope dropped for him, he was strolling across the dimly lit space, headed right for Scarlett.