Page 20 of The Healing Touch (Manwhore #3)

The elevator door opened, and they walked toward the front door of the hotel.

Mike, the guy from last night, was waiting with their keys at his little desk.

He smiled at her, and she returned it shyly.

Dimitri growled, and Mike quirked a brow.

Yeah, she wasn’t the only one questioning all this possessiveness he’d found.

“Who the fuck are you?”

Becca’s head snapped around at the sound of that voice.

She knew it…Christy, Chastity, Charlotte.

Something that started with a C. The bleach blonde stood about a foot away, her skin-tight dress showing off all her attributes, which were abundant.

Becca looked down at her own t-shirt and capris.

She felt so out of place next to this woman.

This was the kind of woman Dimitri dated—sophisticated. Becca was anything but sophisticated.

“Charlene?”

Dimitri sounded as confused as she was.

“Dimitri, darling, I was just coming to your room.”

“Why the fuck would you do that?” Dimitri’s eyes flashed, his anger starting to rise. Becca placed a hand over his where it rested on her hip, trying to stop him from causing a scene.

“Why? Because I missed you, honey bear.” She pursed her very red lips in a pout. “Didn’t you miss me?”

“No.” He couldn’t believe she’d shown up here, acting like they were still a couple. “We broke up, Charlene. A week ago. You shouldn’t be here.”

“That little argument we had?” She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “That was nothing we can’t get past. I thought we could go to your signing in the morning then spend the rest of the weekend together.” Her eyes flicked to Becca.

“Mr. Kincaid, sir, is there a problem?” Mike came over, concerned.

Dimitri wanted to shout at the very dense woman, but he could feel Becca’s entire body tightening, and he was afraid he’d cause another panic attack, so he held his anger in check.

“Yes, there is. This woman shouldn’t be here.

She showed up without warning, and she’s not welcome.

Please make sure she doesn’t bother us again. ”

“But, darling, you don’t mean that.” Her pout became even more severe, and she took the three steps to reach them, placing her hand on his chest. “I love you.”

Dimitri let go of Becca long enough to pull Charlene’s hands off him. “I do mean that, Charlene. We’re done. I don’t know how much clearer I can be. You need to leave. Now.”

Her pout morphed into a very angry snarl. “Do you think you can just throw me away, Dimitri Kincaid? And for what? Some two-bit little whore…”

Dimitri wanted to physically shield Becca from the hate spewing from Charlene, but Becca surprised him.

“Two-bit whore?” She cocked her head, thinking. “I don’t know, I think I’m worth at least a sixpence. What do you think, Dimitri?”

He smiled. God, this woman. She pleased him so much. “At least.”

Charlene frowned, clearly confused. He opened the passenger door of his Jeep and waited until Becca was inside before turning his attention back to the woman who didn’t seem to want to take no for an answer.

“Look, Charlene, I’m sorry if you got hurt, but you knew what it was going into it. Stalking me isn’t going to get me to see the light. I am done. Move on and find your next rich boyfriend. I don’t want you.”

He didn’t give her time to respond, just walked over to the driver’s side and slid into the Jeep, pulling out before she could get her second wind. Damn that woman. How dare she show up here?

“Well, that was fun.”

He glanced over at Becca as she plugged the address of the event venue into the GPS. She didn’t seem upset. Amused, more than anything.

“I can’t believe she showed up.” He turned on the radio. “And telling me we just needed to work through our shit? No.”

“Well, I can see her point.”

“What the ever loving hell, Becca?”

“Dimitri, you kept her around longer than the others. She probably thought she meant more to you, that she was the ‘one.’ I don’t know why this didn’t happen sooner.”

“Becca, we discussed this earlier. They know the score…”

“Yes, and had you tossed her away like you did the rest, this probably wouldn’t be happening, but you gave her hope by letting her stick around. This is as much your fault as it is hers. And possibly fate’s way of getting a good laugh at your expense because of how you treat women.”

“Fate can fuck off,” he said darkly, shoving his sunglasses on. “She needs to get her kicks somewhere else.”

“Karma, honey bear . Karma always comes back around and bites you in the ass.”

She snickered, and he wanted to spank her. Dammit, she was right. He had brought this on, and it wasn’t really all Charlene’s fault. He’d led her on.

“I’m an asshole, okay? I admit it.”

“Good. You need to understand your manwhorish ways can have serious repercussions. Like creating a stalker.”

“Fuck.” He slammed his hand against the steering wheel. “You think she’s a stalker?”

“Well, she’s pretty much splashed her intentions all over your social media, and now she’s shown up here.

” Becca changed the channel to country, and he snorted.

He didn’t mind; it was growing on him. “I think it’s something to at least consider.

Is she dangerous? I don’t think so, but she might cause some trouble.

You don’t want her spreading stories about you where your fans will see it.

Some will come to your defense, others will wonder if it’s true, and even more still will take up her cause. ”

“Her cause?”

“Used by the self-proclaimed manwhore and tossed aside.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah. You’re a romance writer who writes about happily ever afters, D. It won’t sit well with some people.”

He used the Bluetooth to call Viktor, starting to really worry.

He picked up on the third ring. “What do you want, motherfucker?”

Becca’s eyebrows made a beeline to her forehead, shocked. Dimitri laughed at her expression. “Man, watch your mouth. Becca’s in the car with me.”

“Little Becca from high school?” Viktor’s accent was so much thicker than his own. Even he had to stop and decipher it.

“Yeah, little Becca from high school. We’re on our way to set up for this signing thing.”

“Apologies, Becca.” There was a shuffling sound then Viktor telling people to get the fuck out.

“Hi, Viktor. No need to apologize. I’m friends with this one, after all. He cusses in both English and Russian on most days. If my ears haven’t burned off by now, I think you’re good.”

“I always did like you, tikhaya devushka .” Viktor laughed. “Is he behaving?”

“When has he ever?”

“Hey!” Dimitri cut them off. “I’m sitting right here, you know.”

“We know that, motherfucker…shit, sorry. I shouldn’t have said that, dammit.”

“Shut the fuck up.” Dimitri rolled his eyes.

“What does tikhaya devushka mean?” Becca asked, cutting off their argument.

“Loosely translated, it means quiet girl.”

“Huh, I guess that fits. I am quiet.”

“I almost never got you to talk to me in school. Didn’t stop me from checking in on you, though.”

“I have a question for you.” Dimitri didn’t like the wistfulness in Viktor’s voice. Becca did not belong to his brother, and if Viktor had thoughts of that kind, he’d better fucking move on from them.

“What?”

“I seem to have gained a stalker.”

That sobered his brother up. “Stalker? What makes you think so?”

Dimitri told him about Charlene and her antics. “I don’t think she’s dangerous, more pissed than anything, but Becca is worried about what she might do to cause trouble on social media and for my books.”

“She might be dangerous. Do you know if she’s on any medication? Got to know what brand of psycho we’re dealing with here.”

“Taking medication doesn’t mean she’s a psycho.

” The quiet force in Rebecca’s voice startled both brothers.

“I take medication, and I’m not a crazy person.

Insinuating that medication makes you crazy is offensive, Viktor Ronin Kincaid.

You should be ashamed of yourself for stereotyping like that.

It’s debilitating to those of us who need medication for other reasons. ”

“I, ah…” Viktor paused. “I’m sorry, Becca. You’re right.”

“Just don’t assume shit in the future, okay?” She looked out the window, and it nearly killed Dimitri to see the hurt on her face.

“I’ve dealt with some serious situations where schizophrenics and the like refused to take their meds and hurt people, Becca. That is what I was referring to, not to everyone in general. Forgive me?”

“Sure.”

Neither brother said anything for a minute, realizing how much Viktor’s stereotyping had affected her, only Viktor didn’t know why she’d gotten so upset.

Dimitri would call him later and fill him in.

He needed to understand it. Becca was a permanent fixture in Dimitri’s life, and his brothers needed to understand her so they wouldn’t upset her.

“I’ll get Mason working on this, doing background checks and seeing how deeply her fixation is rooted. Social media will tell us a lot. Do you think you might need some security?”

“No. Right now, it’s just a nuisance. I hope she got the point when I told her to fuck off earlier.”

“Language!” Viktor barked. “You don’t cuss around a lady. Mama would wash your mouth out, motherfucker…fuck, I did it again.”

“Shut up before you can’t get your foot out of your ass.” Dimitri smiled, but then it faded. “Viktor, has Mama said anything to you about Papa’s health?” He remembered his brother had been to Russia right before Christmas.

“Yes.” A heavy sigh rolled over the line. “He’s not well. She’s worried about him. When I was there, he was having issues. He’d cough so hard you’d think he was dying of pneumonia. Has he not gone to the doctor yet?”

“He has an appointment next week. He was coughing when I talked to him earlier too.”

“Let me know what the doctor says?” Viktor sounded as worried as Dimitri felt.

“Yeah, man. I will.”

“Okay, brat . Text me this woman’s details, and I’ll get Mason on this right away. Once I get his report, if I think you need security, I’ll send someone. No argument!”

“He won’t argue.”

“You let me know, Becca, if this woman becomes a problem. He won’t, thinking he can handle it.”

“Mr. Neanderthal over here? Yeah, I’ll let you know.”

Viktor laughed and said his goodbyes. Dimitri shook his head. “I am not a Neanderthal.”

“Could have fooled me.” Becca was interrupted by the GPS announcing they’d arrived at their destination. She went quiet, and he saw the fear override every other emotion on her face.

He pulled into the parking lot and turned off the Jeep. Several other cars were currently being unloaded. Becca’s eyes darted everywhere, her breath coming out in short gasps.

“Easy, baby.” He linked his fingers in hers. “Don’t look at them. Look at me.” He tugged on her hand until she did as he asked. “Just look at me. I’m not going to let anything hurt you. You know that, right?”

She nodded and took several deep breaths, working to calm herself down. Dimitri watched the effort it took and found himself so proud of her, he wanted to kiss her. That wouldn’t help her right now, though. She needed to trust him, to be at ease with him. She needed her friend.

“We can sit here for as long as you need, same as we did last night. If you can’t go in, then we won’t go in. I’ll take you back to the hotel, and we’ll forget this whole nonsense.”

“You can’t do that, Dimitri. Your readers…”

“Aren’t as important to me as you.” He gave her a lopsided grin.

She searched his face, and it utterly surprised him when she nodded and said, “Let’s go.”