Beautiful Revenge (A Good Wife #1) - Sienna Blake Page 0,56
as coolly as I can, even as my heartbeat speeds up. “I don’t know why I should care.”
“Dimitri Volkov.” Dimitri’s old name from his mouth sends a crackle through my spine. Terrance stalks into the room. “Your ex-lover.” The walls feel like they’re closing in with his steps. It’s getting really hard to breathe. “I wonder why neither of you have revealed that you know each other.”
He stops right in front of me, closer than appropriate. The look on his face is mad with glee. He has me and he knows it.
“What do you want, Terrance?” I try to push past him, I need air. He grabs my arm. I wince, tugging against him. His hand squeezes like a vice. “Let go of me.”
He leans in close, his acidy breath in my face. “What will you give me, pet, if I keep your little secret?”
“You want to blackmail me? I have no money.”
“Ah, but it’s not money I’m wanting from you.” His eyes travel down my body. Oh my God. He wants… Bile rises into the back of my throat. Real fear grips my body with its claws. My closest neighbours are at least two miles down the road. Even if I scream, they can’t hear me.
He yanks me against his foul body, his free hand clamping down on my breast. I let out a scream, draw back my knee and thrust as hard as I humanly can. My hard kneecap connects with his crotch. With a pained grunt, he lets go of me.
I don’t hesitate. I run.
I run out of the room, into the corridor, right into a hard wall of muscle. I look up. Relief and a feeling of safety flood my body.
“Dimitri,” drops from my lips like a whispered prayer.
His chest seems to swell and he wraps his arms around me. I sink into his warmth.
“You little bitch.” Terrance stomps into the corridor. His halts, his face contorting when he sees Dimitri by my side.
Dimitri pulls me behind him, a low growl emanating from him.
Terrance’s face quickly pulls into a sneer. “Dimitri. Fancy seeing—”
Crack. Dimitri’s fist collides with his nose, his arm moving so fast it’s a blur.
Holy shit.
Terrance lets out a yelp as he stumbles back. I gasp, my hands flying to my mouth.
Dimitri grabs Terrance’s blood-splattered shirt and slams him against the wall. “If you ever threaten her again, I’ll break more than just your nose.”
Terrance gurgles as blood rushes down his chin. “You can’t threaten me. I’ll go to the police. I’ll—”
“And tell them what? That you tried to rape a woman?”
“I’m an upstanding member of this community. No one will believe you two dirty foreigners over me.”
I suck in a breath, my nerves jangling. Terrance has connections to people in power. If he went to the police, we’d lose. Dimitri will get thrown in jail.
Dimitri’s lip curls up, his eyes glittering. “You breathe a word of this, any of this, then I shall tell the world about your dirty secrets… Prostitution. Gambling. The fact that you stole money from your own business partner.”
Terrance’s eyes boggle out of his head. “H-how…?”
“You think you’re the only one who can do a little digging? Now, get out. Before I change my mind and snap your neck.”
51
____________
Alena
The front door slams behind Terrance. A motor starts and gravel crunches as he tears away, his engine fading until the silence is a heavy throbbing in my ears.
Dimitri stands there looking at me. I stare past his shoulder at the sweet cream wallpaper dotted with tiny violets, my heart too scared to hope. “What are you doing here?”
“I broke off our engagement.”
My gaze locks with his. God, his stare is too intense. It’s fire to my soul. “So soon. Is Emily okay?”
“She’s young. She’ll get over it.”
“Why—”
“She’s not the one I want,” he stalks towards me. Unlike earlier with Terrance, my body blooms with heat. “I want…I need you.”
My heart drums against my ribs. I back up against the wall, Dimitri’s body enclosing me in. He smells so damn good, his musky cologne invading me as his heat and his presence and this need conquers me.
“I wanted to hate you. I wanted to hurt you. But you…” His soft hands cupping my cheeks contrast against the sharp anger in his voice. “You bewitch me.”
There it is. The admission I’ve wanted to hear for weeks makes my chest ache with relief and…impossibility. My eyes flutter shut as I struggle to retain my self-control. “Dimi, I’m married.”