Beautiful Revenge (A Good Wife #1) - Sienna Blake Page 0,59

before taking my arm, leading me towards the house. “Dimitri has taken over Edgar’s company.”

“What? Edgar would never let—”

“He has no choice. Dimitri secretly bought up the majority of the shares.” Javier shakes his head. “It was an underhanded move. One that he didn’t even let me in on.”

The flash of darkness in Dimitri’s eyes yesterday. Oh God.

This isn’t over.

We walk quickly into the house. Inside the air seems hot and thick. I can hear the distant sound of wailing.

Emily. My stomach twists.

I start forward to go to her. Javier holds me back. When I turn to him, his face is bleak. “That’s not all.”

My stomach drops. What more is there?

“This house, in fact all the property Edgar owned, was put up as collateral against his company as part of the reinvestment.” Javier’s throat bobs. “Now that Dimitri owns the company…”

“He owns this house,” I finish for him.

Javier nods. “He’s given Edgar and Emily twenty-four hours to leave the premises.”

My hands fly to my mouth. No. He can’t. He…

He can. He would. The hatred I thought he had let go of was only lying underneath the surface. Waiting for this moment.

He planned this.

He planned everything.

“This is your fault,” a voice hisses. I look up to find Mrs Bates halfway down the stairs, her hands gripping the balustrade like claws, her eyes, fixed on me, are filled with bitter hatred. For once I cannot blame her. “Whore!”

“Mrs Bates,” Javier reprimands in a stern voice. “Speak to her again like that again and I shall have you removed from this premises without the courtesy of allowing you to pack your things.”

Mrs Bates looks like she wants to say more. She shuts her mouth and stomps away with the swish of her skirts.

Javier turns to me. “This is not your fault, Alena.”

I nod numbly, but I don’t believe him. I am the reason for the monster that lives inside of Dimitri.

“It’s not too late to stop this. If anyone can get through to him, it’s you.” Javier grips my hands, his dark eyes fixed on mine radiating with worry. “He’s in his bedroom.”

54

____________

Dimitri

I run my fingers over the papers on the desk in my guest room, soon-to-be master bedroom. This was not part of my plan.

As the car took Alena away two days ago, something broke to the surface inside me. I’d run through the house like a madman before I knew why I was running, tumbling out the door, staring after the car in the distance, already too far, a piece of my soul flying alongside it.

I’d fallen in love with her again. With her wild spirit, her generous soul and her dreamer’s heart. Or maybe I’d never fallen out of love. It had just been buried underneath the world of pain I had carried on my shoulders.

I was good at foreseeing things. It was the reason I had risen so fast. Loving her was not something I foresaw.

I remember sinking into her body yesterday, into her soft, wet folds. For a split second, I felt peace. I felt the pieces of my heart stitching back together.

Only it wasn’t enough. It was never enough.

The anger is still here, the hungry beast. I’d fed it for five years and it grew fat and greedy.

Someone still needs to pay.

And Alena…

Well, I have different plans for her now. She still loves me. She regrets choosing him, this much I know.

Her love is not enough. Her promises not enough. This time, I’ll make sure she’ll never be able to walk away.

55

____________

Alena

Dimitri is standing behind his desk when I enter his bedroom. His head snaps up to me as soon as I walk in, even though my feet barely make a sound on the carpet, nor does the well-oiled door creak. I didn’t knock either. It’s like he can sense me. He can feel the pull our souls have on each other and probably always will.

I shut the door behind me. “Please, don’t do it.”

“It’s not up for discussion.”

I shake my head, refusing to accept it. I walk in farther, moving closer to him, slowly, the way I would an injured animal. “Why, Dimi?”

“Your husband dared to take you away from me.”

“He didn’t know I was someone else’s to take.”

“And what about now? I see the way he treats you, Alena. Like you’re worthless. When he should be worshipping the very ground you walk on.” His hands flex into fists so tight that his knuckles go white.

No. Please no. My blood chills in my veins. “You can’t