Chapter Eleven
Dmitri
She was even more beautiful in the daylight. Her brown hair was longer than it was four years ago, falling to mid back in waves that my fingers itched to touch. I could remember how silky it felt that night.
More memories slammed into me as I flicked my eyes over her body. She was dressed in a black pencil shirt and a red silk blouse, and the outfit complemented her hourglass figure, which I could have sworn had somehow gotten even more voluptuous.
Desire blazed to life inside me, but I tried to suppress it as I refocused on her face. Now wasn’t the time or place for thinking about fucking her again.
“How have you been?” I asked.
Sarah blinked, looking at me like she couldn’t quite believe I was standing in front of her.
“How have I been?” she repeated. “Seriously?”
I had the crazy urge to grin at that. “Point taken. I guess small talk isn’t really appropriate, considering the circumstances.”
“Speaking of that, we probably shouldn’t be talking at all.”
She glanced around as if checking that no one noticed the two of us speaking to each other. She didn’t need to worry. Everyone was too distracted by the threat of an explosion, except for Maxim and Lev, who were both standing nearby and discreetly keeping an eye on me.
I was sure she didn’t like this bomb threat any more than I did. It felt like a bad sign that this would happen on the first day of my trial.
“Maybe we shouldn’t,” I agreed. She bit her lip again, and I had to stifle a groan as my cock lengthened in response. Fuck, this woman could get me hot without even trying. “But then again, talking isn’t what we do best, is it?”
Sarah’s cheeks turned red with a blush as anger flashed in her eyes. She stepped a little closer, bringing the scent of her perfume into my lungs. It was the same fragrance she wore when we first met. Gardenia and bergamot.
“Don’t say things like that!”
This glimpse of the fire in her made me hard as steel in an instant.
She stepped away from me then, as if she just realized how close we were. I wanted to yank her back, to feel those curves pressed against me again. I might have even done it if I didn’t see DA Reid standing behind her. He was busy talking with his assistant, but I was pretty sure he’d notice if I groped his key witness.
“Just… stay away from me, Dmitri,” Sarah said, and that fire in her gave way to fear.
I didn’t like seeing that. I’d scared many people in my life, usually on purpose. The ability to strike terror into the hearts of enemies had proven to be a useful tool in my line of work. But with Sarah, it feltwrong.
“You believe it,” I said, surprised by the hurt I felt. I didn’t usually give a shit what people thought of me—Ihadkilled people in the past—but I was starting to realize that things were different with Sarah. She fascinated me. After our one nighttogether I had tried to find her. Something that was unheard of. But she was not a regular at the bar, and given I knew next to nothing of her, my search was fruitless.
Sarah looked at me for a long moment, her green eyes growing misty.
“You know, Mr. Moss was a good man. I respected him. Icaredabout him. And finding him the way I did was… it was horrifying. Heartbreaking. It’s haunted me.”
She didn’t answer my question, but she didn’t really have to. I could see the truth in her sad eyes. She didbelieve it.
“Everyone, listen up,” a man in a SWAT uniform called out. “The building is empty, so we now need to clear this area. Everyone, please proceed to your vehicles in an orderly fashion.”
“Sarah,” I said, but she was already turning away from me. She paused, but then she shook her head and walked away without looking back.
I let her go, watching as she weaved her way through the crowd. Soon, she was out of sight, lost in the crowd of people.
“Who was that?” Lev asked as he came to stand beside me.
“Do you know her?” Maxim came to my other side. “She’s the DA’s witness. She saw Mark, Bogden, and Sasha, at Moss’s office a few days before the murder.”
I knew this already. I’d reviewed the case information provided to my lawyer by the police, and that included the statement from Sarah. She’d talked about seeing my men intimidate Moss, placing them there shortly before his death, which was what helped the DA build the case against me. My men were arrested too, but they were being tried separately.
“I want you to follow her,” I said to Maxim. “Be discreet and make sure she’s safe.”