“Let them.” I kept my eyes on hers. “That’s the point.”
“Why am I here?”
My other hand moved until my fingers brushed her lower lip. She flinched, and a gasp escaped her lips.
Her eyebrows shot upwards. “Wait…” she stilled. “Is that…are you turned on?”
My smirk deepened. She noticed, and she had a mouth on her, which I was finding difficult to consider a problem.
“I will fuck you tonight, Inna. But first.” I straightened and adjusted my jacket. “Let’s get this done.”
Chapter Twelve
Inna Grace
I knew there was areason Dmitri was forcing me to be his wife, and I was right. Before I walked here, I overheard the truth while in the washroom. Two ladies walked in while I was using the toilet and talked the way people do when they assume no one is listening. They worked for Dmitri in the company, and one of them said a lot about me.
That was how I found out about Malia. The woman Dmitri was supposed to marry. An arrangement that was there before I walked into his world with a stolen briefcase. Dmitri didn’t want her. The girls made that clear too. Though the way she said it told me she found Dmitri’s decision deeply unreasonable.
The other lady said he would discard me in a few months. And that’s how I knew Dmitri was using me to get rid of this Malia girl.
I didn’t know Dmitri well enough to predict him. But standing beside him, with his hand at my waist, I understood my position clearly. I was a tool. He would let me go the moment I stopped being useful.
That was how I came up with my own plan.
Dmitri was powerful, that much was obvious from every corner of this room. Maybe I didn’t have to wait for him to discard me. Before that happened, I could use him the same way he was using me.
If he tracked where Cole and I were staying, he could trace my father.
If he wanted sex, I would give him that. If he needed a wife for a few months, I would play the part. But I needed something in return, and I had to ask for it before the window closed. If lowering myself to that level was the price, then I would pay it. Cole needed at least one parent back, and I didn’t have any other options.
Dmitri stayed by my side as we moved through the room. I tried to focus on breathing normally while wearing a million-dollar necklace. It felt less like jewelry and more like a target someone painted on me in diamonds. There were other pieces in the glass display. But I was wearing the most expensive one, which seemed like a very specific way to get killed.
People looked at me as we walked, and I knew they were looking at the necklace. My body kept reacting like everyone’s eyes were weapons. I was sweating through the silver dress and hoping it didn’t show.
The woman I found Dmitri with when I walked in was still nearby. The way I saw Dmitri lean on her told me enough to know his type. I probably interrupted when I arrived wearing his necklace. The comment about sex was either leftover energy from whatever the two were having or a new plan he was forming.
“Beautiful,” a man said, appearing at my side and reaching for my hand. Before I could process the movement, his lips dropped toward my knuckles.
Dmitri was faster.
“Careful, Malcolm.” His voice didn’t need volume to land. “I invited you. That doesn’t mean we’re that close.”
Malcolm laughed and pulled his hand back to himself. “Apologies. I meant the necklace. It’s remarkable.”
Dmitri didn’t spare Malcolm another second. He simply moved and expected the room to adjust, which it did. People shifted when he came near, older men included, men who had clearly been in rooms like this long before Dmitri was old enough to host them. They nodded, stepped back, and waited to be acknowledged. He was filthy rich. That explained it.
We arrived at the red lipstick lady, and I kept my attention on Dmitri’s hand at my back, waiting for him to remove it. But he didn’t. He stood beside me as if I were someone special to him, which I knew wasn’t true in any sense.
Her eyes went straight to the necklace. “I don’t know about the others, but I’m taking this one.” She leaned in slightly, studying it. “A masterpiece. I have never seen anything like it.”
“Show me your best,” Dmitri said, and steered me further into the room.
I glanced back at her once. I genuinely could not explain this man. When I walked in, he was all over her, and now he was acting like she was nobody.
The viewing moved around us, and I followed wherever Dmitri took me. I couldn’t say I was bored. There was something fascinating about watching people with more money than sense become emotional over jewelry. They spoke in lowered voices as if they were in the presence of something sacred. That kept me entertained at least.
“Iker Perez.”