“That’s beside the point.” Gabriel shifted uncomfortably. “You asked me to deal with her and I did. If she’s a bit leery of angering me, then all the better. A submissive should have a healthy respect for her Dom and his requests.”
“So you’re saying you’re her Dom? Really? I thought she wasn’t your lover, Gabriel.” Jude had the nerve to taunt him.
“She’s not my submissive nor is she my lover!” he gritted out between clenched teeth.
“Ah, but according to my lovely submissive, you told Zhenya you’d tie her to the nearest object and do worse next time - if you heard of her endangering her safety again.”
Gabriel crossed his arms over his chest. “And I will. Just because I don’t want something to happen to her or Sophia does not mean she’s my submissive. She’ll learn to listen or feel my wrath,” he finished darkly, the idea of someone hurting Zhenya or her daughter almost too much to bear.
“I do think the man protests a bit much, Caelan,” Jude snarked. “Me thinks he sees your little guest as more than just another pretty face to protect.”
“Knock it off, or I’m leaving,” Gabriel growled after Caelan joined in the good-natured ribbing. “Unlike you fools, I’ve only had an hour and half of sleep since your little intervention yesterday, and I’d like to go over this so I can go home and catch a few hours of Z’s before I have to go in for tonight’s dinner service.”
“All right, all right.” Jude held up a hand. “I suggest we get down to nuts and brass tacks before Mr. Grumpy goes off the deep end and cuts us off at Pínaka ti̱s Mi̱téras.”
Caelan agreed, and soon the room was filled with options from all of the men about the possible suggested upgrades to Caelan’s security. All throughout it Gabriel choose to ignore the part of him that had stirred the previous night. - the part he hadn’t felt stir since the death of Sara.
* * * *
Southern Greece
Sebastene Sikkenga was in the process of going over the details about an upcoming marketing plan for the resort with his wife, as they were being served dinner on the terrace, when a uniformed servant interrupted their meal. It was their one meal a day they shared and he didn’t find the interruption very amusing. He was the man of his household and having some lowly servant insert himself into his private dinner with his wife, rubbed him the wrong way.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, Sir, but Mrs. Sikkenga has a rather insistent phone call.” The servant’s face flushed with unease, as it should have. After all he was the patriarch of this family. Respect was his due and anything less would result in immediate consequences.
“Couldn’t it have waited? This is my time with my wife.” Sebastene bristled. Across the table, looking just as poised as she had when he’d married her all those years ago, Anastassia smiled at him before placing her hand over his.
“What is it, Antonio?” Her soft modulated voice still sent thrills down Sebastene’s spine every time he heard it. He was just as much in lust with his wife now as he had been thirty-five years ago. True, her dark hair now sported silver streaks and she had faint laugh lines around her eyes, but she was still had the same vitality which attracted him as a young man. And now this man wanted to take what precious little time he had with her. It was unacceptable.
Antonio glanced uneasily between him and his wife, before finally answering. “I’m sorry but Madame Ceccarelli is on the phone and requests to speak with Mrs. Sikkenga. She said it’s an emergency and refused to let me take a message.” The man held out the cordless phone to her with a hand visibly shaking.
Looking to him, his wife smiled sweetly, hiding the inner shark he just knew was behind the facade. “Just let me find out what Justine thought couldn’t wait, Sebastene. I’ll be brief, darling.”
He nodded. “See that you do,” he ordered as he slipped off his shoes. His wife might have to take the call, but she would be aware of his presence. As she accepted the phone, he slid his foot between her legs, allowing it to rub up and over the calf exposed by her skirt. Other than a slight inhalation, she continued to talk to her best friend. Rubbing his toes over her silky stocking, he drifted higher until the ball of his foot was centered at the apex of her thighs. He narrowed his eyes as her nipples peaked against the light chiffon top she was wearing, and her eyes flew to his. He mouthed the words, ‘spread them’.”
To his delight she did, making room for his foot. Rocking it back and forth, he watched in satisfaction as her cheeks flushed. Then her hand flew down to block his foot and shove it away. He was tempted to pout, but held his tongue when he heard the dangerous undercurrents in her tone. Whatever Justine was telling her the news wasn’t good.
“Are you sure? Corella saw the vréfos?” She paused, her brows rising. “Very well, I’ll discuss this situation with Sebastene, and if it is as you suggest, I shall take the proper actions to return the child to where he belongs. Antío o fílos mou.” Turning off the phone, she handed it back to Antonio. “That’ll be all, Antonio, you may go.”
As soon as the servant was gone, he waited expectantly for her to speak. He’d found it never worked to try and rush his wife. When she was ready to speak, she would. Finally she took a sip of her wine. “It seems we may have an issue with our son’s wife.”
His back went up at the mention of the american pórni̱ his son had been foolish enough to marry. He’d thought once he’d put the little bitch out on the street, and she’d gone back to America it’d be the last he’d hear of her. He sure as hell hadn’t let her have one damned Euro of the Sikkenga fortune.
“She’s nothing!” he growled, removing his foot from between his wife’s thighs. “I don’t want to talk about her. If it hadn’t been for her, our son would still be alive.”
Anastassia set down her wine glass and studied him. “Regardless, we may have to deal with her. Justine just informed me that Corella ran into Zhenya during a photo shoot she had over in the States. It seems Ossie’s wife has a small baby with her.”
“As I have always said, she’s nothing more than a whore. It’s to be expected of them,” he spat, lifting the water goblet to his mouth. “Why should I care about some bastard child?”
Anastassia sighed. “Because Corella says the child looks amazingly like Ossie.”
The glass tumbled from his fingers, spilling the water across the fine linen, as what she was implying cut through his anger. Even as much as they had, Ossie had been their only child, and with his death they’d assumed they’d never have a grandchild. The idea of the little American bitch hiding her pregnancy from him, before fleeing to America was a genuine shock.
“Was Corella sure? Did she see the baby?”
Anastassia nodded. “According to her mother, she even asked if we knew. Evidently Zhenya scoffed at the idea, and claimed the child was hers.” Tears filled her beautiful dark eyes.
Tossing his napkin on the table at the sight, he stood. “If the child is indeed Ossie’s, I’ll make sure he’s returned to us, my love.” Brushing a kiss over her temple, he headed to his study. According to his snitch at the local travel agency, when Zhenya had left Greece, she’d taken a flight to London, and then one to New York. A call to the Greek Consulate in New York would surely find out where the little whore ended up.
Chapter Ten
Shifting on the futon, Zhenya stared at the television screen blankly. It was late afternoon and the sun was just starting to set. Next to the futon in her swing, Sophia napped as the seat swayed back and forth. It’d been nearly a month since she’d experienced pleasure like no other. And all of it was at the hands of a man who’s still stuck in the past with his dead submissive. That was what bothered her the most. It hadn’t been the way he’d avoided her eyes as he handed Sophia to her that morning, before leaving as if his ass was on fire. She’d expected it. The connection between them the night before had been more than she’d ever experienced with Ossie, and if it frightened her, she wouldn’t be surprised if it scared him shitless.
But she was
n’t so scared that after being held in Gabriel’s arms and hushed every time she’d tried to speak, that she hadn’t begun to hope he might want a place in her future. Especially when he’d finally released her to bring Sophia to her. His acceptance of her daughter’s place in her life had been comfortable as a pair of fuzzy slippers. The look of adoration on his face when he’d gazed down on her daughter that morning and the several times since, as he supervised the installment of the new motion detectors and alarms in her apartment had warmed her through, and left her floating on a cloud for several days.
Until yesterday, when I realized the fantasies I’ve begun to weave around him were nothing but smoke and mirrors. The tenderness I thought I saw, the connection I felt was nothing more than an illusion. God, I’m pathetic.
The tears had flowed as she’d had sat beside Nisey, while they watched the video of her friend’s collaring ceremony. They had finally dried up, but she still wished she’d never requested to watch it. However she’d been curious about it, since Ossie had done nothing more than slip his collar on her after a night of submission. Seeing Nisey kneeling next to her Master, vowing to honor him with her complete submission had brought tears to Zhenya’s eyes with its beautiful simplicity. It was after the vows were finished she caught her first glimpse of Gabriel when the couple were surrounded by well-wishers. As the camera had panned around, it caught a full view of Gabriel and the graceful young woman who was obviously his submissive. He was brushing a tear away from her cheek, and the audio had picked up his soft words. “Don’t cry, louloúdi mou.”
Sitting next to Nisey, it been all she could do not to whimper in agony. The pain she’d experienced had been strong enough to rival the agony when she’d found out about Ossie’s cheating. That’s when she’d realized she hadn’t learned anything in the year she’d been in America. This time she hadn’t fallen for a man incapable of loving one woman. No she’d done one worse, and fallen for one who loved one woman so completely that he called all his future lovers by his dead submissive’s pet name. Her luck with men was shitty. Even when she found one who could love a woman, she wasn’t the submissive he wanted.
“Dammit!” The curse slipped free as Zhenya hit the cushion with her fist. “I’m so frickin’ stupid.” Squeezing her eyes shut against the burn of tears, she knew she had to let it go. It wasn’t as if she had to see the man on a daily basis or even if a monthly basis if she didn’t want.
The ringing of the phone next to her brought her out of her morbid thoughts. Walking into the kitchen she answered it. “Hello.”
There was a bit of static on the line and her heart plummeted as she realized this was the call she had never wanted to receive. “Zhenya?” Sebastene’s voice was just as cultured as she remembered it being, but the disgust she’d heard the last time she’d spoken with him, wasn’t present.
It could only mean one thing. He’d found out about Sophia.
Shit!
She fingered the slender chain around her neck which held a tracking chip Caelan and Gabriel insisted she wear. It matched the one that was snuggled inside the strap of Sophia’s binky clip just in case they got separated. Slipping down the hall, she checked the back door lock.
“What do you want, Sebastene? I thought we agreed that I wasn’t to talk to you ever again.” It was a struggle but she kept her voice even.
“But I wanted to talk to you. I heard just the other day from a family friend the most interesting story. It’s said you have something which belongs to me.” His voice, so cordial at the beginning of their conversation, hardened.
“Like hell I do.” Moving the sash aside, she sought out the lock. “I left Greece penniless, other than the trust fund my father set up before his death. I didn’t take a damned Euro from you or your precious son.” When her fingers found the tumbler in the locked position, she sighed in relief. It was double-locked. With it being an exterior door, Gabriel had warned her to always have the back door barred. Now she was glad she had listened.
“You didn’t tell me you were pregnant. Or don’t you think as Ossie’s parents, we have a right to know our only grandchild? You should surely remember how Anastassia had hoped you and Ossie would have children—”
She laughed. “I remember a good deal of things about your wife. I remember the look of disappointment she gave me each and every time I miscarried. I also remember her telling me how it was probably my fault I never carried them to term, that I should go to the fertility doctor to see why, because heaven forbid it might be an issue with her son’s sperm, or a fluke of nature. I even remember her telling me before I left it was a good thing I never got pregnant because she never wanted to see me again!” The bitterness spewed out of Zhenya like a fountain. She was no longer married to Ossie, nor was she under his family’s thumb anymore. “So pardon me, Sebastene, if I didn’t feel the need to tell you about my child.”
“He’s just as much Ossie’s child as he is yours, and as his parents we have rights…”
Zhenya fumed. It was as she suspected. He had no idea her child was a girl, only that he needed to possess the baby, and she wasn’t about to correct him. “A child who mattered so little to your son that he abandoned him along with me to go get his dick wet, so don’t even pull that crap with me.” She paced back down the hall. “And as far as you having rights, you get only the rights I choose to give you. And guess what? I’m flat out of kindness. Go screw yourself.” Hanging up the phone before she had to listen to him spew more obscenities in her ear, she took a deep breath as she heard Sophia cry in the living room.
Walking back into the room, she lifted her daughter out of the swing, shushing her. Kissing her cheek, she snuggled Sophia close to her shoulder. “Everything is okay, mikró pontíki. Momma’s sorry she was so loud.” She rubbed her hand over her little girl’s back, breathing in her fresh baby scent. She just hoped she was right.
* * * *
Sebastene glared at the receiver in his hand. The little bitch had actually had the audacity to hang up on him after chewing him out about how the baby was hers!
“Well, we’ll see about that Zhenya Addi. You’ll rue the day that you tried to steal my grandson.” Hitting a button on his speed dial, he waited impatiently for the phone to ring. When it finally did, he spoke in a rapid succession of Greek. Once he’d made his orders clear, he hung up and leaned back against his chair. He should’ve realized the american pórni̱ wasn’t going to be reasonable. It would’ve been so much easier to snatch the boy if he could’ve arranged a short outing. All it would’ve taken was one brief lapse in attention and he could’ve swept the boy out of his mother’s arms, and brought him back home to Anastassia. Then they could’ve raised him as their own. But instead now he was going to have to do things the hard way.
Pushing away from his desk, he left his study. Pausing by the bedroom door, he took a deep breath. His wife wasn’t going to be very happy about the delay. Even he wasn’t happy about it. Perhaps he could take her mind off it. A wicked grin crossed his face as he thought of several surefire ways to distract her. And each and every one of them involves her getting naked.
Slipping inside, he undid the tie at his throat. He could hear her soft humming as she sat in front of her vanity in a satin robe, wiping off the day’s makeup. It was nearing midnight, and their hosting duties were done for the day. Standing behind her, his pressed a kiss to the crown of her head before allowing his hands to slip under the material to cup her breasts. Teasing their nipples, he nuzzled her neck. “I want you, agapi̱ménos. Come to bed,” he ordered, punctuating his request with a gentle nip to her shoulder.
As she gave herself over to him, Sebastene decided life was good. He had his beautiful wife, and soon he’d have a grandson to replace the son they’d lost.
* * * *
“So you’re telling me your father-in-law just called you?” Caelan paced back and forth in front of her. Sitting on his couch, Zhenya felt like she was in the principal’s office for spray painting the side
of the school or something. It was after eight and her nerves were strung tight. She knew Sebastene wasn’t going to just let it go.
“Well, earlier - around four. I had just gotten up Sophia up from her nap and had fed her.” When he whirled around to glare at her, she held her hands up. “Don’t look at me like that. You just got home, Caelan and Nisey forgot her cell at home, so I couldn’t call her either.”
He growled. “I’ll deal with her later about her leaving her cell phone at home. Right now I’m dealing with you. Did you ever think about trying me at the office? You should’ve! Do you realize with this delay I’m now going to have to call Jude at home and interrupt his time with his Mistress?” He stopped to glare at her. “And let me tell you Olivia isn’t going to be happy about the interruption. You’re in the lifestyle, you know how pissy us Dominants can be.” He rubbed the back of his neck.
“Of course I do. Which is…”
He held up a hand. “I don’t want excuses, Zhenya. Both Gabriel and I told you if your husband’s father contacted you that you were to get a hold of us immediately!” His expression softened. “I don’t understand why you didn’t. You knew the consequences of going against us, or ignoring our rules about your safety.” He paced back to the door. “And I’m too damned mad right now to punish you. Perhaps I should let Gabriel do the honors.”
She stiffened, aghast at his accusation and where the conversation was heading. She had done nothing wrong. “Wait…”
But he talked over her. “You were doing so well. Whatever Gabriel did last time worked. You made it nearly a month. I don’t understand what caused you to backslide.”
“I didn’t!” She protested.
“Obviously you did, because I didn’t receive a call from you today.” He reached for the phone on the table behind the couch. “Dammit, I didn’t want to have to call him back in here. But it looks like I’m going to have to.”
Gabriel's Light (Doms of Chicago) Page 8
