by Lia Lee
“You don’t get to tell Dimitri Alkaev that he is wrong,” the man said angrily.
Toni raised her eyebrows. “Oh really? Who says?”
“Ivan. Back off.” Dimitri looked almost annoyed by his lackey, although the guy wasn’t exactly acting like a lackey.
“Yeah,” Toni said, unable to keep the amusement out of her tone. “Back off, Godzilla.”
Now the big lug looked confused. “What?”
“Don’t mess with him.” Dimitri’s words sounded oddly like a request. Weirder still, he sort of sounded reasonable about it. “Ivan is a man who likes to solve problems with his fists, not his words.”
“That’s right!” Ivan eagerly agreed.
“Okay.” Now Toni was really confused. “Why are you guys here.”
Dimitri offered a shrug. “We came for you.”
“So this is a kidnapping?” she clarified.
“Yes.”
She watched him tense as if he expected her to respond in some way that would require him to act quickly. It was a logical assumption. He didn’t know her. Toni could imagine that most women—when confronted with a threat of kidnapping—would scream or fight or look for help. Toni wasn’t most women.
“I suppose we should go then, right?” Toni asked them. “I mean, the longer we hang around here the more likely it is that someone will remember you. If you’re trying to kidnap me you might want to cut down on the number of people who will know exactly where I am and exactly what to say to my father when he comes looking.”
Dimitri was looking confused. “You’re not going to argue or fight about this?”
“Would it make you feel better if I did?”
He chuckled. The action turned his expression into something so sensual and alluring she felt her mouth go dry with anticipation. Yes. If she was going to be “kidnapped”, she wanted it to be by this seriously hot guy. It wasn’t as if she had anything to lose anyway.
“C’mon, boss,” Ivan urged. “Let’s just take her and go.”
Toni could tell that Dimitri didn’t quite trust her. That was understandable. So she decided to be honest with him. There was really nothing to be gained by holding back anyway. “I’ll go quietly under one condition.”
“And what would that be?” He cocked his head, looking suspicious.
“I’ll help you accomplish whatever it is you’re trying to accomplish at my father’s expense. And you will help me find out what really happened to my mother.”
“She killed herself, right?” Ivan said with a shrug. “No mystery there.”
Toni ground her teeth together to keep from throttling the asshole. “That’s not right. That’s not how it happened! Something happened to my mother and I want to know what.”
Dimitri appeared thoughtful. “And you don’t even want to know what it is I want with your father?”
She shrugged. “He’s an ass. I’m sure he’s done something to earn your anger.”
DIMITRI STRUGGLED NOT to let his mouth fall wide open. Kidnapping was not supposed to be this easy. The target did not make a deal and then agree to become a hostage. That was ludicrous. Wasn’t it?
“Let’s go!” Ivan urged. He was already heading for the front door of the bar. “She said she’d go with us. Let’s leave.”
Ivan was getting twitchy being in enemy territory like this, and Dimitri had to give him credit where it was due. The longer he tarried here, the more likely it was that Boris Rustikov would come searching for his daughter. In fact Dimitri was starting to wonder if the girl was even on speaking terms with her father. Her words didn’t seem to suggest that she was on good terms with her father. For now though, he wasn’t sure that mattered.
“Are you ready?” she prodded. “Or are we just going to stand around?”
Dimitri snorted. He jerked his chin at Ivan and his big enforcer led the way through the bar toward the front door with Antonina right on his heels. Dimitri brought up the rear.
“Hey princess!” The bartender was not looking on Dimitri and Ivan with a friendly eye. “Are those guys bothering you?”
“No Samuel.” Antonina practically sang her response. “They’re going to help me with Papa. That’s all.”
“All right sweetheart, if you say so.”
“I say so!” she called over her shoulder.
Ivan opened the door and the three of them filed outside without a single mishap. It was almost anticlimactic from what he had expected a few hours ago. He had left his car around the block. Ivan led the way in that direction, but Dimitri found himself curious about what possible motives Antonina could have to cooperate so fully with them.
“Why?” he asked in a low voice.
“Why what?”
“Why did you practically volunteer to be our prisoner?”
She snorted. “You agreed to help me. Right? How do you know that’s not going to be way more of a pain in the ass than whatever benefit you’re going to get for taking me hostage is going to be worth?”
They walked for a few more moments in the near dark. The moon was a tiny sliver hanging in the sky far overhead. The night was cool and breezy. Despite everything, Dimitri couldn’t help but wonder why a girl who had everything would give it all up. How bad could her privileged little life be?
Then he recalled the expression on her face when Ivan had blown off her mother’s suicide. Perhaps her life was not so charmed after all.
“How long will it take your father to realize that you’re gone?” Dimitri asked curtly. He needed to plan for that moment.
“My father already knows I’m gone.” She actually chuckled. “I ran away nearly an hour ago. Slipped his guards, hid in the bushes until they passed, and then headed to the bar because there was no way they would think I’d be brash enough to hide in plain sight. My father isn’t a very imaginative man.”
Dimitri didn’t respond to her matter of fact summation of her father’s character. They were getting close to the car. Ivan pulled out the remote and pushed a button. The lights blinked, but the car did not beep. There was no need to attract any more attention than they already had.
“Get in,” Dimitri gestured to the backseat.
When she opened the door, but didn’t get in, Dimitri almost said something. Then he realized she was actually checking the locks to make sure the child safety wasn’t engaged and that the thing could be locked or unlocked from her seat. He’d not expected her to be that savvy.
“I don’t trust you,” she muttered. “Excuse me for wanting to have a look at my options before I just dive in.”
“I suppose I can’t really argue with that, can I?” Dimitri hid a smile. This was a very unusual princess he’d managed to capture. Sort of.
Ivan was grunting something unintelligible as he got behind the wheel. Then the big man started the car and pulled away from the curb. Dimitri had the distinct impression that Ivan was disappointed there hadn’t been screaming and struggling. This had been entirely too easy. That was certainly true.
“So.” Antonina’s tone was conversational. “What did my father do to you?”
Dimitri suddenly discovered he didn’t want to talk about it. He didn’t answer her. She was his captive. He shouldn’t have to provide an explanation if he didn’t choose to.
“I’m not your hostage, you know. I’m your partner at this point. Either you explain to me what’s going on, or you’re going to find I’m a very difficult person to get along with,” she said flatly.
Dimitri turned around, staring at her in the darkened backseat. He couldn’t see much of her expression, but the set of her jaw suggested that she really wasn’t kidding around. The woman intended to get an answer. He sighed, turning back to face the front of the vehicle.
“Your father doesn’t play well with others,” Dimitri said stiffly.
She actually laughed. “I’m quite certain the same could be said for you and Ivan up there. Not good enough. Try again.”
Odd, but this dogged pursuit of a goal was norma
lly something he would admire. Except it was making his life more difficult. “Boris Rustikov slept with my sister. He got her pregnant and then refused to acknowledge the slight or his responsibility as the child’s father.”
There was a long silence from the backseat. Then Antonina cleared her throat. “Your sister has shitty taste in men.”
Dimitri felt a wave of anger so intense that it nearly flayed him alive. “She was seduced! It wasn’t her fault!”
“Unless we women own our bad decisions, we’ll never truly put them behind us or learn to make better ones,” the princess said quietly. “Hopefully it won’t take your sister as long to learn this as it did my mother.”
Chapter Three
Toni was still reeling over Dimitri Alkaev’s verbal bomb when they arrived at what must have been his personal home. Or one could possibly refer to it as a stronghold. The place was tall and narrow. The structure was actually old enough that it had turrets and a tower room that made it seem a bit like a castle. It was nestled behind a solid ten foot brick wall with wrought iron spikes adorning the top of each pillar. There was a gatehouse with two men sitting inside. Once Ivan’s credentials had been established, their car advanced onto the property and Toni began to wonder if she would ever leave this place again.
Ivan pulled up beneath the portico at the rear of the house. Doors were opened and Toni stepped out of the vehicle. She looked around, trying not to seem like she was gawking. Her father considered himself a rich, powerful man. Yet this was more than Boris Rustikov could ever imagine in the way of pomp and circumstance.
“Mrs. Urevich will show you to your quarters.” Dimitri gestured to a woman standing at the top of a wide staircase that led into the house.
“Quarters,” Toni murmured. “As opposed to a holding cell?”
“As you pointed out several times,” Dimitri began sarcastically. “You’re my partner, not my prisoner. So if you’d like to be treated like a prisoner, I can certainly make arrangements. Or you can go with Mrs. Urevich and enjoy your stay in my home.”
“That’s fine,” Toni said stiffly.
She turned her back on Dimitri and walked toward the woman. Toni lifted her chin and carried herself like the princess she was always accused of being. She could remember her mother’s whispered instructions every time they’d gone out with her father. It wasn’t as if the two of them hadn’t known they were nothing but pretty baubles her father liked to display to show off. But her mother had taken a certain amount of pride in her appearance and behavior. That same composure was something that Toni took seriously.
“My name is Antonina Rustikov.” Toni held her hand out to the woman Dimitri had identified as Mrs. Urevich. “But you can call me Toni if you would like.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Toni,” the older woman said warmly. “Come upstairs and we’ll see if we can’t get you settled and comfortable.”
“Thank you.” Toni couldn’t resist throwing a smug look over her shoulder at Dimitri. Unfortunately he didn’t appear to be paying the least bit of attention, so her effort was completely wasted. The oaf was probably too busy congratulating himself on his hostage taking to realize that he’d been played.
DIMITRI REFUSED TO let himself stare at Princess Toni—as she’d told Mrs. Urevich to call her. What was it about this woman that got under his skin? She couldn’t be much more than twenty-one. She was just a bit of feminine fluff that most likely needed a man to take care of her anyway. In fact he knew she did. That’s why she’d been so willing to let herself be kidnapped. She’d needed his help. It still galled him that he had actually told her about his sister’s disgrace. What was wrong with him?
“Boss,” Ivan grunted. “This woman is trouble. You should lock her up in the basement and be done with her.”
Ivan was gesturing to the staircase beneath the back steps that led down to the subterranean rooms beneath the old house. That was where they conducted interrogations and dealt with the grittier side of running a mafia empire.
“It’s tempting, I’ll give you that,” Dimitri told Ivan. “But for now I want her willing. Perhaps she will give us information about her father that isn’t easy intel to gain. Considering the level of anger she seems to hold toward him, she’s going to be a lot more likely to rat betray important details if we treat her like a trusted ally and not an enemy.”
“So that’s your plan?” Anatoli asked, walking up behind them. “Because I was starting to think that this was a seduction wrapped up in a half assed plan for revenge.”
Anatoli was not just Dimitri’s second in command. He was also his younger brother. Dimitri glanced at this slightly harder version of himself and wondered how he was going to react to the alteration of their situation.
Anatoli sneered. “You’re going to start sleeping with the enemy, just like Katya did. These Rustikovs must have magic in their loins to snare so many people so easily.”
“Enough,” Dimitri snapped. “I haven’t forgotten what happened to Katya. I haven’t slept with the enemy. I have learned that Rustikov’s daughter doesn’t believe her mother’s death was suicide. This could be a bonus for us. If he’s guilty of her murder, it will weaken him with the other leaders.”
“We already know he is weak,” Anatoli spat. “He is a coward and a liar. What other proof of his cowardice do you need? I say kill the woman and deliver her body to her father in pieces. That will get his attention.”
Ivan gave a grunt of approval. Unfortunately if Anatoli gave an order like that, Ivan would eagerly comply without a moment’s hesitation. But Dimitri wasn’t sure that was the best way to go. For now he needed the girl alive. And he refused to imagine that he might have other, more personal reasons for his feelings on that subject.
“For now you will both leave her alone,” Dimitri ordered. There is nothing to be gained by jumping the gun and murdering her before the time is right.”
“As long as the time is eventually right,” Anatoli muttered.
* * *
Toni paced back and forth in the suite she was apparently to occupy while she was a “guest” in Dimitri’s home. The room was pretty enough. She almost had to wonder if the guy had a lot of female guests. The pale wood furniture and frilly duvet definitely didn’t look like something one would use for a male guest. The four poster bed was drowning in tasseled pillows and there was actually a little set of steps provided just to climb into the massive bed.
The real question was what did she actually know about Dimitri? She was still reeling from his disclosure that her father had supposedly seduced his sister. Toni stopped pacing and stared out the window. A tiny sliver of moon hung in the sky. The city lights drowned out any stars and it was impossible to tell what might be on the outside of that impenetrable wall that surrounded Dimitri’s property.
There was a knock at the door. She expected it to be Mrs. Urevich. The woman had gone to see if she could find any clothing that might fit Toni. “Come in.”
Behind her she could hear the door open, and the heavier footsteps of a man as opposed to Mrs. Urevich’s light tread. “Are you comfortable enough?” Dimitri’s question sent an odd thrill down her spine.
She shouldn’t have cared about him. He was a means to an end and nothing more. Taking a deep breath, she searched for her sense of logic. “I’m fine, thank you.”
There was a strange pause, almost as if he were trying to decide if she should speak or not. “I should tell you to stay away from my brother, Anatoli.”
“You should or you are?” she wondered out loud. Turning, she offered him a frown. “I don’t understand.”
“He doesn’t approve of my plan to keep you here,” Dimitri explained.
Toni gauged his body language. The tension in his muscles, the way he kept his arms crossed over his chest. The man looked defensive. She could guess why. “Anatoli thinks it would be better to kill me and be done with it. Correct?”
“Yes.” His eyebrows lifted as if he were surprised by her insight.
“He isn’t convinced there is any leverage to be gained from keeping you alive.”
She shrugged. “He’s probably right.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.” Toni thought it over a moment. “If I was going to take Anatoli in order to teach you a lesson, I would either beat him within an inch of his life, or execute him and then return him to you in that condition.”
“You would do these things?” He sounded doubtful.
She gazed at his dark eyes. His pale hair fell boyishly across his forehead. She longed to reach up and brush it away though she could not have said why. The man didn’t appear very approachable. His expression was closed, and his lips looked hard and unyielding. Perhaps it was the challenge she craved. This man would never give in simply because she was a woman and he was a man. If he ever let down his guard and let her in, it promised to be a singular experience.
DIMITRI HAD HIS doubts that a woman would ever be able to order a murder or a beating and then simply walk away from that act of brutality. Still, she hadn’t flinched while delivering her plan.
“Antonina Rustikov, you are an unusual woman,” he murmured.
“Toni,” she told him. “Antonina was my grandmother’s name.”
“Toni.” He tasted the nickname now that he had permission to use it. “It suits you.”
“Does it?” She tilted her head in an almost mocking gesture. “I’m just so glad you approve. I’ve been unsure of my name for my whole life not knowing if you thought it was appropriate or not.”
“Fine. Tone down the sarcasm.” He sighed. “I was only trying to be polite.”
“Duly noted.”
She looked stiff standing there in the middle of the room. Scared? That was highly unlikely. Toni didn’t seem to be the type of woman who was afraid of anything. Yet, Dimitri took a few steps closer to her. He saw her nostrils flare and her pupils dilate. Yes. She was aroused. Being in proximity to him unsettled her because it invoked a sense of arousal.
