The World in Reverse

by Latrivia Nelson

  Dmitry cracked a smile. “There is nothing better than a woman who knows when to carry herself like a lady.” Kissing her neck, he slipped a hand under her dress and moved her panties. “And when to act like…” He eyed her mouth, watching the excitement in her boil over. She pulled at his belt until she unlatched it, then stuck her hand down in his pants. Warm, engorged flesh begged to be free.

  “I’m going to ride you right here,” she said without smiling.

  “Alright then,” he said, resting his long arms back on the sofa. “I’ll leave you to it.” Raising his hips, so that she could pull down his pants, he prepared for his own idea of a late night snack when the door suddenly opened.

  Anatoly walked in quickly and looked over at his father and stepmother, realizing that he had just interrupted something serious.

  Dmitry didn’t even bother to look back at his son. “This better be important.”

  “The package is here,” Anatoly said, avoiding eye contact with Royal who had slinked into the curve of her husband and hid her body.

  Dmitry raised his hand to dismiss his son. “Let them wait. I’ll be there shortly.” Right now, he had more important things to handle, like the hard on nestled in between his wife’s thighs. He heard Royal giggle.

  “You too are like kids,” Anatoly said, rolling his eyes as he walked out of the door. Locking it behind him, he heard Royal laugh aloud as he walked with his men down the hallway.

  Now Royal was curious. As Dmitry slipped his long member inside of her, she lifted his chin. “What package?” she asked, pulling him out.

  “Royal,” Dmitry growled. “Not now.”

  “What package?” she insisted.

  “The Agosto family.” Immediately he saw the concern on her face.

  “The cop who was after you and arrested me? The guy that beat that thug up?” She grew more and more intrigued with each nugget of information. “And his wife? He’s married?”

  Dmitry chuckled. “Da, is that disappointing? Are you interested in him?”

  Royal smiled. “No, but I want to meet her. I want to see what kind of woman married Nicola Agosto.” Though she could not deny that he was an exceedingly attractive man, over the years she had come to find law enforcement officers abhorrent. Maybe she had been brainwashed, but maybe she was just in love with a seven-foot, blond haired, blue eyed, billionaire, mafia Adonis. Either way, she was certain that her husband would indulge her, if she asked the right way.

  “I don’t want you to,” Dmitry said, wishing that they could get back to their original plan. They had spent far too much time discussing this man. “They have too much baggage right now. They should be quarantined like a disease until I figure out what exactly to do with them. Besides, I don’t think that they are presentable from what Boris said on the way back from their burned down home.”

  “I want to meet them, Dmitry.” She insisted like a child begging for a toy. “Please.” Her voice was softer. Slipping him back inside of her, she couldn’t help but gasp. She remembered a time that she would have wondered why the house was burned down and why they were there, but she had learned over the years not to be surprised by anything that happened here.

  Dmitry could not deny Royal much of anything, no matter how ridiculous her request. He knew that he spoiled her far too much but he enjoyed it. Unzipping her dress, he palmed her breast and kissed her neck. “Fine, but later. Right now…”

  A smile crossed her lips now that she had yet again gotten what she wanted. “Right now, I’m going to fuck you,” she said, finishing his sentence.

  ***

  It was nearly an hour and a half before anyone came to collect Nicola. Led by two men, one in front of him and one behind him, he was escorted down to the main floor and into the solarium where Anatoly was playing cards with Gabriel. The room was filled with cigar smoke and covered in beautiful exotic flowers and plants.

  Anatoly looked up from the table for only a second, making sure to cover his hand. “You play?” he asked Nicola.

  “What game?” Nicola asked.

  “What game?” Anatoly shook his head. “Poker. What else?”

  Take a seat at the wooden table opposite Anatoly and Gabriel; he looked around for the fourth player.

  Gabriel pushed the vodka bottle to him. “We’re waiting on Dmitry,” he said, looking at his watch.

  “Do you have somewhere to be?” Anatoly taunted Gabriel.

  “No,” he said, shortly.

  “Your girlfriend is upstairs, sleeping in your bed. Yet, you act like you want to get out and see someone else…and I don’t think it’s about money. You’re acting like there is some other woman on your mind.” He touched his temple with his index finger.

  Gabriel ignored him. “If you don’t drink vodka, there is plenty of dark liquor back there on the bar,” he said to Nicola.

  “I’ve never been in a solarium equipped with a bar before,” Nicola said, standing up.

  “We’re getting ready for my wedding,” Anatoly said, laying down a card.

  Nicola grabbed the entire bottle of Honey Jack Daniels and brought it back with him. Opening the top, he took a large gulp straight from the bottle and set it beside him.

  Gabriel snickered. “That kind of day, huh?”

  “Yep,” Nicola answered.

  When Dmitry walked into the room, the guards who were just relaxed and talking among themselves suddenly went rigid. Standing up from their chairs, they posted up in their positions and became silent.

  With a distinct swagger in his long stride, he made his way over to the table and sat down in his chair in blue polo and jeans. Unfortunately, Anatoly knew why his father had been tardy to their meeting and why he had suddenly had to change his wardrobe. Ending the game in the middle, he collected all the cards.

  “Bring me a shot glass,” Dmitry said without taking his eyes off Nicola.

  Immediately two men walked over to the bar. Nicola watched in amazement. Did this man ever have to do anything for himself? He looked across the table at Dmitry and shook his head.

  “I do hold my own penis to piss from time to time,” Dmitry answered, reading Nicola’s mind.

  “Good to know,” Nicola said, taking another swig from the bottle.

  Anatoly shuffled the cards and then took a swig of his beer. “So, papa wants to talk business with you,” he said. Putting the cards down so that Nicola could cut them.

  “So I gathered,” Nicola said gruffly.

  “We just saw each other what…four hours ago,” Dmitry said with a curious look on his face. “I didn’t expect you until tomorrow.”

  “Well, someone wanted me dead tonight,” Nicola said, releasing a sigh. He cut the cards and Anatoly dealt them.

  Dmitry rubbed the bridge of his nose. “What kind I say? Some people are just impatient.”

  “I would have been dead if you hadn’t had your men there.” Nicola didn’t waste time being cool. He appreciated what they had done.

  “That was not my doing.” Dmitry pointed at Anatoly. “You should be thanking him for saving your family.”

  “I didn’t send them there for that,” Anatoly answered quickly.

  “But he did make the call,” Gabriel added. He winked at his cousin. “No one would believe it, but the guy actually has a soft side.”

  “I’m not soft,” Anatoly snapped. “I don’t trust you,” he explained.

  Nicola shrugged. “The feeling is mutual.”

  Dmitry picked up his cards. “So have you had time to think about my offer?”

  Nicola put down a card. “You mean in between the gun play?”

  “I have found that this is the time that men receive clarity,” Dmitry said, face expressionless.

  “Yes, I’ve had time to think about it, and yes, it looks like I have no choice. I’m indebted to you.” The words felt like poison slipping from his lips. He pushed down the bile in his stomach and took another swig of Jack.

  “You are indebted to us, but I want you to wor
k for me in a way that you aren’t always reminded of that.” Dmitry watched his nephew put down the wrong card. Still expressionless, he played his own card.

  “I’ll remember that fact every time I look at my children,” Nicola answered sincerely. His face twisted up. “I’m not rolling on any cops.”

  “That’s not what I want you to do,” Dmitry assured. “I’ve found it’s hard to get complete cooperation when you ask a man to go completely against the grain.”

  “So what do you want me to do?” Nicola asked. He put down his cards and stared at Dmitry. “I’ve been a cop my entire life and after tomorrow, I’ll just be fucking unemployed.”

  “You’d be surprised what can happen in a day,” Dmitry said with a grin. “Tonight, you go up and see your wife and your kids. Tomorrow you put them on a plane and send them away. Get yourself ready to become a new man and tomorrow evening, you meet your new friends.”

  Nicola frowned. “Send my family where?”

  Dmitry didn’t look up from his cards. “To your family in Miami, I suppose. That had to be your plan at some point. You can use our jet. They’ll be there in a couple of hours or less and then you can focus.”

  “I don’t understand. You save my family. Send them off to keep them protected; offer me a job and all because I’m a honest man? Would an honest man even consider working for you after being a cop for such a long time?” Nicola rubbed a hand through his hair. “I don’t know. I think you’ve got the wrong guy for whatever you’ve got planned.”

  “I don’t make those kinds of mistakes. Of course you are the right man. You just don’t know it yet. Besides good men make hard decisions all the time. They are not always what appears to be the right choice but they are what is best considering their options. And you, Nicola Agosto, are out of options.”

  Anatoly chuckled.

  “It’s not so bad,” Gabriel said to Nicola. “I left the DEA, and I never looked back.”

  “But he left a rich man. You’re leaving homeless and unemployed,” Anatoly said, unable to miss an opportunity to stick it to Nicola. “I don’t know why my father likes you so much, but just take the offer.”

  Nicola cut his eyes at Anatoly but chose to ignore his attitude for the moment.

  “He’s never in a good mood,” Gabriel apologized.

  Anatoly rolled his eyes and played his cards. “I don’t like cops. And for the record, I think that this is a mistake.”

  Dmitry looked at Gabriel. “Make sure that goes down in the minutes.”

  Nicola picked up the bottle. “Look, I appreciate the room and board, the whiskey, the cards…but the fact of the matter is that I’ve got a hit list that I need to start on. Let’s raise the stakes a bit. I’ll come and work for you for good, not because I want to but because if that means that I can use your resources to kill the motherfuckers responsible for trying to kill my kids and my wife, then it’s worth it.”

  Dmitry raised a brow. “No locking anyone up?”

  “Let me make this clear. I’m going to kill them or die trying,” Nicola said bluntly. “Fuck honor, fuck my career, fuck it all. I want the motherfucker that gave the order, since the rest of the bastards who did the hit are dead.”

  Anatoly looked at his father, but did not speak. Dmitry nodded. “For good, you say?”

  “Yes,” Nicola answered quickly. “For good.”

  Dmitry stuck his hand out across the table. “Shake on it.”

  Nicola shook his hand hesitantly, knowing that this gentleman’s agreement was the most expensive that he’d ever made in his entire life. “So, can I use your men? I’m ready to go tonight to start busting heads until I get a name and an address. I lost my only lead…the Roxie girl. So, I have to do what I do best and turn this city upside down until something falls out that I can use.”

  Dmitry liked Nicola’s tenacity but knew that the man was emotional at the moment. “Revenge is a dish best served cold, my friend.” He laid down his cards and smiled. “I win.” Standing up, he tapped the table with his knuckles. “Go to your hearing tomorrow. Then you meet my men, and then you can get even. For now, have a drink, relax and then go and see your wife. Try to embrace and remember your last night as a free man. In the morning, we go to work.”

  “Why are you doing this?” Nicola asked.

  Dmitry smiled. “Consider it an investment.”

  “In what?” Nicola probed.

  “I’m a business man. There is only one answer. I want to secure my own personal interests.” Winking at Nicola, he patted his son on the back and left.

  28

  Alone in the massive bedroom wrapped in a towel after her bath, Ivy sat at the end of the large bed staring into the golden embers as they rose from the fireplace. In contrast, cool air blasted from the vents in the ceiling above her, creating a relaxing, tranquil mood. Under any other circumstance, the opulence of the mansion would not have been lost on her, but at the moment, she could barely acknowledge all the work involved in making the beautiful mansion a palace for its guests.

  A startling flashback paralyzed her. Guns shots. Fire. Screaming. Fear of death. The chaos still rattled around in her brain like a ricocheting bullet. Every time that she closed her eyes, she could hear her husband’s voice. She could see him shooting back at the men who had come to their home to take their lives.

  Fingers trembling, she clasped them together and said another prayer.

  Thank you, Lord, for your deliverance, she mumbled. At just the thought of what could have been tears formed again at the corners of her tired eyes.

  She knew that Nicola had been summoned by the great and powerful Dmitry but her heart worried for him. What had Nicola done? What had he traded for their safety? Every award and accommodation that he had received over the course of their marriage came to mind. And what about all the sacrifices, all the near death experiences? What about their life and all that they had stood for?

  Was he about to throw it all away? Did he have to? Could she do anything about it? Her questions were still limitless, still unanswered. It caused a panic deep inside of her, down the to the very core of her soul.

  A gentle knock on the door pulled her from her thoughts. Getting up, she held the towel tightly to her body and walked to it. “Yes,” she said, unsure of who it could be. She looked down at the bottom of the door and saw a shadow.

  “I came to check on you,” a woman’s voice answered. “My name is…”

  Ivy opened the door and looked out at the woman, stopping in mid-sentence.

  Royal smiled warmly. “I’m Dmitry’s wife,” she said, raising her arms with a tall basket full of gifts. “May I come in?”

  Ivy nodded. Stepping to the side, she let Royal in the room.

  Royal walked in, and Ivy quickly closed and locked the door behind her.

  Setting the basket on the bed, Royal began to pull out each item. “I bought you some things for the night. Underwear, sports bra, night clothes, a sundress for tomorrow, some lotion and hygiene products. It isn’t much, but I figured it would help. I spoke with Boris, and he said that you all were extremely put out.” Turning around, she stared back at Ivy, who appeared to be in shock.

  Royal was a busty, curvaceous woman. She was mocha-colored with a long, bone-straight, inky black mane that stopped midway of her back. Its fullness bounced with her every move and spoke to careful care and attention as every part of her was. Heavy bangs lined her angelic face. Her features were distinctively beautiful and striking as was her appearance. Even in black yoga pants, a black tank top and Nike’s, she appeared regal with four-carat diamonds in her ears, a Presidential Rolex on her arm and the smell of mind-blowing wealth on her skin. There was however a startling sight that contrasted with her stunning beauty. A scar across her neck, old but pronounced, drew worry and curiosity. Ivy tried not to stare.

  “Aren’t you Royal Stone?” Ivy asked in confusion.

  Royal raised a perfectly arched brow. “I used to be in another life,” she said, turning back
around. “There are some other things in here that might be useful.”

  Ivy watched the woman from behind. She could see the tension in her shoulders. “My husband mourned your death a few years ago,” she continued. “He told me something awful had happened to you. Your death was in the news for a week. He had worried that he hadn’t done enough to protect you.”

  Royal huffed. “Well, what can I say? The dead has arisen.” She didn’t like sharing the details of her complicated past, but she could understand Ivy’s sheer wonderment with standing face-to-face with a ghost. It was partly why she didn’t bother to venture out into the city. Instead, she stayed behind the walls of her compound and treated it like a fortress of protection instead of a prison, like some people might have.

  Ivy remembered herself. Walking up to the bed beside Royal, she looked at the gifts on the bed. This was kind of Royal, something that she didn’t have to do. “Forgive me. I can’t thank you enough,” Ivy said sincerely. She picked up the black cotton underwear, still with the tags on it. “The fire took everything that I owned.” She huffed. “Even the smallest of things.”

  “Someone came after you?” Royal asked. She looked over Ivy with pity and understanding that could only be shown if a person had some personal insight.

  Ivy nodded. “They would have killed my entire family, my children, my unborn child…everyone….if your men hadn’t shown up. We’d all be dead right now.”

  There was so much communicated between them at that moment that went unsaid but understood.

  Without asking, Royal wrapped her arms around Ivy and hugged her tight. Many years ago, nearly the exact same thing had happened to her. She was brutally attacked by Dmitry’s younger brother while she was pregnant. To hear that someone else had been so offended made her blood boil with anger. “You’re safe now,” Royal promised. “No one can get in here to bother you.”

  Ivy felt herself tearing up again. Her mouth watered and suddenly she could not hold in her pain. Sobbing softly, she held Royal tightly. “Thank you so much.”