I walk towards the staircase to hear what is going on downstairs. I hear a thump and then two people grappling. I run downstairs and I stay still at the foot of the staircase. Dimitri is fighting against a man wearing a ski mask. His gun lies a few steps from where they are in the living room. Why didn’t Dimitri just shoot him instead of getting into a physical confrontation? The intruder is a gigantic man, he is several inches taller than Dimitri and my husband is a pretty tall man. The intruder grabs Dimitri by the shoulders and slams him against the wall hard. My husband kicks him in the stomach with his knee, but that is not enough to take such a large man down. I notice that under my feet lies a metallic stick. The intruder must have hit my husband with it because Dimitri’s forehead is bleeding. Both men keep on fighting brutally, Dimitri is really skillful and strong, but the intruder is too large and too powerful. I look towards the dining room and I see Bol
I stay in the shower until the hot water runs out and the cold forces me to get up and turn the tap off. I wrap my body in a towel and go back to the bedroom. I left the door open, so I can hear several voices downstairs. I stand under the doorframe as I listen to what they say. Dimitri’s family is here along with several guards.“How did someone broke into the complex without nobody noticing it? How incompetent are you?!” Nikolay asks angrily.“Sir, we don’t know…” a guard says nervously.“I don’t want to hear any more excuses! I want results and I want them now! What am I paying you for?!” Nikolay shouts enraged.“This is been the second time in a few days that our security has been compromised, what is happening?” Uncle Vlad asks
When I open my eyes, the first thing I see is Dimitri’s body next to mine. He is still laying on the bed staring at the ceiling. I am surprised to see him like that, by this hour he is usually gone or about to leave. I contemplate him in silence, his strong features, his sharp jawline, and his chest going up and down slowly as he breaths.“Do you want to come with me to pick up Bolt from the vet?” He asks, his eyes still fixed to the ceiling.“Yes,” I reply. I appreciate any chance of getting out of the complex and I am also eager to see how the dog is doing.We get dressed and have breakfast. His face is still a little swollen from the blows he received last night, but his injuries don’t make him look ugly, they actually give him an air of bad boy that suits him well.
Dimitri has to go out after a while, I guess the Ivanov family is eager to take action against their attackers, although they haven’t even entirely figured out who is behind the attacks. They suspect the Italian mafia, but some of the men, Dimitri included, think it is unlikely. At least that is what Dimitri told me during lunch. It feels weird to hold entire conversations with my husband without arguing or trying to hurt him. It feels peaceful. This, plus Anastasia’s promise to keep my secret, has made this a perfect day.After Dimitri leaves, Margarets comes to hang out with me for a while. Since the house she used to stay in burned down, she is now living with uncle Vlad and aunt Sofia along with the grandparents. At dawn, she invites me to come to have dinner with them, but I rather stay alone here.I play with Bolt while I
Once we are back home, Dimitri takes a seat in the living room and I go into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. I open the fridge and I stick my head inside to cool myself down. I can’t believe we were about to kiss… or maybe I just imagined it… I don’t know if he was going to kiss me or not, but what I do know for sure is that I wanted to kiss him. What is wrong with me? Why do I feel this way?“Victoria,” Dimitri calls my name from the living room. I slowly walk towards him and I stand a few steps from where he is sitting. “Is there anything you want?”“Anything I want?” I repeat confused.“Yes, I was wondering if there was anything you needed or wanted that I could get for you,” he clarifies.
Their meeting is coming to an end so I go into the bedroom as silently as I can and I close the door. Dimitri walks in a few minutes later.“Did you hear everything all right or do you want a recap?” He asks angrily. I panic. I look at him unsure about what to say. I can’t deny I was eavesdropping, lying would only make things worse. “When I tell you to do something, it is not a suggestion, it’s an order! Do you understand?” He says with a scowl on his face.“Yes, I am sorry,” I say shyly.Dimitri rolls his eyes.“Listening to other people’s conversations makes you look unreliable. No one in this family is going to trust or accept you if you do that,” he says.“You are
Two days later, I am having breakfast by myself with Bolt by my side, Dimitri went out very early, I ignore where he is and today is Margaret’s day off so that means I get to be alone for the day. While I eat, I think of the day Dimitri and I kissed and the way it made me feel. Just thinking about it makes my heart race. He hasn’t kissed me again since that day, I sometimes feel like I want to kiss him but I am too shy to make a move. I would be mortified if my husband rejected me. There must be a reason for him not to have kissed me again after all these days; maybe it’s because I am a bad kisser, or maybe, and this is the possibility that torments me the most, he is comparing me to the way Tatiana used to kiss him and I’m just not good enough. Maybe he prefers to keep the memory of the kisses he shared with his late girlfriend than to kiss me again.After breakfast I wander around the house, I go upstairs and I enter the empty r
After putting the letters back in their place I sit in front of the TV and turn it on, I go through the channels distractedly. All of a sudden, Dimitri comes home with the biggest smile I have seen on him.“Turn the TV off, I have a surprise for you!” He exclaims excitedly.I get up from my seat and follow him outside. We get in his car and we drive out of the complex. Dimitri refuses to tell me where we are going, but my heart starts beating faster when I notice we are going to the city. Once we reach my old street I can’t hide my happiness anymore. Dimitri parks in front of my parents’ house.“We are here,” he says with a wide grin.I still haven’t opened the car do
I lie on the bed next to Dimitri, our legs intertwined with each other. We are both exhausted. I think of all the time we wasted being cruel and mean to each other instead of enjoying each other’s company. I feel like a fool, but I am glad that it is all behind us now. We just made love for the first time in our lives and I want to enjoy the moment of being in his bed with him.“A friend of mine is opening a nightclub tomorrow night. I was thinking we could go, you can ask your sister to join us if you want,” Dimitri suggest.I nod. A night out dancing and hanging out with my sister and my husband sounds perfect. Dimitri takes my left hand on his and then he looks at my wedding ring.“It’s a nice ring,” I whisper.“Yes… Irina picked it up,” he tells m
When I open my eyes I find myself in a white room. It takes me a few seconds to realize I am in a hospital. Beside my bed, seated on a couch, Dimitri sleeps while his mother knits with a worried expression on her face. I clear my throat to let them know I am awoken. The sound causes Anastasia to look up. She jumps up from her seat to reach me, the movement wakes Dimitri who does the same.“Victoria, how do you feel?” Anastasia asks, her concern for my well being is disconcerting.“I am fine… what happened?” I ask with a weak voice.“Don’t you remember? You got in the way of a bullet that was meant for me!” Dimitri replies arching his eyebrows. “You were lucky the bullet hit your arm. Now your biggest concern is going to
We go back inside the cave. The first person we see is Kirill.“What are you doing here?” Dimitri asks.“Did you thought I was going to let you have all the fun? No way! Once you started to act weird I decided to follow you,” Kirill explains.Dimitri shakes his head with disapproval, and then he gives his cousin a hug.“Thank you, Kirill, you saved my life,” he says gratefully.“Anytime, cousin.” Kirril says as he winks at Dimitri.“Can you cut it out with sentimentalities?! This isn’t over!” Nikolay shouts.
Lucas comes into the cave accompanied by four other men. The five of them carry rifles and are wearing bulletproof vests. Lucas’s eyes meet mine, I try to convey to him all my hatred and disdain with just one glare. Shame crosses his face for the briefest moment and then he goes hide behind some barrels along with the other men. This is an ambush, Dimitri doesn’t stand a chance. Tatiana puts a gag in my mouth so I can’t warn Dimitri of what is going on.“I won’t allow you to ruin another one of my plans,” she whispers to my ear. She then takes out a dagger and presses it against my neck. She is pressing so hard the metal hurts my skin.We hear the sound of footsteps. A few seconds later Dimitri crosses the arch that accesses the cave. Vincent and the hidden men point at him with their guns, although Dimit
(Victoria’s P.O.V.)My head is killing me, I open my eyes slowly. It takes me a while to focus, my vision is blurry. Once I am able to see what’s around me I draw my breath in. Vincent and Tatiana are looking straight at me, they regard me with disdain and hate.“Look at that! The latin princess has finally woken! Good, I thought she was going to miss all the fun!” Vincent exclaims with a wicked smile.I remember hearing his voice, he is one of the men that forced me inside the van, he was wearing a ski mask. He kidnaped me! Cold sweat runs down my back as I realize how vulnerable I am right now. I am tied up to a chair, so tight that the ropes hurt my flesh. I look around me, we are in some sort of cave. I am cold or maybe it’s my fear that is causing me to shiver. Several lamps hang from the
(Victoria P.O.V.)I wait all morning to hear from Dimitri, he doesn’t come to get me or call the hotel to let me know what happened after he confronted Tatiana. I wonder how things went with Tatiana and how the family took the news. I smile a little imagining Anastasia’s face when she found out her precious Tatiana was not so perfect after all. I am a little sorry I missed it, but I am glad that I stayed here away from the drama. Hopefully, now that the truth is out the Ivanov gang is going to be able to stop the Esposito gang and the attacks will cease.Suddenly, the phone rings. I pick it up, it’s the front desk, they have a message from Dimitri, he says to meet him at the French restaurant that is across the street.I smile, I guess he is in the mood to celebrate, although it is kind of early to have d
(Dimitri P.O.V.)I drive like a maniac back to the complex. I am fuming. If what Victoria said is the truth I am the biggest idiot on the planet. I always had the feeling that there was someone else between me and Tatiana, but Vincent Esposito? This is too much. The humiliation is too big. I guess she was wise to fake her death because if I had known the truth I would have sought revenge and I wouldn’t have stopped until I killed Vincent.Once I get to the residential complex I go straight to my house, I run upstairs to the empty room, it takes me about two minutes to find the loose floorboard Victoria was talking about. I lift it and look inside, the box with the letters is here, just like my wife said. I feel my stomach burning with rage.I take out the box out and start reading the letters. Every word feels like a
“What the heck do you think you are doing?” Dimitri asks angrily as he storms into the hotel room“How did you find me?” I ask perplexed as I move to the side.“I saw your lame goodbye note and I started looking frenetically for you. I tried to call you but your cellphone was inside the trashcan. After a while, one of the drivers admitted he took you to this hotel. Victoria, what are you doing here? What are you planning to do?” He asks with a scowl on his face.“I am leaving the country,” I reply trying to make it sound normal.“Leaving the country? What are you talking about?!” He inquires with a confused expression on his face. “Where do you plan to go?”
Someone knocks on the door. For a moment I think it's Dimitri, but then I realize he wouldn’t knock to come into his own house, he would just open the door. I get up the floor and I get the door. Outside I find Anastasia. She lets herself in as if she owned the house.“What do you want?” I ask, my voice shakes, my eyes are reddened from all the crying and she is the last person I want to see right now.“I need to talk to you,” she replies as she takes a seat in the living room and then gestures for me to come to sit next to her. “I was thinking about my attitude from before and I realize that I was very rude to you. What is said was hurtful and I regret it, but it doesn’t make it less true. My son and Tatiana were together for a long time, she was his whole world, he planned to marry her before her
The whole table gasps. Then every member of the Ivanov family looks at each other confused, not sure about what they just heard. Maybe they heard her wrong. There is no way the maid just announced that Dimitri’s dead ex-girlfriend is here to see him. There must be some kind of confusion.“What?” Dimitri asks baffled. “Martha, if this is a joke…”“No, sir, this is no joke. Tatiana Petrova is waiting for you in the living room,” the maid replies.Every one jumps up from their seats and runs towards the living room. I go with the rest of the family in the search of a logical explanation for what is happening. It is obvious that Tatiana is not here, she is dead, she died a year ago! The maid is clearly confused and I, like the rest of the family, want to know what is really goin