Five

Valeria

Dimitri's closeness in the small space the restroom afforded made my breathing quicken. My heart raced so fast that I almost felt faint. I felt his breath fan my cheek, and heard him breathe in deeply. I nervously licked my suddenly dry lips as he continued to stalk me. Though every cell in my body screamed at me to back away, I stood my ground.

"What's it to you?" I asked defiantly.

Dimitri's eyes flashed, narrowed. A growl came from deep within his chest. He tried to keep it in by clenching his teeth. It was as though he was struggling to keep a wild animal within him reined in. In spite of myself, I shivered and took a step back. I had never seen him so furious before.

"Answer me," he urged in a soft, menacing tone.

"I have nothing to say to you." I cleared my throat, hating how shaky my voice sounded. "Whatever is going on between Noah and I is none of your business. You lost the right to ask me any question of that sort when you broke the terms of our contract. We aren't in a relationship anymore. That means I have the right to do what I want with whoever I want."

Dimitri exhaled, briefly closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his eyes burned with even more fury than before. "I see. So that's the way it is, huh? You were cheating on me with Noah. That's the real reason why you quit your job, isn't it? You needed another cash cow to fund you, and your unsuspecting new boyfriend fit the bill."

"I don't have to listen to any more of your insults," I shouted.

"Oh, but you will, Valeria. You'll stand there and listen to whatever I bloody well have to say to you. You hear me? Besides, I'm telling the truth and you know it." Dimitri gave me a once over, a look full of contempt that made my toes curl, and my cheeks burn in embarrassment. "It's hard for a woman who has gotten used to feeding like a leech on rich guys to find another way of paying her bills."

His words were like a knife through my heart. To think that he meant what he had just said! Three whole years in his employ, and he thought the worst of me, thought that I was a gold digger. I guess he really didn't know me at all. Over the years, I supposed he had not paid even a bit of attention to my character. It had always been about my body and the sex for him. Nothing else. It was fortunate that I had taken the decision to leave.

I shrugged and did my best to act unaffected. "Believe whatever you want. I'm not explaining myself to you. Just please get out of my way and let pass."

Moving as quickly as I could, I sidestepped Dimitri and made a dart for the door. But Dimitri was faster. Just as my hand brushed against the door knob, Dimitri gripped my arm tightly, dragged me backward and crushed me to him.

"I'm not done talking, Valeria. Don't you ever walk out on me again," he said hoarsely. I only had a second's warning of what he was about to do when I saw the look that suddenly leaped into Dimitri's eyes. He grinned wolfishly. "How about I give you a taste of what you've been missing."

I opened my mouth to yell for him to stop, but the next moment, Dimitri crushed his mouth to mine. He pushed his tongue between my half open lips and groaned. I dug my nails into my palms, focused on all the pain and hurt Dimitri had caused me, so that I did not respond to his touch. His hands began to creep up my back, to fist themselves in my hair. I struggled for all I was worth and succeeded in wriggling out of Dimitri's grasp. The moment I did so, he reached for me again. Without thinking, I drew back my hand and slapped him on the cheek. Hard. He clapped his hand to his cheek and stared at me in disbelief.

"You slapped me," he ground out.

I swallowed, fear and trepidation knotting my insides. I couldn't believe that I had done that. I ran for the door, jerked it open and hurried out. A moment later, I heard Dimitri coming after me. He briefly snagged the strap of my purse. I ran for it, and came to an abrupt halt when I turned the corner and saw Noah coming towards me.

"Noah," I said in a high pitched voice, in an attempt to ward off Dimitri who was close at my heels.

"Valeria," Noah said. "You look... odd. Are you okay? You took so long using the restroom, and I thought that I'd come check up on you."

I gave him a smile. "How nice of you. I'm fine, really. I just er- happened to run into my boss and we got talking."

Noah nodded. "Oh."

He then looked at something over my shoulder with interest and curiousity. I caught a whiff of Dimitri's perfume. I quickly hurried to Noah's side, linked my arm with his and tried not to cringe when I caught sight of Dimitri's reddened cheek.

I said, "Dimitri, this is Noah Hilson, CEO of the famous Hillson group. He was my buddy in college." I gestured towards Dimitri. "Noah, this is Dimitri Wolfgang, the CEO of the Wolfgang group. I work for him."

Dimitri bared his teeth in the semblance of a smile.

"Valeria here is a good little, hard worker," Dimitri said.

I flushed and glared at him, aware of the double meaning of his words.

"I'm sure she is," Noah replied, slinging an arm casually across my shoulder, thankfully oblivious of the subtle exchange between Dimitri and I. Noah glanced at me and gave me a mock reproachful look. "Valeria forgot to mention that I was her ex- boyfriend."

"Ex- boyfriend," Dimitri repeated, his smile slipping a little.

"Yeah. Anyway, it's really nice to meet you, Mr Wolfgang."

"Likewise, Mr Hillson." In a thrice, Dimitri's good humour was restored as he clasped Noah's outstretched hand. When I saw Noah wince, I knew why. Dimitri, his teeth flashing in a grin, squeezed Noah's hand, even though Noah was making a valiant effort to withdraw his hand.

"Okay. Noah and I have to go now," I said quickly as I tugged on Noah's arm.

Dimitri held on a moment longer, then reluctantly let go.

"Hi, everyone," said a woman as she approached us, and slipped a hand around Dimitri's waist.

I recognized Summer from all the business meetings I had attended with Dimitri. I sighed inwardly, plastered a big smile on my face. "Dimitri, why didn't you introduce your beautiful fiancée earlier? You both look perfect together."

Summer simpered. "Oh, thank you so much, Kate. You're not the first person to say that." Her gaze drifted towards Noah. "You're not doing bad for yourself if you're with the famous Noah." She gave me a conspirational wink. "It's my wish that you'll get your wish, which is having big, handsome, rich Noah Hillson."

Noah came to my defense before I could think of a fitting response to Summer's thinly veiled insult.

"You're wrong, Summer," Noah said. "It's Summer, right?" She nodded. "I am actually the one who wishes more than anything to get Valeria back. Valeria and I were lovers once, you see and I'm so thankful that I've met her again. This time, I'm seizing the opportunity to get to be with her with both hands. I don't intend to let her slip away."

Summer's lips were pursed, her eyes betraying her anger and irritation at Noah's defense of me. Beside her, Dimitri frowned.