VALERIAWith my hands on my hips, I took a step back to look at the decorations. After a few seconds or so, I had to admit that the decorators had done a pretty good job. I had as well. Jayden had his superhero theme decorations all in blue, his favourite colour. Jane had her favourite Princess whatsername theme also in bright yellow.I grinned, reflecting on how very different children's birthday parties were from those of adults. The entire living room area was a clash of yellow and blue, and then there were the balloons also, covering large sections of the floor."And what are you grinning about?"I felt myself relaxing at the sound of Dimitri's voice, leaning back against him until his arms went around me. He repeated his question."I was just thinking that the whole place looks like a rainbow exploded in it," I murmured."Mmm. I think I rather like the look of the place. It's an improvement if you ask me."I snorted. "Having kids have made you soft. There was a time when you woul
Valeria's POV"You have to stop letting him use you like this, Val and you know it," Ivy said with a terse note in her voice. I blinked in fake surprise. "What-""-Am I talking about? You've glanced at your wristwatch for like a hundred times since we started talking, and I don't need a mind-reader to tell me that you're counting the minutes till you see him again. If only you knew..."I raised a brow. "Knew what?"My friend's face tightened, the way it usually did when she had bad news to import. Then she spoke with hardly a pause for breath. "Val, Dimitri just got engaged to Summer, the daughter of the CEO of Wood Group."She placed her hand on mine in sympathy. I just stared at her, my mouth agape, as I struggled to comprehend what she had just said. 'Dimitri, my boss and my lover was engaged, to be married to Summer,' I kept repeating, over and over in my head. I swallowed.That meant all these years I had spent loving him had all come to nothing. That meant that our contract wa
Dimitri's POV"What is that?" I asked. "My resignation letter."I was so surprised that I could have gotten knocked down by a feather. I stared from Valeria to the letter she held out to me in utter disbelief. On her face was an expression that I had never seen before- stubborn determination. My mind whirled in a hundred different directions. Docile, obedient Valeria turned me down? That was a laugh. What I had said about money probably hadn't registered yet. Or maybe it had, and she was just playing hard to get so I could improve on my offer. "I told you that money is no object," I said slowly. "Name your price, and let's get this negotiation over with."She threw the paper on the bed. "And I told you that I'm not interested in your money. I don't care how much you want to offer. I'm done."I gave her a once over, taking in her skin tight jeans and close fitting shirt. The look was meant to be insulting, and I felt a savage sort of pleasure when she flushed under my steady gaze.
Valeria's POVI took the morning off to see my grandmother in the hospital, like I usually did.I found her sitting up in bed, her nose nearly touching the magazine she was reading. As I watched, she stifled a yawn. I exhaled in relief, glad to see that she was in good form today. I loved this woman. She had raised me because my parents were not in the picture.I didn't know why they had abandoned me. Whenever I tried to ask her questions about my parents, my grandma would go awfully quiet, and she would tell me that my parents and I were not meant to be together or to know things about each other. But I knew she was not happy with the way things were because her greatest wish was for me to get married and start a family of my own before she died. She was always harping on that. She looked around, caught sight of me, and smiled. "Come in, pumpkin. Come in," she called in her high, tremulous voice, as she waved me inside. "Why are you standing over there?""Hi, grams." I walked over
Dimitri's POVEven with Summer sitting right in front of me, I couldn't keep my thoughts on our dinner date. In my mind's eye, I kept seeing Valeria's green eyes. I just couldn't stop thinking about her. Valeria still wasn't backing down. She still reminded me that I had to get a replacement. Her attitude was beyond annoying. "...want?"With a start, I realized someone close to me had spoken. I turned to see Summer, and a waiter who I hadn't realized was there, staring at me curiously. I looked from the waiter to Summer, wondering who had spoken. "Er- I didn't quite catch that. What did you say?" Summer frowned worriedly, leaned forward and placed her hand on my cheek. "I was asking you what you wanted to order, but are you okay, love? You've been very absentminded. Is something bothering you?"While she talked, the waiter retreated and stood at a respectful distance. "No. Nothing is the matter." I caught her hand in mine and squeezed it reassuringly. "Some thoughts about business
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 a
Valeria'S POVOnce Noah and I were in the car, I let out a huge sigh of relief. I had fought the urge to look over my shoulder on the way here when Noah, hands on the small of my back, had ushered me out of the place. Dimitri's expression had been a sight. His face had contorted in rage. He had looked as though he wanted to rip Noah's arm from off his shoulders. I shuddered at the thought of handling that situation on my own, what with my hopeless attraction to Dimitri and his ability to still make me nervous. "Are you cold?" Noah said from beside me. He touched my shoulder lightly. "No. No I'm not." To assure him I was fine, I flashed him a smile. He gave one right back. "You'll be going home now, I expect.""Yes," I said a little too quickly. My tone had him raising a brow. But he nodded, gestured to his driver, whose eyes I met in the rearview mirror. "Tell him your address," Noah told me. I did. The car shot forward and we were on our way. I couldn't resist taking one last
Valeria'S POVIt took quite a while for me to regain my composure. Dimitri had done this on purpose. He knew that the appearance of Sasha would shake me up. The girl looked like she belonged on a runway as a model, instead of at an office. His eyes lit up with excitement the longer I remained silent. He shifted in his seat, leaning forward and keeping those grey eyes trained on me. He did not even have the decency to pretend that this was not another one of his manipulative moves. With some effort, I turned back to Sasha. She still held on to her smile, but it had gotten strained, and there was a puzzled frown on her face as she wondered why I wasn't responding. I didn't think I would ever get used to the sight of her. Now, I summoned up all my willpower, reminded myself of Ivy's counsel that I shouldn't let Dimitri affect me so much, and forced a smile for Sasha. She relaxed a little. I shook her hand, still held on to my strained smile which I could feel slipping every second. Sa