One

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 was at an end. I tuned Ivy out, buried my face in my hand and struggled not to let the tears spill. I couldn't believe that it had all come to this in the end.

For three years, I had doubled as Dimitri's secretary and his lover. I had had no other choice, because my life had literally fallen apart. Orphaned, with a sick grandmother who was my only living relative, and a truckload of hospital bills, one would have thought that my life couldn't get any worse.

But it had. My then boyfriend, Jack, plunged me further into debt with his schemes for making money that never yielded results. Desperate, I had taken a job as a stripper.

My creditors had tracked me down, and accosted me at the strip club, while I was doing a striptease for Dimitri. I had never been so scared in my whole life. Dimitri had made me a proposal; I was to be his secretary and lover on demand.

In return, he offered to pay all my debts and take care of my grandma's steadily increasing medical bills. I had jumped at the offer. Dimitri, a stickler for due process, had made me sign a contract to that effect.

The arrangement sort of suited me until I stupidly fell for Dimitri. It was impossible not to when I spent almost every waking hour with him or around him. I knew nothing could come of it though. Dimitri had since made it clear that he was with me because I had a strong resemblance to his ex.

For the last three years, I had been impersonating a woman whose shoes I could never fill, but with the hope that Dimitri would eventually love me. Now, even that hope was dashed.

"Valeria," Ivy called and shook me slightly. I forced myself to meet her gaze once more. "Don't let this get you down-"

"How possible is it for me to get over this? We're talking about three years of my life here. I’m so fuck, Ivy,”

"I know. Trust me, I know how you feel. Take my advice and give Dimitri up." I shook my head, looked down. Ivy forced my chin up till I met her gaze. "You know it's the right thing to do. Dimitri will never love you, so leave with some dignity. Forget about him and live a little. Go out, have some fun, meet someone-"

"-It's not as easy as it sounds, Ivy. Where do I start? Dimitri has been my whole life for years now. Besides, it's not as if there are good men everywhere. Most of them are jerks like my ex."

Ivy smiled, patted my arm. "If that's what you're worried about, then I've got you covered. There's this guy I've been dying to introduce you to. He's cute, sexy and smart. I'm sure you two will hit it off." She waited a beat, then added, "Besides, you know it's your grandma's wish for you to get married before she... passes. Promise me you'll think about what I said at least."

I hesitated. I would take Ivy's advice, only after giving the relationship between Dimitri and I one last try. "Fine. I will."

"Good. I have to go in now. Duty calls."

She got to her feet. I followed suit. I made a move to follow her into the hospital, but her hand on my arm stopped me.

"Go home and process all this. Don't worry about your grandma. I'll look after her."

"Thanks, Ivy," I said and gave her a brief hug.

I was halfway to my apartment when my phone buzzed. It was a text from Dimitri.

I just got off the plane. Meet me at the suite of our hotel in an hour. Wear the blue lingerie, the one with the bow tie in front.

I gave vent to a loud, bitter laugh. The cab driver briefly turned and gave me a quizzical look.

Dimitri! His habits never altered. Whenever he got back from a business trip, the first thing he did was get into my pants. I guessed his engagement to Summer hadn't changed that.

I got to my apartment, packed up the lingerie, a couple of other things and headed to the hotel. Once there, I took a quick shower and changed into the lingerie. Dead on the hour, Dimitri walked through the door, already shrugging out of his jacket, his muscles rippling with each movement.

His blue eyes searched for and lighted on me. He came straight at me, taking off shirt, tie, and trousers before he reached me.

He grabbed me, and his lips claimed mine without a word being said. His tongue pushed it's way into my mouth. He pushed me back onto the bed, planted fevered kisses on every part of my body, peeling the lingerie off me with exquisite slowness. I moaned as my body surrendered to his touch.

***

I didn't sleep a wink that night. I lay awake, listening to Dimitri's low, even breathing. We had made love twice more. As always, the sex was good. But Dimitri was a pro at disassociating feelings from sex. He had barely said a dozen words to me since he arrived.

The tears soaked my pillow, but when it was a few hours to dawn, I forced myself to stop crying. Like Ivy had adviced, I would leave with dignity. I got dressed and waited for him to wake up.

He stirred as soon as his alarm rang. He yawned, stretched and stared when he turned and saw me fully dressed.

"Valeria," he said. "Why do you have your clothes on?"

"I want to talk to you," I replied flatly.

He raised a finely arched brow, then slowly sat up. Even at 6 in the morning, his dark hair, though tousled, still looked sexy. I blew out a breath, looked away from him so my eyes didn't stray to the hard expanse of his bare chest.

"You're getting married to Summer," I said. There was a moment of shocked silence. He didn't deny it. My voice shook. "According to the terms of our contract, I'll stop being your secretary once you get married."

"I know that, but Valeria, listen. I- I mean, you don't have to leave." He breathed out, running his fingers through his already tousled hair. “It's really not what you think,”

"The contract says-"

"Forget the contract. We can agree to new terms." He shifted, turned to face me. I resolutely kept my face averted. "Listen. How about this? I'll pay you a lot of money- name your price- I'll pay you to be my mistress."

I looked at him, appalled at his proposition, disappointed and very, very hurt. All this time spent with Dimitri, and I was only just a piece of tail to him, someone he could have in exchange for money and a good life.

I turned away, so he couldn't see my face, clenched my teeth, and had a brief but fierce, internal struggle not to cry. Thankfully, I won. I wouldn't let the scoundrel see me cry. With slightly unsteady hands, I reached for my bag and drew out my letter of resignation.

"Here," I said, holding it out to him. "To hell with your money, Dimitri. I'll never be your mistress."