Page 79 of Dangerous Games

“Dimitri,” Matteo greets him as he moves in to shake his hand.

“It’s been too long, Matteo.” Dimitri smiles, but it doesn’t meet his eyes. This guy is all for show. He’s an idiot if he thinks people can’t see through the bullshit. “Are you boys here to try your luck?”

“Unfortunately, this isn’t that kind of visit,” Matteo responds. Dimitri’s smile stays in place as his eyes narrow ever so slightly. “Is there somewhere we can talk? Privately.”

“Of course.” Dimitri recovers quickly as he motions us forward. “We can talk in my office.”

I clock more men dressed in the same black suit coming out of the shadows. Some are sitting at a slot machine not playing, and others are at one of the bars or walking around with a drink. Every single one of them is watching us.

I make sure to make every contact with every single one as Matteo and I follow Dimitri to his office. He leads us down the hall opposite the private room I was in before.

Thick gold accents decorate the office, making my eyes hurt. It’s almost blinding.

“Please, have a seat,” Dimitri motions to the velvet chairs in the sitting area in his office. I follow Matteo’s lead, sitting down next to him and across from Dimitri. “Can I offer you a drink?”

“No. This won’t take long.” Matteo pins him with a stare I’ve been on the receiving end of more times than I can count as he leans back in the chair and adjusts his suit jacket.

“Well, now I’m even more intrigued.”

“I’d like to know why you think it’s okay to send a man to one of my businesses?”

Dimitri’s sleazy smile falls into a hard line, his narrowed, hard eyes darting to me. “You,” he hisses. “You’re the one who sent me Brian’s…Brian’s parts in a box?”

“Me?” I gasp in shock as I point at myself, knowing damn well I did that shit. “You better have some evidence to back that up before you come at me like that.” I sit back in my seat and cross my leg over my thigh as I tap my finger on the armrest.

“I don’t need evidence,” Dimitri says, the fake-friendly and inviting tone long gone. “Your reputation precedes you.”

“And what reputation might that be?”

“Don’t sit here in my house and take me for a fool.”

“Well, you know what they say when you assume shit.” I shrug. “It makes an ass out of you and me.”

“You bastard,” Dimitri hisses. “You will treat me with respect!”

“Enough!” Matteo yells, slamming his fist down on the coffee table. “You’ve got some fucking balls to sit here and accuse my brother of something when you sent a man to my business.”

Dimitri’s heated glare moves to Matteo. “I wasn’t aware you owned the alley.”

“I didn’t peg you for an idiot, Dimitri.”

Dimitri’s face turns red. “How dare you?!”

Matteo throws his head back and lets out a humorless laugh. “How dare I? How dare you for pulling that shit. You know damn well that alley is mine. So humor me and tell me your bullshit excuse as to why you thought it was okay to pull that shit.”

Anger is radiating off Dimitri’s body in waves. His clenched fists are resting on his thighs, his calm, cool, and collected composure slipping. “I was looking for someone.”

Matteo settles back in his seat. “And who might that be?”

I don’t move as I wait for him to say Bronwyn’s name. That’s all I need before he gets a front-row seat to what my reputation is all about because he hasn’t seen anything yet.

“A woman who I got a lead on, who lives in an apartment around there.”

I move to get up, but Matteo silently holds his hand up, stopping me. “I own the whole fucking block, Dimitri. So forgive me, I’m having a hard time understanding why you think that apartment is fair game for you to scope out? I don’t appreciate you harassing my tenants. It won’t be tolerated. Do you understand, or do we have a problem?”

A tense silence settles over the room as we wait for Dimitri to answer. His face is set in a hard line.

“It’s understood. It won’t happen again,” he finally says.