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“We still have the house,” Dmitri said softly behind her, rubbing his hands down her arms. “I built that house to honor Charles. I have no plans to sell it.”
She turned in his arms, staring up at him. “You’re going to have to explain this all to me.”
“I will.” He tugged her forward to one of the couches, urging her to sit.
Once she did, he took a seat on the coffee table facing her, sandwiching her legs with his. Struggling to understand, she scanned the new dungeon. She thought the idea of having it in the nightclub was brilliant—especially with the added security and fingerprint scanner outside the door. “Is this what you’ve been doing all week?”
“Yes.” He tucked a finger under her chin, bringing her focus back to him. “Now to explain. There is so much to say…” His voice deepened, emotion filling his eyes. “But let’s start here. I wanted to show you my new venture with Miles for one very good reason.” Something in his features, concerned and hesitant, sent her stomach to her toes. But nothing could have prepared her for when he said next, “The person behind the photos was Steven.”
“My Steven?” she gasped, alarmed.
“No, not your Steven.” His brow sternly arched in the way it did when he reprimanded her. “But yes, that Steven.”
Her hands flew to her mouth. Instantly she began blaming herself for all of the trouble of the past ten days. “Oh, my God…”
“No.” Dmitri grabbed her hands in his, lowering them onto her lap. “That guilt I see in your eyes is exactly why I left you that night after you used your safe word…and yelled at me.” He said the last part with a sly smile.
She couldn’t laugh, though. She couldn’t even move. “How did you get him to back off?”
“I paid for the photos, and he signed an agreement giving me the copyright.”
All of this was because of her, she thought guiltily. “Dmitri—”
“No, Presley. No guilt over this,” he retorted, a hard edge to his voice. “You were right—it’s the people who make Club Sin what it is.” His gaze followed his finger as he traced it over her cheek. “Now we’ll have a new home that has better, tighter security with a nightclub to serve as a front in case word ever gets out. It’s a different kind of future for us.”
Her mind spun out of control. “You’re okay with this?”
“Of course I’m okay with this.” His grin spoke of a purely dominant man. “In fact, this is safer for everyone. I now have a way out if Club Sin is ever exposed to the press—the ownership can’t be traced to me. The members will once again feel safe to play. And Miles now has a job that he enjoys. I have passed the responsibility of Club Sin on to him, and he has accepted. Our club remains, but the future of the club rests in Miles’s hands.”
“But—”
“But nothing.” He tugged her closer to him, encasing her in his warmth and strength. “This is for the best. Steven won’t threaten us again, and now I’ve taken measures to ensure what has happened in the past won’t happen again. More important, the responsibility of Club Sin is off my shoulders.” He hesitated, emotion turning his eyes dark and haunted. “I’m sorry that I hurt you. That is something I will always regret.” Tears welled in her eyes, but he continued. “At first, yes, I was beside myself over closing the club. What I built in honor of Charles was crashing around me. I kept you away because I didn’t want to share what I was going through, and that was wrong. I will make mistakes, Presley.” He stared deeply at her. “But I also promise to always try to do better.”
A tear escaped her eye, and he caught it with his finger, making her feel as though he’d catch all of her fallen tears from now on. “If I hadn’t learned about Steven the night of our fight, I would have been there in the morning when you woke. That had been my plan after I left you in the hotel.” His chin lifted, his strength beginning to show in his expression. “That being said, I did learn he was behind it all. And until I made this right for you, I would not have hurt you that way. I would not have let you accept blame for this.”
He was blurry through her tears. Now what Kyler had said to her made sense. “So, you were protecting me?”
“Not protecting you so much as not wanting to see you suffer the guilt that I had endured. I would never allow you
to feel that.” His eyes blazed, dominant and fierce. “It’s a selfish need I have, of course. That I couldn’t bear to see you shoulder the blame for this. That I needed to get Club Sin set up in a new home, so that you would see everything is fine, no matter what Steven had done.”
She shook her head, trying to absorb everything. Steven had been behind this? Why? But the more she thought of it, the more she realized she didn’t care. Steven was nothing to her—he was her past. Dmitri was her future. “I thought you only wanted a D/s relationship.”
“Presley.” He frowned deeply at her. “What did I tell you when I first collared you?”
She recalled his exact words, touching the diamonds on her neck. “Together, we’re better, aren’t we?”
He lifted her chin with his finger, his smoky eyes reaching right into the depths of her. His finger followed hers along the diamond choker. “What does this symbolize?”
“That I’m yours.”
“Yes, mine. And what is mine—what is special to me—I protect at all costs. Sadly, silence was the way to protect you.” Without any warning he kissed her, hard and demanding, pouring all of his emotions into the kiss.
And she fell into him, into his love.
Chapter 9
Dmitri inhaled the warmth of emotions surrounding him, bringing forth the balmy touch of happiness. He’d gone through struggles in his life. He suffered through the confusing years before he’d come to understand himself as a Dominant. Then he’d endured the loneliness after Charles had died. Everything he’d gone through brought forth the drive to do right by others. Each step he’d taken in life was because of someone else. Even putting Club Sin into Miles’s hands was for Presley.
