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I don’t know if the butterflies in my stomach are going crazy because of what I know I must do, or because for some unknown reason, Dimitri takes my breath away and I don’t know what to do with that information. I should be fearful of him. I shouldhatehim. Yet all I can do in this moment is struggle against this strange pull that makes me want to be wrapped in his arms, too.
There’s something magnetic about him. His sharp jawline with a hint of five o’ clock shadow. His deep, dark eyes that I could dive into and get lost forever. The delicious way he smells and the thrilling reverb of his low voice.
The man who killed my father was a monster.
But standing before me, Dimitri is just a man. A son taking care of his ailing father. A father trying to comfort his son. He ishuman—something I failed to take into account when first plotting his demise.
He’s the first to break the silence. “How have you been settling in?”
“Fine.”
His smile catches me off guard. It’s gentle. Amused. An expression I didn’t think a devil like him would be capable of pulling off with such sincerity. “You’re not very chatty, huh?”
My cheeks flood with heat. “Oh, I… I guess not.”
“I don’t bite, Ms. Chekov.”
“Nat, please.”
“Nat,” he echoes, his voice sweeping straight through me. “Go and take a break, Nat. I can look after Simon and my father for a few hours.”
“It’s no trouble, Mr. Antonov—”
“Dimitri,” he insists. “Dima, if you’re feeling friendly. My brothers call me that.”
“Dima,” I echo in turn. I have no idea why the corners of my lips curl up into a smile. It’s troubling. “You have brothers?”
“Yes, three of them.”
This little factoid fascinates me. I was only aware of the one, Mikhail Antonov, the head of the Antonov Bratva. I never planned on knowing more about Dimitri than absolutely necessary.
“That must have been fun,” I say without thinking. “Growing up with siblings, I mean.”
Dimitri chuckles, his warm gaze on Simon. “More like loud.”
“Do you all get along?”
“We do now. Not so much when we were kids. You know how boys are. Rambunctious, always wanting to break stuff. It’s honestly no wonder our mother despises us.”
I frown. “Oh, that’s… I’m sorry to hear that.”
He shakes his head. “Sorry. You probably don’t want to hear about our dysfunctional family.”
I shrug. “It’s fine. I grew up in a small one, so I think it’s kind of nice.”
“No siblings, I take it?”
“No. I’m an only child.”
“And your parents?”
“I never knew my mother,” I confess. I don’t know why I’m telling him all this. The last thing I want is to bond with him. God forbid we connect on some base level. It’s the same reason you’re not supposed to name an animal you have no intention of adopting. You start tocare—a mistake I cannot afford.
“I’m sorry,” he says. “What happened to her?”
“Car accident a few months after I was born.”
Dimitri’s expression grows sympathetic. “That’s terrible.”
