Where Darkness Lies

  “I heard,” I say, walking out.

  “He’s going to call me as soon as he can.”

  I nod and grab a chair, spinning it around and sitting on it, pressing the back of it to my chest. I rest my chin on it and stare at her.

  “You good?”

  She nods, and her cheeks pinken just slightly.

  “I’m good.”

  “Hungry?”

  She nods.

  I grin.

  Fuck, this girl is consuming me. For the first time in my entire time of seeking revenge, I woke up without thinking about killing him.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Jess

  God,” I groan, rubbing my belly. “I’m so full.”

  “You ate more than me,” Dimitri grins.

  “I was hungry.”

  “Sure you ain’t a man beneath all that beauty?”

  “Well,” I say, leaning back to ease the pressure in my belly. “I can’t be entirely sure . . . I mean there was that secret operation when I was a baby.”

  “Ha ha,” he smirks. “Your pussy is too nice to have ever been a dick.”

  I shake my head and get up, walking over and sitting on the large, soft couch. Dimitri gets up, coffee in hand, and joins me. I shuffle closer to him and sigh.

  “Is this for real?”

  He puts his arm around my shoulders. “Yeah, baby, I think it is.”

  I smile and close my eyes, leaning my head against his shoulder.

  “Do you remember them?”

  “Huh?” I ask, not understanding his question.

  “Your parents, do you remember them?”

  I smile, but it’s a sad one. “Not really, but I do remember some things.”

  “Tell me?”

  “My dad was really happy. The funny kind of happy. I remember he always told me jokes. My momma was beautiful. I recall loving her long, red hair. I used to spend hours brushing it, because I just loved how it felt against my fingers. Each night when I would sleep, they would sing to me, this one song I still remember even after all these years.”

  “What was it?”

  I flush. “I can’t sing it.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I can’t sing.”

  “I wouldn’t know, I’ve never heard it.”

  I laugh softly. “Be thankful. I’ve heard geese that sound prettier.”

  He chuckles. “Go on, Jess. Sing.”

  “Fine, but if you laugh, I’ll stab you.”

  He doesn’t answer, but I feel his chest tremble with laughter. I close my eyes and remember the song my parents used to sing. It was a rhyme that was in a children’s book we read once.

  “Little Sir Echo, how do you do? Hello . . . Hello. Little Sir Echo, I’m very blue. Hello . . . Hello. Hello. Hello. Won’t you come over and play? You’re a nice little fellow, I know by your voice, but you’re always so far away.”

  I finish singing and a lump forms in my throat. Dimitri places a hand on the back of my neck and gives it a light squeeze, letting me know he’s still there and everything is okay.

  “I told you,” I croak. “A goose.”

  “Prettiest fuckin’ goose I ever heard.”

  Pretty sure I just fell in love with him in that tiny second.

  God help me.

  “God, Dimi,” I gasp, feeling my back ram against the cold brick wall.

  Dimitri’s hands are on my ass, and his fingers are digging into my flesh. He’s using me as leverage for his thrusts. His cock is driving deep, hard and fast. His groans are throaty and the sound has everything clenching inside me in the best possible way. My hands are wrapped around his biceps; my shirt is jacked up exposing my breasts. Every now and then he leans down and sucks one of my nipples into his mouth.

  “So fuckin’ good around my cock,” he groans. “So fuckin’ good.”

  “Dimitri!”

  We hear Luke’s voice coming through the door. We’re outside the house and around the corner against the wall. The door is closed but obviously Luke can come right out.

  “Fuck off,” Dimitri growls.

  “It’s urgent. I need you here now.”

  Dimitri thrusts harder, faster, bringing me closer to the edge. I cry out and his hand quickly leaves my hip and presses against my mouth as he drives me higher and higher. Our skin is slapping together; we’re both panting and sweating. I’m going to come so hard, I can feel it in every inch of my body.

  When I get there, I throw my head back and scream into Dimitri’s hand, clenching around him, feeling my own arousal coat his cock so he is able to move harder and faster to his own release. With a shudder and a throaty moan, he follows close behind me, pulsing hard and deep. When we’ve stopped panting, he slowly lifts me off him, placing me with care back on my feet.

  I wobble but I manage to keep myself upright. I pull my top down and straighten my skirt and panties. It was literally a quick fuck. He looked at me, I looked at him, we started kissing and the next thing I knew he had his jeans down, my panties torn aside, and we were fucking, hard and sweet. Dimitri pulls the condom off and ties it, before shoving it into his pocket.

  Mega ew.

  “Gotta go deal with Luke,” he rasps, his voice still croaky.

  “O-okay,” I whisper, unable to find mine.

  He grins at me and turns, walking off while buttoning up his jeans. God, he’s beautiful. I watch him go with a smile on my face and a sweet-ass swell between my legs.

  I’m almost sure it doesn’t get better than this.

  “I hate you fighting,” I say, running my hand over his ass as I pass him.

  “Yeah,” he chuckles. “I know.”

  “Can’t you just drug your opponent and run off, living happily ever after?”

  He laughs loudly. “No, baby, that’s not how it works.”

  “What if he beats you?”

  He gives me a look while strapping his hands. “He won’t.”

  “Dimitri, you don’t know that.”

  “I do know that.”

  “Such an arrogant ass,” I mumble under my breath.

  He reaches over, nudging my cheek gently with his bound fist. “Stop being a baby.”

  I shove my fist into his cheek. “Stop being an arrogant ass.”

  “Deal.”

  He turns and takes hold of his shirt, yanking it off.

  “It’s really not a wonder girls come to these fights,” I say, crossing my arms and admiring his sculpted, beautiful back.

  “And why is that?”

  “You have a nice ass. So do half the other fighters.”

  He turns and gives me an intense expression. “You lookin’ at the other fighters?”

  I grin at him and uncross my arms, tapping my chin as if I’m thinking. “Well, there was that one . . . he had this ass to die for. I wanted to jump into the ring and—”

  Dimitri lunges forward, wrapping his arm around my waist and hauling me up close to his body.

  “Only man you jump in the ring for is me,” he murmurs, staring at my lips. Then he leans forward and places a smacking kiss against them.

  “Yes, boss,” I breathe.

  “Now, go and find Luke, we need to get this fight started.”

  I pout but nod. I turn and head toward the door just as it opens and Luke walks in, followed by Malibu. I sigh and roll my eyes as she lets her gaze travel over Dimitri. She walks past me as if I don’t exist and heads straight over to Dimi. She puts her hands on his arms and grins at him.

  “Dimi,” she murmurs.

  He takes her hands and peels her fingers off his arms. “Not interested.”

  She stares at him, shocked. “What?”

  “You heard me. Now, out, I have a fight.”

  “She’s in here,” she snaps, jerking her head toward me.

  “She’s my girl, she’s allowed in here.”

  Her face tightens and she turns, glaring at me. “Well,” she grates out. “I guess that answers that then.”

  “If you’
re watchin’ the fight, then go and sit down,” Dimi says to her. “But you know you’re not allowed in here.”

  “I hate being out there alone, it scares me. She can come with me.”

  She actually does look like it bothers her, and I feel kind of bad about that. There are a lot of people out there that are less than desirable.

  “I’ll go with you, but if you so much as say one bad word to me, I’ll drop you into the middle of a group of horny men and let them do what they may.”

  She glowers at me. “You’d better watch your mouth.”

  I raise my brows, crossing my arms. “Or what?”

  “Enough!” Dimitri says. “Luke, take the girls out. I’ll get Josh in here to help me.”

  “Who’s Josh?” I ask.

  “The manager of this place. We’re tight,” Dimi says, staring at me.

  “Fine,” Malibu mutters.

  “Whatever,” I say.

  Luke sighs.

  Dimitri walks over, taking my face and pressing a sizzling kiss to my lips. “Cheer for me, baby.”

  Oh I will.

  I’ll cheer my little heart out.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Jess

  I’m transfixed—my eyes are stuck to the sweating, pulsing man in front of me. God, when Dimitri fights, I forget everything else around me. The room goes out of focus and all I can see is him. His fists swinging, his body flexing and moving, the determined look on his face. My cheeks flush as I recall how my mouth has been on that body. I tremble and rub my arms, trying to keep the goose bumps at bay.

  “Jessica!”

  I jerk and turn my head to see Malibu staring at me, her expression annoyed.

  “What?”

  “I’ve been calling you!”

  I roll my eyes. “I was watching. What do you want?”

  “I need to go to the bathroom and I don’t want to go alone. These places freak me out.”

  I grumble in annoyance. I have to take her. There is no way Luke will leave me to take her to the toilet, which means I’m the only one who can go with her. I shove to my feet and glare down at her. “Well, hurry up.”

  “Bossy,” she mutters, getting to her feet.

  Luke leans forward and whispers into my ear. “Where are you goin’?”

  “Toilet, because Barbie can’t seem to go on her own.”

  “What did you call me?” Malibu mutters, crossing her arms.

  “Nothing,” I reply, smiling sweetly.

  She mumbles something under her breath as I turn back to Luke. “We’ll be no more than five minutes.”

  He nods. “Be careful.”

  I smile. There are a few reasons why. The first is that Luke is letting me go alone, which means Dimi trusts me. The second is that Luke now trusts me too. Keeping my smile, I trek forward, shoving through people to try to make my way to the toilets at the back. The entire time I’m focusing on getting through people, Malibu is complaining because people keeping “grabbing” her ass. We reach the toilets only to see a fifty-person line-up.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Malibu snaps, then grabs my arm. “Come on, we’ll use the staff ones out back.”

  I don’t bother to argue; I figure she’s been to enough fights with Dimi to know where the toilets are in the different locations. So, I let her drag me out back. We go through an old, cracked wooden door that leads out onto a dimly lit patio. There are cars lined up to the left and I can hear the traffic to the right. I’m guessing this is the staff car park.

  “Come on,” Malibu says, leading me toward a set of two doors.

  We’re just about there when I hear the sound of crunching boots. “Finally,” Malibu mutters, spinning us around. I’m confused for a second, unsure what she’s talking about. I can’t see anyone around, though I can still hear the boots. I also notice that she’s not yet let go of my hand.

  “Good job, Livvie,” I hear a voice say.

  Suddenly six men step out of the darkness and into the dull light. My heart stops beating. Roger is the man leading, and he’s got a smile on his face that tells me this isn’t a coincidence. My heart jerks to life and I try to tug my hand from Malibu’s but she’s not letting me go. I spin around, kicking my foot out and connecting with her shins. She screams and drops my hand, stumbling a few steps back. I launch forward, but I don’t get far before Roger has his hand wrapped around my arm, hauling me back.

  I can’t scream because his other hand quickly goes over my mouth while two of his men pin my arms. I squirm, but it’s no use. The men are too strong and there are too many of them. Tears well in my eyes and I struggle to breathe as I realize the situation I’ve just been put in. She set me up. She knew they were going to be here tonight. She had this all planned. That’s why it doesn’t surprise me when one of the men steps forward with an envelope.

  “Five thousand dollars, as promised,” Roger says, and I can feel his breath near my ear.

  I gag behind his hand, which only makes him laugh. I watch in horror as Malibu opens the envelope and counts the money, before looking up with a grin. “Enjoy her.”

  “Make sure Dimitri thinks she’s run off.”

  No. Oh no. If Dimitri thinks I’ve run . . . oh . . . God. No . . . He won’t believe her. We’ve shared so much, he’ll hesitate, he’ll figure out something is wrong. He will. I begin to rattle, my knees turning to jelly. My body slumps and tears tumble down my cheeks as I make eye contact with Malibu.

  “Sorry,” she mutters. “But you’re nothing more than a thorn in my side. I did what I had to.”

  She turns to Roger. “He won’t believe I let her just run, so you need to make it look real.”

  “With pleasure,” Roger mutters, letting go of my mouth and shoving me into another man’s arms.

  “He’ll kill you for this!” I scream.

  Another hand clamps over my mouth, and Malibu doesn’t seem affected by my words. No, she’s not, because she’s concentrating on Roger. She closes her eyes and scrunches her face up. What is she doing? I’m staring at her in confusion when Roger’s fist lashes out and connects with her eye. She screams and stumbles backwards, falling in the dirt, only adding to the effect.

  “Pleasure doing business with you,” Roger says, turning back to me. “Time for revenge, Blair.”

  I scream under the other man’s hand and squirm as hard as I can. It’s futile. Roger steps forward, extracting a needle from his pocket.

  “Sleepy time.”

  He jabs it into my neck seconds before everything goes black.

  Dimitri

  My eyes scan the crowd after my fight, but I can’t see her. Luke is staring around now too, looking a little concerned. I leap off the stage and shove through the grabbing hands and raving fans until I reach him. I take hold of his arm and spin him around. “Where is she?”

  He looks confused. “They went to the toilet.”

  “They?”

  “Her and Livvie.”

  I turn and start shoving my way through the crowd in the direction of the toilets. I haven’t got halfway there when Livvie appears. Her face is bloody, she’s wild with anger, and she’s covered in dirt.

  “What the fuck?” I growl, taking her arm. “Where’s Jess?”

  “How should I know?” she screams. “She punched me the minute we got outside to the toilet and ran. She fucking ruined my shoes.”

  “What do you mean she ran?” I growl. “And why the fuck were you outside?”

  “The toilets inside were too full, so we went to the staff ones. The minute we got out there she turned, said sorry, and punched me so hard I went ass up. Then she bolted.”

  Bolted.

  She bolted.

  My chest seizes. Jess ran. She took a chance and she ran. All along, all the feelings, it’s all been just a way to gain my trust. My vision blurs and I find my fingers tightening on Livvie’s arm.

  “Shit, Dimi, stop it. You’re hurting me.”

  “Where. The. Fuck. Did. She. Go?” I grate
out, my voice icy.

  “How the hell should I know? She just ran toward the street.”

  I spin, taking Livvie with me. I turn to Luke and shove her at him. “Take her. I’ve got to find Jess.”

  He looks concerned. “Where’d she go?”

  “She ran.”

  His face pales. “Shit, boss, sorry. I thought . . . I thought she wanted to be here. The way she was watchin’ you. Fuck, I’m sorry.”

  “She’s played us all,” I grind out, feeling my hands tremble with rage. “But she won’t win. I’ll find her, Luke. I know exactly where she will have gone.”

  He looks right into my eyes. “Load the ship?”

  “Load the fuckin’ ship,” I growl. “We’re goin’ to sea.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Jess

  My head pounds as I slowly open my eyes. I can’t see anything for a moment, everything seems to be blurred shapes. I go to reach up and rub my eyes, only to feel that I’m shackled. My heart begins to pound and I blink as rapidly as I can to clear my vision. When it clears enough for me to take in my surrounds, I see that I’m in a tiny cell. It’s not bigger than two meters by two meters. I can only just lie down in it. There’s a tiny, old mattress, which I’m on, and nothing else.

  No windows.

  Nothing.

  I sit up frantically and jerk at the cuffs. They’re tight—so tight that if I’m not careful, and I rattle them too much, they’ll get tighter and stop the blood flowing into my hand. I realize when I move my feet that they’re cuffed too. I’m connected to a large shackle in the stone wall. Sweat breaks out across my skin and I swallow, trying to ease my dry throat. I try not to let fear in, but there’s no way of stopping it.

  My nightmare has found me.

  I let more tears leak out. They burn my eyes. Roger has me, there’s no turning back from him. He’s got me and Dimitri doesn’t know where I am. Worse, he thinks I’ve run from him. Which means he’s not going to look for me. A sick feeling swells in my stomach and I feel myself begin to shake with panic. This could likely be where my road ends. In a cell, being tortured by a man who should be dead.

  I drop my head and sob.

  My sobbing comes to a halt when the cell door rattles. I jerk my head up and push myself up against the wall. Fear swells in my body as I stare, transfixed, waiting to see who will come in. The moment I see Roger, everything turns from fear to something so much more. Something so intense I forget to breathe. He smiles at me, satisfied, gloating.