He was raised by a heartless, cold man, yet he still had the ability to love. It made me love him even more, and had me understanding why he kept his word by paying Nikolai the fifteen-million-dollars he had offered.
I was frustrated when Nikolai inexplicitly stated multiple times during their meeting that they’ll never be close to friendly, but I agree with Dimitri, he deserved to collect the bounty. Once he had proof the Dvořáks were funding India’s endeavors to derail me, he took them down, brought proof of his victory to the payee, then flew home the same night.
Dimitri thought that would be the last time he’d see him.
He should have known better.
The new generation of Petrettis don’t know the words ‘back down,’ especially when it comes to protecting the people they love. Dimitri is instilling those traits to Matteo, and it appears as if some of his quirks rubbed off on Nikolai as well.
I wasn’t in the vicinity when Nikolai stabbed his knife into the hand of one of Dimitri’s men a year ago, but from what I’ve heard from Rocco, Collin deserved it. Dimitri rarely talks about Justine, but I see the guilt in his eyes anytime her name is mentioned.
He had no choice but to leave her when he did. If he hadn’t, I would have most likely died, and Dimitri wouldn’t have gotten to within a hair’s breadth of Fien. His closeness that night rattled India enough, she pulled back on the reins just a little. Her push on the brakes gave Dimitri breathing room, and it also saw me walking out of hospital instead of being wheeled out in a body bag.
To Dimitri, that alone made the sacrifice to his reputation worth it.
Dimitri was given a chance to make the blemish not as noticeable when Justine was placed up for auction by Nikolai’s ‘supposed’ father only weeks after Nikolai’s unexpected arrival to Hopeton. At first, Dimitri refused to place himself in the middle of a battle he didn’t belong in, but once he realized who was being auctioned, he swiftly changed his mind.
Even more surprising than that was my lack of jealousy.
I had no right to be resentful he was helping to shelter Justine from more harm. He left her at the mercy of his father. He stopped for me.
If that isn’t proof of my importance to him, I’ll never be able to convince you.
Vladimir Popov was killed when Nikolai raided the compound Justine was held at. Her location was unearthed because Dimitri wore a tracker after ‘purchasing’ her.
After those thrilling couple of days, life went back to normal… until now.
Dimitri doesn’t take kindly to anyone sniffing around his turf, much less stupidly trying to set up shop here. If the Russians mentioned are Nikolai’s this time around, I don’t see Dimitri holding back. Nikolai has his blood, he is his brother no matter how many times they both deny it, but I’m proof blood doesn’t make you family. It’s how you treat somebody.
Nikolai’s panties are in a twist because he’s never given Dimitri the chance to tell his side of the story. In all honesty, that isn’t solely Nikolai’s fault. To expose his flaws, Dimitri would have to expose his family. That isn’t something he’s willing to do right now. We mean more to him than the world, so he would never place us at risk to gain the approval of another man—even if he shares his blood.
I arrive at Dimitri’s side just as Rocco asks, “What is your gut telling you, D? Is it seeking a war or a prolonged hibernation?” He laughs when Dimitri glares at him during the last half of his statement. “What? How am I to know what you’re up to these days. You’re too busy knocking your girl up, and I’m…”
Dimitri and I aren’t the only ones who notice his sudden trail off of words. Smith is right there with us. “Breaking in faces of anyone who dares to look at your girl sideways.”
“What…” A pfft vibrates Rocco’s lips. “No! I’d never do such a thing.”
He’s a woeful liar. His lips are stretched ear to ear and he’s rubbing his hands together like it’s Christmas eve instead of the Fourth of July weekend.
Eager to get the focus off him, Rocco says a couple of seconds later, “I think you should talk to Nikolai. Man to fucking man.”
“I agree,” I back up, not only jumping into the conversation but between Dimitri and Rocco before Dimitri can hit him with more than a rueful glare. “He’s going to be in town anyway, so why not kill two birds with one stone?”
“He won’t be in town,” Dimitri barks out, his tone snappy. “Permission has not been granted for him to arrive. He may think he’s top dog since he took his father down, but there are rules not even he can break.”
“Are you sure about that?” Rocco asks, still grinning. “Because from what I heard, you both broke the rules when you popped bullets into your fathers.”
“Nikolai killed Vladimir with a knife,” Smith interrupts after checking the laptop balancing on his hand to make sure he’s reporting correct information.
When Rocco backhands Smith in the chest, he almost drops his laptop. “A knife to the heart or a bullet through the heart is the same fucking thing.”
“It isn’t even close to the same thing.”
While they argue the semantics of murder, I round Dimitri’s desk. My heart thuds in my chest when he pushes away from the battered material so I can slot into my favorite position on his lap, but is left disappointed when I plant my backside on his desk instead. I need his eyes on me so he can see the honesty in them when I say, “You know as well as I do that Nikolai is arriving here sometime this week. Maddox is about to be released from jail—”
“That could have occurred a shit ton earlier if he had accepted Dimitri’s offer.”
I continue talking as if Rocco never interrupted me. “Justine is his baby sister. She wouldn’t miss his release for anything, and Nikolai would never disappoint her like that.”
How do I know this? Dimitri went to hell and back to help Claudia, and we’re not even related, so I’m confident when I say Nikolai will be making an interstate visit sometime soon.
“There are rules he must follow.”
“Rules you’d ignore in an instant if it had a chance of negatively impacting Fien, Matteo or me.” I scoot to the edge of his desk before lowering my head so we meet eye to eye. “Nikolai isn’t your enemy, Dimi.”
When he attempts to talk, I press my finger to his lips. “He wasn’t when he bought the Dvořáks to justice for hurting me, and he wasn’t when you sent Collin to ‘collect’ Justine so Nikolai could finish what he started at the Petretti compound. You are family, you were just raised to believe differently.”
I inch back before placing my hand on the teeniest bump in my stomach. “The same could have happened to our children if you hadn’t fought for Fien as your father failed to do for Nikolai.” Col knew he had birthed a child with Vladimir’s wife, yet he still let Nikolai endure horrific abuse at the hands of his enemy. That isn’t something a father does. “Talk to him, threaten him if you must, but don’t act like this isn’t concerning you as much as it is. You’re not fooling anyone, Dimitri—not even someone as simple-minded as me.”
The tightening of his jaw reveals he doesn’t like me speaking down about myself, but if he won’t automatically stand up for his family like I know he wants to, I have no choice but to make it seem as if we can’t defend ourselves.