Chapter 27
Ariel
Standing so close to him with his light caresses strangely arousing the butterflies in my tummy after seeing him cheat on me without any remorse caused bile to rise to my throat. I should have asked for an apology, but it would only make him feel as if he was important and he had hurt me.
But deep down, I wanted to dig my nails into his face and scar him for allowing me to go through such humiliation.
I hated that I was jealous even when I wasn’t supposed to be, and it infuriated me the more that my brain had refused to register that Dmitri couldn’t love me the way I wanted.
Gosh! This was so fucked up.
“Forget what I said, I think the alcohol is messing with my mind. And I truly don’t care about what you do with other women, it’s to my advantage after all,” I said lazily.
He peered down at me, his gaze intense and filled with several conflicting emotions. I’d never been so tempted to yank off his mask and just catch a glimpse of his expression.
Why did he have to torture me like this?
“Which is keeping your body to yourself while being married to me?”
“Exactly,” I snapped my finger with a nod.
He removed his hands off me and tucked them into his pants. “What if I ask you for it, I’m your husband, remember?”
Anger spiked within me and I scowled at his question. “I don’t care and you’d better not ask me for that. I rather go out with a stranger than give my body to you,” I spat, getting riled up by his lackadaisical attitude.
“You’d better not do that if you don’t want to be responsible for his death,” He growled.
I batted my lashes in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“Any man who I haven’t permitted to come close to you will die, except he’s your father or our son. Don’t test me, Ariel. Remember what happened with Freud,” He threatened and I didn’t know when my fist landed on his chest.
“You’re so disgusting, Dmitri,” I spurted through gritted teeth and he chuckled at my show of annoyance.
How could he be so calm and level-headed when a volcano was threatening to erupt within me?
My lips parted and I was just about to give him a piece of my mind when the sound of footsteps interrupted me. I glanced at the direction of the noise and my eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.
Ignoring Dmitri’s questioning gaze, I dashed toward a drunk Guilia who was being dragged by no one else but Vladimir. I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration at the cringe sight and sighed.
It just had to be Vladimir and with the smug grin on his face, it seemed like he had done more than bringing her over to us.
Shit! What had she done?
Though Dmitri and I didn’t see eye to eye on a lot of things, I could tell that he was a straightforward person and could be predictable in certain situations, but with Vladimir, it was a different case entirely.
Merely remembering how he confronted me at Freud’s cafe made me shudder and now he was with my friend.
I didn’t even bother to think my next actions through before marching toward him in anger. “What did you do to her?” I barked.
He released her and I stretched out my hands to steady her so that she wouldn’t land on the floor. Then he scoffed and snickered shortly, confirming my suspicions.
“A very beautiful and voluptuous young woman, heavily drunk, staggers to my corner and pleads with me to take away her V-card just after I asked for some girls to be brought to me. What do you think will happen? Besides, I’m not really a saint,” Sarcasm rang hard in his tone.
I ran my fingers through my ponytailed hair and yanked off the hair band in heightened exasperation. “I’m not here for guessing games, Vladimir,”
He shrugged and walked over to his brother. “You can ask her when she’s sober. I’m sure there’s a lot of tea to spill,” His annoying grin widened and he winked at me.
“You-” I lurched at him, however, Dmitri intercepted me.
“It’s enough. Let’s go home,”
~~~~
By the time we got home, Fedor was already kneeling in the living room, his head bowed. If not for the tension in the room, I’d have burst into a heavy bout of laughter.
When he noticed that we had come in, he raised his head. “I’m so sorry for what happened, boss. I’m willing to take responsibility for what happened-”
“And tell me, what exactly happened?” Dmitri cut in icily.
He inclined his head again in shame and this time, I was filled with guilt and remorse. Though I didn’t like the made men, seeing Fedor in this position struck a cord in my heart and made me realize that he might be losing his job and life because of my foolish act.
“Please don’t be too harsh on him, it isn’t his fault. I’m the one that suggested that he should be locked up so take your anger out on me,” I intervened.
“No, Ariellll,” Guilia slurred behind me and tried to stand up. “You… you don’t have to take the blame, remember? I caused all of this,”
Dmitri sent her a glare but didn’t say anything else while we all stared at him in anticipation. I doubted Vladimir was bothered as he kept his eyes glued to his phone while I wondered if Dmitri would send Guilia back home tonight.
If that was a possibility, I’d do everything to make sure she stayed.
“Please, say something, Dmitri,”
He took off his blazer and dumped it on the couch, propping his arms against his waist. “And what do you want me to say? You want me to dance around because you dressed in such a tarty outfit and dragged your friend to my club to provoke?” He raised his voice.
“You own that club?” I was befuddled.
“Yes, and several other clubs so ensure you carry out a thorough research the next time you want to play such a prank. What if I wasn’t the one you barged into? Do you know what would have happened?”
“And that would have been better because I wouldn’t have to deal with the image of you thrashing another woman replaying in my head. Do you know how disgusted I am right now?” I yelled.
“You’re disgusted?” His tone took a lower note as if he was surprised by my reaction.
Maybe he was deceived by my indifferent expression in the club, but he didn’t know how much I wanted to scream and tear down the walls with my bare hands. I know that I didn’t like him, but it didn’t give him the right to whore around like a male gigolo.
“Leave, everyone,” He said calmly, once again, masking his true feelings with that annoying cool facade of his.
I wasn’t going to leave until he tendered an apology. At least I deserved that, but then something strange decided to happen.
Liora ran through the hallway with Irina hot on her heels. My lips parted as I gasped and Dmitri’s eyes widened while he stretched his arms, but she didn’t go to him, instead, she stopped at my feet, silently asking me to carry her.