After a moment Cora nodded. “You’re right. You should be.” She took Presley’s hand lightly in hers. “You know I will support you with any decision you make, so I guess the only thing left to ask is, what are you going to do?”
Presley looked down to their held hands. Her friendship with Cora had always been so uncomplicated. First they’d been best friends, then they’d been roommates, and then they’d become fellow submissives. Cora and she just fit. But Presley had changed since first meeting Cora. She’d become stronger. She’d tasted happiness.
Once Dmitri had told her to stand up for herself, and perhaps that lesson in the dungeon that one night—which seemed like a lifetime ago—had stuck more than she realized. She didn’t deserve this treatment, no matter what Dmitri was going through. She wouldn’t tolerate a man behaving as though she was second in his life, pushing her away and acting as if she was nothing more than a mindless fuck when things got tough. She wanted more than that for herself.
Hell, she deserved to be put first.
She sighed, embracing the strength rising inside her. “I’m going to do exactly what Dmitri would tell me to do.”
Cora’s eyebrows lifted. “Which is…?”
She loved Dmitri with every bit of her soul. But loving someone didn’t mean it was okay to let that person hurt her. She replied, “Be strong. Do what I want. And never allow anyone to treat me like shit.”
Chapter 5
Meeting arranged. Foxie’s, 1 p.m.
Dmitri stared at his phone, rereading Porter’s text. It was now a little after ten o’clock in the morning, and Dmitri sat at his sleek desk in his casino office. It was hard to believe that it had come to this. He fired off a reply confirming the meeting, all the while thinking of the next steps, strategizing his response to Steven.
His next text was to Aidan: Mind preparing a copyright agreement before noon? Might come in handy.
Aidan replied quickly. It’ll be delivered to your office within an hour.
Thank you, Dmitri texted back before he placed his cell next to his keyboard and stared out the glass windows into the main office. He mindlessly watched his employees hustling past his office. The looming afternoon conversation weighed on him, but much needed to be done before he mended Club Sin’s problems.
With plans in place and his confidence renewed about the path he needed to take, Dmitri spent the rest of the morning focusing on the casino, though the situation with Presley was never far from his mind. His fingers twitched to reach for his phone and call her, yet how could he? It was impossible for him to right all that had gone wrong when he couldn’t tell her the truth.
His heavy heart begged to reach out to her. But his mind told him to wait. The truth would cripple her, and he would never do that to her.
On top of it all, he was scrambling trying to settle things at the casino, rescheduling his meetings for the next couple of days.
By the time lunch rolled around, Dmitri’s mind was quieter as he drove down the strip toward Foxie’s, a five-star restaurant known for its fine Italian cuisine. His muscles twitched as he parked at the curb and grabbed from the passenger seat the envelope containing the agreement that Aidan had sent over. Everything inside of him wanted to make this personal. Nothing would please him more than to take all his frustration out on Steven. But with Club Sin on the line, not to mention Presley’s well-being, he would keep this all business.
Nothing more. Nothing less.
The hot sun beat down on the shoulders of his tailored black suit as he exited his sports car, refastening the top button of the jacket. He spotted Kyler waiting outside the door of the restaurant wearing his police uniform. While Dmitri had known that Kyler was working today, he also thought the uniform only helped their case now. “Ready?” he asked.
Kyler gave a firm nod. “Always.”
Dmitri noted the twinkle in Kyler’s eyes—clearly he would be happy to deal with Steven. But this show belonged to Dmitri, no one else. “I need you to stay close, but let me talk to him alone.”
Kyler paused, clearly annoyed. “If that’s what you want.”
“That’s what I want.” What I need to do, Dmitri thought as he opened the door to the classy restaurant he’d visited many times for business. Tables covered with white linen were spread out through the small rectangular restaurant. It came as no surprise the restaurant was busy, as the Italian food was the best he’d ever tasted. But food was not his focus today.
Dmitri scanned the tables, searching for Steven. He found Presley’s ex-fiancé by one of the large windows to the right of the bar. Steven was a good two heads shorter than Dmitri and had less bulk, indicating to Dmitri that Steven didn’t spend much time in the gym. Wearing casual clothing, Steven seemed out of place in the fancy restaurant—out of place in Dmitri’s world. Dmitri enjoyed that.
“May I help you?”
Dmitri addressed the young brunette dressed in a black pantsuit. “No, thank you. My guest has already arrived.” Noticing the hostess’s astonished expression, Dmitri glanced over his shoulder to see Kyler looking rather foreboding in his uniform.
Kyler smiled tightly. “Unofficial business, I assure you.”
“Okay,” the greeter said. “Shall I show you to the table?”
Dmitri lifted his hand. “No need.”
Not waiting for a reply, he strode past her. It had been almost two years since he’d seen Presley’s ex-fiancé. He hadn’t changed much, and Dmitri liked knowing that Presley had changed a lot, knowing she deserved so much more than this asshole.