Chapter 7
Belle POV
"Thanks for…uh…bringing my wallet back." I whispered, as I set it down on the coffee table. I had my back to Dimitri, but even still, I could feel his eyes boring into me. I bit my lip – unsure of what to say next. How much of that had he heard? How long had he been on the other side of that door? Finally I turned around to meet his gaze. "Listen I'm sorry about – "
He held up a hand – cutting me off. I couldn't read his face. Whether he was confused. Hurt. Pissed. I couldn't tell. He closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh. "You don't owe me an explanation, Bella."
"But I just want to clarify that – " He cut me off with his words this time.
"You told me you weren't currently seeing anyone." Oh. Oh. So, this is the part where he calls me a liar. You don't just get into screaming matches with men in your living room for no good reason. He probably thinks Alec and I are… I jumped when I felt his hand on my forearm. I hadn't realized he'd crossed the room, or that he was standing right in front of me. When I looked up to meet his eyes his face was softer somehow. "You told me that – and I believe you."
I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding in. He believes me. "I'm n-not. I really truly mean that. Alec is just – " He placed one finger against my lips; silencing me.
"I could give a shit less about some boy vying for your attention, if I'm being honest." The low tenor of his voice paired with the accent I'd come to love caused the blush to once again rise to my cheeks. I'd never heard him be so gruff, so matter of fact, or so…sexy before. I slightly parted my lips to protest, but he just pressed his finger down a bit more. "I'm guessing the two of you have a bit of history. If you'd wanted to share that with me, I'd already know about it."
He pulled his finger away and looked at me with one brow raised. "Now, when you decide to share that with me…I'd be more than happy to hear about it. But – like I said, we've been on one date, so you don't owe me anything right now."
It took me a moment to recover from his words. He was more than understanding, and not only that, he had grasped the situation completely.
"Thank you, Dimitri." I said softly, pulling a small smile to my lips. "So, how much of that did you…uh…?" I gestured with one hand towards the door behind him.
"Oh, how much did I hear?" He raised an eyebrow again – a devilish grin pulling at his lips. "I got to the door right about the time you said something about being busy with your date. Which, makes me wonder just how many people out there see me as a pompous jerkoff." His tone is light and playful – but there was a seriousness behind his eyes.
The horror that he'd heard everything slams down on me at once. He'd heard it all. He knew Alec and I had slept together – that Alec had been my first. Oh god… I couldn't even bring myself to meet his eyes again. Instead I dropped my face into my hands. I wanted to bury myself beneath a pile of blankets and never resurface again. It was all so embarrassing.
"Hey now," he says – pulling my hands back and tilting my chin up until we made eye contact. "Don't go doing that. We've all got our share of stuff we'd rather keep tucked away. I'm sorry I had to hear yours that way. Especially before you were comfortable sharing it." He gave my cheek a little pinch and I couldn't help but smile despite myself.
"I guess you're right. And I'll tell you; eventually." I promised, raising my hand and holding up my pinky. "Pinky promise."
A smile broke out across his face as he looped his pinky around mine. And I couldn't help but laugh. "It's a promise then."
His declaration managed to melt away some of my apprehension, but I couldn't shake the nagging feeling that this was far from over. The issues between Alec and I go much deeper than just a simple one night stand, and if Dimitri really grasped the gravity of the situation fully – he knew that. And yet here he was, still making an effort, still smiling at me.
"Well… since you're here do you want to watch a movie or something?" I asked, gesturing towards the couch. He looked as though he was thinking about it, but his face was torn between two conflicting emotions. He looked down at his watch and then over towards the front door, but he didn't make a single move – neither towards the couch or the door.
"I'd love to stay, Bella. I really would. If for no other reason than to make sure that brute doesn't show back up on your doorstep, however… I've got work in the morning. And if I was a betting man I would bet that you have class." Again, the sexy smirk I'd come to be so familiar with was playing across his lips. Damn this man.
He wasn't wrong.
"You'd make a killing at the horse track." I knew this was the part where I was supposed to show him out of the house. I knew that. But still, neither of us moved a single inch. We stood just a few measly inches from one another – neither moving a single muscle. I could practically feel the electricity bouncing between us, and it was enough to send goosebumps running up my arms.
"Bella." Dimitri breathed, his voice devastatingly low – just barely above a whisper, and it sent a tingling sensation down my spine. "This is the part where you bid me goodnight, and show me to the door." Again, we don't move. I don't think I could if I wanted to. I knew we were treading dangerous ground, but I wanted this moment to last just a little while longer. "Bella, tell me goodbye, and that you'll see me soon. Tell me that so I have the motivation to leave. So I don't take you up those stairs."
His honestly sends a new kind of shiver down my spine and this time it reaches somewhere much, much deeper. My eyes meet his and I can't stop myself from taking one bracing step backwards. I'd never seen someone's eyes so filled with lust before – with wanting that looked like it might overflow at any moment. But instead of making a move towards me, I watched as he slowly slid his hands into the pockets of his black suit pants.
"H-have a good night, Dimitri." I finally rasp out. In response, Dimitri closes the short distance between us and places a single kiss on the top of my head. I hadn't realized just how much taller he was than me. The difference was considerable.
"You too, Miss Bella."
And with that, he was gone.
Alec POV
My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears. It felt like my entire being was on edge, and I couldn't shake the nagging feeling that something was wrong. Instead of driving the five minutes from Belle's house to mine, I decided to pull over at the local twenty-four hour café. At first I wanted nothing more than to pick up a six pack of beer, but it was Sunday night, and I realized that wouldn't be a possibility. Instead, I found myself sitting in a booth in the corner of the café picking at cheap food.
I was too pissed to go home, and I had the feeling that if I went home right now I would most definitely end up shattering multiple glass items against the wall. I couldn't place it. There was just something about this Dimitri guy that rubbed me the wrong way – and of course Belle couldn't see it. The only real adult relationship she'd ever been in was with Oliver, and that had ended up as a joke in the end. Interacting with strangers past the point of pleasantries wasn't something Belle did.
I knew she had common sense. That much I knew, but when it came to men…Belle was green. Naïve. Unpracticed. I pushed a half-eaten mozzarella stick around my plate and shook my head. And the fact that she'd let him stay the night. That she'd taken him into her bed. I pushed the already forming image from my mind. I didn't want to visualize that. Maybe that's what got under my skin most.
I crumbled up my garbage and went to stand when a gratingly familiar voice drifted across the café, and I slowly eased myself back into the booth.
"No. That doesn't work for me. It has to be tomorrow." I'd begrudgingly recognize that thick Russian accent anywhere. I peered over in the direction the voice was coming from and there he was. His back was to me and he had a phone pressed to his ear, but even still he was hard to miss. He fell silent – listening to the voice on the other end of the phone for a moment before he spoke again. "The severity of the consequences have already been stressed. There are no excuses. Remind him meeting with me personally is the last thing he'll want." He slipped the phone back into his pants pocket and mumbled something in Russian I couldn't understand.
I felt as though I'd heard something I shouldn't have, and I contemplated my chances of exiting the café without catching his attention. I looked up to scan the exits only to realize the impossibility of that idea. Dimitri had turned around and his eyes were boring straight into mine, and I returned his gaze with as much distain as I could muster.
Belle wasn't here to diffuse the situation this time, and I was already imagining how the impact of my fist colliding with his face would feel. So satisfying. His mouth twisted into a haughty smile as if he could already tell what it was I was thinking. As if he was welcoming the confrontation.
I bit down on the inside of my cheek in an effort to keep my head straight. No good would come from coming to blows with him here. It certainly wouldn't improve the situation with Belle. If anything it would probably drive her further away. I watched as he shifted his body weight from one foot to the other, and I stood up from the booth, my eyes never leaving his. I wasn't about to let him think he intimidated me. It would take a lot more than a simple gaze to get me to back off. Especially where Belle was concerned.
I took one step in his direction just as his phone began ringing from his pocket again. His jaw twitched in annoyance, but he pulled he device from his pocket all the same. "What?" his voice was rough and clipped, and there was no mistaking the malice coloring his tone. His steel blue eyes were still fixed on mine, and I was almost taken aback by the unbridled anger that laid within them. "He knows what's next then. He's made his bed." I knew he was talking to whoever was on the other end of the line, but I couldn't shake the feeling that the words were also somehow meant for me. "Put Roman on the phone." He said, before turning on his heel and leaving the café altogether.
Just what kind of guy have you gotten yourself mixed up with, Belle?
