The Devil's Beauty (Crime Lord Interconnected Standalone Book 2) (58 page)

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered when he broke off.

He blinked like he’d almost forgotten they were there. He straightened, tugging on the lapel of his blazer and reaching for his drink again.

“It is the way of things,” he said softly. “No one is ever really safe.”

“Do you think this person is in the city?” Dimitri asked once Julian had thrown back his drink.

Julian shook his head. “No, I don’t believe they’re even alive anymore, but I keep searching, hoping. It’s how I heard about you, Ava. I have been paying the curriers very well to inform me first of every new arrival, but news of a redhead associated with, not one, but two of the most powerful men in the world … I couldn’t allow you to go to auction.”

Ava frowned. Her mind snapped back to the room with the bright lights and the voices. She could have sworn…

“I wasn’t on auction?”

Julian shook his head again. “I had you put aside. Thankfully, you were the only redhead in the shipment.”

“That’s why I couldn’t find her,” Dimitri muttered, glowering at the man.

“I apologize,” Julian said, sounding like he meant it. “But you must understand that I was not the only one who was aware of Ava or her importance to you. I was, however, the only one who would return her without making you jump through hoops first.”

Dimitri didn’t seem any less annoyed by the fact, but he said nothing else about it.

“You still haven’t told us what it is I can do for you,” Ava prompted.

Their food arrived.

The steaming dishes were placed before their rightful owners. Their glasses were refilled, but only in Julian’s case. Then they were alone again.

No one touched their plates.

“I am putting together an organization to help those taken return home. It’s fully funded by me. I’ve successfully started offices in India, Singapore, England, Tokyo, and now here. Our goal is to stop the shipments before they leave, but also stop auctions from taking place and saving as many of these people as possible.”

Ava thought his words over carefully before responding. “That’s a wonderful idea. What can we do?”

“I want you to head the one I plan on building in your city.”

“No,” Dimitri said at once before Ava could even think the idea over. “I respect what you’re doing. It’s a noble and generous idea, but what you are asking will tear this entire city apart. It will get Ava killed. You are asking her to become the face of one of the biggest trades in the world, going up against men neither one of us can even imagine. She will be hunted. I won’t allow that.”

“What would you have done if you never found her? If she was still missing right now?”

A knot formed in Dimitri’s cheek, but he didn’t answer.

“That is how millions of families feel at this very moment. They will never see their loved ones again. I am trying to help them.”

“Then help them, but Ava won’t be a part of it, not the way you’re asking.”

As much as she wanted to get upset by Dimitri’s logic, she couldn’t. And it wasn’t the fear for herself that stopped her. It was the fear for her people. She was the leader of an entire territory, the third largest in the city. Lives depended on her and she couldn’t have a war with three of the other territories. Her people would get mascaraed.

“Dimitri’s right,” she said softly. “I’m afraid I can’t help the way you’re asking. But,” she added quickly when Julian opened his mouth, “I may have a way to help, because I will help.” She looked pointedly at Dimitri. “I will do everything in my power to stop this.”

“You can’t stop this,” Dimitri told her gently. “Buying and selling people has been going on for eons. It will never go away.”

She nodded slowly in agreement. “I know, but I can make it fucking hard to happen in my city.”

Dimitri sighed. She expected him to be angry, but he chuckled softly and brought the back of the hand he still held to his lips.

“You have my support.” His expression sobered. “But you will not do what he’s asking. I will not allow that.”

She squeezed his fingers. “I will be careful.”

He didn’t look convinced. He did look angry now when he turned his attention back to Julian.

“Anything happens to her, I don’t give a fuck who you are, I will burn your fucking life to the ground.”

That night, as they lay in bed, Ava turned to the man propped against the headboard, book in hand. She watched him in the soft glow of the lamp, the way his hair had become wild beneath his frustrated hands and the way he kept worrying at his thumb nails between his teeth, and smiled.

“Stop that.” She captured the hand, rescuing it.

He blinked away from the page he’d been reading and glanced at her. “Woman, shit is getting real. I need my thumb.”

Ava laughed, but didn’t give his hand back. She brought it to her lips.

“Come to bed.”

The book snapped closed without another prompting and was set aside on the nightstand. He burrowed under the sheets with her, his sinewy limbs gliding around her, pinning her naked frame to his.

She snuggled into him, into his heat and strength, and allowed the soft tempo of his heart to lull the ocean in her head.

“Talk to me,” he murmured into the top of her head.

“Just trying to sort out what I want to do.” Unable to lie still, she hoisted herself up and swung a leg over his hips. She straddled him, her palms braced against his chest. “I can’t not do something, Dimitri. I won’t. I need to … for Ilsa.” She bit her lip, her thoughts a mess. “You don’t understand what it was like in that boat. I know I’ve told you, but it was so much worse.”

Warm palms smoothed up and down her bent thighs. They worked up to her hips and settled.

“You can’t be the face of his organization,
myshka
. I will support whatever decision you make. I will back you. My territory will back you. I will protect you and your people. But even I won’t be able stop some of the people who will come after you when you put a stop to their money.”

He was right. She knew he was. Logically, it was dangerous, but doing nothing somehow seemed worse.

“What if I don’t show my face? What if I take a page from the Devil’s handbook?” She bit her lip and cocked her head to the side. Her fingers ghosted the hard expanse of his chest, following the lines and curves of his tattoos. “I can’t get in trouble if an anonymous source directed authorities to a possible shipment, right?”

Between her thighs, his cock hardened, but his gaze remained steady.

“That’s a dangerous game,
myshka
.”

“Only if I’m reckless and I won’t be reckless.” She circled the words inking the skin above his heart, words meant for her. “I can’t save the world. I know that, but I can protect the people in our city. I can keep them safe, can’t I? I need to try.”

He pushed up and she slid onto the mattress between his thighs. Her legs twisted around his waist. Her arms went around his neck as he flattened his palms against her back and pulled her close.

“If you ask really nicely, I’ll share my secrets,” he murmured inches from her lips.

That close, his erection was tucked right up against her mound, making it impossible to think straight.

“Please,” she moaned.

He reached between them and took himself in hand.

“That’s a start.” His eyes flashed. “Now, get on my cock like a good girl.”

Ava went with Phil to see Julian the next day. Saeed took her with Phil pressed close to her side. The entire way, no one spoke, which wasn’t entirely odd, but Saeed occasionally tried to make conversation and Phil liked pointing things out to her as they passed. But the severity of what she was about to do seemed to permeate the air. She didn’t think they knew, although she wasn’t sure what Dimitri might have told them, but they both appeared too alert. The tension made the cabin appear tiny.

“Ma’am,” Phil drew her attention to him with a quiet murmur. “When we arrive, please allow me to select your table.”

“What if Julian’s already at a table?”

“Then I will kindly ask him to relocate.”

“Phil…”

He put a hand up. “I insist, ma’am.”

“I will be parked across the street,” Saeed piped in. “One signal and I’ll break through the glass if I need to.”

Ava laughed. “You two are sweet, but I don’t think Julian’s going to set up a kidnapping trap in a café in the middle of the afternoon.”

“We have been given very direct orders, ma’am,” Saeed explained.

So, Dimitri had told them, not the extent of the situation, but clearly enough to have them on guard.

“Okay,” she relented. “If that’s what the boss said.”

The café was a tiny sandwich shop in the south. Ava had never been there, but Julian had given her the address and they pulled up in front with nearly ten minutes to spare.

Phil emerged first. He closed the button on his blazer, gaze casually scanning the sidewalk and surrounding area. Once he’d considered the area secure, he motioned her out and kept a firm lock on her elbow as he led her inside.

Ava wanted to laugh at the degree in which Dimitri felt it necessary to keep her safe. She wasn’t the first lady or the queen. Nobody wanted her dead anymore.

She hoped.

But she allowed him his fussing. It was endearing and made her feel cherished, even if at times she wanted to hit him with the morning paper.

Julian hadn’t arrived. Phil showed her to a table against the far, corner wall, away from the windows with her back in the corner. It was three feet from the swinging doors leading into the kitchen and a secondary escape if they needed it.

He took the table next to her just as Julian arrived. Alone.

She shot Phil a raised eyebrow that was ignored.

Julian crossed to her, leaning a bit heavily on his cane than usual. But he offered her his hand and sat in the chair opposite her.

“Thank you for meeting me,” she said.

He nodded. “I wanted to apologize for last night. I don’t think I explained things properly and I may have upset your … partner.”

Ava shook her head. “You have to understand how difficult it is for people like me and Dimitri to agree to things, no matter how deeply we want to. We have people who rely on us to protect them and your offer, as wonderful as it is, I can’t accept it the way you need me to.”

Julian inclined his head a fraction, processing the information slowly. “I understand.”

“But,” she pressed on quickly. “I meant what I said about wanting to help. I was hoping I could interest you in a different service.”

Julian’s eyes narrowed. “I’m listening.”

She’d talked the idea over with Dimitri, discussing every angle, every pitfall, every way it could go wrong. She felt confident that what she was doing was the right thing.

She reached into her purse and removed the card Penny had made up for her. There was just the one, which she’d thought Penny might find strange, but if she did, she hadn’t said as much, nor did she inquire about what Ava wanted on it. She had simply accepted the request and, two hours later, had returned with a heavy, cream colored card with elegant, gold font.

Ava loved it. She was considering getting her own cards made up that way.