by Iverson, Ivy
“Why the hell did you give Carmine my address and a key to get in?” Dimitri demanded. “For all you know, she was about to kill me.”
“We both know what trained killers look like, and she’s not it,” Nikolay replied as he stared at his brother. “Besides, you have Kaleb to protect you. Where is he, anyway?”
“He’s helping her get her things.” Dimitri looked down at his desk, away from his brother. “She’s staying with me for the time being.”
Nikolay slowly eased down in the chair across from Dimitri’s desk. “So the baby is yours after all?”
“We don’t know yet!” Dimitri shot back, faster than he meant to. He shut his eyes and rubbed his temples, starting to feel a headache come on. “She agreed to a paternity test. It will take a few days to get that straightened out and she cannot stay at the Camelot in the meantime. I have too many enemies there.”
“Interesting.”
“What the hell do you find interesting? This headache you have put me through? The fact that you have betrayed me, that you will give my address out to anyone who knows my name?”
“I didn’t betray you, Dimitri,” Nikolay said, smiling. “Carmine is in no way a threat to you. And she is hardly anyone. She is a poor woman you left pregnant who only wants some child support from the father.”
I left her. Right. If only his brothers knew the truth. Not that they would ever believe that Dimitri would get as close as he did with a woman. He had almost convinced himself that he could trust her. That she was the one but he had been foolish and that made him weak. Temporarily, that is. “Alleged father,” he muttered.
“She wouldn’t have agreed to a test if she was fooling you,” Nikolay replied. “Besides, have you looked at his eyes?”
Dimitri shrugged his shoulders, refusing to admit anything. When he knew Carmine, she was one of the best prosecutors Washington, DC had ever seen with hundreds of contacts in all walks of life, but he didn’t think she had any contacts in Maine. However, he wouldn’t put it past her to fake a paternity test in order to get to him. Women simply couldn’t be trusted.
“How old is the boy?”
“He’s two. Maybe a little older now. We parted ways two years and eleven months ago.”
Nikolay raised an eyebrow. “A normal person would have simply said three years ago. I find it interesting that you know exactly when you stopped seeing her.”
Snapping at his brother, “In case you forgot that was when Valov announced that he was going legit and taking away our biggest revenue stream. I was needed here.” Yet that was merely his excuse for leaving DC. If he didn’t go to Maine, then he would have gone elsewhere, and he would have taken all of his operations with him. Anything to escape Carmine’s memory. I can’t believe she had that much of a hold on me. The question was, did she still have that hold on him?
Chapter Four
“That is the most unRussian name ever,” Dimitri complained, pacing across the bedroom. “James! Are you trying to insult me?”
“It was my grandfather’s name,” Carmine said. “Besides, what right do you have to his name? You’re not really his father as far as I’m concerned.”
“We’ll see what the paternity test says about that.”
“Just because your condom happened to break three years ago doesn’t mean you have any right when it comes to my child. There’s more to parenting than sperm. You don’t even want him anyway.” She folded up another pair of slacks on the bed before pulling more clothes out of her suitcase. Dimitri caught a glimpse of lacy underwear before he looked away. Not before he felt himself growing hard at the thought of ripping them off her.
Pull it together, Tonov! If he was that affected by a pair of underwear, then he must be more in need of sex than he thought.
Carmine pulled out a small, clear plastic bag labeled “James” with a small electric toothbrush, floss, toothpaste and fluoride all bundled into one.
“Are you trying to torture the kid?” Dimitri asked, looking at the extensive kit. “He only has his baby teeth. They will fall out anyway.”
Carmine glared at him and crossed her arms. “Since you have never raised a child, I’ll tell you, good dental health prevents infection in the mouth and other parts of the body. Lifetime healthy habits start young. If the only thing you have to do is criticize how I raise my son, then you can leave and go back to running your whorehouse, or whatever it is that you are running these days.”
Dimitri smirked and took a step closer to her so they were almost touching. Her eyes widened slightly and there was a small hitch in her breath. So she’s not as indifferent as she’s pretending. Good. For some reason that filled him with immense satisfaction despite the fact that he would never act on her attraction. Too dangerous. “I suggest you watch what you say around me,” he said. “That is, if you ever want my money.”
“If you refuse, then I’ll take you to court. You have a legal obligation to pay child support,” Carmine shot back, her arms crossing her chest protectively.
“Try it. You’re here, asking me for money. I’d be willing to bet that you couldn’t afford an attorney and you aren’t licensed to practice in Maine. So, how exactly do you think that you would succeed against me?”
Carmine’s eyes filled with tears as she stared at him defiantly willing the damn tears to stop.
Dimitri took a deep breath, wishing he could gather her in his arms and wipe the tears away. Muttering under his breath in Russian, he turned abruptly and walked out, trying to shake his feelings of guilt, pain, and betrayal. Would he ever be able to get her out of his system?
Chapter Five
Dmitri opened the door to Courtney and Rae, his brothers’ girlfriends.
They held up identical looking pies that smelled like apples and cinnamon. The scent tickled his nose and made his stomach growl. If there was anything good about America, it was its apple pies. They were almost as good as Russian apple pies.
“Surprise!” Rae said. “There was a sale on apples at the store and we both know how much you love apple pie so we thought we’d make you a couple. Can we come in?”
Dimitri moved to the side to let the women in. “Did Valov and Nikolay come with you?” he asked.
“They’re still at work,” Rae replied. “But I have the day off and Courtney only had one class today, and that was this morning, so we decided we should drop by and say hi.”
“And this has nothing to do with my new houseguest?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Rae said, giving Dimitri her pie as Courtney set hers down on the coffee table. “It has nothing to do with Carmine. So, where is she?”
Dimitri sighed. How did his brothers trust such nosy women? “She’s upstairs.”
“Excellent,” Courtney said, grinning. “See you later, Dimitri.”
As they left to go upstairs, Kaleb appeared with two plates, two forks and a knife. Dimitri scowled at him. “I thought you were supposed to be my head of security.”
“I am,” Kaleb said. “I watched them approach from the security cameras. If your brothers were going to kill you then they would do it themselves, not send their fiancées.” He cut into one of the pies and served out two slices. “What you should really be worried about is what they are saying to Carmine.”
Dimitri took a bite, enjoying the sweet flavors. “Why would I care what they say?” he asked.
“Well, I believe that you will come up in the conversation since you are what they have most in common right now and I doubt Courtney and Rae will paint you in the best light, considering how rude you have been to them in the past.”
Dimitri paused, a fork full of pie halfway to his mouth. “Shit,” he said, getting up to put a stop to this disaster.
“Boss, you don’t know what will happen if you let them talk.”
“That is why I want to stop it!” Dimitri replied.
“Strange things happen when women talk. Sometimes the truth comes out. Don’t you want to know what Carmine will say?”
“Even if you try to deny it, you will still be curious,” Kaleb said. “And you will never know if you don’t let them talk.”
“What do you suggest? That I listen at the door like a twelveyearold boy?”
Kaleb stood up and picked up the plates of pie. “Come with me.”
Dimitri followed him to Kaleb’s bedroom, which adjoined Dimitri’s. Inside, adjacent to the bed was a desk with computer screens showing the different rooms of the house. “I have put cameras and listening devices in all of the rooms except your bedroom,” Kaleb stated. “This ensures your safety.”
Kaleb sat down at the desk, pulled up a scene on full screen and moved out of the way so Dimitri could see into Carmine’s room. Carmine was on the bed, watching James march around the room, talking nonsense to her. Every time he stopped, Carmine told him to start walking again. My god, is she trying to torture the kid. Maybe she’s an unfit mother after all.
Just then, Rae and Courtney came in. Carmine looked up and waved. ‘Hey,” she said.
“Courtney, right?”
“Yeah,” Courtney said. “And this is Rae, Valov’s fiancée. We just came to drop off some pies and we thought we would come up to say hi.”
James stopped in front of Courtney and pointed at her. “Court!” he shouted. “Courthouse!”
Dimtri felt himself smile for a second and quickly squashed it.
Courtney laughed. “Courtney,” she said. “Remember? We’ve met.” She looked up at Carmine. “May I?”
“Of course,” Carmine said. “He needs a break anyway. I don’t want him to get too tired out.”
Courtney picked up James and went to sit on the foot of the bed while Rae perched herself on the dresser. “He’s such a cutie,” she said. “Was he playing soldier right now?”
“Not exactly,” Carmine said. “His pediatrician told me he needs to get more exercise, and he recommended walking, so I try and get him to walk about twenty minutes a day.”
“She takes the doctor’s orders too seriously,” Dimitri said. “This kid will have no life so long as she raises him alone.”
“What’s it to you?” Kaleb asked, raising an eyebrow. “You don’t want James.”
“It is just an observation,” Dimitri said, scowling. “Not a proposal to fight for custody.”
On the screen, Rae flipped her black hair over her shoulder. From the angle of the camera, her curvy form was more emphasized than usual. “He is very cute,” she said, smiling. “And I’m sorry that you have to deal with Dimitri. I’m surprised you haven’t killed him yet.”
“It might have crossed my mind a few times,” Carmine replied. “Do you see him often?”
Courtney rolled her eyes. “I don’t,” she said. “Not when I can avoid it. Rae is nicer than me and she makes an effort to talk to him sometimes.” She shook her head. “I don’t envy you, and frankly, I hope you can wipe him clean with child support.”
“That’s not my intention. I just want enough money to take care of James. Believe me, the less I have to see him, the better.”
Dimitri swallowed hard and clenched his fists tightly. He was glad Carmine couldn’t see the affect her words were having on him.
“Since you live in DC that shouldn’t be hard to do,” Rae responded.
“How did you know I live in DC?”
“Easy deduction,” Rae said. “Dimitri came up here shortly after I started dating Valov, which was about three years ago. James is around two and a half. Also, I recently had a phone interview with Ronny Davis. He might have mentioned your name a few times.”
Carmine groaned. “I’m sure he did and quite forcefully, too.”
“Who’s Ronny Davis?” Dimitri turned to Kaleb. “An ex? Should we kill him?”
“Jumping quickly for a woman you feel indifferent about,” Kaleb remarked. “Carmine put Ronny Davis away for committing a triple homicide only a block away from the White House. It was all over the news for two weeks straight.”
“Oh,” Dimitri said. Thank God.
“How did you end up talking to Davis?” Carmine asked. “Last I remembered, he wasn’t the best conversationalist.”
“Definitely not,” Rae replied. “But I’m a journalist for the Bangor Daily News. I write criminal profiles and Ronny is a bit of a hot topic. I was lucky to get an interview with him for my column.”
James started to squirm in Courtney’s arms and she reluctantly let the toddler go. He crawled and then paused to have a loud coughing fit.
“Oh,” Carmine said, patting her son on the back. “Did you swallow wrong again, sweetie?” As soon as the coughing subsided, she scooped him up into her arms. “He does that sometimes,” she said. “The doctor says it’s completely normal.”
“It must be hard raising him by yourself,” Courtney said.
“It can be but I can’t imagine living without him,” she smiled down at her son. “Besides, his father is hardly interested in raising him, so it’s not like there’s too much choice on that front.”
“I don’t know,” Rae said. “Have you asked him? Don’t get me wrong, Dimitri is definitely the worst of the brothers and he can be an asshole most of the time, but it’s not like him to shirk his responsibilities.”
“I know he’s responsible. But he’s also so… cold. There’s no real compassion in him. I don’t want my son to grow up around a father like that, so I never told him about James until now.”
“I understand,” Courtney said. “That had to be a hard decision, though.”
Carmine shrugged. “It was but it was a decision I had to make.”
Dimitri swallowed again. So that’s what she really thought of him. No hidden feelings after all. She simply wanted money. He turned away from the screen. “Turn it off,” he said.
Kaleb did as he was told. “Boss”
“Not now, Kaleb. It doesn’t matter anyway. I knew all she wanted was money.”
“Dimitri, you can pretend all you want that you don’t have feelings for this woman, but the truth is that you do. You can’t hide it from me.”
“I don’t have feelings for her,” he said a little too quickly. “But I find it insulting that she says that I have no compassion. I am letting her stay here, aren’t I? I am humoring her by getting a paternity test. And after” he barely stopped himself before he said after three months of making love with her she still thinks I’m cold? Carmine was the longest relationship he had ever had with most of them lasting about a week to a month. She was the one woman he just could never get enough of.
“Boss, if you want her to think you have compassion, then you’ll have to show her you do. She only sees you as a criminal. It doesn’t help that she has been raising your son as a single mother after you left her.”
That is not my fault! “What do you suggest I do?”
“Perhaps you can show her that you have compassion after all. Maybe stop criticizing her parenting skills for a start. Be nice to her and remind her that you are kind. That is my opinion, but I am not the one you should be asking. My wife decided to stay in Ukraine, remember?”
Dimitri nodded, thinking. “It’s still a start,” he said. “I can make her favorite meals and be kind to her. Perhaps then, she will stop thinking of me as a criminal. Damn it!” He tossed his hands up in the air. “What am I thinking, Kaleb? Have I gone mad? Why am I letting myself grow weak again?”
“Because you’re lonely. “Making money isn’t enough for you.”
“Money is all I need to live and I am hardly lonely.”
“Boss, you’re not happy. Anyone can see that. Carmine made you happy once. Maybe she can make you happy again.”
“If I get happy, then I’ll become weak. I can’t have that in my l
ine of work.” He stood up and left the room just as Rae and Courtney were coming downstairs, talking with each other.
Dimitri stood awkwardly in the living room as they entered. “Thank you for the pies,” he said.
“No problem,” Courtney replied. “I’ll see you outside, Rae.”
“I’ll be there in a minute.” Rae turned to Dimitri. “Carmine is wonderful but she’s wrong about you and we both know it. I think the two of you can be very good for each other and I hope the two of you see that soon.”
Dimitri swallowed. They wouldn’t be good for each other. They would tear each other apart. His feelings for her would fade eventually. And if they don’t, I’ll squash them. “Thank you for the pie,” he repeated.
Rae pulled him in for a hug, ignoring the stiffening of his body. “Just think about what I said.”
“I will,” he said, trying to ignore Carmine’s words in his head. There’s no real compassion in him. I don’t want James to grow up around a father like that.
Chapter Six
Any resolve Dimitri had about keeping himself distant from Carmine crumbled immediately as soon as he came home after a long day of work. Exhausted, he found Carmine in his living room, drinking tea and watching James trying to do a somersault on the floor.
He was crunched up in a ball and rocking back and forth, “talking” as loud as he could. He would stop suddenly and then try to flip himself over and end up flopping on his side, giggling. Carmine smiled as she watched him. Dimitri loved watching her smile and laugh. It lit up her whole face and it was such a change from her usually rough exterior.
But her smile faded as soon as she saw him. “James, come on. Let’s go upstairs.”
“You can stay down here,” Dimitri said, dipping a hand into his pocket. “I’ll be in my room. I won’t disturb you.”
James looked up when he heard Dimitri’s voice and he grinned at him. “Dim!” he said. “Dim dim.”