“I guess it just took that one night,” she said, then leaned up, and kissed his chin. He gripped her hip and made her stop.
“What night?”
She stared at him, and the tears began to fall. “The night he made me do things to him. Pleasure him.”
Dmitri clenched his teeth and closed his eyes a moment.
“As he held a gun to my temple,” she finished.
His eyes popped open, and he rolled her onto her back and stared down into her eyes.
“He held a gun to your head and forced you to—”
She turned away, and the tears continued to fall.
“He was a monster. He threatened those I love, and he told me if I didn’t comply and do what he wanted when he wanted, then he would end my life. I was so scared. I have nightmares about that night, about how it felt to have the gun pressed so hard there.”
“Don’t. Don’t think about it. I’m sorry I forced you to talk about it and remember.” He hugged her to him, pulled her onto his chest, and caressed her back and her ass.
“You’re safe now. You’re mine.”
“He told me he would always own me, that I could never be loved, be cared for, or protected by anyone but him.”
“No. He is wrong, Yanna, and I promise that he will never possess you again. Never. You have my protection and my men’s protection. Trust no one else ever but us, and Puento will never have the chance to touch you, hurt you, or claim ownership of you again.”
Chapter 9
Rayanna knew something was up, but she was too busy trying to help organize everything backstage on the beach. The day’s events had gone amazingly well, and she truly looked forward to another night in Dmitri’s arms, listening to the ocean waves and enjoying the pleasures of the resort and hotel with him.
She smiled at Carlos, who stood in the doorway with Olek.
“What’s going on? Where did the others go?” she asked Olek.
“Taking care of business and some phone calls,” Olek said to her.
“Olek, come over here,” Carlos said.
Rayanna smirked and went about helping the models and organizing where the gowns for the eveningwear needed to go. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Olek’s eyes widen and then him nod.
Carlos chuckled.
“Stick with me and you can see the best sights around.”
Olek got straight-faced again, and Rayanna chuckled.
“Rayanna, baby, there you are. I need you. Please.” Maxwell approached, wrapped his arm around her waist, and whispered into her ear.
Olek came right over.
“Space, buddy.”
Maxwell stepped back and looked around.
“Sorry. I don’t know if there is going to be enough room for them to change. The gowns are long, and they need more room. Come see what you can do.”
She followed. Carlos and Olek remained behind. This section was where the models changed.
As she got to the setting, she agreed. They needed more room. She opened the curtain that led to the beach and, of course, security. “Can we expand this out some? I think we can get a larger area here.”
“Okay. Can you get someone to work on that?” he asked and winked.
She took out the radio and called for assistance. A few seconds later, two guys came and Olek peeked in. She waved him over.
“These two guys are going to be here expanding this space. I’m going to be working right here as we get ready for the evening events to start.”
“Okay. Dmitri will meet up with you after the show.”
She squinted at him. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes, Rayanna. He isn’t far, but if he can’t be right next to you, then he isn’t going to squeeze into this chaos. I don’t even fit back here.”
“I know, but don’t worry. You can stand out there and know that I’m safe in here and helping the models get their gowns on. It’s almost time.”
“Good because it’s getting dark out, and I don’t like the setup of this place or the crowds.”
“Neither do I,” Carlos added, peeking in.
A while later, after the event started and models were coming in and out of the back changing area, Rayanna couldn’t help but to think about Dmitri and being with him. He had his own private jet, his own security at the hotel, and in a couple of days, they would be back in New York, she would finish the event at Solencio’s, and then they would go to Dmitri’s estate in Chicago. From there she didn’t know what would come of their relationship, but she knew that she loved him, and for some reason thinking that, admitting it in her head, no longer made her feel foolish. Instead, it made her smile.
* * * *
“Where are they now?” Dmitri asked Grisha.
“The team is rounding them up and taking them out. Several of the gang members resisted and are dead. Others are still being questioned, but this is what we have so far. Sunny and Vinny, along with Fedarro and Collin, proved that York Saint James was working with Montego and Colo, hoping to destroy our joint operations with the Fiorre family.”
“Anyone else involved and taken care of?” Dmitri asked.
“It looks like York Saint James is talking and trying to save his life. He says he knows who made the plan and was going after the Fiorre family’s businesses to destroy them.”
“Who, Grisha?” Dmitri asked.
“Puento Guzmon.”
Dmitri’s nostrils flared, and he curled his hands into fists by his sides.
“This was a plan from the start?”
“I don’t believe so, and neither does Fedarro. He thinks it was to get back at Rayanna, to weaken her and force her back into Puento’s protection and life. There was a plan to out a hit on one of the cousins, either Fedarro or Mateus. York Saint James just wanted his debt to the Fiorre family over, but then Puento’s obsession went beyond the deal. Once you started showing interest in her, Dmitri, Puento set his sights on taking you down, too, then taking Rayanna from you as a show of power,” Grisha explained.
“No matter what, Dmitri, Rayanna was in danger and now even more so because people know you care about her and put up that order of protection. Your enemies will help him and probably already have,” Bodashka added.
“He needs to die,” Hadeon stated.
“That he does, but we must find him first,” Dmitri said.
“What would you like us to do?” Paulo asked him.
“Take them all out. York Saint James must know how to contact Puento and set something up to meet him. We’ll set a trap. Work with Fedarro and Collin on this. I’ll think of a plan to fool him, and then we’ll find Puento. In the interim, I want Yanna under guard. The event will be over shortly, and then we leave for New York tonight.”
They all walked away to start working on their orders as Dmitri thought about Yanna. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her because of his life and his enemies. Puento needed to die, but what about the others who would surely come after her to get to him? Was he to force her to live his kind of life? A prisoner, watching her back, trusting no one, constantly under guard and the protection of guns? It didn’t seem fair. She had chosen a profession that was normal and not one within her own family, the Fiorres.
Yanna would want to come and go as she pleased. Visit friends, go out on the town, because that was what she was used to. Not anymore. If he killed Puento, others would soon follow and hunt her to get to him. His only choice may be to let her go in order to save her life and give her the freedom she deserved. He couldn’t be selfish. He couldn’t hold onto the idea that he could have what normal men had, what his friends had. He wasn’t normal, never was, and he would always be a made man, a powerful associate of the Russian mob, a man with blood on his hands and secrets that would make Yanna hate him anyway.
He knew what he had to do, but first Puento was going down.
* * * *
It was typical chaos, and Rayanna was helping the last model with her evening gown. As she watched the model exit the m
akeshift changing room, Rayanna heard the oohs and ahhs outside the curtain as the crowd reacted to the gorgeous red designer dress. She exhaled.
“That’s it, right?” Carlos asked, entering the curtain.
She smiled.
“It’s over.”
“Good, then we can get out of here. Come on,” he said to her, and then Olek entered.
“We need to head out. Now.” Olek offered her his hand.
Carlos looked as though he didn’t know what was happening either. “What’s wrong?”
“Dmitri said there’s trouble. We need to get her through the crowd and to the SUV.”
“If there’s someone here to hurt her, then we shouldn’t go out that exit. Let’s go this way.” Carlos lifted the material of the tented area, revealing sand and darkness.
“What’s out that way?” Olek asked. He stepped down and then offered his hand to Rayanna.
She took it, and her gut clenched.
“Backstage area and where security has the perimeter fenced in so no one can get through from outside. We can make our way around or head to the right, and you can tell whomever is waiting to meet us there,” Carlos said and took her hand.
She was walking through the darkness with both of them and could see a man at the end by the fence. He wore the white security shirt and had a flashlight near him. Her focus was on him, and then she heard the thump. She turned and saw that Olek was down, moaning on the ground, and a man was there. He hit Olek with something. She went to scream, and Carlos covered her mouth.
“Is the car waiting?” Carlos asked.
“Yes. Puento said hurry up. Let’s go.”
She kicked and screamed, cried in shock and anger that Carlos, a man she trusted, would be helping Puento. She didn’t want to leave Olek. She didn’t want to be brought to Puento.
“Stop squirming, or I’ll be forced to drug you. Puento won’t be happy. He wants you conscious when you arrive,” Carlos said to her.
“Fuck, she’s got a great body,” the other guy said, and when they got to the security guy, he opened the gate to let them through.
“Go to the left. Through that crowd of people and past the tent. There’s a delivery truck. They’re waiting for you,” the guy told them.
She continued to fight him, to resist going with him anywhere.
“She’s a feisty bitch. Stick her with the needle or someone is going to notice her fighting us,” the other guy stated.
Carlos shook her. He whispered into her ear.
“It’s over, Rayanna. Puento wants you and he won. You’re never going to see Dmitri or your friends or cousins again. If you fight us, he’ll put out hits on all of them, and their blood will be on your hands, even Dmitri’s.”
She growled and slammed her forehead against his head.
“Fuck,” he yelled.
She slithered down and tried to run. The other guy tackled her, and she felt the prick to her neck and his knee in her spine.
“Now she won’t wake up until she’s out of the country.”
* * * *
“Rayanna! Rayanna!” Olek called out and then felt the hands on his shoulders.
“What the fuck happened? Where is she? Where’s Carlos?” Paulo asked.
“They took her. Carlos is working for Puento. They took her to him.”
Paulo looked at Andriy and the other men who came to secure Rayanna. “Call Dmitri and Nicolai. Get everyone on alert. Rayanna is gone. Puento’s men and Carlos took her.”
Chapter 10
“It’s time,” Adalina said to Sunny and Vinny.
Vinny just got off the phone with Fedarro. Everyone had been going crazy. There were violence and chaos throughout the criminal world in New York and Chicago. Dmitri was on a rampage. Fedarro, Collin, and their cousins were all using their power, their connections, to track down Puento or anyone who helped him take Rayanna away. It had been five days, and she had begged Tudoro to let her contact her father for help.
“Now, Adalina, when we’re in the middle of this?” Vinny asked her. He was still shaken up over being shot at last night as he and Sunny, plus members of Nicolai’s organization, hit up clubs, bars, businesses, and hideouts of known members of the Puentez gang.
“Well, I love the two of you very much, and this secret I am going to share with you will affect you both greatly, as well as others close to us—Dmitri included,” she said, knowing that Dmitri knew who her father was and had blood ties to her family, to the Russian and Ukrainian mobs.
As people were making threats and calling fair game on Dmitri Sanclare and the woman he desperately sought to find, they were going to use it against Dmitri. Dmitri didn’t care. He was desperate to save Rayanna and keep his promise of protecting her. Adalina’s father had the power to protect all of them from any harm, but he wouldn’t expose his location and the fact that he was alive and well when so many searched for him. Instead, Adalina would reveal that she was his daughter and the boss of the entire operation underground and in cities throughout the US, that she would represent her father and would be untouchable.
“Fuck. This has something to do with what is going on?” Vinny said, and Sunny stepped closer.
“Go on. Tell us,” Sunny said to her.
“Time is of great importance right now, and Dmitri is on his way here,” she said.
“On his way here? Why?” Vinny asked.
“The secret, Bro. The fucking secret. Shit.” Sunny ran his fingers through his hair.
“You’ve both heard of underground smuggling and the operations run under a man named Lacosta?” she asked.
They chuckled.
“Fuck yeah, honey. That is the man and then some,” Sunny said.
“So you know the power he has, the influence, the money, the monopoly and the control of the black market?”
“Yes, but no one speaks of him or even knows if he’s alive. The business operates fully and across the US and out of the country. He’s a mastermind of operations, and the most powerful man in black market dealings,” Vinny said.
She exhaled.
“What I tell you right now must remain between us. The longer we can keep this a secret, the better.”
“What?” Vinny asked.
“I’m Lacosta’s daughter,” she said.
They just stared at her.
“Holy fuck,” Sunny said.
“That’s how you knew where Bella was, and the other things you were able to help with. Holy shit.”
“I know. Now listen. There’s a chance this is going to come out. If and when it does, I need the two of you to be ready, to understand that I couldn’t tell you who I am, who my father is. They swore me to secrecy, and it killed me inside to hide this from both of you.”
“No one can find out. People will hunt you down and want things from you, want to use you to get to your father. It’s understandable. I know why you couldn’t tell us. Things are going to have to change. Security, the way we run things,” Sunny stated. He grabbed her arms and looked down into her eyes.
“Yes, they will, unless we can keep this secret between us three, Dmitri, Fedarro, and Collin. They’ll be here momentarily.”
“We love you, and we will protect you, be your personal security always,” Vinny said to her.
“I wanted to tell you right away, but my father and Tudoro ordered me not to. Your lives would be in danger, too. You know this. You know I love you, and I don’t want your lives to change, but it will be inevitable unless we come up with a resolution, a way to keep the secret.”
“We can try to keep it a secret as long as possible. I suppose you’re telling us now because you have information on Rayanna or Puento to share with Dmitri?” Vinny asked.
“Dmitri knows who my father is. He does not know how to contact him, but he knows an associate of my father, a man named Zinfer. He is a manipulator, a crook, and one of the main operators working under my father’s command. My father’s location—and proof that he is alive—can’t even be confirme
d by Zinfer. If he hasn’t already asked for his help, which I believe Dmitri did, then it will cost Dmitri big time. That’s where I step in. Just be here and be supportive. I need both of you,” Adalina told them.
“And if word gets out, then won’t people come after you to try and take you or to get to your father?” Vinny asked with concern.
“No they won’t because my father will announce my complete control of operations. We’ll have the protection of men, soldiers who have been part of the family of protectors for life, including Tudoro, my cousin, and the entire family.”
“The Garlitto family? Holy crap, Adalina. No wonder you held back and didn’t tell us,” Vinny said to her.
“You didn’t trust us despite what we’ve shared and how much we told you we love you,” Sunny said, and he seemed pissed off now that things were kicking in, insulted.
That wasn’t her intention. She reached for him and held his hand against her chest.
“No, Sunny. I do love you and Vinny. If I didn’t, then I would have had to disappear, too, and I would have denied that love and did what my father and Tudoro asked me to do in order to protect you and your family. But now there’re all these connections. Bella to Fiorre family, you two to me, Rayanna to Sanclare, me to Sanclare.”
“You to Sanclare? What?”
“Dmitri and I share a connection, as well.” Just as she said that, the doorbell rang.
“What are we telling them?” Vinny asked.
“Nothing. I’m doing all the talking, and then we’re going to find Rayanna.”
* * * *
“What’s this all about, Adalina?” Fedarro asked her once the introductions were made.
She looked at Grisha, and Dmitri squinted at her.
“Well?” Dmitri asked.
“I assume this is one of your main guards, loyal to you in every way? Someone who would give their life for you?” she asked Dmitri and then looked at Grisha.
“All my men are trustworthy and friends. Grisha is my top man.”
“I have something to reveal, and I don’t know whether I can trust him as I am going to trust you, Dmitri, Fedarro, and Collin,” she said to Dmitri. The Russian stood there and stared at her.
Made Men 5: Dmitri's Denial (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic) Page 13