Lachlan snorted, his focus on Dimitri never wavering. “I heard he was chopped into so many pieces that they’ll never find them all. Sounds like the work of a psychopath to me.”
Lachlan didn’t have room to talk, but that was still news I hadn’t heard before. It was not like I wasn’tawareI’d been sleeping with a dangerous man, but we’d never gone intospecifics about his work or his mentor. That’d been part of the plan, but one wrong move and here we were.
The fact that everyone still had guns drawn didn’t bode well for whatever they’d seen and heard on the recordings.
My stomach sank at that realization, a reaction I hadn’t expected. Somewhere in the back of my mind I’d hoped we wouldn’t end this month together on bad terms, but now it seemed the time I’d spent with Dimitri would be all I got.
Mission completed.
So why did my chest feel tight?
“Here’s what’s gonna happen,” Alessio said. “You’ll drop your weapon and come with us. As long as you don’t pull any bullshit, you’ll end up in one piece when we get there.”
“I don’t believe you,” Dimitri said.
“That’s your choice. Bossman wants to see you. We have our orders, and they don’t include bringing in your lifeless body.”
“But we’ll do it,” Lachlan’s words were a dark promise he wouldn’t hesitate to act on. “And don’t think I won’t enjoy the hell out of making you suffer.”
“With an offer like that, who could say no?” Dimitri narrowed his eyes on mine, searching, and I could see the moment he made his decision.
He lowered his gun from my neck, but instead of tossing it on the ground, he shocked all three of us by putting it in my hands.
“If you’re going to threaten me, then you be the one to pull the trigger,” he said, stepping back from me, his powerful body vibrating with unleashed fury.
Lachlan searched him for other weapons, finding several more and pocketing them all.
The weight of his gun was too heavy in my hands, the feel of it unfamiliar—and unwanted. Violence wasn’t my scene, and I knew there was no way in hell I’d ever shoot Dimitri.
Well…if there were a threat to my brothers I would, but it wouldn’t be a fatal shot. Maybe in the leg or something to have him incapacitated for a few minutes, but not dead on the ground.
I shuddered at the thought and wondered why I didn’t feel more relief at my brothers showing up when they did. Dimitri had been ready to kill me. He’d hesitated, sure, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t have followed through. I’d lied, broken his trust, and was now a traitor in his eyes. In his world, there was nothing worse.
“Benoit.” Alessio jerked his head to the side for me to join him, and then we followed behind Dimitri and Lachlan and began the walk to wherever King had set up camp.
There was no telling what version of King we’d face when we arrived, but one thing I did know: this version of Dimitri somehow felt more lethal than he had with his gun in hand.
And that was something that should’ve scared us all.
24
DIMITRI
IF I’D THOUGHT I was pissed before when I was luring Benoit into a trap, it had nothing on the pure, violent rage coursing through me now. Three guns were trained on me, but that did little to keep me from attacking. I wanted the big boss. I wanted the head of that snake on a fucking platter, and that was the only reason the men walking beside and behind me were safe for now.
Benoit included. The goddamn traitor.
At least I didn’t have to look at him right now. His betrayal burned through my veins, but why was I surprised? Because I’d thought he was different? I wasn’t delusional enough to think he was with me for any other reason than I was paying him to be. This was the way of the world. Money and power, seduction and double crossing. It was par for the fucking course.
It didn’t take us more than five minutes to get to the nondescript house they’d commandeered. Of course they’d been close. They’d want to get to Benoit—or me—as fast as they could if something went down. The question was, how had they been watching? Or tracking? No doubt they’d been following us since the moment Benoit arrived at the castle in Prague?—
Shit. No.They’d been watching long before that. Benoit had been a trap in Dubai, one I’d fallen for hook, line, and sinker. Was he really even a dancer? He had to be. No one moved their body the way he did. No one captivated with just a look like he could. But there was more to the man I’d let into my bed than he let on.
Who the fuck was Benoit Olivier, really?
A sharp shove to my shoulder came from behind. “Keep moving,” Alessio said, forcing me to keep walking down the dark hall of the house. There was nothing on the walls, not a personal item in sight that would tell me anything about the people it belonged to. It had a vacant feel, like its purpose was for this meeting only.
I took note of my surroundings, the exits, every window we passed, the stairs to the left. Listened for every breath, every creak, any indication of how many others were in the house with us.
