‘Will you …?’ he broke off and rubbed the back of his neck before focusing on her again. ‘Where are you going?’
‘To finish this,’ she told him, then melted back through the crowd and out through the doorway.
Chapter24
They’ve heard her screaming
Dmitry wastired and he was pissed off. Who did that stupid bitch Natasha think she was? Not only had she had the audacity to dump him out of the blue, but she’d also waited to do it until he had left the goddamn ballroom with no chance of shagging any of the willing and available pussy there. He had pushed open his bedroom door and started to undo his cufflinks when he felt the cold metal against his throat.
‘Call off your dogs, Alexandrov,’ he heard muttered into his ear in a low female voice. He sucked in a breath to scream but felt the metal press more firmly against his skin, and a trickle of blood run down his neck. ‘Scream and I slit your throat.’ He nodded and the knife eased back but still maintained some pressure.
‘How did you get in here?’ he asked, keeping his voice steady as he felt a droplet of sweat fall from his forehead to collect with the blood on his neck.
‘I can access anywhere I want. Nothing can stop me: no security system, no amount of manpower. You’d best remember that. I know what you’re doing, I know what you’ve set in motion, and I’m telling you that you need to call them off, you need to cancel the order: Chambers and Southern are not to be touched, not if you want to live. The deals are done anyway. Wiping them out now isn’t going to make any difference. You can’t hold back progress. Haven’t you made enough money from your oil already? Give it up.’
Dmitry swallowed. ‘Who are you?’ he asked, his voice hoarse with fear.
‘Your nightmare,’ she whispered, this time in his native tongue. ‘Don’t worry; we’ll meet again and next time you’ll be sure to see my face. He felt the pressure ease from his throat and a gust of breeze behind him. After a moment he spun around to face an empty room.
* * *
‘Bertie,’Katie said, her voice rising uncharacteristically in anger. ‘You let me in to see him, youtwp* bugger, or I swear I’ll break that door down.’
‘He said that he wasn’t to be disturbed and I –’
Katie rolled her eyes, pushed Bertie out of the way easily despite his size and the fact she was heavily pregnant, and stormed into Nick’s office with Salem padding along behind her. There were two large men sitting across from Nick: one had a full, greying beard and a potbelly, and the other was younger with more muscle and blonde hair. Nick looked between her and Salem, then pushed his chair back almost violently to stand up.
‘Where is she?’ he asked accusingly, and Katie’s eyebrows went up into her hairline.
‘Don’t take that tone with me, Nick Chambers,’ Katie said, glaring at Nick whilst Salem sat next to her, fixing him with a hard stare and letting out a small growl. ‘You’re the bloody reason she’s buggered off to lands unknown, you great big idiot. Ugh!’ She flopped down on the leather sofa facing the desk and chairs and let out an exasperated breath. ‘As if you give a shit anyway,’ she muttered, and Nick stalked around his desk towards her until he was towering over her, literally vibrating with anger. ‘I shouldn’t have come. Samtoldme not to come. Hesaidthere was no point. He’ll be furious when he finds out I –’
‘What’s going on?’ Nick snapped, cutting her off. ‘Why do you have Salem?’ Salem was still sitting, staring at Nick with his lip slightly curled to reveal his sharp teeth.
‘Nick, mate,’ the older of the two men said whilst half rising from his chair, ‘maybe we better …?’
‘Sit down,’ Nick barked, and the man fell back into the chair, frowning across at him. Nick didn’t take his eyes off Katie. ‘Where is she?’ he asked her. To her surprise it wasn’t just annoyance she could hear in his tone; there was a hint of desperation there too.
She sighed. ‘I wouldn’t have come here but … well, the guys think they can handle it … I just …’ She trailed off and then to her shock saw Nick drop to a squat in front of her and take her hands in his, giving them a squeeze.
‘Please, Katie,’ he begged, and it was then she noticed the haunted look in his eyes, the dark circles under them and the way his cheekbones stood out more in his face, as if he’d lost weight, ‘please tell me where she is. Tell me she’s okay.’
‘Youdocare about her,’ Katie said, almost accusingly as she searched his face.
‘Of course I care about her, Katie; I’m in love with her.’
Katie’s mouth fell open and for a moment she lost the power of speech. After a few shocked seconds she narrowed her eyes, pulled her small hands out from under his, balled one into a fist and punched him on the arm.
‘Hey! What was that for?’
‘That’s for being a git and shagging other birds when you’re inlovewith someone who had towatchyou doing it. Jeepers, why are men so bloodytwp.’
‘I didn’t shag anyone else, Katie,’ Nick told her, rubbing his arm, which gave Katie a very satisfying feeling of triumph.
‘Well, you –’
‘I didn’t. I just wanted to shake things up. She’d shut me out for a whole goddamn month. It was getting ridiculous.’
Katie threw her hands up in the air and rolled her eyes. ‘You impatient sod. So you thought you’d throw a tantrum and bugger everything up? Great plan, just fabulous. And now, I suppose, now that she’s out of the picture you’ve forgotten all about h –’
