Sounding stunned, Alex replied. “I did.”
“Good. I need to go. You know what to do?”
“Yes. Be careful, Dimitri. I’ll try to hide this from Father as much as possible, but someone will tell him eventually.”
Swearing softly, Dimitri stood. “I know, but it doesn’t matter anymore. My life is Rya’s now, and I will keep her safe at any cost.”
Chapter Twenty
Rya sat in the largest communal area of the Ice Demons Club house and tried to keep from fidgeting beneath the combined stares of Maks, the bodyguard Dimitri sent, and Gears, her self-appointed bodyguard who was none too happy with her. When he’d found out about Rya’s involvement with Dimitri he’d flipped out and had to be dragged out of the club house while Terror took care of her injuries. Then her mom found out that her daughter had hooked up with a Russian mobster, and she made Gears’ fit look like a toddler’s tantrum. If Rya hadn’t been so hurt she was pretty sure her mom would have locked her up in the basement of the club house for getting involved with the Russian mafia. Hell, her mom had almost tried to kick Maks’ ass when he showed up last night, but fortunately for Maks, Rock held her back.
Oddly enough, out of everyone, Rock seemed the most supportive of Rya’s decision to go back to Russia with Dimitri. She felt bad because her mom was super pissed at Rock, but at the same time she appreciated that he wasn’t trying to guilt her into staying. When she asked why he was being so cool he simply said that she was her mother’s daughter, and that when a woman like that fell in love with a man, neither heaven nor hell was going to get in her way. Though he also added that if Dimitri hurt Rya he’d end up at the bottom of Niagara Falls.
Tawny sat on the couch with Rya stuck to her side since last night. She’d also been super pissed that Rya hadn’t told her what was going on, but she understood. Like Rya, Tawny had been raised in a less than law abiding environment and knew how to keep her mouth shut. While Tawny might look like every man’s walking California blonde wet dream, she was a bad ass bitch in her own right and hadn’t been shocked that Rya killed her attacker. In fact, she high-fived Rya when she found out, helping dispel the last of Rya’s guilt. As Tawny put it, Rya did the world a favor and simply took out the trash.
Leaning closer, Tawny’s gaze cut to the side of the room where Maks stood then back at Rya with a definite gleam of desire. “Are all Russian men so fucking hot? I think my panties are soaked.”
“From what I’ve seen, yes.”
“Motherfucker,” Tawny giggled. “I’m so coming to visit you.”
Maks was ridiculously handsome with short reddish blond hair and the sharp bone structure of a supermodel combined with a serious don’t-fuck-with-me vibe. He wore a pair of black cargo pants and a tight black thermal shirt which highlighted his muscular physique. He didn’t bother to put on a jacket to hide his shoulder holster, and Rya wondered what kind of weapons he had hidden elsewhere on his person. Though his English was excellent, he barely had an accent, he hadn’t said much to Rya other than to introduce himself. She liked him immediately, and not just because he was hot. Maks treated her and the rest of the women at the club with the utmost respect while pretty much ignoring all the men glaring at him.
While it wasn’t unusual to see scantily clad women in the club house, Rya had no delusions about the slut butts who hung around the club and serviced the members in any way they wanted, it wasn’t the club sluts that were currently hanging out. Nope. Right now, the old ladies and female relatives of the members tried to casually pretend they weren’t all staring at the mysterious Russian bodyguard. Not that Rya could blame them, even in her mentally and physically fucked up state she had to admit Maks was a fine piece of eye candy.
Dimitri was supposed to be arriving soon, his plane had landed an hour ago, and Rya was beyond nervous. First, because she was about to take a huge step in her life and leave her home and family to go to Russia; second, because said family was waiting to meet Dimitri; third, because she looked like shit. She’d barely had any sleep, her shoulder was bruised from where she connected with the edge of her coat rack, and her throat was discolored from where the man had choked her in addition to her tender ribs. Thankfully, her mom and some other women from the club had gone to her house and packed up her things for her, and Rock was taking care of the cleanup. It hurt her heart to think of her grandmother’s kitchen tainted by the violence and death and she hoped Rock was able to restore it, even if she would probably never live there again.