“Not to worry,” came a very thick accented reply. “I am pleased that it was only white wine.” At Sarah’s blush, he placed a finger under her chin and tilted her head up to look at him. “What is your name?”
“Sarah, Sarah Jenkins,” she blurted out and she put her hand out to shake. Taking her hand, he raised it to his lips, kissing it as he squeezed it lightly.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you Miss Sarah Jenkins. You may call me Dmitri,” he told her as he handed her wine back to her.
“Oh, this is your party; again, I’m so sorry. I can’t believe I did that.”
“Not to worry. Come, let us walk around and look at the art. Perhaps, if I’m walking beside you, there will be less opportunity for me to get wet,” he teased.
“Oh, but shouldn’t you…that is to say…I…shouldn’t you be mingling?” Sarah asked, as her voice trailed off.
Turning to smile at her, he grasped her elbow and escorted her away from the bar, “Oh, but I am. So, tell me, little one. Did I see you walking in with Vitaly Chekov?”
Smiling, “Yes, I’m interning as Mr. Chekov’s personal assistant for the summer while his regular assistant is out on maternity leave.”
“And do you like working for…Mr. Chekov?”
Sarah nodded, “I can’t believe how much I’ve learned in such a short time. It’s been amazing.”
As Sarah looked at the painting hanging on the wall, Dmitri’s eyes narrowed, as he contemplated ways to exploit the relationship.
As the other members of VIC Enterprises worked the room, Marcus walked up to Vitaly. “Well, she works fast.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your intern,” replied Marcus as he pointed across the room.
As Vitaly turned, he stilled. Sarah was talking and laughing with none other than Dimitri Nardiv and they weren’t alone. Nico Demolios from the New Jersey Port Authority and two other men were vying for Sarah’s attention, as she seemed to be entertaining all of them with a story. Vitaly dug his nails into his palms as he squeezed his hands into fists.
Of all the people she could be speaking with, it had to be him.
Vitaly briefly remembered a time when he and Dmitri were friends. Both were new to the country and eager to make their way in the world. But Dmitri wasn’t interested in hard work; he wanted to take the easy route. When the two decided to go into business together, they were offering shipping services to small vodka manufacturers eager to make a name for themselves in North America. But what Vitaly didn’t know was that wasn’t all they were shipping.
Dmitri had a sideline where he was importing contraband with the legitimate products. When Vitaly found out, they fought and rather than risk prison, Vitaly dissolved their partnership and moved out to the west coast. While he knew that coming back to the east coast was a risk, his business was expanding and he needed to get a foothold on both coasts.
As Marcus looked at Vitaly, he’d never seen him that angry. Tapping him lightly on the arm, “Hey, boss, it’s been a long day. Why don’t you and the intern call it a night? We got this.”
At Vitaly’s nod, he was about to motion to Sarah when Vitaly stalked over there. Grabbing Sarah by the elbow, he pulled her back toward him. “Time to go,” he practically growled.
“Vitaly, it is so good to see you, old friend. I was just telling your lovely Sarah here how we used to work together. Won’t you have a drink to toast to old times?”
“Another time, Dmitri.”
Gripping Sarah’s elbow, he turned on his heel and practically dragged Sarah out of the gallery.
“Vitaly, you’re hurting me, what the hell is going on?” Sarah demanded as she jerked her elbow out of his grasp.
“Go to the car, Sarah.”
“No! Not until you tell me what’s going on.”
“Sarah. Do as you are told.”
Crossing her arms over her chest, Sarah started at Vitaly. “You’re behaving like a Neanderthal. Now, what is going on?”
Vitaly was doing his best to control his anger. Seeing Sarah with Dmitri set him on edge and he wasn’t interested in dealing with her little tantrum. And now, she was calling him a Neanderthal? He would show her Neanderthal. Growling under his breath, he shoved Sarah into the alley they were standing in front of. Pushing her face first against the wall, he pressed tightly against her.
“Perhaps now would be a good time to show you what I can do with my belt,” he threatened as he boldly ran his hands over her body. “Because you need to understand that I do NOT tolerate disobedience.”
Sarah wanted to push back and fight him, but the minute he touched her, she wanted to melt. Her brain was screaming at her to fight him, but the more he touched her, the more she wanted. Unable to control herself, she shuddered as Vitaly chuckled.