“I’ve met him a few times when my father has had him over at parties. But we’ve never had any personal conversations.”
“My mother is absolutely infatuated with Senator Ellis. She talks about his smile, the sparkle in his green eyes, and his exquisite taste in clothing.” Dimitri dramatically twirled his fingers in the air. “Currently, Senator Ellis is my mother’s new hobby for the season. How long this will be? I don’t know. But for now, he’s untouchable.”
While I was shocked by Dimitri giving me all of this information, I also knew that there were meanings underneath these words. There were things that he would not tell me, things that I didn’t need to know, but wanted to understand.
Was his mother and the senator having sex? Or was it just a friendly infatuation? Did the Diamond Syndicate have the senator in their pockets?
Dimitri continued, “Mayor Parks called Senator Ellis who then contacted my mother. Now you’re on her radar. That is not a good thing.”
“Wait a minute. What was said?”
“Mayor Parks doesn’t believe that I have provided all information to him on this serial killer murders. He wants someone next to me that he trusts. That person is you.” Dimitri lowered his gaze to my legs as if he realized for the first time that I didn’t have pants on.
I blushed.
He kept his gaze on my legs. “While I did want to spend more time with you, Ms. Walsh. I imagined it would be moments sipping wine during a candlelit dinner. Instead, we will be searching the city for a homicidal maniac.”
Excitement filled me. “We are investigating the murders together?”
He snapped his gaze back to my eyes. “That statement suggests that we’ll be partners. We’re not. I speak. You listen. We learn information, and you don’t report it to the public. You’re only to tell Idiot Parks.”
Viktor snickered from the kitchen. His pan sizzled. Savory scents filled the air.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Those are your rules?”
“Remember them. The better you understand them, the more you increase your chances of surviving.”
Viktor called over his shoulder, “Ms. Walsh, I see some bread in here. Would you like toast or do you want to stick with the bagels?”
Dimitri glared at me. “She won’t do toast and potatoes together. She cares too much about her carb intake. Just keep it with the potatoes and stop interrupting us.”
I didn't like how much he was easily assessing me. “Well, Dimitri. Since you know so much, how do I like my tea?”
He walked over to me.
I tensed.
He stopped two feet in front of me. “You don’t like tea. You’re addicted to coffee. And judging from all the cocoa powder, cinnamon, and different flavored sugars in your cabinet. You like to dump a lot of crap into your coffee to create a lot of fufu flavors."
“Fufu?”
“Unnecessary. Lacking in common sense taste.” He took another step forward. “Fufu.”
“Whatever.” I frowned at him. “Since, we’re working together, these are my rules.”
“You don’t get to say any rules.”
I glared. “Do not just walk into my condo whenever you feel like it.”
“Why?”
“You’re smart. You know exactly why. It’s an invasion of my privacy. You need to ask before you enter.”
“There are several things that you need to remember about me.” Dimitri closed the distance between us. “I don’t ask. I take. I don’t need. I want. And I get what I want, exactly when I want it, and in every way I want it to be.”
“Not when dealing with me.”
“Especially when dealing with you.”
I backed up.
Luckily, he didn’t move forward. Instead he placed both of his hands in front of him and held them. “When I first met you, Ms. Walsh, you were a minor annoyance. But a fuckable minor annoyance. Due to that, I allowed you to take certain liberties with me.”
“And now?”
“And now you have graduated into a major annoyance. One that has allowed a piece of shit asshole like Mayor Parks to pull strings and get involved in Syndicate business.” Rage blazed in his eyes. “A major annoyance that has incited my mother, of all people, to get involved. Along with her boytoy senator.”
I widened my eyes.
“Where once I was excited about tearing away your panties, throwing them to the ground, and inhaling the sweet scent of your pussy as I licked it.” His jaw twitched. “Now. . .”
I swallowed. “Now?”
“Now I’m considering the ways I will kill you. That’s not a good position to be in with me.”
“I didn’t know that Mayor Parks would involve the Senator or that it would—”
“Your job today is to be useful.” He held one finger up. “That is your only focus.”
I closed my mouth.
He lowered his hand. “So, you should spend less time worrying about my coming into your condo and put some pants on.”
Asshole!
We glared at each other.
“Breakfast will be ready in five minutes.” Viktor went to the cabinets and pulled out plates. “Don’t forget to wash your hands.”