It had been awkward, sitting in the car outside the car wash watching Jeanette shuffle back and forth as she collected her things. I don’t think I had ever been more aware of my appearance in my life than I had as I stood there, dressed in my Tommy dress, watching Jeanette leave. Did she think I was looking down on her? Judging her in some way? Or did she think that I condoned the killing? Was in on it in some way?
Of course, Dimitri and Arlo scurried me away, securing me in the car. I was to be a pawn that they pulled out when needed and lorded over anyone who disobeyed them. The thought alone was vomit-inducing.
As Dimitri and Arlo dealt with Jeanette vacating the premises, I typed out a message to Charl.
Corinne: We need to extract ourselves from this job ASAP. Too many unsavoury occurrences for the Club to be associated with.
I wasn’t sure typing the word murder into a text message about a client was the wisest move, so I tried to be as tactful about it as possible.
It didn’t take Charl long to reply, and when my phone vibrated with his message, relief flooded through my body.
Until I read his message that is.
Charl: Take off your little white gloves, Corinne. Their business may be unconventional, but this is a good client for us.
I simmered in anger. Charl was dismissing my concerns without even understanding the full ramifications of what I was dealing with. What an asshole. This wasn’t the madness speaking, Charl was just being an asshole.
He wanted me to stay put and be a good little Witch whilst conducting readings to determine who Dimitri should kill or not? Fine. Fucking fine. After this job, I would have to extract myself from Charl and the Club anyway. And, if I felt like I needed to leave this job - to simply walk away, then I would. Right now, I only suspected Dimitri of planning on murdering Olek but I didn’t have any proof.
Dimitri was silent as we drove back to his house whilst Arlo attempted an array of topics to make small talk, but I wasn’t in the mood for chit chat, and instead cited a headache. I rested my head against the cool leather seats and closed my eyes, using every ounce of willpower I had to ignore the fact that Dimitri’s leg was pressed against my thigh, and this time he was doing nothing to keep some sort of distance between us, instead he pushed his legs wider, sitting in such a male fashion. Fatigue washed over me as the events from the day, and the night before, began to catch up. I was not the right person for this job. Charl should have sent someone else - someone more used to dealing with the shady underbelly of society because I was shit at this, and now I was terrified to read for Dimitri and to also not read for him.
When we pulled up outside the compound, a large white van sat on the curbside - seemingly empty. The van was entirely unmarked. Untraceable.
My hairs stood on end as the beginnings of comprehension hovered at the edge of my mind.
“You need to walk into the house and go straight to your room, if you hear any noises, just remain in your quarters.” Dimitri’s speech turned formal as he issued commands as if they were second nature. The only problem was that I wasn’t his to command.
His tone that was filled with condescension saw my hackles rising. I would not be used as the tool to condemn a man, but then deemed too delicate or whatever bullshit they were telling themselves that somehow justified me not being able to actually witness what I had condemned him to.
“No,” I flung the word back at him, my rage close to the surface, “I want to see what you do to him.”
Thankfully, Arlo stepped out of the car, giving us some space. Dimitri did not move one inch, “Listen to me, Bambi,” he ground out, his face almost touching mine, “as far as I’m concerned, at this point, you don’t know what the fuck we do, so why don’t we just keep it that way, huh?”
As I exhaled harshly, strands of my hair touched his face. “No,” my voice was low but firm. “I’m not just going to sit around doing readings for you so you can go out and kill those who I discover are screwing you over, only then to be such a coward that I can’t even see the end result.” My rage was bubbling over, the words dripping with all the venomous anger that I held.
“Besides,” I added, “you seemed just fine using me as a threat against Jeanette just now, so I don’t actually see what the difference is.”
I exhaled heavily and watched in fascination as Dimitri inadvertently drew in the air I had just breathed out. His gaze bore into mine and I was all too aware of where his hands were, and how his thigh was still pressed against mine.
“Fine,” he exhaled against my lips, “fucking fine. But don’t say I didn’t warn you. I have no time for your bullshit meltdowns over our business dealings,” he emphasized.
“Says the man who was white with terror when my deity arrived,” I smirked back at him. Even riding my high, I saw the fear in his eyes, the way his hand hovered above his gun as if he could somehow slay a deity with a bullet. I couldn’t blame him, not when Magick sometimes scared even me, but I would use that against him, especially when he was such an obnoxious asshole.
“Fuck,” he pressed his forehead against mine, his anger blazing bright, “you,” he hissed.
“Right back at you, Dimitri,” I used my most haughty and condescending tone - the one I had learnt from my mother, and got out of the car and walked into his home, leaving him fuming behind me.
I was hired to do a job, and I wasn’t about to let Dimitri place me in a corner and exclude me from the repercussions of that job. I was tired of him and Charl - and even my father - telling me what I could and could not do, only pulling me out when it suited them.
Once I was in the entryway, I realised that I didn’t know where to go. I didn’t know where Arlo, and presumably some of his men were. My bravado deflated, leaving me grappling for purpose. With my anger fading, I wondered if Dimitri would report me to Charl. I wanted to cringe and shy away from that thought, but honestly, after Charl’s last text, I didn’t even care. My Magick wasn’t tied to Charl or the Club for that matter, and Charl clearly didn’t have my best interests at heart.
I couldn’t explain it, but something deep within me needed to see how a man was going to die, if it was my reading that condemned him to his fate.
Dimitri walked in quietly behind me, his anger and fury radiating off of him as he placed his palm on the small of my back and propelled me forward, marching me across the hallway, through a sitting room, and out the french back doors that opened up onto a large wrap around porch overlooking a garden. This wasn’t the light, guiding hand he had used at the car wash earlier. No, this was more forceful - as if he were restraining himself from pushing me to my doom. I couldn’t blame him, I had to restrain myself from throttling him on countless occasions, and I had only known him for the sum of two days.
“You wanted to see what that vermin has been condemned to, so come and see,” he growled out, never releasing me from his punishing pace. I refused to whine or complain about the fact that I was now essentially power walking in heels on grass. Instead, I steeled my shoulders and stepped delicately onto the lawn, walking towards the pool house at Dimitri’s forced guidance.
The pool house was a smaller version of the main house with the exception of it being one story and there being three solid stone steps that led to the front door. It was spacious, but entirely open plan, leaving Olek completely exposed to my gaze as we stepped through the front door.