Dimitri (25 page)

"So," he said while plucking a pen and small
notepad from his pocket.

"So," I replied and sat in my chair. "This is
where we play nice and trade selling prices, right?"

"It's time you accept the inevitable. By the
end of the week, I'll own the rest of the buildings on either side
of this street. You've made your stand. It's time to go
quietly."

"Or?"

Something dark flashed in his green
eyes. "You wouldn't like the
or
option, Benita."

I refused to let him scare me. "Luckily, your
two options aren't the only ones available to me."

His pen scratched across the paper as he
glanced up at me. "Have you had other offers?"

"Yes." It wasn't a total lie. Dimitri had
offered to buy Johnny's share.

He made a throat clearing noise. "I
suppose I have the deep pockets of your
tenant
to thank for that."

I heard the way he added that lilt of emphasis
to tenant. My private life wasn't his concern so I didn't open the
door to discussing it. "Where the offer came from doesn't matter.
It just matters that it's on the table."

"You know, this doesn't have to be adversarial,
Benita. You give a little. I give a little. We come to an agreement
and make this work."

I narrowed my gaze. "Don't you mean
I give a lot and you give almost nothing? I've heard the way
your
negotiations
worked out for my friends on this street."

"They weren't as tenacious as you are." He
ripped the top sheet of paper from his notepad, folded it in half
and tossed it onto my desk. "Let's start here."

My tummy clenched as I reached for the paper
and unfolded it. The number written there was less than half what
he'd offered me during his earlier overtures. Underneath the
insultingly low offer was an address. "What is this?"

"It's the address of a building I think you'll
like."

I lifted my gaze to his smarmy face. "A
building you own, I'm sure."

"It's a nice fit for your business
needs."

"And probably a nice fit for one of those
kickbacks the city is giving out to real estate companies who
foster friendships with minority businesses," I guessed.

He touched his chest. "You wound me, Benita.
Don't you know how much I support the minority
community?"

The slight sneer of contempt on his
face made me want to hurl my ceramic cupcake paperweight at him.
"Oh, Mr. Krause, if you only knew how much we think of you. I mean,
you have been such a
good
friend
to our
community."

He snorted with amusement. "I'll give you a
good deal on the lease."

I tapped the paper and threw it down onto my
desk. "If you consider that offer a good deal, I'm not interested.
And, anyway, I already have a lead on a new building. Nikolai
Kalasnikov has put me in contact with a friend."

I saw his lips tighten at the mere mention of
Nikolai's name. I'd name-dropped for that reason alone.

With a sigh, I mentioned, "I'm not the only one
who has to agree on the terms of selling this building. My brother
owns part of this business."

"Only thirty percent," he replied. "Little
Johnny was kind enough to bring over a copy of the partnership
contract. You let me worry about settling up with him. That price
is for your share of the building."

I shook my head. "That's not the way I work. I
want a fair price for the entire building. Johnny and I will settle
up on our own."

"I'll give you a better deal if we do this
separately."

"Why? Because you plan to screw over my brother
by offering him peanuts?"

Jonah shrugged. "From what I hear, he's not
going to need money where he’s headed."

"You should check your sources. You've
obviously heard wrong."

"Have I?" He settled back into the chair and
propped his ankle on his knee. "Because I heard that your brother
got caught in a drive-by last night and drove your car into an
empty building a few blocks down the road. I also heard that the
real estate company who owns the building plans to sue the shit out
of you both."

The icy burn of dread spread through my chest.
Mouth dry, I stated the obvious. "You own the building."

"Why, yes, I do! Bought it on Friday, actually.
Hell of a coincidence and the damnedest luck, wouldn't you
say?"

I wanted to smack that shit-eating grin right
off his face but stayed in my seat. "I suppose this means you don't
intend to move on this price."

"Oh, I intend to move down if I don't walk out
of here with a deal."

"So what? If I take this deal, you won't sue
me?"

"Probably not."

"Probably?"

"That building sustained quite a bit of
damage," he replied. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted to
sue you just to prove a point." Any pretense of friendliness
disappeared from his face. "This game of yours? It's cost me a lot
of money."

"Game?"

"Your principled stand? It infected more than
one of your neighbors and forced me to go over my acquisitions
budget. A nice, fat lawsuit might be a good way to inoculate myself
against this sort of stupidity in the near future."

"I did what I thought was right, what I still
think is right. This neighborhood could have been saved but you and
those vultures on the city planning committees made damn sure none
of us could get any kind of support for improvement."

"That's your problem, Benita. People like you?
You're all stuck in the past. You think anyone gives a shit about
buying homemade tortillas or hand-dyed wool or handmade furniture?
Fuck. No." He practically guffawed at me. "People want their
Starbucks and their Targets and their McDonalds. I'm here to give
it to them."

Before I could even respond, he sat forward.
"You should have been a good girl, Benita. You should have fallen
in line, taken my first offer and gotten the hell out of my way.
Instead, you chose to be a stupid, little brat about this—and now
I'm spanking your ass to teach you a lesson."

Incensed, I crumpled up his crappy offer and
threw it in the trash. "Get out."

He didn't move. "Take the deal,
Benita."

"No."

"I'll take you to court."

"Go ahead."

"I'll take every last fucking penny you have.
I'll ruin you. I'll make sure no one will rent to you and I'll
blacklist every single one of your employees. I've got Immigration
on speed dial." As if his ugly, racist threats weren't enough, he
added, "And your brother? I'll get my private investigators to
smoke him out so fast your head will spin. I'm sure the guys who
shot at him last night would love to get their hands on
him."

The door to my office slammed into the wall.
Dimitri appeared in the doorway, filling the wide space with his
broad shoulders and impressive height. His furious stare fixed
right on Jonah Krause. "I think you're done here."

"I'll say when I'm fucking done."

My eyes widened at Jonah's brave reply. Dimitri
actually cracked a smile—but it was a dangerous one. "I can assure
you, Mr. Krause, that if I leave this doorway, you'll be screaming
that you're done in less than ten seconds."

Visibly flustered, Jonah rose from his chair.
He pointed a finger at me. "If I walk out that door, I'm calling my
lawyer."

"I guess it's a good thing I have mine on speed
dial." I didn't but it was the snappiest comeback I had at the
moment.

He glared at me and then Dimitri. "You two are
playing with fire. You won't like the way this ends."

Dimitri stepped aside just enough to clear a
tiny space for Jonah to exit my office. His stony stare unsettled
the real estate developer who moved so quickly I thought his ass
was on fire. Dimitri's gaze remained trained in the hallway. I saw
him lift two hands to his eyes and make a gesture. I could only
assume that one of the guys in the kitchen was going to follow
Jonah out of the building.

With a long, slow inhale, Dimitri turned to
face me. Rage was etched into his handsome face but the harsh lines
faded when our gazes met. "I'm sorry."

I blinked. "What? Why?"

"I shouldn't have slammed open the door like
that and thrown him out. You were handling it so well but I
simply—I lost it when he started to talk to you like
that."

I stood and crossed the distance between us.
Sliding my arms around his waist, I pressed my cheek to his chest.
"It's fine. I'm glad you threw him out." Disgusted, I asked, "Can
you believe that crap? Threatening me with Immigration? Like
everyone who is brown in this town is illegal or something! What a
jackass!"

"We have to get a lawyer.
Immediately."

"I have to get a lawyer," I
corrected.

Dimitri cupped my face and tipped my
chin. He peered down at me with such love in his pale blue eyes. "I
told you we're partners.
We
need a lawyer. I'm going to see Yuri right now.
He'll steer us in the right direction."

"Do you think Jonah will really do everything
he threatened?"

"Yes." He didn't even hesitate before
answering. "I think he's going to make your life a living
hell."

I groaned and buried my face against him. "I
should have just taken the lowball offer and sucked it up. I've
really screwed everything up again."

"No amount of money is worth that abuse. He's a
pig." Dimitri sounded like he wanted to spit on the very floor the
man had walked.

"A well-connected pig," I clarified. "I'm
worried about Johnny. What if he really does have a private
investigator that can find him?"

"You don't need to worry about that. Johnny's
safety won't be an issue after tonight."

I reeled back in shock. "Tonight?"

Dimitri reluctantly nodded. "I have plans in
motion. If everything works out, he'll be out of Houston and far,
far away by sunrise."

Emotions overwhelmed me. "Will I get to see him
again?"

"Of course, sweetheart." Dimitri kissed me. "I
wouldn't rob you of the chance to say goodbye." His lips lingered
on mine. "Kostya should be here any minute. He's going to keep an
eye on you while I run some quick errands. You are not to leave
this bakery, understood? Kostya is going to be your
shadow."

"I understand."

"He'll bring you to me later."

"And I'll see Johnny?"

He nodded. "You can say goodbye."

* * *

Dimitri slipped out of the back seat of the
private car Yuri had arranged for him. On habit, he checked the
area around the upscale marina. The driver had assured him they
weren't being followed, but with Johnny's location so desired by so
many people, Dimitri didn't want to take chances.

Certain he was in the clear, he closed the door
and headed for the private slip at the far end of the marina where
Yuri kept one of his so-called baby yachts. This one was only one
hundred feet or so long but no less ostentatious than the mega
yachts Yuri kept moored in various parts of the world. This one he
used to entertain locally and to make short trips around the Gulf
of Mexico and the Caribbean. Sometimes he even rented or loaned it
out to friends of friends.

Last night, when Dimitri had been desperate to
find a place to stow Johnny, Yuri hadn't thought twice about
offering his boat. He'd arranged it all, sending a driver and guard
to bring Johnny down to the private marina outside Galveston.
Dimitri hoped Johnny had been a good guest and not caused any
problems. Yuri had gone above and beyond the call of friendship
this time.

One of the crew members spotted and welcomed
him onto the yacht. He was led down into the luxurious living
space. Yuri sat in a comfortable chair and listened to the news.
There were two laptops and three cell phones surrounding him. How
he could concentrate like that, Dimitri would never
understand.

"I thought the whole point of having a yacht
was to relax?"

Yuri laughed and closed his laptops. "The world
markets never really close, Dimitri." He shifted the cell phones to
a side table. "Have you come to visit the prisoner?"

"Has he been difficult?"

Yuri shook his head. "He's been a model
captive. I haven't heard one single complaint." He stood and
gestured for Dimitri to follow. "Of course, that could be from all
the pain killers they're pumping into him."

He trailed Yuri to one of the roomy cabins.
Propped up in bed, Johnny rested on his right side and watched a
movie on the flat screen mounted on the opposite wall. Someone had
rigged up a temporary hook to hold the bag of clear fluid attached
to his IV.

Johnny looked relieved to see him. "How's
Benny?"

"She's fine." Dimitri came into the room and
sat in the empty chair next to the bed. "She misses you but I
promised her she could see you tonight. How are you
feeling?"