"What? Who?"
Juna spun around and smacked Dmitri's shirtless chest. She growled in frustration, now knowing that the Bratva was one step ahead of her. And they had access to her bedroom. Buying a gun was definitely a good choice. Initially she assumed she was just targeted due to accessibility but it was becoming more and more evident that she was more than just bait.
Juna Van der Heeney was Dmitri's only hope now.
"Dmitri, I—" the words caught in her throat and she glanced at her gun. Of course he noticed it, but he was waiting for her to explain. Something that was inherently inconsistent with his character. He was naturally curious and wanted answer and damn everyone else until he got them.
"My. . . stalker. He bugged my room."
Dmitri's brows furrowed. "How do you know?"
She heaved a heavy sigh, not fully ready to talk about their relationship. "He knew what you said when—when I told I was in love with you."
Anger flooded Dmitri's body, boiling in the pit of his stomach. Juna knew immediately when he clenched his large fist and ground his teeth that he was on the edge. She was pissed too. Private moments between the two had been invaded and their love was broadcasted to the most dangerous people in Dmitri's life.
It made the situation all the more frightening.
Not having control over the Bratva's knowledge of her or her love was driving her stir crazy.
Juna tenderly encased his clenched fist in her much smaller one, unraveling his fingers and entangling them in her own. She brought their intertwined hands to her lips and stared up at him as he towered over her, jaw clenched.
The pakhan had listened in on their most intimate moments; their arguments and the makeup sex, their jokes and banter, the sweet nothings Dmitri would murmur to her as she napped. Nothing was sacred to the bastard and Juna knew that if she wanted to live, if she wanted Dmitri to live, that she had to stop underestimating him and look at him for what he was.
The goddamn boss of the Russian mafia. The largest crime syndicate in the world.
Her touch and gentle kisses were enough to ease the tension from his muscles, but the blood that rushed to his brain was still pounding relentlessly in his eardrums.
"I'm going to protect you." he growled fiercely as he forcefully pulled her nearly nude figure into his chest. He gathered her in his arms, despite her protests, and coddled her in the comfort of his tiny bed.
"You can't protect me, my love." Juna whispered, brushing her hand wistfully across his cheekbone.
It was Juna Van der Heeney against the entirety of the Russin mafia, all for a boy she swore not to love.
****
Henley took her home before sunrise in order to avoid running into Keeley or the parental units. She bashfully kissed Dmitri on the forehead before escaping through his window and making a break for his car. She felt as if she'd left a piece of her in his bedroom.
He raised a quizzical eyebrow at her but said nothing. Ah, Henley, ever the master of avoidance. The less he knows, the less trouble he could avoid when Jameson becomes aware of her antics.
After a shower, Juna got to work. Her sister lived in Richmond, Virginia with her computer engineer of a husband. The man was a wiz for all things electronic. She duct-taped the video camera on her laptop, nearly traumatized knowing they'd received some privy images of her. Then, she cleared her search history even though it likely didn't matter.
Regret
Start from the beginning
