Chapter 157: Did Vincent Scare You Today?

"Yes....God yes....thank you...."

"Don’t thank me. Just pray you’re smart enough to never make this mistake again." Dimitri straightened, looked at Vinnie. "Get him out of here. Make sure everyone knows what happened. Make sure they know I showed mercy. But make sure they also know what happens if they test that mercy."

"Yes, boss."

Dimitri walked out of the warehouse, Marco beside him.

"You good?" Marco asked as they got in the car.

"Fine. Why?"

"Because you just shot a man in the leg and threatened to kill his children. Most people would need a minute."

"I’m not most people." Dimitri checked his phone, message from Eve. Vincent had visited her. "And that man stole half a million dollars from me. He’s lucky he’s still breathing."

"Fair point."

They drove in silence for a while.

Finally, Marco spoke. "You heading home?"

"Yeah. Eve’s waiting."

"You gonna tell her about this?"

"No." Dimitri looked out the window at the city passing by. "She doesn’t need to know, She just needs to know I love her and I’m coming home."

"You don’t think she deserves to know who you really are?"

"She knows who I am. She knows I’m dangerous. She knows I run illegal operations. She just doesn’t need the details." Dimitri’s voice was firm. "The less she knows, the safer she is. And keeping her safe is the only thing that matters."

Marco didn’t argue.

They both knew Dimitri was right.

In this world, ignorance was protection.

And Eve’s ignorance was the best armor Dimitri could give her.

***

POV: EVE

Eve heard the elevator at 6:47 PM.

She was in the kitchen with Nonna, helping prepare dinner....ossobuco, Dimitri’s favorite.

He walked in looking... normal.

Suit perfect. Hair neat. No blood, no bruises, no signs of whatever he’d been doing all day.

Just her Dimitri.

Except for his eyes.

Eve had learned to read his eyes over the past months. Could see the darkness there, the weight of whatever he’d done.

But he smiled when he saw her, and the darkness receded.

"Cara mia." He crossed to her, pulled her into his arms, kissed her deeply. "I missed you."

"Missed you too." She searched his face. "Long day?"

"Very long. But it’s over now." He released her, greeted Nonna with a kiss on the cheek. "Something smells incredible."

"Ossobuco. Your favorite." Nonna swatted him with her wooden spoon. "Now go shower. You smell like warehouse."

He did, actually. Steel and concrete and something else Eve couldn’t identify.

"Yes, Nonna." He kissed Eve again, whispered against her mouth. "Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be right back."

She watched him disappear down the hall, then turned to Nonna.

"Should I ask?"

"About his day?" Nonna shrugged. "Only if you want to know. But mio caro, sometimes ignorance is a gift. Sometimes not knowing is how we sleep at night."

Eve thought about Vincent Calabrese’s visit. The warning in his eyes.

Be careful. This world will use you.

"I chose this," Eve said quietly. "Chose him. Chose this life."

"Yes. And he chose you. Chose to protect you. Chose to keep certain darkness away from you." Nonna stopped stirring, looked at Eve directly. "That’s love, cara. Not telling you everything. Not bringing all the blood and violence home. Giving you the man underneath the Devil."

"But I want all of him."

"You have all of him. The parts that matter. His heart. His loyalty. His love. The rest...." Nonna waved her hand. "The rest is just business. And business, in our world, is ugly. Let him carry that ugliness alone. You carry the light."

Maybe Nonna was right.

Maybe it was enough to know Dimitri loved her. Protected her. Came home to her.

The details of how he maintained that power, the violence, the decisions, the darkness....maybe she didn’t need to know.

Dinner was warm and comfortable.

Nonna told stories. Dimitri laughed. Eve watched him transform from whoever he’d been this morning into the man she loved.

After Nonna went to bed, they cleaned up together in comfortable silence.

"You okay?" Dimitri asked, washing dishes while she dried.

"Yeah. Just thinking."

"About?"

"About how you compartmentalize. How you can do whatever you do all day and then come home and be completely present with me."

He was quiet for a moment, his hands stilling in the soapy water.

"It’s not compartmentalizing," he said finally. "It’s choosing what matters. Out there...." He gestured vaguely toward the city. "Out there I have to be the Devil. Have to be cold and strategic and ruthless. But in here....." He looked at her. "In here, with you, I get to be just Dimitri. The man who loves you. The man who wants to make you laugh. The man who looks forward to coming home because you’re waiting."

Eve set down the dish towel, moved into his space.

"I love you," she said simply.

"I love you too." He dried his hands, framed her face. "Did Vincent scare you today?"

"A little. But mostly he just reminded me that I’m important to you. Which makes me vulnerable."

"You’re the most important thing in my life. Which yes, makes you a target. But it also means I’ll protect you with everything I have." His thumbs stroked her cheeks. "No one will hurt you, Eve. I promise you that."

"I know."

Dimitri kissed her....slow and deep and full of promise.

"Come to bed," he murmured against her mouth.

"Is that an order, Mr. Valentino?"

"It’s a request, Ms. Thorne." His smile was wicked. "Though I’m happy to make it an order if you prefer."

Eve laughed, took his hand, let him lead her down the hall.

***

POV: DIMITRI

Sex with Eve was different from anything Dimitri had experienced before her.

Not just physically....though God knew the physical was incredible.

But emotionally.

This was making love, not just fucking.

This was connection, not just release.

This was coming home to light after spending all day in darkness.

He undressed her slowly in their bedroom, taking his time, relearning every curve and angle of her body.

She stood still and let him, her eyes tracking his face, reading his mood.

"You need gentle tonight," she said softly. "Don’t you?"

He paused, surprised she’d read him so clearly.

"Yeah. I think I do."

"Then that’s what I’ll give you."

She pushed him toward the couch by the window, the same couch where she’d tied him up two weeks ago, where he’d broken free and destroyed her.

But tonight was different.

Tonight she guided him down, straddled him, took her time.

Kissed him like they had all night. Like there was nowhere else to be.

Touched him with reverence instead of urgency.

When she finally sank down onto him....slow, so fucking slow....Dimitri groaned and pulled her closer.

"Just like this," he breathed. "Don’t move. Just let me feel you."