Page 29 of Wrapped in Perfection

But he's full of fire, and mystery, and a bit of danger. And I'm barely out of my last relationship.

So I let my fear guide me instead of my heart. I say nothing and let him lead me out of his penthouse, into the car, then up to Chase and Vivian's.

The elevator opens, and I turn to him. We've said nothing since his place.

"I...ummm...it's not that I still want him," I say, unsure what I'm trying to tell him and why I'm stopping us being together.

He stays silent, staring at me.

"Ummm..." Tears well in my eyes.

He sighs, steps forward, and pulls me into his arms. "Go to sleep, kotik. I'll pick you up tomorrow to go to the showrooms."

I gaze up at him, wanting his lips on mine, and knowing I blew it.

He releases me, steps back, and motions for me to get off the elevator.

I do so hesitantly then watch the doors close, wondering how I manage to screw up everything in my life.

6

Dmitri

"We aren't getting anywhere,"Sergey says, spotting me.

I lift the bar in the air, grunting. I've added more weight than I usually lift, trying to work some frustration over Anna out of my system.

It's not helping. I'm barely listening to Sergey, and I should be. The deadline we set for Lorenzo Rossi to sell us the land is quickly approaching. If we don't get it, we can't move forward with our plans for the surrounding land. The millions we've invested, we'll lose.

But all I can think about is Anna. I can't figure out why her ex has such ahold on her. I'm not positive about what he did to her, but I know he hurt her. Her things are still in New York, which means it would be easy for her to run back to him.

"Argh," I grunt, pushing the last rep up, barely getting through it.

Sergey grabs the bar and helps guide it onto the rack. "Not bad, old man. I thought you weren't going to be able to finish."

I snort. Sergey's ten years younger than me. Since I hit forty, he likes to remind me about his youth.

"Jesus, you trying to kill yourself?" Maksim asks, walking toward us with a towel around his neck and sweat dripping down it. Boris is next to him, just as sweaty.

"Needed to show you all who's boss," I claim, trying to avoid telling them any of my frustrations. "So, Lorenzo is trying to take us for more than our verbally agreed-upon price?"

"Enough that it doesn't make the project worth it," Maksim replies.

Boris wipes his face. "Someone should make him disappear."

Maksim whacks him in the chest with his towel. "Stop acting like a thug. And that won't get the property transferred to us."

"I knew we shouldn't have bought those lots without that piece. We were asking for trouble," Sergey mutters.

"Shoulda, coulda, woulda," Boris chides. "We did it. Now we deal with it."

"Unless we come up with a way to make Lorenzo come down on his price, we're screwed. Our land isn't worth the investment to clear it if we don't have his lot," Sergey continues.

Boris groans. "You want to tell us something we don't know, Einstein?"

"Enough," Maksim growls. "Dmitri, what's the situation with the East Bay development? Is that designer going to have a concrete plan for us so we can get these materials ordered?"

"What designer?" Boris asks.

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