Page 23 of Shattered Diamonds

I turn back. “Excuse me?”

“My love interest. It’s ballet.” Her eyes are honest, but there is a hint of mirth behind them.

I stare down at her. Watching her. Then I retake the steps back to the table and place my fisted hands next to her place setting as I hover above her. “Playing games with me would not be in your best interest, young lady. I love playing games, it’s an artform for me, but I can assure you, my games are not the ones you have ever played before. Watch that fresh mouth of yours or you will find my cock buried in it.” Her eyes widen, shocked, appalled at my candid vulgarity. She flicks her blown pupils over mine with agitation, but I also witness the curiosity that flares. Her pupils intensify when she takes in my intensity, becoming darker, arousal budding behind innocent shadows. Her mouth parts simultaneously and takes in a fruitless breath. The glistening soft tissue just inside her bottom lip makes my dick jerk. “Are you finished with your meal?” She wordlessly nods. “Then get your ass up. I won the bet. You’re mine for the evening.” I lift my hand and place my index finger under the point of her chin. Her lips stay parted, almost as if she is in awe, and I can’t help but run the pad of my thumb over the plump ridge of her bottom lip and caress the soft tissue inside her mouth. I only allow myself a moment. Just one. The visions of her on her knees in front of me with the same doe eyed look is too much to bear. With a quick exit of my thumb, I force her mouth closed with the tip of my index finger. “Unless you would like me to finger fuck you in front of your admirer, I suggest you keep it closed.” I nod to the guy who hasn’t taken his eyes off her and is now watching our interaction with rapt attention.

I hold out my hand and wait. She stands from her seat still gazing up at me and places her palm in mine. Before I can take a step, her breathy voice rushes out and blurts, “Did you speak to my brother or are you just assuming he would be okay with us?”

“Us?” I turn back, smirking. “Do I look like a man who asks for permission, Haven?” I hold back my humor at her cuteness.

“No. No, you do not.”

“Then stop asking questions you already know the answers to.” I lean down getting so close to her ear, my lips brush the fine hairs on her pierced lobe. “You can presume I did if that would help you sleep better. But trust me, you will sleep just fine tonight.”

ChapterTwelve

HAVEN

“What are you doing?”I anxiously question as Demetri starts to swiftly move me through the restaurant. He doesn’t answer, and the energy he holds my hand with is overpowering.

He stops next to a table with two men who are enjoying their dinner. With his free hand, he leans down and places his fist next to the man’s drink, and looms over him while his other still holds a firm grip on mine. He says something to the man, but I can’t hear what is said. Judging by the deep rumble of his voice, it was not a pleasant greeting. He glances over his shoulder and smirks the most seductive simper I have ever seen on a man, but it’s the smoldering authority in his eyes that holds me captive in my place. It’s almost demonic. I shiver inside and fear for the man when Demetri turns his attention back to him. With a confidence I have never seen before, he picks up the man’s drink and swallows the amber liquid. I’m speechless, waiting for the explosion, and bewildered that both men have not said a word to Demetri about his abrupt behavior. I nervously fidget in my spot and glance around. The patrons of the restaurant have now stopped eating and are watching the interaction. I observe with anxiety, shifting in my spot.

“Demetri,” I whisper under my broken breath, tugging on his hand, hoping to get his attention off the man and onto me.

He rises to his full intimidating height and glances over his shoulder. The smirk is now gone and replaced with a scowl.

“He was just looking. It’s no big deal.” I try to pacify what I assume is the man’s lingering stares Demetri was referring to, not really knowing if the man was staring at me but trying to defuse the situation in any way.

“Were you or were you not sitting at my table with me as my date?”

“I-I was.”

“Then tell me, was it disrespectful of him to ogle you while you were sitting with me?”

As soon as the words leave my mouth, I know I messed up. “You just eye screwed the waitress while I was sitting at your table as your date. What’s the difference?”

His shoulders expand, inflating with a tension I feel in his hand still clasped over mine. He turns back to the guy who has slid down in his seat and enlightens him. “Today is your lucky day. If I didn’t have to educate my delectable date, I would have taught you a lesson in manners instead.”

I swallow the lump in my throat, nervousness taking over because the Demetri I have had my encounters with is not this man holding my hand and chastising me with just his eyes.

He turns back to the man and knocks twice on their table with a meaty knuckle in haste before he turns away and rapidly pulls me across the restaurant and through the kitchen doors.

As Demetri pulls me away, I hear the man mutter something under his breath. I can’t help but internally chastise him for being so stupid and challenging him, but Demetri continues walking, so I assume the guy got lucky and Demetri didn’t hear him.

I am hauled through the swinging doors with my heart lodged in my throat. I’m maneuvered to where Demetri wants me and orders me to stay. The stainless steel counter holding up my frame is cold and sterile, only adding to the foreboding thickness suffocating the air in the sweltering kitchen.

Demetri marches towards the chef with heavy, very angry, precise steps. The chef, who is chopping a huge bunch of carrots into small pieces with a meat cleaver stops, looking terrified when he sees Demetri coming his way. He shrinks back, unsure of the anger exuding from this brute of a man.

“Was your meal not to your satisfaction, sir?”

Demetri doesn’t answer. He grabs the largest knife from the magnetic rail and then goes to the chopping block and snatches the poultry scissors.

I take a step away from the counter, ready to run as panic starts to seep in.

“Don’t you move.”

I stop dead in my tracks, frozen in my spot, my spine stiffening at his thick foreboding tone. I’m not sure if he is talking to me because he isn’t looking at me, but something inside tells me he is. My heart is erratically slamming against my ribs as I take another tentative step, watching him from over my shoulder. His head jerks up and pins me in my spot as he points the tip of the knife at me.

“I didn’t mean to… I-I—” I hold my hands up trying to de-escalate the situation.

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