She'd be typing on her computer, and with her back so straight, he'd find it impossible to ignore the way the firm roundness of her breasts were straining against the tight fit of her blouse.
A few times, he'd catch her bending down to pick up something she had dropped, and all Dmitry would be able to do was clench his fists against the urge to spank her tight little ass.
Other times, it could be something as random as Tahey absently crossing her legs, and the sight of it would have Dmitry imagining her long, shapely limps wrapping around his waist as he fucked her hard and good.
She was a sick and twisted obsession of his, and unreasonable or not, he hated her all the more for it. He goddamn despised everything she stood for, but despite this, Dmitry was not so blinded by the past that he no longer saw the woods for the trees.
Her hourglass figure, with curves so sinfully dramatic that they'd still be discernible even if she were to hide herself under a big old sack, was nothing but false advertising.
His secretary might seem like a fifties pin-up girl who knew every trick there was in a porn star's bible, but Dmitry would stake his life on the fact that she had somehow made it to the sweet, ripe age of twenty-three without losing her innocence.
He wished he could convince himself it wasn't so, but he knew a gullible, virginal fool when he saw one.
And Tahey?
She was one of the biggest fools out there, to still feel attracted to an asshole like him, and the time had come to do something about it.
EVEN BEFORE STRAKH Inc. was formed, Dmitry had never been the type to conduct his affairs in public. That was more Stelios' thing, not his. And rather than having a string of one-night stands, he had always preferred the convenience of long-term mistresses. Rita was there to keep him company when he was in the States while Jacqueline was his on-call lover, ready and willing to jet to wherever he was at a moment's notice.
Both women had been meticulously chosen, not for their beauty or even their wit, but mainly for one thing: their willingness to play by his rules, no questions asked. And so when Dmitry had asked Rita to join him in his office - something he had never done in the past - she hadn't even questioned the oddness or rarity of it.
His plan for that night had been simple: let his secretary know he had other women in his life, and hopefully that would be enough to extinguish the stars in her eyes. What he had not counted on, however, was Rita being able to size up the situation at a glance, and upon realizing that Tahoma could be a threat to her position, she had then decided to make it seem as if she was Dmitry's girlfriend rather than merely someone the billionaire had on his payroll to warm his bed.
Rough sex, Rita had once candidly admitted to him, was the only thing that turned her on, while all those post-coital cuddles and affectations made her skin crawl with disgust. But upon seeing Dmitry's secretary, Rita had turned herself into an adoring girlfriend in a heartbeat, using the most ludicrous nicknames to refer to the billionaire and clinging to him like she couldn't even bear being separated by mere inches.
Dmitry had seen through her act easily of course, and it irritated the hell out of him. Didn't Rita realize she was laying it a little too thick, and only an idiot would fall for her ruse?
Pissed at the way his mistress was giving the whole thing away, he then turned to face Tahey...and that was when he realized how big of an idiot his secretary was.
One look in her eyes...
Fuck.
Their gazes clashed for a fraction of a second, but it was enough. She quickly spun around, but it was too late. Dmitry had learned a lot about her in the past few months she had been working for him, learned quite enough that he knew...
Right now, Tahey was doing her very best to keep herself from crying, and her pain, silent as it was, seemed to poison the very air he breathed.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
He hated himself for caring. Hated her for making him care. But even so, it was suddenly no longer bearable to have Rita or any other woman's lips brushing against his skin—-
Not now.
Not when the woman he both despised and desired was struggling to contain her hurt—-
FUCK.
He watched his secretary spin around to face them again, but this time she no longer lifted her gaze to his, and her words, upon tumbling out, were barely audible as she excused herself and wished them an enjoyable date.
She left without looking back, and he let her leave, knowing that she hadn't seen him push Rita away. He let her leave, even knowing that she was convinced Rita was his girlfriend. He let her leave, knowing that after this...
It just had to end.
He would stop hurting her.
Stop despising her for something she wasn't responsible for.
Stop punishing her for something she knew nothing about.
And after that...
He would find a way, would fucking die trying if that was what it took.
He would not stop until he was rid of his desire for Tahey, permanently.
Chapter Four
Tahey only had her heart broken once. It was when she had learned the truth about Thomas, and the world she knew had instantly become revoltingly evil. Even now, the wound of her father's betrayal still hurt, and she had come to accept that it would always do so. What Thomas had done was unforgivable, and if she compared it to what Dmitry had
