"Let go of me!" she screamed out. "You crazy bastard!"
"What? You don't want me now?" he taunted, disgusted by both Victoria and himself. "I thought that you wanted to get married."
"Help!" she screamed. "Someone help me!"
"Who's going to help you? You belong to me now."
"Let her go, Dmitry," Royal commanded from the shadows. Her voice was calm.
Dmitry looked up in the mirror with a wild devious look on his angelic face to see his wife.
Chapter 10
Royal could feel the heat seeping through her skin. Hearing the woman beg for her husband was a sobering reality check, but seeing her husband brutalize another woman was a repulsive reminder.
Earlier she had leaned against the door, hidden in the shadows, praying that the words that came from Dmitry would be true. Alas, they were. And while she was pained at his apparent attraction to Victoria, none could deny his disdain for her treachery.
Dmitry looked over at his wife instantly ashamed of his actions. He threw Victoria on the floor and slipped his knife back into the leather holder under his shirt.
How long had she been there in the dark? Did she see him kiss her? Did she see his steely erection? Could she hear in his voice his mild satisfaction with himself? He clenched his wide jaw and stilled himself where he stood, locking his body to ensure that he did not move from his place.
"Mrs. Medlov," Victoria said, standing up with her clothes pooled down around her ankles. "Thank you so much."
"Thank you?" Royal smirked.
She walked out of the shadows in a slow, catlike sway. Her long dark hair busied itself around her body in an untamed, curly frame. Even in the same ruined clothes, she still mirrored absolute perfection.
Dmitry was only enraged more by the torn, tattered look of his wife. The click of her shoes stabbed the silence of the room and echoed about. The embers and light of the fireplace illuminated her dark features. He could not take his eyes off of her. It was if her presence diminished anyone else in the room, even himself.
"Victoria, I'm not the smartest woman in the world," Royal said softly. "But I'm willing to bet that you had something to do with my little breakdown earlier." Slowly, Royal walked over to the fireplace and pulled from the rack a black steel fire poker.
Victoria watched her mistress carefully. Breathing hard, she slipped on her dress as quickly as she could and looked back at Dmitry. His eyes were planted on Royal. It was as if his wife had cast a spell on him.
"I'm afraid that I don't know what you are talking about Mrs. Medlov," Victoria denied as she looked to Royal.
"What did you slip me?"
"Nothing."
"You know. I'm getting really tired of being the victim, Victoria. For too long, I've been the injured party. I won't let it happen again, not even one more time." Royal turned and walked towards her. "It will work out better for you if you just tell me the truth."
"Nothing," Victoria said adamantly. She looked her mistress in the eyes as they stood face-to-face. "I'm not responsible for what happened upstairs."
"What if I had died?" Royal continued in a calm voice as if the woman had not denied her treachery. "What if my heart had exploded?" They stood in the darkness only inches from each other. Royal gripped the fire poker in one hand as she stood erect.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Victoria said curtly. "You must be mistaken."
Royal made a step closer. The heat from the poker was only inches from both of them. "Sure you don't want to recount your recollection. My husband was already on the way to doing you bodily harm. I wouldn't want to finish the job for him."
"Oh, I'll finish it myself, love," Dmitry snarled.
Suddenly, she realized that if she were not completely honest she might never leave this room alive.
"Please don't," Victoria said quickly.
Royal's hand began to shake. "Then you tell me the truth, you lousy bitch! Did you slip me something in my drink?"
"Yes," Victoria said shaking. "Cocaine and Oxycotin. But I no idea you would end up the way that you did. I took some myself. It was just supposed to get you out of the way, not harm you."
Royal read her eyes. She knew that Victoria was telling the truth.
"I let you into my home, around my daughter and family. I let you drive our cars, dine at my table, and you repay me by trying to sleep my husband, take my family and kill me?"
Victoria could no longer look her in the eyes. "Forgive me, Mistress," she begged.
Royal's hand shook as she gripped the fire poker. Many thoughts crossed her mind. Thoughts of mutilation and retribution. But she knew that it was wrong. Finally, she opened her fingers and let the poker hit the ground.
"If there were not just one ounce of God of me, you'd be dead. I'd kill you myself." Tears ran down her face. "But there is… so… get out," Royal said barely above a whisper. "And don't ever let me lay eyes on you again, or so help me, I'll finish you." She looked over at Dmitry who stood in shock. "Davyd!" she screamed.
"Yes, Mistress," he said, opening the door quickly.
"Pack her in less than ten minutes and get her off my property. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Mistress," he said sternly as he watched the woman walk past him. He eyed Dmitry for more direction, but his boss's eyes were on his wife.
As the door closed, Dmitry breathed out slowly. The truth of Victoria's words were sobering and paralyzing in the same breath. The combination of drugs could have been fatal.
It took everything in him not to grab her by
