Promises After Dark (After Dark Book 3) (14 page)

‘Calm down, he’s not going to get me. Not like that. But I do have to carry on working for him, just for a while. Just till Mark’s stronger. I had to tell you. I want everything to be completely open between us now. No more secrets.’

Dominic’s jaw is set and his lips are tight. I can tell he’s battling his fury against Andrei.

‘Please,’ I say gently, ‘you must believe me – I’m not going to let anything happen – and I think Andrei is too proud to force the issue. He wants me to come to him of my own accord. Well, he’ll be waiting till Hell freezes over.’

That seems to break through Dominic’s own mini-freeze and he smiles reluctantly.

‘You see?’ I say triumphantly. ‘I knew you could smile!’

His smile broadens. ‘Okay, okay.’ He sits down next to me on the sofa. ‘It kills me that you’re still going to be around Dubrovski but if you have to, then . . . well, you have to.’

‘Thanks,’ I say softly. ‘I know you don’t want to say that. I appreciate that you trust me. By the way, you need to stay on your guard as well.’

‘Really?’ He looks at me questioningly.

‘Yes. Andrei knew you’d arrived here in London. He let it slip when I said I was meeting a friend.’

Dominic looks grim-faced again. ‘That doesn’t surprise me, not one bit,’ he says. ‘I told you what he’s like – he’s pathological when it comes to what he thinks is his honour. It’s just old-fashioned pig-headed pride, but he considers it some kind of manly quality to get obsessed with his enemies. He’ll have people tracking me, no question.’

‘He doesn’t mean you any harm, does he?’ I ask, suddenly worried.

He shakes his head. ‘Not physical harm, no. At least, not at the moment. But he wants to monitor my movements, no doubt see if I approach any of the contacts I’ve made through his business. He suspects I will want to poach investors for my own company. I’m sure he’s getting his lawyers ready to sue me if I try anything that breaks the terms of my old contract with him.’

‘And will you? Poach anyone?’

He fixes me with a look. ‘I don’t go after them. But if they come to me – well, that’s another matter.’

‘Oh God, Dominic, you’ve got to be careful.’ I’m suddenly fearful. I don’t want him to cross Andrei and risk any reprisals.

‘I’m not afraid,’ he says with a laugh. ‘I do the right thing. I won’t try and approach them. But I’m also not going to turn away genuine prospects for my business. I’m going to make a success of this. It’s what I’ve been waiting for.’

‘I know, I know . . .’

He turns to look me straight in the eye, his dark brown gaze sincere. ‘These weeks are vital to me; you know that. It’s why we can’t be together right now. I have to do this. But as soon as I’ve got to where I need to be, then I’ll come back to you – if that’s what you want.’

‘Of course it is,’ I whisper. ‘I can’t be happy without you.’

He puts out his hand and strokes my cheek softly. ‘I’m so glad we’re back together.’

‘Are we?’ I ask, putting my hand over his so I can hold it to my face. ‘Back together?’

He nods, smiling. ‘I don’t think we can help it.’

‘No more secrets,’ I say.

He nods and bends towards me for another kiss. ‘Absolutely. No more secrets.’

Chapter Eight

Dominic sends me home that night in a chauffeur-driven car. The driver drops me back at our flat some time after 11 p.m. I’m utterly exhausted after everything that’s happened this week and I’m looking forward to a lazy weekend. Luckily, Laura is in exactly the same frame of mind, and we spend a fun couple of days in the cosy flat, making our plans for the trip to New York at the end of next week. We find a decent midtown hotel and start searching for good bars and places to eat.

‘We can do all our Christmas shopping as well!’ announces Laura.

‘We don’t want to bring too much stuff back,’ I say, always cautious. ‘And we don’t want to spend the entire time wondering what to buy for other people. This is our girly trip away, remember!’

We’ll compromise, we decide, with an hour or two in Bloomingdale’s to get some gifts. The rest of the time we’ll be pleasing ourselves and will do any panic shopping in the last few days before Christmas, once we’re back in London.

‘Did you tell Dominic about our trip?’ asks Laura. I’ve told her that I saw Dominic last night and that it looks as though it’s all back on.

‘Yes, but I explained that it’s a girls-only weekend so he didn’t get too jealous.’

‘Are you going to see him over Christmas?’

I shake my head. ‘I don’t think so. He’s going to be travelling over the holidays – schmoozing businessmen at various parties and getting them when they’re in a festive mood. I don’t know when I’ll see him again.’

‘I’m sure you’ll meet up afterwards,’ Laura says consolingly. ‘It’s brilliant that you guys are back together.’

I can’t help beaming at her. ‘I know. It’s fantastic.’

She laughs at my expression. ‘You’re such a barometer – when you’re happy with Dominic, you’re upright and perky, and when you’re not, you wilt and go sad. You’re definitely in perky mode. This bodes well for our trip!’

Laura’s right, I am happy – and not just because I’m feeling so sexually sated by Dominic. I’m full of hopes for the future and looking forward to the New York trip. But when I get back to work on Monday, it’s to find that Caroline is more solemn-faced than ever.

‘Mark’s had a setback over the weekend,’ she says when I arrive. ‘He’s caught an infection and it’s absolutely floored him.

‘Oh no,’ I say in dismay. ‘Poor Mark!’

‘He’s being pumped full of antibiotics at the moment. He’s not well at all.’

‘I was hoping to visit him today.’

Caroline shakes her head. ‘I’m afraid not. He’s not up to it. I’ll let you know when he can face visitors.’

I feel awful that I’m going to be going away on a jolly jaunt when my boss is so ill but Caroline gives that idea short shrift.

‘Don’t be silly, Mark would be delighted that you’re going to have fun. Besides, I know he takes trips to New York all the time. I’m sure that he’d consider it an advantage that you’re going to get to know the city.’

That’s a comfort and I do my best to concentrate on my work so that I can clear my desk in time for the trip away. The problem is that I have a new distraction: Dominic. Now that I have his new details, and now that having our correspondence spied on isn’t the issue it was when he worked for Andrei, the emails start arriving, one every hour or so, telling me where he is and where he’s planning to go. I enjoy the feeling of being so connected to him. Ever since we’ve met, Dominic has been prone to vanishing on me, and I realise that I’d half expected to hear nothing at all from him once we were apart. But now I get emails from the car on the way to the airport, from the VIP departure lounge, from the first-class cabin, just messages of a few words letting me know where he is and where he intends to go next.

Then I realise: Dominic is making sure I know his plans. Perhaps he’s being followed by one of Andrei’s men, and wants to ensure that his whereabouts are on record.

The thought is a chilling one – but I already know that Andrei is tracking Dominic’s movements. Why would he suddenly have stopped doing that? I can’t help feeling afraid but I remember Dominic laughing at the idea that he might let Andrei’s actions affect him.

He’s doing nothing wrong,
I remind myself.
Andrei can’t do anything against him.

But I remember the warning James gave me when I first became involved with Dubrovski, telling me that Andrei had come to his fortune in murky, perhaps lawless ways, and that he thought I should be very careful before associating with him.

Images of Andrei flash in front of me: he’s elegant in his tailored suits, driving his smoke-grey Bentley convertible. He’s sophisticated in his tastes, loving his art collection and his beautiful apartments, and enjoying the finer things he can easily afford.

But once he was a bullet-headed orphan fighting his way to the top in the sleazy backstreets of Moscow. Boys like that get tough fast and they learn to take their opponents out without a shred of feeling because, unless they act first, they’ll be the ones left for dead in an alley.

No one would want to cross Andrei, I’m sure of that. And now the man I love has set himself up as his rival.

I want to be strong, as strong as Dominic, but I can’t help being afraid.

The next few days pass quickly as I prepare for the trip to New York. Andrei emails me the details of his apartment and says that his housekeeper will be expecting me to drop by at any time. I look up the address online and see that his apartment is in a luxurious block right on Central Park. I might not know New York, but I can guess that this is an extremely prestigious address. Maybe I’ll take Laura to see it and we can ooh and aah together at a glimpse of Manhattan life that we’d never normally see.

Mark is still too ill to receive visitors but Caroline tells me that the doctors are confident they’re getting on top of the infection. It’s been a setback but not something we should worry too much about. That’s a huge relief.

‘You go to New York and enjoy yourself,’ Caroline says with a smile as she watches me finishing up the last bits and pieces before I head off on the Thursday. ‘You can’t do anything here.’

‘Thanks, Caroline. Will you give Mark my love?’

‘Of course. Now off you go! You can tell me all about it on Tuesday.’

I leave the office that evening feeling excited. We’re actually going tomorrow! It’s going to be fun, I just know it. If only Mark were better, then life would be wonderful.

Except . . .

A disloyal little voice sounds in my head. I try to shush it but it pipes up before I can make it be quiet.

You’d prefer to be going to New York with Dominic.

Stop it! I’m going to have a fantastic time with Laura.

Yes, but with Dominic there would be romance and kisses and . . . sex. Lots of lovely, mind-blowing sex . . .

Sex isn’t everything, I scold myself. Friendship is pretty important too, remember? I tell myself that I owe Laura some time. She’s single and I’ve not exactly been the perfect flatmate over the last few months with Dominic – and Andrei – taking up so much of my time. This is payback. And I’m looking forward to sipping Cosmopolitans in some fancy bar – I just won’t expect the evening to end in multiple orgasms, that’s all.

I shiver as I remember the last, extraordinary orgasm I had with Dominic. With that little silver plug he’s taken me along another path I could never have imagined going down. I try to remember what I was like at the beginning of this extraordinary year: I was so inexperienced, thinking that my small-town boyfriend was the centre of the universe, and seriously considering settling down with him. Thank God for Hannah and her enormous tits! If she hadn’t tempted him into bed, we might never have broken up and I could be having boring sex with Adam for the rest of my life.

As I take the Underground home, I wonder where Dominic is at this moment. He emailed me this morning to say that his meetings in Montenegro had gone very well, but that he’s taken an unexpected trip to Klosters, the expensive skiing resort where millionaires like to gather for Christmas. He’ll be staying in a friend’s chalet while he socialises on the slopes and makes those all-important contacts, the ones who might be interested in putting some serious money into his investment fund.

It’s going to be full on. Skiing, après-ski, après-après-ski. Hard work, honey, but you know me, I’m the self-sacrificing type (or am I?). I’ll keep in touch. Enjoy New York, have fun with Laura. Take care.

D x x

I send back a reply full of excitement about our New York plans and telling him to enjoy himself skiing. It’s only later, as I’m letting myself into the flat, that I have a sudden pang of guilt. I haven’t told Dominic that I’m going to visit Andrei’s apartment while I’m in New York, or that Andrei’s offered me this new commission for next year. I’m cross with myself – what happened to no more secrets? I’ve promised that I’m going to be open and honest with Dominic now. There’s no point in keeping things to myself, it only leads to misunderstandings.

But there’s no real harm in it – after all, I’m not going to see Andrei. It’s just a look around his apartment to keep him happy. And if I’m honest, I’d like to see it, get a feel for the art he has there and work out what I might do with it, even though I’ve no intention of taking the job. And I’ll tell Dominic in my next email. Definitely.

Laura and I are both hyper with excitement that evening, checking our luggage over and over again, making sure we have passports and money, maps and guides, and all the bits and pieces we can’t travel without, from phone chargers to lip salve. We’re so keyed up that we open a celebratory bottle of wine and drink it very fast with our supper. So we open another and end up a bit drunk, chatting away until we realise with horror that it’s nearly midnight and we’re supposed to be up at four for the taxi that’s taking us to the airport. We tidy up and turn in, but I can’t get to sleep.

It’s weird but I’m so excited to be travelling like any other ordinary person. I’ve enjoyed my experience of the luxurious world of the very wealthy but it’s indelibly linked in my mind to ownership. I’ve only been given access to that world because I’ve worked for Andrei and I can only enjoy it on his terms. It’s not mine, or anything close to mine, so really, it’s no more meaningful than a fairground ride. Whereas my ticket to New York, and the hotel and everything else, has been paid for with money I’ve earned. I’m proud of that and I’m going to enjoy this trip a million times more because of it.