Chapter Fifty Eight

It occurred to her that she had never seen him look anything less than suave and well groomed. But tonight he looked anything but. He was dressed in the same suit he had worn for his meeting, but the jacket and tie had long since been discarded and what had started life as a crisp white shirt was now crumpled and dirtied. She wondered what he had been doing and where he went to.

"When I came back and couldn't find you inside, I got worried" he frowned slightly, as if that confession was as much of a surprise to him as it was to her.

"Worried about your investment, you mean. But it wouldn't have mattered if I had had an accident, would it, Dimitri? You've gotten what you want. There's no need to pretend to care anymore"

He sucked in a breath. "Whatever you may think, this is not about the company"

"Of course it is" Kelly retorted.

He dragged a hand through his glossy dark hair and glanced around him in disbelief. "I can't believe we are having this conversation in the balcony in the middle of the night. Come with me now and we will talk"

She didn't move. "I don't want to talk. And I will come inside when I'm ready and not before"

"You mean you don't want to talk to me" he said. A muscle worked in his jaw and there was a wry gleam in his dark eyes. You have been talking to who ever you were talking to on the phone phone for a while now "

She wondered just how much he had overheard and then decided that it didn't matter. She had already made an utter fool of herself over him. It couldn't get any worse.

"Go away, Dimitri" she said again and turned away from him.

He inhaled deeply. "If only you would just talk to me"

"What difference would it make?" she snapped at him. "You were never interested in me as a person, were you, Dimitri? You just wanted to manoeuvre me so you would get what you wanted. Once that happened everything else was irrelevant. So what do you want us to talk about now?"

"If that is the case, then why am I standing here now?" he asked.

"Damage limitation?" she leaned her head back and studied him. "You don't show any damn emotion"

"I don't?"

"Yes you don't" Kelly replied, almost shouting now, You have probably seen more today than In your entire life time. I'm sure you just want it all to go away. You know, before I interrupt anymore of your meetings with my drama"

"Certainly the men have rarely been so thoroughly entertained at my expense" Dimitri admitted with a display of humor. "And what I really want right now is for you to come back inside so we can talk properly about this like mature adults. It's freezing out here, you are pregnant and you are wearing next to nothing. You cannot spend the night out here"

"Why not? I can if I want to. And the house is occupied by a rat and I don't think I want to be around a person that toxic.... Not anymore" she gave him a pointed look and saw his eyes flash dark.

"We can work this out" Dimitri said.

"I don't think so" she tilted her head to one side, her slightly sarcastic tone hiding layers of pain. "This time you have really excelled yourself. But it doesn't matter, does it? Because you were never thinking about me, only yourself. It what you are really, really good at" Her voice rose again and Dimitri moved closer to her.

"Are you going to be reasonable?" he asked her.

"Probably not. I don't feel reasonable. If you really want to know, I feel stupid and gullible" she threw at him. "Discovering that you have been thoroughly manipulated isn't really the best incentive to be reasonable"

But she was starting to shiver and felt his gaze fix on the tiny bumps that appeared on her skin.

"That's enough discussion. Being angry with me is no reason to risk pneumonia. You can sulk and ignore me inside the house as easily as you can ignore me here" he pointed out, stooping so fast before she realized what he was about to do and sweeping her into his arms without further attempt at negotiation.

"I never sulk, and I want you to put me down" she muttered, pushing at his chest, feeling the hard muscle under her fingers. "You can't just drag me off. It's not the way to communicate. And oh, I don't want to be married to you anymore. I don't like you"

"You are married to me and that's the way it's staying" Dimitri said grimly, tightening his grip on her as he strode from the balcony and into the house. "And I think now would be a good time for you to stop talking" he added.

"Why?"

"Because you might say something you will regret later"

Kelly rolled her eyes, "Offhand, I can't think of a single thing that I would regret saying to you. The only thing I regret is the part where I said 'I do'" she muttered but he simply tightened his grip and continued to move to the bedroom. At any other time she might have admired his impressive athletic ability, but now she simply glared at the hard ridge of his darkened jaw, which was within her line of vision.

"I don't care about that right now. I'm however, interested in getting you out of that non existent dress before you catch your death. It's cold and you are wearing so little. Aren't you worried about your health and the baby's? Do you really hate me that much"

She said nothing, but she knew that he was right. No matter what had happened, this was still her baby, and she loved him... Or her. She reminded silent, ignoring the sudden rush of awareness that engulfed her as he entered the room and deposited her firmly in the middle of the large bed. She dared to meet his eyes. There was no misinterpreting the purposeful gleam in his eyes as he lifted a hand and unbuttoned his rumpled shirt.

"Don't even think about it, Dimitri" she warned, scooting up the bed out of reach of those dangerous, skillful hands.