Page 32 of Dima
He stepped out before I could get another word out of my mouth. As soon as I built up to tell him, my confession was put on hold yet again. I sat in the dining room alone for about ten more minutes before Maeve came back down.
I was happy she’d made it back before Bishop. That would give us time to talk, but she still avoided making eye contact when she sat back down.
“Why haven’t you been answering my phone calls?”
“I don’t have to answer your phone calls. That’s why. Whatever this was between us, it’s over.”
“The fuck you mean it’s over? We were just talking about telling Bishop about us. Now it’s over?”
I got up from my seat and walked around the table to sit next to her. She turned in her seat to face me. This time when she spoke, she gave me complete eye contact.
“Yeah, that was before I heard you on the phone.”
“On what phone? What you talking about?”
I knew exactly what she was talking about. Fitz had called my phone again, and like a dumbass, I answered it with Maeve in the other room. I didn’t think she would follow me to the back. My only option now was to play dumb to find out just how much she’d heard.
“I’m talking about you being a federal agent, Dima. Just tell me the truth, please. Who is Agent Fitz, and how much does he know about my father? Are you a Fed, Dima? Is that what this is? You were just using me? Was I collateral damage in some elaborate plan to take my father down?”
Tears brimmed in her eyelids, and I hated that shit. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt her, but I was here to do a job. I never expected to come on a mission and bump into a girl so perfect that I’d risk my career to be with her. Hell, I was risking my life just to be here right now, but I wasn’t leaving. I couldn’t leave her until I knew she would be good once all of this was over.
“Maeve, believe me, this is not how I planned this.”
“And what did you plan? To make me fall in love while you scheme behind my back? Was I just a pawn in some sick game of yours?”
“Of course not.”
I tried to grab her, but she slapped the shit out of me. The slap stung a little and caught me off guard. Maeve had the power to blow my cover completely out of the water. I had put so much energy into planning this mission perfectly, but I never could have planned for her. I should have known as soon as I saw her picture on that whiteboard that her face would be my downfall.
“I never planned to fall in love with you. This shit just happened. I need you to believe that at least. I wasn’t using you. I was only doing my job.”
“Fine. Then I need to do my job as my dad’s daughter and tell him what’s going on here before the police is kicking down our door.”
She tried to get up from her seat, but I held her in place. I couldn’t let her tell him while I was a sitting duck, but more than that, I couldn’t let her leave this room thinking I didn’t care about her. I cared about her more than I cared about myself. My uncle had warned me that coming back here was a risk, but I was willing to take that risk to see her again.
“Are you going to let me leave? You know he would hear me if I screamed, and I am two seconds from screaming.”
“I’ma let you leave, but hear me out. I don’t care what you tell Bishop, but I can’t let you leave this room thinking this was a game to me. None of this was pretend for me. I knew what it was between us the moment you walked into that garage. I love you, Maeve, and whether you walk out of here right now or not, that ain’t gon’ change.”
“Are you done?”
Tears welled in her eyes, and I didn’t know if it was because she was sad or afraid. I never wanted to be the cause of her sadness. I especially didn’t want her to be afraid of me. I kissed Maeve’s lips before I let her go. She stood as soon as I did.
“Just don’t hate me.”
“I do hate you. I hate you for making me feel something real and at the same time taking it away from me.”
One tear fell from Maeve’s eye before she casually wiped it away. She gave me her eyes one last time before she walked out of the dining room in search of her father. I waited for a moment, then followed her. I had to be ready for whatever.
The long steps I took toward my daddy were forceful. The way Dima cornered me at my own dinner table not only scared me, but it showed me just how little I knew about him. I didn’t know if he could kill me in my own home or if he was bold enough to try to take me with him.
I had let Dima into my life so easily. Not only was he in my life, but he had also completely taken over my thoughts and built a permanent residence in my heart. I couldn’t even think about how long it would take me to get over him, because my father was in a much worse situation. The case Dima built on him could put him behind bars for God knows how long.
I couldn’t believe I had let this man touch me. I had let him get to know me in the most intimate ways. Yet I knew nothing about him. I didn’t even know his real name.
“Is Dima even your real name?”
I stopped in my tracks and turned to look at Dima. I, at the very least, needed to know his real name before I erased him from my life and memory. That was the least he could give me.
