Divorcing Her Mafia Family
Chapter 14

Approaching the Laskaris compound, Dimi’s hired car was stopped at the front gate. She told the limo driver she was going to get out here and walk the driveway. He appeared stunned by her request, but she didn’t want to sit in the car while Miklos’ security agents searched the vehicle. Her car was one thing, but she couldn’t be arsed to sit in the darkness for the car of a stranger.

She slid out of the vehicle and motioned impatiently for the security agent to let her through. He moved toward her, stopping her from punching in the code to the gate, and she stared him down. “Take a good look at who you are looking to search, little one.”

“Mr. Laskaris made it clear to not let any women through here.”

“Including his wife?” She put her hand on her h*p.

“H-he didn’t specify,” the man sputtered. “I don’t think he has a wife and he said not to let any women through.”

“Call Ajax now.” She waved at the security agent who clearly didn’t recognize her. When he blinked, she waved at him, “call your boss before I take your gun off you and shoot you in the head.” His eyes widened incredulously.

“Lady, I don’t know who you think you are,” the man straightened his spine, evidently thinking he was someone special to be guarding the Laskaris household. He pulled his weapon and pointed it at her, “but you need to call your car back and go back where you came from.”

“I don’t think you know who I am,” she retorted. “Call your boss.” When he folded one arm over his chest, not lowering his weapon, she stepped into him and before he knew what was happening took his weapon off him and held it pointed at his head. “You have three choices, die, call your boss or just let me into my house.” Her hand was steady as she stared him down, the way her father and Miklos had taught her and aware she’d taken this young man by surprise.

The pounding of heavy jogging down the driveway made her look up.

“Mrs. Laskaris, what seems to be the problem?” Ajax pushed a code to open the gates to the compound.

“My husband told your young buck here to not let any woman in and he assumed it included me. He didn’t want to call you. I was merely convincing him he should.”

“I was notified by the guys watching the monitors in the security house you had arrived.” He motioned for her to return the gun to its rightful owner, “would you mind giving my guard his weapon back?”

“I would.” She argued glaring at Ajax. “It’s clear he’s too inexperienced to be watching the gate if a mere woman,” her sarcasm spilled from her lips, “was able to disarm him so easily.”

“I would say you are correct, but you are not some mere woman, Dimitra. Come, I will personally escort you to the door.” He looked beseechingly, “please. Mr. Laskaris is on his way home and is unhappy you are wielding firearms for the second night in a row.”

“Fine,” she flipped the gun on her finger and then held it out to the man.

They were just about to walk up the driveway when a car came screaming down the street. Dimi c****d her head to one side as the sportscar stopped inches from her outside the gate and her husband got out of the car and grabbed the guard by the neck.

“Are you stupid?” He shoved the man backwards until he had him against the gate by the throat and his feet on tiptoes. “You pulled a gun on my wife?”

Dimi leaned sideways to taunt the man over Miklos’ shoulder, “I told you I wasn’t just some woman.”

“She threatened to shoot me in the head,” the guard protested as he gasped for air.

“You’re lucky she didn’t,” Miklos ground out, “but now you have to deal with me.”

Ajax stepped forward, “it seems he was confused by your instructions to not let any woman through. It was a misunderstanding, Mr. Laskaris.”

“She’s not any woman!” Miklos argued. “She is my wife, and he stupidly pulled a gun.” His face was inches from the other man’s. “Did she identify herself?”

Dimi chuckled, “I did but he really felt you meant I couldn’t enter my own home. You should kill him.” The guard’s eyes flitted to hers in horror and she gave a smirk, “it’s what my father would want. Vasili can be very protective of me.” Dimi watched as the man in her husband’s grip was realizing how bad he’d f****d up and was counting down the seconds to his own demise. She gave out a loud laugh, “Miklos, let the poor boy go. He’s probably pissed himself twice by now. It’s not his fault you gave him instruction to not let any woman in. They follow your instruction to the letter. Can we please go? I’ve been in these heels for hours and I’m exhausted.”

Miklos dropped the man to the ground and kicked him in the stomach. “Look at her face and don’t ever forget it. This is her house. Hers. It was bought for her. All of it. Understand?”

“Yes sir,” the man clutched his abdomen in agony as Miklos delivered another kick to his abdomen.

Miklos turned to Dimitra, “get in the car.”

“I can walk the five minutes up the drive.”

He gripped her arm furiously, “get in the f*****g car now.”

She blinked at the raw masculine power of him as he dragged her to the car and unceremoniously shoved her inside. She gave a shriek as he slammed into the driver’s side and spun the tires and tore them away from the compound. It dawned on her he was already angry even before arriving to the house.

“Hey, I wanted to go home and go to bed.”

“Tough.”

She watched his white knuckles on the gear shift between them and the way he steered the car with one hand, tearing down the private road with finesse and rage. “What is wrong with you?”

“Wrong with me?” he flicked her a glance, “you gave a psychopath my personal cell number. It took me months to get her to f**k off. She’s a parasite.”

“Hey, Ares Winter had her at dinner and I recognized her from the tabloids at Christmas. It’s not my fault I suspected him of using her to make me upset.”

“What were you doing with Winter?” he cast her a furious glance as he manipulated the car angrily. When she didn’t answer he yelled loudly, “what were you doing at dinner with Winter!”

“He bought our program tonight. We’re meeting with lawyers this week to sign off. He’s got the hots for Magda, so he brought a date to the meeting to put her off her game. I recognized her. I thought perhaps he was trying to put me off my game by bringing my husband’s lover to dinner. Nope, turns out, it was all to make Mags jealous. Shot himself in the foot. She won’t date him for sure now.”

“What kind of program?”

“The kind banks like,” she spoke with cavalier indifference. “You’ve never once in my life inquired on my work so stop pretending to be interested now.”

As they drove a notification popped up on the display of the car and he punched the steering wheel furiously, declining the call. He pointed a finger at her, “you went too far.”

“How so?”

“The woman is insane.”

“Oh, was it Wren? You should have answered. I quite liked her.” Dimi giggled as he cursed furiously and made a quick turn down a side street, slamming her into the door. “Where are we going?”

“Warehouse. I have a situation I need to take care of and was on my way there when I got wind you had left the restaurant you were at, I decided to pick you up first. Then Ajax called me from the security bunker to say the new guy he assigned to the house today was arguing with you in front of the gate.”

“He’s young and stupid. He’ll get himself killed with his inability to listen.” Dimi folded her arms over her chest, hating herself for being excited to be going to the warehouse.

“Ajax likes him because he can follow instruction to the letter.”

She grunted in annoyance and looked out the window in a huff. “How did you know which restaurant I was at?”

“The psychopath told me she had met you there. I immediately dispatched a guy to tell me when you were heading home.”

“She is not this bad,” Dimi laughed at his words.

“I stupidly took her back to her hotel room one night and for seven nights after, she stalked me. Even when I pulled a gun on her and told her I would shoot her in the face if she didn’t f**k off, she still followed me.”

“How did you get rid of her?”

“I went to New York for two months,” he grimaced. “I f*****g hate the cold and I spent January and February in New York. I got wind she had returned back to Australia and so I came home.”

She threw her head back and laughed, “well now she’s back home. You should divorce me and marry her. She will never leave your side. She will do everything you ask and be thrilled to give you heirs to the Laskaris throne.”

He stared hard at her until she slapped at him to watch the road, “you are sick.”

“How so?”

“I just told you she is demented from one f**k, and you want me to put my seed in her?”

“She would be loyal to a fault,” Dimi wished his words didn’t bother her. He openly was admitting he’d slept with the model and while she had already known it, his words reopened the old wound. A wound, she was realizing over the last couple of days, had never fully healed over.

“I would rather never have an heir and forfeit everything I own than to put my d**k anywhere near her ever again.” He gave an exaggerated shudder, “besides, I told you today. My d**k is intended for my wife and her alone from this day onward.”

She looked away again, angrily. “Stop with such bullshit. You would be bored of me in one night. We would have s*x then you would declare yourself the victor and move on to whatever sweet piece of a*s you could replace at one of the clubs or whatever garden you pluck your little flowers from. No thanks.”

“Dimitra, I could never be bored of you. If you are even half as interested in playing games in the bedroom as out of the bedroom, our s*x life will be magnificent.”

She felt the warmth of his words steal down her spine and she swallowed the heat and kept her gaze on the darkness of the road leading to the warehouse. She knew the private road was dimly lit because the family wanted it like this. The less lights meant the less possibility of people in the cars traveling this road be identified.

A thought occurred to her, “why are you driving yourself? Where is the security you normally have following you?”

“I left them with my guest. It’s only a fifteen-minute drive back to the house and I wanted you here.”

“Why?”

“To remind you of who you are and what your legacy is,” he said coldly. “I think being in Boston and away from the family has made you forget what the Lykiaos and Laskaris names stand for.”

“Excuse me?”

“You clearly have told your friends far too much information during girlie sleepovers and playdates. Breakfast with your parents demonstrated a clear lack of respect not only by yourself but, your friends were too familiar. They spoke out of turn. It is time you remember who we are. You need to cut your ties.”

“Cut my ties?” Dimi felt the rage spiraling out of control in her chest. “You are expecting me to give up my friends? The women I consider my sisters and my family far more than I consider any of you?”

“Therein lies our problem Dimitra,” he turned into the driveway past the gates which automatically opened by his guards when they noted his car. “You give them more trust than they deserve. I looked into them today. Did you know Darya’s family owes a lot of money to Kostas Masalis?”

“Yes.”

Evidently her answer surprised him as he turned to her with a furious glare, “He is a friend of mine Dimitra. I have known him for almost as long as I’ve known you. We have businesses tied to his shipping and airline companies. I found out today from my lead investigator of the link between your friend’s family and my friend. If I have to choose alliances it will be with him, always. As my wife and part of this family, you will choose correctly.”

“f**k you,” Dimitra glared at him.

“She could be using you to get to Kostas on behalf of her family. Her family is deeply in debt right now to him and Kostas has taken control of Darya’s family business. He is trying to recoup his money through restructuring. Their money is being run through our clubs.”

“You’re laundering for Kostas Masalis?”

“I told you. He is a long-time friend.” He cast her a sideways glance as they pulled to a stop. “He despises the Pappas family, and he wants revenge.”

“If he puts one single hand on my friend, I will slice his throat,” Dimi swore without hesitation.

“What do you know?” he turned to face her growling angrily. “You would put decades of friendship and business on the line for some woman you met at school?”

“A woman I met at school?” her hiss echoed in the silence of the car. “What do you know Miklos?” she turned his question back on him. “I promise you Miklos your friend didn’t tell you the full story so let me enlighten you. Darya’s father is a cold-hearted son of a b***h, though he has nothing on you or Vasili.” She glared at his raised eyebrows, “her old man decided he was going to expand his business far faster than he should. His wife, Darya’s mother, had been blowing through the family coffers since he put a ring on it, and he needed to increase his finances and fast. He falsified studies and reports to convince investors to back his expansion. Kostas’s company was one of them and he invested heavily. Then the first quarter loss hit and then the second quarter loss hit, and Kostas got pissed off. He wanted b***d.”

“Rightly so.”

“Darya’s dickhead of a father offered her up along with her trust fund her grandparents had locked up until her twenty-first birthday.” At his silence she continued, “Kostas took one look at Darya and said he had no need to marry a timid little nerd and how she wasn’t good enough for him. He then said his brother had been getting into trouble and being married would settle him down. He countered he would take her trust fund, eighty percent of the shares in the Pappas company and she would marry his a*****e brother. His brother Jurek got beat up in a club by bouncers for putting date rape drugs in a girl’s drink and Kostas buried it. It was apparent he was going to put Darya in harm’s way just for a bit of vengeance. She told them all to go f**k themselves. Her father threatened to cut her off. She walked out of the house and hasn’t been back since. She showed up at campus, explained her situation to the Dean who helped her sort out payment plans, and scholarships. She worked two jobs for the first two years of university. She did it without her family, without having to marry Jurek and with her dignity intact. Her parents, eight years later are still so pissed off, her sister got married last weekend and she wasn’t allowed to attend.”

“Those were the photos you sent her yesterday.”

“Yes. f*****g assholes. She hasn’t even spoken to her twin or her younger sister in eight years. I can’t wait for her to take them down.”

“What do you mean take them down?”

“I’ve said too much,” she smirked, “just know, the way I want emancipation from you and Vasili, Darya wants her father destroyed and we are close.”

“She wants to destroy her family?” He ignored his comment about wanting her freedom.

“Yes.”

“Interesting.” He leaned sideways. “It’s too bad I didn’t know this before bringing you here.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s Yannis Pappas in our warehouse. It seems he embezzled more money from the company he forfeited to Kostas. Kostas was quite surprised to replace out the trust funds which had supposedly existed for the three girls did not exist, yet he was able to fund a massive wedding for his daughter. I’m supposed to replace out where the rest of the money he took went.”

“And if you can’t,” she felt sick to her stomach. This was probably not on Darya’s list of ways she wanted to destroy her father.

“Then he doesn’t leave the warehouse.”

“I need to call Darya.”

“No.” he refused her request. “You are Lykiaos-Laskaris. Balls up and get in there.”

“I want no part of this,” she whispered angrily.

“Are you certain Darya is not involved in her father’s business dealings?”

“Yes!” she screamed at him. “Yes, I would stake my last breath on her. Let me call her.”

He waved at her finally allowing her to make the call but insisted she put it on speaker.

Darya answered on the first ring. “Shouldn’t you be causing havoc in your house?”

“Yes, but instead I’m sitting outside a warehouse.”

“f**k, I told you they’d suck you back in. Break a face for me.”

“Darya, do you know how your father paid for your sister’s wedding?” She didn’t pull punches.

Darya g*****d, “oh f**k no. Please tell me my father didn’t borrow from Miklos or your father. Though it sounds like something stupid he would do.” She got quiet, “has he offered to sacrifice one of my sisters like he did me? I’ll kill him.”

“They think he may have embezzled from his company; the one Kostas took possession of.”

Darya erupted into laughter. “Oh, that’s brilliant. I love it. I can’t believe he was so stupid to keep my father on in the company. He should have just taken it or killed him when he had the chance. Instead, he kept him on. What a f*****g idiot.”

Dimi couldn’t stop the smile tugging at her lips at her friend’s response. “You hate him huh?”

“I would love for them to get locked in a room together and murder each other,” Darya said darkly. “The con artist versus the egomaniacal heartless billionaire. I’d buy popcorn to watch the show.”

“If your dad was hiding money, where would he hide it.”

“You’re the hacker,” Darya said simply. “I’d say his cell phone, or his laptop would give you access.” She paused, “I assume since you’re calling me, your family is involved now. Do me a favor then?”

She saw Miklos shake his head at her warning her not to make promises she couldn’t keep.

“If you kill him, carve his liver out and I’ll feed it to Jinx. He broke her little ribs just to hurt me for refusing to comply with marrying Jurek.”

Miklos’ eyes widened in disbelief at her friend’s comment.

Dimi grinned at his shocked expression, “I wish I had your horsewhip. I’d give him lashes on your behalf.”

“If you really want to hurt him, Dimi, replace his money and take it all. He doesn’t care about anything else. If Kostas Masalis hasn’t been able to replace it, then the only person who can is you.” Darya continued, “take his money, make him watch you take it and then when he realizes he has nothing left, cut his nuts off, and make him eat them. Then bring me his liver.”

“I’ll start with replaceing his money.”

“Dimi?”

“What babe?” she heard the worry in her friend’s voice.

“My sisters?”

She looked to Miklos, and he gave a nod. “They’re off limits. We’ll make sure.”

“Thanks. Burn the rest.”

The call went dead, and she looked to Miklos. “I told you.”

“She is not what I expected as the offspring to the whining crying man in the holding cell who has been begging for his life for the last couple of hours.”

“You know, she told me he never bothered much with her growing up, but he was never cruel either. They were left with nannies for the most part and sheltered. He was never an abusive man and for all intents and purposes they were spoiled girls. When she initially refused to marry Jurek, he slapped her in the face for disrespecting him in front of Kostas. It was more emotion he’d shown her in her eighteen years of life. Trying to show off his big bad self. Jinx tried to defend her, and he kicked her dog, Miklos. Then he wouldn’t let her take the dog when she left. She found out later the housekeeper took the dog to the vet. The day I met her, I promised her I’d get her dog back.”

“You got her dog back?”

“Yes. We came home for Christmas. Darya went to Magda’s house for the holidays and while they were here, we got the dog.” His grunt was one of approval and she felt it in her bones. She had a thought, “When you grabbed him, did you grab his computer or his phone?”

“Yes. We are going to make him show us where he put the money.”

“f**k that,” Dimitra got out of the car. “I’ll replace it myself. Bring me to his computer.” She was reaching for the handle of the door when he reached out and grabbed her arm. “What?”

“The money goes to Kostas.”

“No shit.” She made a face. “Darya wouldn’t want his dirty money. Her father thought once he cut her off, she’d come crawling back, but she refused, and she did it all on her own. She is wealthy in her own right, and she will never need his money.”

She exited the car, walking briskly towards the doors leading to the task within the warehouse. Perhaps with luck, she wouldn’t have to get her knuckles dirty tonight dragging her back into the fray of the Lykiaos-Laskaris family.