Chapter 2 Dimitri Rossi

Chapter 2

Yana’s POV

"It took me a while to realize it is you, Volk," Dimitri spoke. His voice sounded deep like a rumble that vibrated down the hallway, and he didn't look bothered by the harsh glare I sent his way at all.

I watched as a slow smirk spread across his lips and his eyes slowly moved, sweeping down the tight green dress hugging my body, before dragging it back up to my face. "You look a lot different from the cold fighter tearing down your opponents some hours ago," he continued, pushing off the wall with the grace of something dangerous.

"Your weak flattery won't work on me," I spat out coldly as I took a step closer. He seemed to be everywhere. I was almost certain he was stalking me right now. 

He was at every one of my fights, just silently watching me with those icy blue eyes of his. It would have been normal if he was just a fan, but no, he was trying to get me to fight for him in his illegal underground boxing ring. "And my answer to your proposal is still a flat no. So get out of my way," I immediately added. 

We have had this same conversation over and over again. I wasn't in the mood now to entertain him when every single muscle in my legs was screaming for a bed.

I turned my body to walk past his large frame and head back toward the lobby, but before I could take two full steps away, he smoothly shifted into my path.

"I wasn't done talking, little champion," he whispered, his cold blue eyes firmly locked onto mine as he stared down at me. "Besides, I don't take 'no' for an answer. Ever. I always get what I want, Yana. One way or another. You have real talent, and you keep wasting it in softened out legal rings."

‘’Get out of my way now.’’ I ordered, my voice dropping low as I held his gaze and took a step forward.

‘’Make me.’’ He stated blandly. 

My eyes that had been wide open in shock at his audacity soon thinned down into slits as anger flared up underneath my skin. His words were the only invitation I needed. 

My body moved without even second-guessing as I sent my right fist flying forward, aiming for his jaw. He was quick to dodge that, the quickness of his movement to evade my punch sent his cigarette falling from his fingers.

I spun fast again, breaking his reaching hold on me as my right fist moved fast again, heading straight for his ribs this time. I didn't hold back. 

Perhaps I had been too friendly with him in the past, but him blatantly challenging me was crossing the line.

He slipped his body to the side just in time, stepping behind me and for a second he had his chest to my back and I could feel the heat from his body as it sifted through the thin fabric of my dress.

‘’You almost landed that hit.’’ His warm breath brushed over my ear from behind, his hand leaving my waist completely to catch my forearm and deflect the force of my next punch away from his face, making my knuckles just graze past his cheek, so my full punch did not connect.

He took a step back from me, his gaze snapping up to mine again, and I could visibly see his eyes darken while he adjusted his jacket.

My eyes narrowed at the quick way he had countered my punch, even though I was exhausted and in heels, my punches were still fast. I didn't need a coach to tell me at that moment that he could fight, or perhaps had had some form of training, which impressed me, but that didn't change my annoyance with him even one bit.

"Get an inch into my space or challenge me again," I growled under my breath at him as I took a step back to balance on my heels while my fists still remained raised in the air, "and I swear to God I will hurt you so badly you'll need a stretcher to leave this building."

Instead of backing down at my words, a low chuckle vibrated from his chest as he looked down at my raised fists like I was doing something amusing to him, and that made me grit my teeth even more in annoyance.

"I like people as prideful as you," he said softly, taking a slow step backward and fixing the cuffs of his dark suit with his blue eyes still locked onto mine as he continued speaking. "It makes it so much more interesting when I watch them break," he ended with a cold laugh.

Without another word, he turned his back on me and walked down the hallway, disappearing around the corner.

I stood there for a long moment, my chest moving up and down fast as I watched the empty spot where he had just been standing. 

My hands were still shaking slightly from holding back the urge to beat him into a pulp. Like, who did he think he was? I so much disliked men who thought they controlled everything, and that was exactly the vibe I got off him.

Shaking my head to clear my mind, I smoothed down the front of my green dress, taking a deep breath before turning around, heading back in my initial direction, and stepping back into the lobby. But before I could even take three steps into the crowd, a hand grabbed my elbow and pulled me around fast.

I tensed up, almost throwing a punch out of habit, but stopped when I saw Max standing in front of me. I loosened up.

"There you are!" Max said, as he pulled me close to lay a soft kiss on my lips. "Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you!"

"What's wrong?" I asked, sending a soft smile at him. "I was just in the restroom..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Max interrupted quickly as he leaned in close, his hands falling on my shoulders to pull me close. 

"Your dad needs you to go up to his office. He said he left his notebook up there, the one with his main speech for tonight, and he wants you to make use of the private elevator in the back to get there faster and to avoid the reporters too. "

I frowned, confusion clearly visible on my face. "His notebook? Max, I thought I saw Dad holding it just a few minutes ago on the stage when I was with him..."

"Well, he thought the same thing until he opened it. He said he had grabbed the book containing his outline instead of the one with his speech." Max answered calmly as his eyes moved over my shoulder toward the crowd before coming back to mine. "Could you grab it for him babe?  He's going up on stage in five minutes and he needs that speech. Just go up and get it, will you?"

That was true. I remembered that my dad had more than one of that same type of jotter, so he must have picked up the wrong one. Although I still worried about why my boyfriend looked so stressed. But seeing that, I didn't want to add to it, so I nodded.

"Fine," I said quietly, pulling my shoulders out of his grip. "I'll go get it."

"Hurry," Max pushed again as he stepped back to turn towards the crowd again.

I moved away from the noisy lobby and made my way down the quiet hallway that led to the executive offices. 

My high heels clicked loudly against the floor, and it echoed off the walls. The air seemed to get colder and a cold single sweat rolled down my spine the further I walked away from the party, but I kept moving, just wanting for this party to be over with so I could take off these painful shoes and go home to sleep.

At the end of the hall stood the metal doors of the private elevator. It was saved only for family members and main board directors, and it needed a code to open up.

I reached out, typing in our family's security code on the keypad mounted on the wall. The pad beeped with a green light, and with a soft sound, the elevator doors began to slide open.

I took a step forward, lifting my foot to step inside the elevator cab.

The sudden vibration of my phone inside my small bag made me stop first as I reached into my small bag and pulled out my phone. The screen lit up, showing me an unknown caller ID.

I hesitated for a second, my thumb pausing for a moment over the screen. Normally, I never answered unknown calls, but something about the timing felt quite strange.

I swiped the screen to take the call, bringing the phone up to my ear while my eyes were fixed on the empty elevator in front of me as I prepared to step fully inside.

"Hello?"

Then came a cold, calm voice through the speaker, shocking me to the roots of my hair.

"Do not get into that elevator... or you die."