"I don't know what else fuckin' kids need, Nik." Dima leaned against his car door as he took a long drag of his cigarette. "You're askin' someone who has no business around infants."

"Yeah well just a little bit ago I was in the same boat- now look where we are. You're about to have a nephew so take the few months to get it together. Now- should I get the bottle washer or not?"

"Get the bottle washer, pay somebody to handwash them, I don't give a fuck. I'm actually doing my job for the family right now and I see that fucker now so I'm hangin' up."

Dima did just that, tossing his phone in the car, his dark eyes tracking the target.

Said target was an accountant, Gregory, that worked under Clare. He was an accountant that worked with one of the Ivanov's suppliers, mananging that specific branch and reporting to Clare so Clare could do her job with accurate information.

But unfortunately for him, and it pains Dima to say this, Clare was damn good at her job. She had noticed a trend of the numbers she was getting from Gregory, they were off, just by a hair. Nothing the average person would catch, probably not something an above average person would notice either. But Clare did and sent the information straight to Dima.

The bloody parts was where Clare's job ended and luckily enough it was the Ivanov's forte. He'd been digging into this for the last two weeks himself, finally with a clear answer to the mishap he could take action.

Gregory lived in a lavish apartment complex, he was rolling in money with the paychecks the Ivanov family are signing. Dima walked silently, taking in the surroundings as he wordlessly followed in Greg's steps.

When the man of the hour pushed into his apartment, he still didn't hear Dima behind him. He didn't hear the steps right behind him, the rustle of his slacks, or the calm thud of Dima's heart.

Gregory only heard a palm slapping against the door suddenly as Dima shoved into the home behind him.

Dima pressed the barrel of his handgun to the accountants temple, slapping his palm to the back of his neck while kicking the door shut casually behind him. The blubbering of the lanky man fell on deaf ears.

"Do you know who I am?" Dima turned Gregory to look at him. The russian accent was thick with every word uttered.

And even while he drowned in his fear, Gregory was able to connect the dots quickly. Dima could see it in how he paled drastically.

"Y-You're with them-"

"I am them. The Ivanov's aren't happy, Greg." Dima grunted as he dragged the crumpled young man by the back of his neck over to the couch.

Groaning qietly at the sore muscles plaguing his shoulder as he dragged a chair over for himself to look at the kid, Dima sat down stiffly.

"You could've gone your entire life without a visit from us."

"Please- please- I have things to tell you-"

"That would've been the safe thing to do. Now look where we are," Dima was still frowning tightly. He was actually annoyed to be away from his office at the Bernard's.

Gregory held his hands up as he tried to inch closer, freezing at the look he was given to stay put. "I wasn't actually going to take them up on the offer I swear-"

"You were in contact with the Pavlovas. You were altering our intakes thinking we wouldn't notice, you gave them some information, you now regret it. But you didn't regret it when you were spending their extra money at the strip club, Greg. Which you have cheap taste- by the way." Dima was actually exhausted with how much he just spoke. It wasn't his typical style, he wasn't a talkative killer.

But this idiot in particular caught him on an off day, he supposes.

"I don't really care for this back and forth of you begging. When this is over, I'll take your phone and fill in the small amount of blanks I need. They contacted you this morning like they have every Tuesday for the past three weeks. Is there anything left to cover?" Dima grumbled to himself in russian as he went down his checklist for himself.

Gregory had talked throughout the whole thing anyway, something Dima can't stand. He almost considered drawing this whole thing out but he was already done with the ordeal.

Snatching Greg's left hand, Dima glared down at the rat. "I should make this longer, more painful. Only spineless pussies have the audacity to turn their backs on the Ivanovs. For fucking scum no less. The only consolation is that whoever finds you is going to find you with a gun jammed in your mouth where you pulled the trigger yourself like the coward you fucking are."

Dima forced his clammy hands around the gun sternly, barely having to fight against Gregory's strength. His dark eyes watched as he cried violently before the gun began to muffle it.

Cocking a single brow, Dima forced the young accountant to pull the trigger. The warm, viscous blood splattering his face didn't phase him one bit. He examined the exit wound with mild curiosity and now the remaining tears mixed with the blood messily. He hummed before stepping away.

While he put the chair back in its place, he spotted a bowl of fruit on the counter.

Dima grunted once more as he made his way out of the apartment casually, in one hand he scrolled the phone he'd snatched from Gregory and in the other was the bowl of fruit.

~

Leaning back in his chair at the kitchen counter, Dima had cleaned up a bit and was still scrolling Gregorys phone as he forwarded everything to himself while taking notes on the side.

His body faced the entrance of the house, every once in a while glancing up towards the front door.

After a while of this, he'd finally flickered his focus up to see Elsie waltzing into the kitchen. He scanned his eyes over her attire, a matching set of skin tight mid thigh shorts and what looked like a sports bra. He narrowed his gaze momentarily before she looked over at him with a grin.

"You're back!" Dima hadn't been around much with the work he'd taken on. She hadn't been seeing him around the house as much, she'd leave his lunches out and find them gone the next day usually but he wasn't around to eat them with her.

"I could say the same to you," he murmured as he watched her flounce around the kitchen. She frowned, peering over her shoulder at him distractedly only to see him look at the bowl of fruit besides him.

"Ooh," Elsie hummed. Abandoning her search of the fridge, she sat across from him at the counter on her knees. "There's peaches in here? Perfect. Where'd we even get this bowl from?" There was a brief pause of silence as Dima chose not to answer.

But Elsie was beginning to take those in stride. "Whatever. Anyways, peaches are one of my favorite snacks after pilates. I was running all over the place- I got my nails done, I got some shopping over with, then had to go straight to pilates and barely had any time to eat. I'm so excited."

Dima didn't respond but he did pause in his note taking as she went on.

"Y'know it's so weird coming home to someone being around besides the security. I feel like I usually talk their ears off when I get back from going out. I usually show them my nails and since they're paid to be here they have to say they like them."

Elsie held up her manicure for him to see, they were a light pink instead of the moody purple he'd seen on them a few days ago. He nodded once in acknowledgement even though she was already onto the next thing.

"I got a few things for the horses, the old lead I had was getting grimy and I'm considering a new saddle," Elsie leaned forward to peak at what Dima was writing as she took a slow bite into her peach.

The russian man watched aptly, his dark eyes trailed down to follow the juice dribbling along her plush pout onto her chin. Elsie hummed in thought while mindlessly wiping along her lips and licking at her thumb.

"I mentioned it to my pilates instructor though and he said it sounds like I have enough stuff for my horses."

Dima spun the pen in his grasp, bringing his eyes back up to hers.

"He did?"

Elsie twisted her lips in thought, still trying to decode his scratchy handwriting. "Yeah, anytime I mention the farm he says if I spent half as much time with them in the gym I'd be able to perfect my form. He's always gotta correct it."

"Yeah?"

Leaning forward onto her elbows, Elsie finally gave him her focus rather than his paper. She saw his jaw was tight, which was typical for Dima but when she walked in he had looked more relaxed she thought.

"Why, do you wanna come with me sometime? That'd be fun," she thought aloud.

Just as he started to scoff she cut him off, "It would do good for that shoulder of yours."

It was his turn to look at her sideways, wondering how the hell she knew he was feeling any discomfort anywhere.

Her brows rose up expectantly for an answer while he simply glared at her.

Once she grew tired of the silence she rolled her eyes at him, this too nearly caught him off guard. Whatever had gotten into Elsie, whether it be the endorphins from pilates or the fresh set of nails, it came with an attitude.

"You're in rare form tonight," Dima finally grunted to himself.

Elsie huffed, fingering at her curls as she rooted around for more fruit. "No, I was in rare form at pilates- don't you listen?"

Dima dropped the pen in his hand to shoot her a look- one that said to watch it. "Do we have a problem, куколка?"

little doll

His voice was dangerous, sending shivers down Elsie's spine. She peered up at him through her lashes as she squirmed in her seat. He rose a brow at her as his fists clenched tighter simply at the look she was giving him.

Catching the small movement and the twitch in his jaw, Elsie fought a sheepish smile. It was like she could see through his amped up irritation.

Meanwhile as she tried to stamp down her amuseent, he was trying to physically force down the blood flow he felt flushing at his face. куколка? Who the hell is he kidding with that? What the fuck is he thinking?

Slowly, Elsie pushed up to lean against the counter. A pout tugged at her lips while leaned against her elbows, pushing into Dima's space further than she usually does. "Dima why're you mad at me?" She tilted her head, allowing her curls to fall to the side with the movement.

The increasingly flustered russian man practically snarled, but she noticed he has yet to move back. "I didn't mean to frustrate you while you worked," Elsie hummed softly.

Their dark eyes collided finally, since Dima had been avoiding her gaze, he exhaled heavily before rolling his neck and breaking the stare. Dragging a rough hand down his stubbled jaw, Dima dragged his eyes down her face once again as if he couldn't help himself.

"You have a knack for that," he grunted while pushing away from the counter and from her.

"For what?" she plopped her chin on her hand as she watched him.

"Frustrating me," Dima growled under his breath while slamming shut his notebook.

Pursing her lips out, she twisted them before rolling her eyes while he went to leave. Dima swallowed hard as he caught the attitude once again.

"Well, it's never on purpose."

"Oh I'm painfully aware of that." The rasp in his voice made her suck her bottom lip into her mouth.

Finally, she scooted off the chair, stumbling a bit from the drop as she trailed after him. Only picking up her step to cut in front of him. She craned her neck up to catch his eyes again as she walked backwards with every step forwards he took. Dima's heart thudded harder with every inch they moved in sync.

"Since I'm so frustrating how come you decided to move your office here?"

"Whens the last time you saw me in that office?" He was trying to prove a point even though he knew the only reason he wasn't there was because he couldn't be.

"You and I both know you wouldn't be here now if you were avoiding that office."

Dima cursed under his breath, "When did you get so bold with me, куколка? I preferred when you were more scared of me."

little doll

Elsie scoffed, "I don't remember being scared-" She cut herself off with a sharp gasp as she found herself pressed against the door and Dima who didn't stop himself from encroaching on her space. His left hand came to brace himself against the wood as he leaned down.

Now, he had little Elsie all to himself against the door. With her chest heaving in her fucking spandex and her skin still lightly glistening from her workout. He momentarily chewed on the inside of his cheek thinking about that damn pilates instructor. Perhaps he could take a closer look at him.

She was a brave little thing, sometimes, he'd give her that. Always meeting his glare and obviously testing his patiences. Testing his restraint.

Sucking on his teeth once, he leaned in. "This whole thing will be easier for the both of us if you learn when to be a little scared, Elsie."

Elsie took in his face, how his eyes were laser focused on her lips. Only breaking the stare to every once in a while look into her chocolatey gaze. His pale skin was lightly freckled, she noticed at this distance. He had a scar going through his right brow and one underneath the opposite eye too. His hair was so dark it was closer to black than brown, she wondered if he dyed it to get it that color. But looking at his stubble and his brows, she doubted it.

Exhaling roughly through her nose, she licked her lips once. Dima watched the movement with a trained eye. "Sounds like you're the one a little scared, Dima."

This made his steely stare shoot up to hers. He scoffed, pushing away to finally breathe without feeling like her scent was giving him a head high.

Without another word, he gripped her by her upper arms and lifted her up out of the way. Elsie squeaked when he picked her straight up effortlessly and placed her on the other side of the door.

Blinking a few times, she watched him making his way out wordlessly.

Huffing in offense, Elsie rushed to poke her head out of the door. "I'm making those sandwiches for lunch tomorrow- the ones you don't like!"

Dima tossed the middle finger her way over his shoulder and couldn't stop the slight upwards twitch at his lips when he heard her offended growl.

••••

i've been sick

for three. weeks.

lost my voice and everything it was ass but that's what i get for working in childcare lmao anyways to make up for yet another gap we got some tension and a good & long chapter

and the fact that im working on the next one currently lol !!

give me thoughts and feedback so far besides the horrible posting schedule !!
what's ur read on elsie so far?

how about dima?

now what abt elsie and dima 😏😏