Two days had gone by as Dima adjusted to the air of upstate New York. He'd thrown himself into work, he knew everything he could at the moment about the Pavlova family.

They were exactly what Clara had said they are. Wannabe's. He learned about their families dabbling in the organized crime world when Dominik became Don. As the Russian mafia grew they became bolder, the American's seemed to take inspiration from them.

But they did a shitty job, they were sloppy at what they did and from what Dima could tell they spent their money recklessly. They were taking advantage of the underprivileged areas around them, using them as a cash cow and recruiting from the towns too.

But it seemed inspiration didn't take long to turn into jealousy. They were stupid but they were still strong and reckless. Which isn't a good combination.

Dark circles peeked from under his eyes as he poured himself the last of his coffee, he'd learned all he could through their paper trail and now today he could tap into what the Bryne's know. They'd been a long time ally of the Ivanov's so at least Dima knew he could trust the source.

Once he learned the people he could find a way to tear them apart without getting his hands too dirty.

That was the goal, keep it simple and effective. Then he'd be onto the next.
He wondered if he would stay in contact with the Bernard's. A small voice in his head corrected him- he didn't give a fuck about the Bernard's plural he just wandered about Elsie.

The stupid girl with the umbrella- he was the real stupid one. A simple act of kindness was meaningless in his world. Dima told himself that if she hadn'tve gone out of her way for him, he'd be able to ignore his attraction to her.

He'd ignore the way she flounces around. He'd ignore her glossy lips. He'd ignore the starry look he caught in her eyes when she would look at him before he left.

He does ignore it, he glared at the granite of his counter as he downed the coffee.
It was early, but he was dressed for the day. Dima wasn't looking forward to the overall meeting, just the information he'd get out of it.

He didn't want to see Clara, he didn't really want to see the Bryne boys, and he definitely didn't want to see Elsie.

As if hearing his thoughts, his phone rang.
Grumbling into the mug, he answered the unsaved number since he knew who it was.

"Ivanov," Clara's shrill voice sounded.
"What?"

"I need you to go to my house and get Elsie, I'll meet the two of you at the restaurant."
This had Dima's brow twitching, sliding over to his phone he'd put on speaker. "Why the hell would I do that?"

"Because you made this damn meeting so damn far I had to rearrange my whole schedule and I won't be able to get to Elsie and make it on time."

"She doesn't need to be there."

"I'm telling you this will go infinitely easier with her there, those boys are dumb as rocks. You'll get more than you give."

"I don't need to go through hoops to get what I want. If this is one of your fucking strategies for me-"

"For you?!" Clara suddenly laughed at the thought. "I'm bold but I'm not stupid. Eye candy was never going to sway you. I didn't know you even part took in the feeling of attraction," she snorted at her own joke as Dima still scowled.

"Anyway- you said you'd work with me. Well, this is working with me. You have to head over soon if she'll ever be ready in time. Lord knows she's outside with those godforsaken things."

Dima furrowed his brow before hanging up on her with nothing else to say. Pinching his brow for a moment, he grabbed his keys reluctantly before turning on his heel.

Annoyed doesn't even to begin to describe how he's feeling about this entire inconvenience as he pulled through the Bernard's large gates. Security didn't dare stop him this time around- they were all lucky they had caught him in a good mood two days ago or else they'd all be dead and he would have shot the door open himself.

Today, he wasn't feeling so generous.

Pushing himself into the foyer as the door had been opened by an older guy in a suit like him, Dima grunted as he looked at the man.

"Sir we weren't expecting you-"

"Where is she?" Dima cut to the chase, "I need her ready in the next hour."

The man squinted in thought, "Elsie? She's out back-"

Nodding, he gestured for the man to show him the way before murmuring under his breath. "I don't understand why she couldn't drive to meet us."

The man, who Dima figured was security, laughed quietly. Shooting the guard a side eye, the unspoken question rang in the air.

"You don't want to let her drive anywhere," the stranger snorted.

Dima frowned but didn't respond when he was led outside to an enormous backyard. His eyes widened a fraction, there was an entire farm out back.

There were different areas with different animals it seemed. A large shed was at the center of them it looked like.

Rubbing his tired face with both hands, he forced his legs to move on into the grass. He was careful of his step in his expensive shoes and tailored pants.

The sounds of hooves caught his attention, around the bed of one of the open fields he caught sight of the girl that he'd assumed before wouldn't be caught dead getting a speck of dirt on her. Now, she was leading a horse towards what looked like breakfast as the bugs flew around them.

He could hear her little squeaks, swatting the fly's off both her and the horse.

"A part two to breakfast never hurt anybody, right baby? C'mon Paula, we had our workout."

Her curls were up in two pigtails at the top of her head, he's sure they were precise and perfect when she did it but they were wild now. Sticking up in every direction, if it were anyone else he would say they looked stupid.

Dima grit his teeth- he does think she looks stupid.

The light sheen of sweat glossing her skin made his fingers twitch. He inhaled deeply, trailing his gaze down at the jean shorts that were sweat soaked into her skin. He swallowed what felt like sand, knowing his eyes must've been burning holes into Elsie's skin.

He swears he could give you the thread count of her tiny little fucking t-shirt with how he couldn't tear his eyes from how the garment fit her.

And soon enough, she definitely felt the weight of his eyes because Elsie peaked up momentarily before doing a double take when she realized who was watching her.

Her mouth fell open as the lead she held to the huge animal slipped from her grasp. Paula, the horse, wasn't phased however as she walked herself very casually over to her second breakfast.

"Uh- Hi..." Elsie tilted her head to the side as she peered up at Dima from a few feet away.

She looked around her as her pretty face pinched in slight confusion. "My uh- I don't think my mom is here."

She tilted her head to watched he took a deep breath, she saw his chest rise and fall as proof of it. There was an extra moment of silence, one that made her think she said something wrong.

Their eyes met for a moment, her dark ones meeting his deep brown eyes before she darted her own down. Elsie stared at the grass, picking at the dirt under her nails as she remembered what he had said last to her.

Something something, just being a pretty face, something something all she's good for. Nothing she hasn't heard before or thought herself.

But still- god did it sting coming from a man like Dima. She thought, naively which was typical of her, that there was some sort of... something there between them.

However, it was crazy of her to think Dima was anything more than maybe physically attracted to her. And that seemed like it was pushing it with how he glared and simmered to himself.

Elsie did wonder if this brief silence was just because he didn't like her or maybe she was missing something.

Dima was currently trying to calm his racing heart, his brow had furrowed as he pressed his palm to the organ within his chest. Even the scent of her wafting over in the wind was making his head feel fuzzy.

"Mr. Ivanov... is there anything I can help with? I can call my mom?"

"Mr. Ivanov?" Dima couldn't help but snort. The snort didn't sound humorous to Elsie though.

Twisting her toe in the dirt in front of her, she figured it was fine to look at him since he'd asked the question. The intensity of his eyes that she could feel was tenfold now that she saw them.

"After the meeting or whatever, my mom explained your position in the business she's in I guess. And she made it pretty clear about the Ivanov's and how strong you guys are. Which makes sense- you fit the bill and all. I should've been more respectful and known better," Elsie chewed on the inside of her cheek as she recalled her mother reeming her out for the 'carelessness' of her actions when she met Dima.

"Don't," Dima grunted.

"Be respectful?" Elsie couldn't help but blurt out with her perfectly plucked brows furrowing.

"Call me Mr. Ivanov," Dima checked his watch before hissing. "We're low on time. I need you to get your shit together and look decent for a meeting we're having at this resturaunt. You've got forty five minutes. Forget the horse."

"Forget the horse!" The pretty girl gaped. "Don't say that where she can hear you!"

"Elsie- move it," Dima pointed to the door. "It's bad enough you can't drive yourself apparently. Let alone you coming to this anyway. Let's move."

Her nose scrunched up and Dima almost stuttered out an extra word at the look she gave him. But he simply clamped his mouth shut as his eyes narrowed.

In what could only be described as the most meager, huffed out growl he'd ever witnessed, Elsie stomped her foot before turning towards where one of the security guards were.

"Petey!" She sang loudly as she waved over at the young man. Dima glared at the man as he immediately made his way over to the smaller woman.

"Petey! Oh thank you for making your way over here," Elsie looped her arms with the guard as she peered up at him from her short stature. The man only grinned down at her a little in response. Nodding along with her as she went on and on about this damn horse.

"I'm so sorry to ask again but I had no idea I was going out!"

"It's no problem, Miss Elsie."

"She shouldn't give you any problems!"

"She never does Miss Elsie."

"Paula has been really good today so maybe you can give her a carrot!"

"Anything for you, Miss Elsie."

Dima swears the man might as well have hearts in his eyes. He felt his own eye twitching at the droning voice he used on the girl. As if she was a child.

The beast was being taken care of when she practically flounced past him. Dima eyed 'Petey' before turning to follow after her.

"Since it's so early is the place we're going serving brunch?"

"I don't know."

Elsie frowned, slowing her step but never turning back to see if he was still following. She could feel Dima behind her, like a cloud trailing after her.

"How don't you know? The best parts of these things are the food."

Sneering, Dima dragged his gaze away from the tempting swing of Elsie's hips with every step in front of him, to look at her back with annoyance.

"The important part is getting shit done. Now will you throw something on? Like I give a fuck what you wear, we need to leave."

Dima finally tore his glare away from Elsie in front of him, to see he'd followed her into her room. The russian man almost did a double take, he couldn't believe himself at the moment. His family would kill him for being so unaware of his surroundings.

The bedroom he was in was feminine, to put it lightly. Soft pink accents were everywhere, matched with soft yellows and a few blues. Her bed was huge, right in the middle of the room and she'd gone off to the side past the vanity into her equally large closet.

He was able to catch the offended look she's thrown over her shoulder. "Throw something on? What does that even mean?"

Closing his eyes to pinch the bridge of his nose, Dima waved his hand at her dismissively before walking out of the room wordlessly.

He could at least fill this waste of time with talking to the head of security again. He could gather some important information
from someone close to the Bernard's.

•••••
hey 🧍‍♀️

i missed you guys LOLL well i hear from u guys every wednesday if ur up to date with maddening but u know what i mean 😚

i literally just finished this chapter last night and plan to get the next one up this weekend for valentines !!

also if you haven't seen me post abt it, ive started an insta as an author account and im going to try and keep up with it!! id love it if you followed, its just the same username (peachpseudonym) or u can find the link in my bio

i wanna post things u guys wanna see !! i have some mood boards, some aesthetics and maybe even some scrapped scenes that don't make it into my books.

I'd love ur thoughts!! i live for them actually

love u all pookies !! hope u enjoy this chapter sorry it took so long ♡