Divorcing Her Mafia Family
Chapter 28

She entered the house with a plan, no longer feeling overwhelmed as she had been in the car. Mrs. K was nowhere to be found and it was fine with her. She made her way to the guest bedroom not forgetting Miklos had taken the bed out of it. She grabbed her duffel bag she’d left there earlier in the week and checked through it and found her intended target.

She smirked as heard the sound of Miklos stomping down the stairs to the kitchen. She waited until she knew he was out of sight and then made her way to the second floor. She checked all the doors and as he’d threatened earlier in the day, all the guest rooms were locked.

Dimi shook her head. If he wanted to put them in the same bed, then so be it. She went up to the third floor and stepped into his master bedroom. He had reverted everything back to the way it was with the exception of his original bed. She liked the bed from the guest room, so she was quite content with it.

She made her way to his bathroom and began meticulously arranging the contents of the bag onto his countertop. She opened one of the drawers to the bathroom cabinets and pulled it open and dumped his stuff onto the floor and shoved a box of tampons and a handful of hair elastics and scrunchies and l*p gloss into it. It couldn’t get any more girlie than this in his masculine bathroom.

“What are you doing?” his voice was strangely calm.

She looked over her shoulder and found him bare chested, holding a beer and eying her cautiously.

“Need room for my supplies. You don’t need six drawers.”

“You couldn’t just put my things on the counter instead of dumping them on the floor?”

“It’s not my fault you insisted we share a room but didn’t adequately prepare.”

She watched from the corner of her eye as he bent down and collected the shavers and beard grooming things she had dropped and put them away in the linen closet behind them. She put her makeup bag on the counter and dug through it and found her cleansers to wash her face and get ready for bed. She ignored him standing there and forced herself to begin her nighttime routine.

When her face was clean, she began brushing her teeth with her electric toothbrush. When she was done, she pretended he wasn’t there and digging for the bravado she’d had the night she’d done the bonfire and was drunk, she sat on the edge of the bathtub and tugged her boots off. Then she rose and shimmied out of the tight leather skirt and then undid the snaps of the barely-there body suit and stood as naked as the day she was born. She knew he was eyeing her up and down and wondering what game she was playing but she grabbed the t-shirt and short bottoms she usually slept in and got into them.

She grabbed a hair scrunchie and twisted her hair up into a messy bun on top of her head. “All this sharing of personal space is fun and all, but can I get five minutes in here alone?” she gave a pointed glance.

“Forgive me for not trusting you to not blow up my toilet.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She held his gaze with no remorse.

“The plumber said he found a half dozen expandable children’s toys shoved into the bend. Are you going to blame Mrs. Kyriakos again?”

“I never blamed her for anything. You did. Can you leave?”

“Not until I make sure you aren’t going to take a sledgehammer to the tile.”

She pointed to the door rolling her eyes, “go.”

“I want to check your bags.”

She laughed in his face, “fine.”

She leaned against the wall and watched as he rifled the bag, and she focused hard on maintaining her straight face when she saw him pause in his digging. She knew what he’d found. She’d banked on it.

He turned and held up a pink egg-shaped s*x toy. “Really?”

“He’s not the one I need five minutes with, if you could grab the silver one and just leave it on the counter, it would be great. His name is Hiddleston. After the actor. Mm, mm.”

He turned back to the bag and furiously pulled clothes out of it.

“Its in a purple velvet bag,” she offered helpfully. She leaned over his shoulder, “he’s right there.” She reached under his arm and tugged out the toy. “Great. When you’re finished violating my privacy, I could use five minutes alone please.”

“To use this?” he grabbed the pouch from her hand

“Well yes. You agreed we could do the petri dish thing, but s****l frustration isn’t something I’ve ever had to deal with, and I don’t intend to start now.”

“You’re going to get off in the bathroom?”

“Normally no, though the shower is a good place to rub one out.”

“What the hell is wrong with your mouth? It is foul and disgusting.”

“Yours is worse,” she mocked him, “and I believe we’ve already been over your double-standards.”

“You cannot have this,” he took the vibrating device and the egg as well and walked back into the bedroom.

She hadn’t anticipated him stealing her toys. She followed him furiously as he strode into the walk-in closet. “They are my personal property. Return them at once.”

“No. If you need satisfaction, you come to your husband.” He unlocked a drawer in his wardrobe using a fingerprint and then shoved them inside and locked it again.

“Did you just confiscate my dildos?”

“No wife of mine will need such things.”

“You’re an i***t,” she laughed at him. “I can order a thousand more. Maybe I will. Maybe I’ll order thousands and thousands of dildos and charge them to your account.”

“To my account?”

“Well yeah, it hasn’t been my money I’ve been spending all week,” she said smartly.

“What do you mean?” he eyed her curiously

“Nothing.” She turned on her heel. “I still need five minutes in the bathroom.”

“For what purpose? I took all your playthings.”

She wiggled her fingers over her head as she walked away, “unless you cut these off, no you haven’t, and they are very accustomed to things just how I like it. Now if you aren’t going to let me have the bed alone for five minutes, I need quiet time in the bathroom please.”

She locked the door and ignored the pounding of his fist against the door telling her to open it. She grabbed her phone, scrolled through her playlist, and found the Ariana Grande song 34+35 and cranked it as loud as her phone would play it and set for repeat. She giggled when he kicked the door one last time cursing before his heavy footsteps pounded away.

She sat on the edge of the tub scrolling through her phone and answering text messages and emails. At the four-minute mark she purposefully held her breath as long as she possibly could, knowing it would make her cheeks flush from the lack of oxygen. She did it two more times and then made a show of washing her hands before opening the door to the bedroom.

The lights were on, but he wasn’t in the room, and she was smirking. Her smirk fell when he stepped into the room and met her eyes furiously. He wore nothing but his boxers again.

She knew what he was seeing when she slipped between the sheets of the bed and didn’t look away from him. He was holding his phone in his hand, and he was barely in control of his temper.

“You’ve spent nearly sixty grand in four days?”

“Is that all?” she snuggled into the pillows on the bed. “I wasn’t really keeping track. Can we talk about this tomorrow? I’m tired.”

“No. You are doing all of these things to make me absolutely f*****g insane and you’re billing me for it?” he ripped the blankets off her and pulled her upright in the bed.

She tore her arm away from him. “Well yeah. My money from the sale of my program won’t be in until later this week. Besides, had you just given in on day one, this all could have been avoided. For the record, there are still a few pending charges you probably haven’t seen yet.”

“For what? What is coming next Dimitra?”

“It’s a surprise,” she made wide eyes at him. “Now, if you don’t mind. I’ve just had a great o****m fantasizing about my dream man while I sat in your big bathtub in there. I may have to do it again sometime with bubbles and hot water. Completely set the mood. Anyway, coming always makes me sleepy so if you could f**k off somewhere so I could go to sleep, it would be great.”

“You bluff.”

“I’d let you check my panties but I’m not wearing them, and I also don’t want you near my panties.” She sighed, “I kind of miss the bed with the motor in it. It was two separate mattresses. We could have our own spaces.” She pushed a body pillow into the middle of the bed. “Stay on your side.”

“Dream man?” he was still fixated on her alleged playtime in the bathroom.

“Yes. I haven’t met him yet but when I do, he’s going to be everything I’ve ever dreamed of and more.”

He flicked the lights off and rounded the bed and climbed in on his side. “You wasted a lot of money, Dimitra.”

“Are you kidding? Watching you get folded like a pretzel in the defective bed was the best eight grand I ever spent.”

He had just started to lay down when he sat up again, “you spent eight grand on the death machine?”

She giggled as she rolled to face him, her eyes dancing in the pale light from the moon outside. “Yes. Worth every penny.” She slipped her feet along the sheets, “I miss the satin.”

“You do not.” He grabbed the body pillow and tossed it on the floor.

“Hey, the pillow was the border. No touchy-touchy,” she backed away from his hands.

“I want to hold you. I’ve had a s**t day. My wife destroyed my Porsche.”

“I’ve had a great day.” She sighed contentedly and slapped at his hands. “Well except for dinner. I really thought I’d get your mother on board. Could have sworn she hated me.”

“Means to an end, Dimitra. You forget sometimes to protect the ones you love you have to hurt them.” He reached for her again.

“Only a f*****g Laskaris would have such a twisted thought process.”

“Dimitra, you are loved by the Laskaris family. You were too young for marriage. All three of us knew it.”

“Stop using my age as an excuse for you not wanting me, Miklos. You didn’t want to be married.”

“You’re right. I didn’t. However, arranged marriages are common even today,” he cut off her comment about the eighteen hundreds, “and they work out just fine. Did I anticipate I’d ever want to sleep with you? No. I agree. I did not. I admit I was wrong. I find you very attractive Dimitra and while I am still coming to grips with the emotions I am feeling, they are not easy,” he admitted quietly, “I am confident the affection I’ve always had for you will continue to grow into the love between a man and his wife.”

She didn’t answer his words and they stayed facing each other, each on their own pillows, deep in their own thoughts.

“What is on your mind, kopelia mou?” he asked quietly after they stared at each other for several long minutes.

“If you had any true affection for me Miklos, any at all, you would set me free.” She begged quietly, hating how her voice broke. “Why can’t you hate me like I hate you? I am doing everything I can to make you despise me and yet you’re still laying here spouting this nonsense.”

“Do you truly believe you hate me, little one?” he reached out a hand and brushed a piece of hair escaping from her messy bun off her cheek, tucking it behind her ear.

“Yes.” She didn’t look away from the sadness in his expression. “You abandoned me Miklos. You left me here in this house while you went and did your own thing. Then for eight years you pretended I didn’t exist. You went from being family I saw every day of my life to a ghost. You took my affection and proved it meant nothing to you. What you did by disappearing out of my life, seeing me three times in eight years is not what you would do someone you care about, not even if it was only sisterly affection.”

His fingertips traced her ear, “I am sorry.” He whispered the words to her, “I am very sorry for what I did. I wish I could travel back in time and tell myself how badly I’m going to mess us up and stop myself before I do the things I’ve done. Unfortunately, I cannot and all I can do is everything in my power to make things right.”

“To make things right, grant me my divorce.”

“Then not only do I lose my wife, then I lose you completely and I will never see you again. It’s not an option. I cannot.” His words were calm and resolute.

“You haven’t seen me in more than five years. What is the difference?”

“The difference is I now know what I’ve been missing. I know the void in my life was because you were not with me. It took you to surprise me on Sunday for me to realize how much I missed you and how much I’ve needed you.”

“It’s too late, Miklos. Give me my divorce or be saddled for the rest of your life with a wife who despises you.”

“I will live with a wife who hates me. You will live with a husband who adores you.”

“You don’t adore me.”

“I do.” He was firm in his conviction. “I may have temporarily forgotten how much, but I do. I will spend forever showing you.”

“Miklos.”

“Enough, my little wife. We are dancing in circles now and it is late. I want you to get rest. I have a surprise for you tomorrow.”

“For me?” she eyed him warily. “Surely not another thousand roses.”

“No. I know you mentioned you are busy with the sale of your program, but can you spare a bit of time to come to the offices?” He paused and gave a grin, “I know you remember the address since you had inflatable bendy guys delivered to me.”

She couldn’t help but giggle at his words, “did you like them?”

“No but the FBI agents who arrived on site said they were most helpful in providing clear direction to the office so thank you.”

“They already knew the way,” she scoffed and tucked her pillow under her arm rolling onto her belly. “I hate them even more than I hate you.”

He rubbed small circles on her back, the way he had when she was a small child to coax her to sleep. “Did they really put you in a holding cell?”

“They did. Agent Frye of the FBI. He thinks it’s funny it rhymes. Told me if I became in informant for them, they would make my charges disappear. I told them to charge me and be done with it. Then he told me if I agreed to work for them, they would leave my family alone and I said they could do what they wanted to my family because my family has never done anything wrong. He said they had all kinds of evidence against me, and the family and I told him he should get it to a DA and fast before it disintegrates and gets absorbed into the ground the way most horseshit does.”

He chuckled at her words, “you gave them nothing.”

“Of course, I gave them nothing. Even when they waited twenty hours to give me food or drink. Even when they threatened to send me to Guantanamo for treason and espionage.”

“They tortured you?” his voice was cold as he continued massaging her back. As she grew sleepier, she was giving him more details.

“After the second interview they left me in a cell with no lights, no windows and no sound, no food, no drink. Then they came in hard and fast, flung the lights on, yelling and screaming at me to give them intel on the Lykiaos and Laskaris families and demanded I tell them how I infiltrated their computer system.”

“You must have been so frightened,” he moved closer to her protectively.

“I told myself you would get me out.” She wiped a tear off her cheek. “I didn’t budge with them. I said nothing. I showed no fear. I didn’t cry. I didn’t break. I was my father’s daughter and the wife of a Laskaris, and I knew you would come for me.”

She felt his hand still on her back at her admission.

She exhaled shakily, “even now, they know I am nothing to either you or my father and so they bait me and taunt me. They make me offers of employment or they ask me to turn against my family because you abandoned me. I would never but even the government knows how little I mean to you and Vasili.”

“Dimitra,” his voice was hoarse at her words. “I didn’t know.”

“No. You chose to ignore it. The girls called you. The one instruction I gave them as I was being hauled away was call my husband. Instead of looking into the matter, you did what you did best, and you pretended I didn’t exist. Three days I was in their custody. Three days. For the last four years, they continue to stalk me. It’s why I would leave the USA in a heartbeat. I would leave and never come back if I could. I am not afraid of them but if I have a child, then it is a child with a mother who will constantly be at the mercy of the government because her own family does not value her enough to keep her safe.”

“This is why you hate me.” His words carried heavy weight as his hand fell away from her and rested on his own chest. “It is not because I hurt you by denying our wedding vows. I failed you.”

The tears choked her, “you abandoned me Miklos. You abandoned me to the wolves. It is a good thing I am not a lamb.”

“Dimitra, how can I fix this?”

“Divorce me.”

He exhaled loudly and rolled out of the bed. “I can’t.”

“Then live with the consequences.” She said simply.

As he quietly padded out of the bedroom and away from her, Dimitra finally let the tears fall freely. The ones she had never allowed herself to cry after the arrest. Four years of tears accumulated, and she let the sobs rack her body.

When she finally slept, it was without the awareness of the man standing at the door, watching her with his own shattered heart.