Page 6 of Deadly Devotion

Opening the door to the poker room, I see four men sitting around a game table, a waitress cowering in the far corner, a dark-haired man with a medium build sitting on a loveseat, two burly men who are clearly bodyguards, and Joey by the door.

“My name is Aleksandr Avilov,” I state. All eyes are on me as I scan the room, looking over each. “Someone killed my brother, and I’m going to find out who it was.”

The waitress lets out a small whimper, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. A fat, balding man shifts uncomfortably in his seat. A younger man with dark brown hair is nervously tappinghis fingertips on the table. A silver-haired older man drains the glass he is drinking from and stands up.

“Mr. Avilov,” he says in a raspy voice. “We were playing poker when your brother got up to use the restroom. No one left the room.”

Narrowing my eyes, I look at each one of the men. Then, I address the waitress. “Is this true? Did any of these men leave the room after my brother left?”

“I…I d-don’t know,” she stutters. I raise an eyebrow in question. She lets out a small whimper. “Phil asked me to cover the room after the other waitress didn’t return.”

“What other waitress?” I question through clenched teeth.

Phil clears his throat, and my head snaps in his direction. “Maybe we should talk in my office?” he suggests.

“Bring her,” I command, pointing at the waitress. “No one leaves this room,” I tell Joey.

Spinning on my heels, I storm out just as Dimitri is headed my way. “No one leaves,” I instruct him. “I will speak with them individually in Phil’s office.” Dimitri’s tall, muscular build is quite intimidating, and his fighting skills are lethal. No one is getting past him.

I make myself comfortable in the seat behind Phil’s desk. Leaning back with my fingers steepled in front of my face, I scrutinize the waitress. She is a quivering mess standing before me. “What is your name?”

“Lisa,” she whispers.

“Lisa,” I repeat. “Who was in the poker room when you first entered it?”

“The four men that are in there now,” she replies, wringing her hands. “Oh, and the two big guys…the bodyguard guys.”

“What happened to the other waitress?”

“I don’t know,” she answers quickly, looking over at Phil sitting on the sofa across from the desk.

“Did you find my brother?” I ask, curbing the urge to flip the desk over.

Looking down at her feet, she replies in a small voice. “Yes. I noticed the door to the supply room was open, and when I went to shut it, I saw him lying on the ground. I only took a step into the room before I saw that he had been shot in the chest.” A stray tear rolls down her cheek.

“Look at me, Lisa,” I instruct. “Think carefully before you answer. Did you see anyone else in the VIP area before I arrived?”

She hesitates, nervously shifting her weight from foot to foot, biting her lower lip. “Just Tony and Joey.” The poor girl looks like she is going to faint. She clearly doesn’t know anything.

“You can go,” I tell her. Relief washes over her, and she rushes out of the room.

“What happened to the other waitress?” I asked Phil.

“You don’t thinkshedid it?” he asks in surprise, wiping a bead of sweat off his forehead.

“Where did she go?” I snap, slamming my palms down on the desk.

“I don’t know,” he mutters. “Tony said she took a break and didn’t return.”

“Bring him to me,” I order. Phil jumps to his feet and scurries out of the office. A minute later, he returns with the dark-haired man from the poker room trailing behind him.

“You…sit,” I growl, directing Tony to sit across from me. Given the circumstances, he appears relatively calm. “Where did the other waitress go?”

“I don’t know,” he replies. “She was serving cocktails for about an hour, then came to the bar and said she needed a break. I told her to take fifteen minutes, but she didn’t return. I told Phil and, he sent Lisa to cover the poker room.”

“Is it normal for you to lose a waitress in the middle of a shift, Phil?” I direct my attention to him, biting back the urge to put a bullet in his brain.

“No, Mr. Avilov,” he assures, standing up from the sofa. “She’s new, and I assumed it was too much for her. Our VIPs can be a bit intense for some girls,” he says, dragging his fingers through his thinning brown hair.

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