Page 12 of Ensnared
Oh God, let's not, Eve thought. But no one was looking at her as the three of them happily walked ahead. With no choice, Eve slowly followed.
Inside the office, Eve distinctly felt like the odd one out. While her grandparents were excited and engaged Eve felt like a sour child being dragged somewhere against their will. All the while, the overly friendly guide began explaining the various pricing options and payment plans, diving into the details of down payments, monthly installments, and maintenance fees. Eve struggled to maintain civility; her mind kept wandering to the very real facts that they simply could not afford this.
"Only one thousand?!" her grandfather stammered in question looking from the guide then to his wife and back again for clarification.
The woman smiled warmly. "Yes, right now we are offering new enrollments for the T2 townhome you looked at, with the two bedrooms for only a thousand a month."
Eve's stomach dropped. That was way cheaper than she thought a place like this would cost. It made no sense. They even had a weekly lounge social that just sounded like a nightclub for older people. How could all of that only be a thousand a month?
After taking a massive folder filled with paper and brochures they eventually headed back to their car.
"I really think this is the one," her grandfather announced. There was so much confidence in his voice it scared her.
"Me too,mahal," her grandmother replied affectionately to her husband.
From the back seat, Eve watched them look at each other with such love and excitement for this new possibility in their lives. It made her want to scream and cry. How could they even think this with all of their debt? She loved that they were so hopeful, but they couldn't just forget reality.
"Lolo, please," Eve begged, leaning forward in her seat. "Let's be for real. There is no way that place is going to stay at a thousand dollars a month. That has to be some sort of temporary special."
In the rearview mirror, her grandfather frowned at her and shook his head. "You heard her, she said-"
"And," Eve stressed, forcing her point. "I looked up our house's value and at most, you would get three hundred to three hundred and fifty thousand for it. After the realtor fees, move-in deposit, and moving cost that won't leave you with much to live the rest of your life on."
"It will be enough," he said flatly, unwilling to be deterred.
Eve refused to back down. "But what if there is a medical emergency or—or if you start gambling again and-"
"That's enough!" he snapped, causing Eve to jump. "Your grandmother and I deserve to be happy. If you cannot be happy for us just don't say anything."
Stunned, tears welled up in Eve's eyes as her grandfather's words hit her like a heavy blow. She was just trying to help. She knew she sounded negative but she didn't want them to make some irreversible mistake. Not like she did. But that was probably exactly what they were thinking, she thought morosely. What did she know? Why would they take advice from a girl who left her graduate program for a man who just used her and dumped her?
Over the next few days, her grandparents met with a couple of different realtors to discuss their options. Surrounded by paperwork and bubbling enthusiasm they sat in their living room going over every detail of the possible sale. In the end, they chose the man from the fancy black and gold embossed letter that had initially sparked this entire scheme in herlolo'shead. The man was from a company called Celestial Investments. He exuded an air of effortless suavity, his tailored suit and polished shoes speaking volumes about his expensive taste. Too expensive for a random couple with a not-so-special house, but Eve didn't say anything. She knew her opposing opinions were not welcome. Instead, she just sat quietly through each meeting until by the end of that week she had no choice but to watch them sign the agreement.
As her grandparents happily escorted the man out, shaking his hand and smiling and laughing, Eve sat there in shock. How did this happen so fast? Last week this was all just a daydream. Something whispered longingly and swiftly dismissed as they confronted the starkness of reality. Yet here she was, holding a copy of the contract in her hand. It made no sense. The house was bought for double than what it was worth!
The front door closed and Eve could hear her grandfather from where she sat in the kitchen. "I'm going to call the lady at The Reserve right now. Eve?" He called out. He didn't wait for her to answer. "See if you can call Ricky and tell him the good news. You two will have a month or so, plenty of time," he added as he came around the corner and grabbed his cell phone off the counter.
Everything was moving too fast, as if time had whirled by in a mere blink, turning Eve's world upside down. Questions flooded her mind, each one a relentless reminder of the uncertain future that lay before her. Where would she live? Where would Ricky live? Guilt gnawed at her chest for even thinking about it. She should be happy for her grandparent’s newfound surge of happiness, not bitter. Her grandmother was most likely assuming she would move into their spare bedroom in their new place, but Eve knew her grandfather well enough to know he would want her to push herself to get back to a place of independence. He wanted her to reclaim her autonomy, pursue a career in her field, and finish her master's degree.
Eve just wanted to scream at the suffocating silent judgment. Like she didn’t want that for herself?! Did they think she liked dressing like a slutty waitress and traipsing up and down the casino each night? Well, she didn't! It certainly wasn't what she spent four years in college for.
Trying to do her due diligence, she scoured the internet for Celestial Investments and possible scams. She poured the details of the sale into posts on Reddit hoping someone could point out any mistakes and how to back out of the deal. But all the info that returned was surprisingly positive. People told her she got a hell of a deal and others told her to grow up and let her grandparents enjoy the unexpected success. It all just intensified her guilt.
The worst part was that she had tried to talk to Dimitri about it. For once, she had been actually eager to go to work and see him. He had seemed slightly knowledgeable in real estate, maybe with all the details of the sale he could give her his opinion. But the man didn’t show up all week and all of her texts were left on read.
What an infuriating man!!! When she needed him, he was nowhere to be found.
Between her unanswered texts from Ricky and Dimitri, Eve just felt like a fool. She hated that she looked for Dimitri around every corner at work, for once hoping to get a glimpse of his devilish smile. She hated that she bit at her nails at the thought of Ricky's surprise at finding out what was happening at home. Would he feel betrayed and hurt that his childhood home was just suddenly gone? Annoyed and on the verge of tears, she barely made it to her first break.
Slipping into the closed office, Eve let out a sigh and sat at the empty desk. With a humorless laugh, she looked at her empty notification bar. Not once during this hectic week did she even look for a text from Landon. Such a bitter silver lining to an absolute crap show of a storm cloud. Opening up Reddit, she began to check her notifications when the office door suddenly opened.
Like a deer caught in headlights, Eve stared back at the stern face of her supervisor and two security guards standing directly behind him.
Chapter 8
ThereweretimesDominicfelt a trace of pity for Ricky. Especially now as he watched Dimitri walk into the room. The kid wasn't cut out for this type of life, that was obvious. The way every emotion showed across the young man's face was almost comical to him and the rest of the men. That was the difference between men like himself and the rest of Dimitri's enforcers, they were trained to remain stoic, to not show a shred of emotion on the job, and especially to someone considered an enemy.
For the past couple of weeks, Dominic watched the kid. He watched him on the camera in his room and watched him while he worked on projects Andrey assigned him. And he couldn't help but see the immense regret in the kid's face. It practically rolled off of him like smoke. Why he thought that he could work for the Armenians and come out unscathed was baffling to Dominic. No matter if the job had gone good or bad there would have only been two options for him, either the Armenians would have forced him to continue working for them or they would have put a bullet in his head to reduce any risks.
