Page 3 of Ensnared
Dimitri stared at the photo again. The girl's round face was unexplainably captivating. With her voluminous curly black hair, round gold-rimmed glasses, chubby cheeks, and coffee-colored skin she looked nothing like his distraught hostage. Yes, there were a few subtle indications of Asian heritage in her features, but they were not enough to make him think she was related to the kid locked in the storage closet.
A slight buzz sounded from Dominic's pocket. Checking his phone, he slipped it back into his pocket and nodded toward the laptop on the desk. "Andrey says to check your email. He just got done obtaining the rest of the info."
Hesitantly, Dimitri tore his eyes from the photo of the girl and pulled up his email. At the top, an unread email read:Found your motivation.
Clicking the email, three pages of documentation pulled up along with a handful of social media photos with the two smiling siblings. But the most important photo was at the bottom. A familiar looking badge ID with a smiling face shining on it.
Dimitri smiled. "Well, look at that. I think fate just handed us the perfect incentive for our guest."
Chapter 3
Pushingthroughthelockerroom doors, Eve adjusted her shimmering tights under her skirt. Out of the whole stupid outfit, it was the tights she hated the most.
The two-piece cocktail waitress outfit was just ridiculous and frankly sexist. Yeah, this was the city of sin and yeah, she worked in a casino, but could she have an ounce of dignity? Was that too much to ask? The heavily sequined black and gold top showed a huge chunk of cleavage while the tiny black mini skirt only added insult to injury with the garish little slit on her thigh. It didn’t help matters that she was the only one out of the other waitresses, including the older ones, who wore an extra-large size uniform. Something she normally wouldn't feel self-conscious about if the hotel didn't require her to drop it off every night at the on-site dry cleaners with the other girls after her shift.
Eve waved at a few coworkers as she walked down the hall, her black Mary Jane pumps clicking against the shiny cream tile. She stepped in line for the time clock. Getting to the front, she swiped her badge and stepped over to the schedule. Now for the moment she had been dreading all day. Finding the name of the bar she worked at, she looked for the names of people on shift for the night.
"Don't be him. Don't be him. Don't be him," she chanted again and again as she went down the list, past the names of the other women on shift.
Her eyes stopped just below her name, Eve Thomas, and read the name she loathed more than anything—Dimitri Zaretsky.
God why?!She groaned in her head.
With a scowl, she turned around and stomped back down the hall.
She had been working at the Elysium Hotel for a few months now and for the most part, it was a surprisingly friendly environment. Well at least for her it was. She overheard plenty of stories of waitresses fighting with other waitresses as they jockeyed for the best spots in the clubs and lounges. And that was excluding the all-out war that went on between the pool girls who acted not only as waitresses but as promoters for the extravagant pool parties the hotel hosted.
No, thank you. While the stories might be amazing to hear, Eve wanted none of that. She was just fine with working in the lowest tier section of the casino, bar Eternal. A lonely bar tucked in a corner of the hotel near the entrance and surrounded by penny slot machines whose only clientele were the elderly and people on a budget.
Everything had been fine at this bar beforeheshowed up. Yeah, the tips weren't that great and she had seen more than one person urinate themselves just to avoid getting up and losing their seat at a slot machine. But all of that was manageable as long as she didn’t have to deal withhim.
The worst part of his presence besides the fact that he was annoying as sin was that it made no sense whatsoever.
A six-foot-five, blond, blue-eyed devil of a man with matching dimples to go with that villainous smile he liked to wield should not be working in the lowest-tier bar of the hotel. He should be somewhere like Bar Radiance or Club Spectacular that regularly hosts VIP guests and gorgeous people. Besides, another waitress told her he was actually some sort of manager at the hotel. So why the hell was he here?!
Pushing through the staff exit door, Eve walked onto the carpeted casino floor and inhaled the perfumed air. She could only smell hints of cigarette smoke here and there as she walked the main path down to Bar Eternal. Thankfully, the hotel's air purifiers were combatting the smell pretty well. The black and gold-themed hotel was high-end glitz and glamour. They would never allow the place to smell like a low-end slot machine hovel on Fremont Street.
Coming around the corner, Eve's stomach tightened at the sight of the tall figure standing behind the bar wiping down a section of the lacquered wood. As if waiting for her like some sort of predator, his blue eyes shot up to hers, pinning her to the spot.
Eve had to force herself to keep walking and not just turn around right then and there. The sad fact was, she could not afford to take off today. Or any day for that matter. There were too many bills stacking up. Instead, she made her way to the bar and stepped through the opening at the end.
"Hello there," the bane of her life announced. His heavy accent wrapped around each word.
"Hello," she murmured a little testily. Just what in the hell was this man's schedule? Ever since he showed up, he had been working every one of her shifts.
Grabbing a tray and her notepad from her pocket, she walked past him to a set of discreetly hidden drawers under the bar shelf. She could feel his wintry gaze tracking her every movement and tried her best to ignore him. It never felt like a sexual thing oddly enough, which she was immensely thankful for. It was something different. It was a look of open fascination that made her want to reach up and check the bun her hair was in or wipe at her face in case something was on it. One day she was going to put a name to this odd feeling he invoked. Maybe then, once she could verbalize it, she could go and beg another floor manager and ask them to move the man back to wherever he came from.
Pulling the drawer open, her thoughts stopped as she stared at the empty drawer. "Where are all the pens?"
With a feigned look of innocence, Dimitri leaned over her shoulder and looked at the drawer and back to her, giving her a contrived look of confusion.
Eve stepped back and glared at him. She could see the evil glint deep in the man's cobalt eyes.
She pointed to the empty drawer. "The pens that were in this drawer just the other day," she pointed out. "I hid a handful in here. You saw me do it."
"Are you accusing me of stealingpens?" The way he said the word as if a few plastic pens were beneath him made her want to kick him.
"I'm not accusing you," she said in a sweet voice edged with disdain for the man. "I'm simply asking you if you know where they are."
