Page 55 of Ensnared
Gabrielle:Well, you might as well tell her.
Eve:Tell me what?!!
Lilly:We're coming up there on Saturday to see you and celebrate.
Eve:What?! Really? Celebrate what though?
Kaylee:You leaving that scumbag.
Gabrielle:And you feeling comfortable enough to speak with us again.
Eve felt a pricking in her eyes at that and turned the chair toward the window. She squinted up at the sun and sniffed. Guilt ate at her heart as she realized what her absence must have felt like to her friends. Looking down at her phone, she began to type through the tears in her eyes but paused.
Saturday? That was only two days away. She thought of what Dimitri said the other night when he came home tired. Normally, the man was full of energy and dimpled smiles but this week he seemed extra busy. Even Dominic was hardly home. Dimitri had told her one night as he fell into the bed with a tired groan that his boss, Vladimir, had ordered a surprise audit of every territory, including his. He explained that this was how the bratva made sure their captains were being honest with the brotherhood and this was the time major changes were made within the organization—changes usually made in blood.
But Dimitri assured her she had nothing to worry about.
"Vladimir gets more than his share, I purposely send him more than what's owed to appease the bastard. A show of good faith that I'm loyal. My records and earnings are completely transparent with the organization, so there won't be any surprises," he had yawned into her hair as he pulled her in close for a bear hug. Tucking her under his chin, he continued in a deep tired voice, "but that means I will be busy this week and probably the next."
If that was the case then a quick night out with her girlfriends shouldn't be an issue at all.
On Saturday, she purposely waited until Petr, her recently assigned shadow who went everywhere with her, made his rounds around the house. Dressed in the same blue dress she had worn on that catastrophic date months ago, she hurried to the new black Range Rover that sat in the garage in place of her old Honda Civic. That was another of Dimitri's doing. He claimed he got tired of seeing the old eyesore and had the car towed and crushed, replacing it with the black SUV. Of course, she didn't discover this until she had planned on seeing her grandparents one weekend and found her car gone and the new one sitting there with the keys and the title sitting in the seat.
Slipping out of the garage and through the main gate, Eve smiled at the thought of Petr finding her note taped to the garage door.
"Going out to meet friends. I know you will just track me by my phone. But under no circumstances are you invited to this girls' night.
-Eve"
She was positive the stoic enforcer would no doubt shoot eye daggers at her for a while for the stunt and not to mention Dimitri's reaction. Eve shuddered at the thought as she wove through traffic to the Las Vegas Airport. Last night, Dimitri had been too tired for much of anything. After all day at the office, he barely managed an hour in the gym before he made his way to the shower and sank into bed. Eve had only read two paragraphs of the book they had been reading before she heard his light snores. Hopefully, Petr wouldn't rat her out. If everything went according to plan, by the time Dimitri came home, she and her friends would be at her grandparents' house winding down for the night and she could just tell him via text that she met up with some friends. And by the next morning, they would be back on the plane to Santa Barbara. Simple.
The meeting amongst friends caused a mini scene near baggage claim but no one cared. They stood in a small circle hugging each other tightly with squeals of infectious laughter. It had been so long since they were all together like this. The last time Eve had gone to see them was a little over six months ago.
Pulling back from the hug, Kaylee caught everyone's eye with a look that promised pure mischief. "Tonight, we drink, eat, and dance," she announced.
Gabrielle made a face. "God, I hope not in that order."
With a roll of the eyes and a deep sigh, Kaylee turned to Gabrielle, an exasperated expression etched on their face. "We need to eat so we have the energy to dance. No one wants to dance all night on an empty stomach!"
"Okay, first of all, Miss All-Night-Dancer," Lilly laughed. "When the hell did you get the stamina for that? You get tired at the free yoga class at the YMCA."
They all laughed at that as they walked to the parked SUV and got in.
Putting the car in gear, Eve smiled. "Don't worry, I've got everything planned for us."
All three girls responded with excited oohs and ahs.
Half an hour later, they found themselves settled in a plush round booth at an upscale wine and tapas bar Eve had meticulously researched the night before. Despite the tempting lure of the popular bars at the Elysium Hotel in her search results, she deliberately disregarded them. Her aim was to steer clear of Dimitri at the moment, not walk right into his hands. Instead, she opted for a different highly acclaimed bar nestled within a smaller boutique hotel called the Blue Crescent.
As they sipped their wines and snacked on the mini plates of food Eve divulged everything. She told them about Landon's controlling personality and manipulating her to work on his book. She even told them about having to work at the hotel while Landon moved on to another woman. And at first, telling them was hard. It burned her pride a bit to admit to being so foolish but the more she spoke Eve saw the anger and empathy in her friend's faces. The pain soon disappeared.
The only thing she didn't tell them about was Dimitri. As she listened to Kaylee describe how she planned to murder Landon and exactly how she was going to go about doing it, Eve wrestled with the desire to continue her open honesty with her friends and be realistic. She of course could not tell them the whole truth. Besides, she thought with a lurch to her heart, she didn't want to say it all out loud. She didn't want their judgment on any aspect of Dimitri.
Eve knew the man was a walking red flag and she knew she shouldn't want anything to do with him. But to be honest, all the fight in her was gone. She couldn’t win against him. She didn’t want to. She liked it when he held her at night. She liked reading to him. She liked how he made her feel with that unhinged look in his eyes. She was happy with him and she knew she shouldn’t be.
Lilly tossed back the rest of her wine and reached for the new bottle of wine the waiter just dropped off. "Well, I cannot say this enough. I'm glad you're away from that bastard. He didn't deserve you."
The sound of her phone buzzing interrupted her and she reached for it and grinned.
