Page 59 of Ensnared
Andrey ignored him. "Eve, get up and get dressed and be downstairs at the door in ten minutes."
She was up but she refused to let him know that. "And if I don’t? You haven't even told me what this is all-"
"I'll send Petr up to get you," he taunted. "You know, the guy you left behind yesterday, the same man who had to face a very angry Dimitri. Yeah, I'm sure he'll be happy to see you."
Eve bit her lip. He had her there. "Fine," she groaned and hung up the phone.
When she made it downstairs to the waiting midnight blue Rolls Royce in the drive, keeping a wary eye out for Petr the whole time, she was surprised to find Andrey and her brother sitting in the front. Andrey explained that she was to meet Dimitri at the hotel tonight for dinner with some business partners. He assured her that her role was more to be seen than heard, which annoyed her to no end. When she questioned why hadn't Dimitri spoken to her directly about this or if it was really necessary for her to be there, Andrey told her with undisguised glee as they entered into the mall that they could always find one of the very willing women in the hotel to take her place for the night. Eve didn't say anything else. Just the thought of Dimitri sitting with another woman and taking her to dinner made Eve feel sick.
Although a man in his position with his immense means taking another woman on the side wouldn't be unheard of, right? Men like that were everywhere. As she walked side by side with her brother, who admittedly looked pretty happy despite him being around Andrey seemingly twenty-four-seven, she thought of her relationship with Dimitri. There had been no discussion of loyalty, not really. Hell, this wasn't even a real relationship. She was his captive and he was her captor. Yet things between them felt close—very close actually.
As Andrey and Ricky picked countless things off the rack, handing them over to a pair of eager sales assistants who then handed them to her in the dressing room, Eve considered Dimitri's schedule. He was home every evening and slept beside her every night. He couldn't be sleeping around, right?
He could be doing it during the day.A vile little whisper fueled by self-doubt echoed in her mind. Eve hated how much the thought hurt her. When did the stark reality fade away, replaced by the delusion that what they shared was a real relationship? Because that was what this was, fake. Absolutely temporary. A bubble just waiting to be popped.
Four hours later, Eve was led to one of the top-tier sports bars at the Elysium by an enforcer she had never seen before. She was more than a little tired from all the shopping so she happily did as she was instructed and sat on a plush black leather stool and waited. Who knew Andrey and Ricky could shop so much? They had both agreed with a visible shudder that while they were looking for something for her to wear tonight, they may as well replace all of her currentrags,as Andrey so indelicately put it. Eve stopped arguing two hours in and settled on them buying her lunch. It was odd watching her brother smile and laugh with the man who she had pegged as an asshole. Especially a man who had seen not only pictures of her in very intimate moments but no-doubt video as well, she thought sourly. On more than one occasion, Eve had caught shared glances between the men that left her face hot and her quickly turning away. Memo for later, speak to Ricky about his dismal choices in lovers.
Eve snorted in her drink at the thought, if that wasn't the pot calling the kettle black. Earlier the bartender, who she was positive was also one of Dimitri's enforcers, had given her a fruity non-alcoholic drink that she happily sipped. From what very little she was told; she was supposed to sit here and wait for Dimitri. She just hoped it wasn't another one of his demented surprises like her day at the spa.
Chapter 32
Walkingdownthecarpetedaisle between the sea of ringing slot machines, random choruses of exuberant yells from the craps tables, and the low murmur from the crowds congregating at the various bars strategically placed throughout the casino, Dimitri led his two visitors to their destination.
Flanked by a small army of enforcers with Dominic in the front, Dimitri turned to glance back at two of Boston's notorious men. Alexei, the organization's accountant responsible for managing Dimitri's finances, tapped at his phone as he walked. Next to him was Roman, who was staring back at Dimitri with a maniacal smile. Dimitri kept his features unreadable as he straightened to look ahead. He could not shake the feeling that the bastard was up to something. Ever since Dimitri picked him up from the private airport yesterday morning the man seemed unnecessarily eager.
Ahead of them, Dominic took a right at the intersection in the carpet instead of a left. To the left, was the restaurant they planned to sit down at and go over some last final details of business before they ended the night and Dimitri could get back to his Eve who was most likely at the house happily reading gay porn with the barest of plots. Dimitri had planned on coming home and ruining her little fun and having some of his own with her. And Dominic taking them off course and subsequently off schedule was going to piss him the fuck off.
He was opening his mouth to say something to the hulking lieutenant when they stopped outside of one of the bars. It was a sports bar named Zeal. Like the rest of the hotel, it had a high-end sleek look with its branded blacks and golds combined with leather and velvet textures. It was the perfect place for siphoning money off unsuspecting idiots with its expensive drinks and even pricier sports bets.
A hand on his shoulder interrupted Dimitri and he turned to see Roman standing beside him with a grin. "We need to pick someone up first before we go."
Dimitri returned a deceptively calm look. "Pick up who?"
Roman shrugged and looked over to Dominic. "I don't know. Never seen her before. All Dominic would tell me is that she is short and cute and wears glasses," he explained with an evil purr.
Dimitri's gut twisted and he stepped into the bar scanning the place with renewed interest. A small shift in the crowd of people revealed her. Like a jewel sparkling amongst mundane stones, her radiant presence drew their eyes. Sitting on the leather bar stool with one of his enforcers at her side, the man sat there giving out death stares left and right to men trying to work up the courage to speak to her. Eve, however, was engrossed with the flat screen directly behind the bar, leaving every other man to be engrossed with her. Wearing a black off-the-shoulder dress with flouncy skirts, her black glossy curls ran down her back while her feet dangled off the chair. The red puffy bows from her heeled shoes made her look like a doll as she sat there swinging her legs. She looked fucking gorgeous and everyone knew it.
A man sitting two stools away from her was trying and failing to catch her attention. Dimitri's eyes narrowed. Thankfully for his sake, Eve was engrossed with undisguised pleasure in her newfound love—Rugby. A sport Dominic had introduced her to weeks back knowing her perverted taste for man-on-man contact. The sport was made for her. Dimitri had come home on more than one occasion to find her sitting with his lieutenant on the couch fully transfixed in the game, having not one clue about who was winning or losing.
"Very cute," Alexei murmured next to him.
Roman flanked Dimitri on his other side and gave him a satisfied grin. "Now go get your girl and let's have dinner."
Or he could just abandon these two and take Eve back home, Dimitri thought as he walked across the bar. But he couldn’t do that. There were still a few important matters to discuss and if he didn't discuss them now, he would no doubt have to fly to Boston to get them ironed out.
Despite the crowd in the bar, people parted for him with just a glance at his dark expression as he made his way over to Eve. Catching the eye of his enforcer, he gave the man an imperceptible nod. The man stood up and stepped away and Dimitri reached out and touched Eve's shoulder. The flinch at his touch made him smile as she whirled around in her seat with an angered look as if daring to catch whoever made the mistake of touching her.
The look of anger immediately dissolved into a relieved smile before turning a little sheepish. The front of the dress was even more enticing than the back that showed her shoulders. The elastic material keeping the off-the-shoulder dress in place seemed to hug her heavy breasts and show just a glimpse of cleavage. She looked good enough to eat.
Dimitri wanted to say something teasing to her but to his irritation, he could feel the eyes of the men in the room turning her way with blatant interest. The urge to have his enforcers drag out each and every one of the onlookers into the night was tempting. Instead, he silently took her hand and guided her off the stool and led her to the front of the bar where Roman and Alexei waited.
"Who are—" Eve began to ask.
"I had you brought here as a surprise," Roman began with a sinister smile as they stopped in front of them. "I made a call to Dominic to have her meet us here."
Apologetically, she turned to him. "I'm sorry, I didn't know—"
Roman continued, "I figured it would be the perfect way to conclude our meeting and celebrate your birthday."
