Page 21 of Ensnared
Turning toward the giant, she gave him a desperate look. "Please, just tell me what's going on. If this is some kind of prank I get it, okay? I'm scared and you got me. I just want to go home and…"
Still holding the elevator door open with one hand, the giant gave her a patient look but said nothing as her words died on her tongue.
Eve wanted to cry. She couldn't understand how everything could be so wonderful a few minutes ago and then turn out this way. Again, she looked at the expanse of the hallway beyond the giant. Past him around the corner it led to the main casino floor, if she could just get past him then she could get some help. But as she eyed the watchful giant her heart sank. She knew without a doubt the muscled-up behemoth would just catch her.
Reluctantly, she took a few steps forward until she was walking onto the elevator. She would just play along, she told herself, even as her mind screamed not to. Just how far could this prank go, really? The sooner she played along the sooner it would be over, right?
Beside her, the giant said nothing as the red display numbers on the elevator ticked up and up. They were going to the top, she realized after they passed the fiftieth floor. Eventually, the elevator slowed and the doors slid open.
Eve should have noticed the opulent décor or the marble flooring. She should have seen the crystal vase holding fresh exotic flowers. She should have even noted the impossibly high windows that overlooked the dazzling lights of the city shining through the already darkened sky. She didn't. All she noticed was the smug smile of a man she thought she would never see again—Dimitri.
Chapter 14
"Dimitri?!"Evecouldhardlyunderstand what she was seeing.
Sitting in the middle of the opulent penthouse suite was the last person she thought she would ever see again. A little of the panic she felt seconds ago faded as she stepped away from the entry hallway and into the massive living room. With its dramatically high ceilings and towering windows, the suite would normally be something Eve marveled at but right now she could hardly look at the black and gold extravagance, much less enjoy it.
"What is going on? Why are you here? Is this some sort of prank?" she demanded.
A knowing smile spread across Dimitri's lips. "Those are a lot of questions but let me try to answer them. I'm here because I own this place. And I can assure you this is not a prank. And finally," he paused, leaning forward in his seat and resting his elbows on his knees and propping his chin on his folded hands. He gave her a look that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand. "You are here because your brother owes me a debt."
All the air in her lungs evaporated at once, leaving her feeling a little hollow. "My brother?" she repeated.
Still balancing his chin on his folded hands, Dimitri cocked his head to the side and pointed out one finger. "Yes, one Ricky Barrameda who decided it was a good idea to get himself involved with the local Armenian mob and cost me millions of dollars."
Eve blinked. She knew he was speaking English and, on some level, she could understand the heavily accented words individually, but they still made no sense. She was unable to truly compute his words. What was he talking about? The mob? Millions of dollars? Ricky didn't have any money or access to money like that. Surely he was mistaken. He may somehow know her brother's full name but he had to be talking about someone else.
"Wait, just wait." Eve held up both hands. "I don't think we are talking about the same guy. Ricky has just about as much money as I do and more importantly," she paused, really going over his words and throwing him a narrowed look. "What do you meanown this place? You work as a manager at the bar, that hardly qualifies you as an owner of-"
Dimitri's face brightened and somehow it made his already handsome face even more radiant. He reminded her of some sort of fallen angel. Instantly, she thought of the statueLe génie du malby Guillaume Geefs. A statue of Lucifer so beautiful and provocative it had to be removed from public display due to the distraction it caused in young women. Dimitri easily embodied that image.
Dimitri let out a satisfied sigh and leaned back on the sofa, spreading his arms out along the back of the sofa. "I love it when you get that suspicious look in your eyes. But that is a topic for another time." For just a second, he looked at her, his sharp blue eyes seemingly taking in every detail of her before settling back on her face with a calculating look. "Technically, you have more money in your account than he does since you were paid fifteen hundred just the other night."
Eve's heart thumped hard in her chest sending out tiny ripples of cold unease throughout her body. How did he know what was in her account? Instinctively, she stepped back even as he continued.
"And as for myself, I think you know I'm more than a bartender," he said in a low voice that cut right through the unease and sank directly into her heart with conviction. Sitting back against the sofa in his dark suit, a gold cuff link peeked out from underneath his sleeve as he pinned her to the spot with his sharp stare. "I am the one who purchased your grandparent's house after all. I am the one who had your grandfather inundated with ads about moving to The Reserve. I am the one who gave him that irresistible offer to move into that retirement village. But more importantly, I am the man who has your idiot brother under lock and key."
Reaching into his pocket he pulled out his phone. With three taps to the screen, the phone was calling someone. The other line picked up immediately and the whole screen changed to video.
Eve watched as another man's face came into view. Dimitri said something in Russian and the other man nodded. A second later the image of the room was spinning around until it settled on a familiar lithe figure sitting at a computer. His usually glossy black hair which he kept perfectly cut and styled was a mess. Yet it was his dejected posture that tore the sound of despair from her lips and had her stumbling forward around the twin sofa and onto the plush gold and white carpet to get closer to the image.
The brother her grandfather used to call a livewire when they were kids never sat like that. Even if he was at his computer for hours working on the most grueling project, he was always alert and always fidgeting. This anguished and disheveled figure slumped at this desk couldn't be Ricky, but as he turned toward the camera at her sound his familiar dark eyes widened in shock, and Eve knew it was him.
"Eve?!" Ricky's voice sounded dry and cracked, nothing like his usual carefree tone. A wild look passed over his distraught features and he stood up from the chair and came toward the phone but stopped short as if something was holding him back. "No, Eve!" he yelled and the desperate sound ripped through her like a knife. She had never seen her brother like this, never heard him yell for her in pure fear before. Fury and fear morphed his features as his eyes clashed with hers. "Get out of there!" he yelled before turning his gaze off camera, presumably to the man holding the phone. "Goddammit!! I've done what you wanted! You said-"
Turning the phone in his hand back around, Dimitri calmly spoke. "Andrey."
The one word held such authority that nothing else needed to be said. Eve watched from where she stood frozen to the spot as the camera jostled around and she heard the sudden cry from her brother. A second later the image on the phone righted itself again and she was staring in horror as the man who was previously holding the phone was standing behind her brother with his arm wrapped around Ricky's neck and a gun pointed to his head.
The strength in her legs wavered. Clasping her hands over her mouth to stop the scream, Eve turned to Dimitri pleadingly. "Oh God. Please don't. Please don't hurt him. Please."
Dimitri didn’t look at her and stared down at his phone as the man brought it closer to Ricky's terrified face. "Give me the account number and I'll let her crawl out of here when I'm done."
Eve felt as if she was going to be sick. This couldn’t be happening.
Tears fell down Ricky's face and he seemed to slump in the man's arms. Wordlessly the man holding him deposited her brother back into his chair in front of the computer and whispered something into Ricky's ear and pointed to the computer. They all watched as Ricky started to type.
Once done, Ricky turned back to the camera. "Now please, let her-"
