Page 44 of Ensnared
Yesterday, he had left later than normal. When he came downstairs, Eve had been watching anime in the living room while going through her emails looking for possible replies to her job submissions. As she had done for the past few days since her attempted escape and her forced doctor's visit, she had ignored him, not even bothering to look over her shoulder as he passed through the living room. She had felt his eyes on the back of her neck and held her breath; she never thought he would have also noticed what she was watching.
"Y-yes," she stammered nervously, clicking off the screen of her phone. She prayed he didn't see everything.
"Mmm," Dimitri nodded, his expression unreadable. "Just seems a little different since the two characters on screen hated one another," he explained as a slow smirk spread across his lips giving a glint to his eyes. "I mean there's a cock in the white-haired guy's mouth so I could be mistaken."
Eve let out a nervous laugh. "I…I..mean…I just…"Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. He saw. He saw everything!
Coming around the couch still grinning, he sat relaxing into the deep sofa letting his broad shoulders lean into the back. Eve realized he wasn't wearing any product in his hair. The blond and amber locks were puffy and soft-looking matching the casual look of his rolled-up button-down shirt. "I take it this is some sort of fan-made deviation from what you were watching earlier?" he asked, and Eve could hear that his tone was open and genuine.
Still, she gave him a suspicious look and slowly answered. "Yes."
A chime sounded from his pocket and Dimitri pulled out his phone and grinned even bigger. "Andrey says I should see the other stuff on your phone. In particular the bookmarks folder."
He reached for her phone and Eve let out a squeal of panic as she scrambled for the device. Laughing, Dimitri wrestled her for it, putting absolutely no real effort into the task while she fought for her life. His deep laugh filled the room as she tried to wiggle out from beneath him and capture the slick black phone from his grasp.
Laughing harder with her phone in hand Dimitri let her snatch it from his hand as he fell back into his seat.
Incensed and out of breath, Eve clutched her phone to her chest and shot him an accusing look from the other side of the couch. "Oh my God," she panted, still out of breath. "Is there no privacy here? Is Andrey always watching me?!"
Leaning his head back on the couch, Dimitri smiled and pointed to a security camera at the corner of the room. "Not always; he periodically checks the cameras to make sure everything is safe while you're here. How do you think we caught onto your escape so fast?" He turned and gave her a pointed look that Eve ignored. "So, this is what you are into, mmm?" Dimitri continued, waving a hand toward her phone. " Guys railing other guys? It's pretty graphic stuff, my sweet Eve. I have to say I'm surprised."
Beyond flustered, she desperately tried to change the subject. "What are you even doing here? Shouldn't you be at the hotel?"
"I finally got things settled where I can take a break."
"You own a multi-million-dollar hotel, I find it hard to believe there is ever a time for you to take a break," she remarked, casting him a quizzical look.
"A multi-billion-dollar hotel," he corrected. "And technically I don't own it. My organization does."
"I don't know why, but sometimes I forget you work for…" She wanted to say mafia but for some reason, the word felt so silly, like something from a movie. Then again, he was like something out of a movie. With his tattoos and the very apparent strength in his long muscular frame, his crazy good looks, and the ever-constant dangerous look in his blue eyes he easily reminded her of a movie villain. "For who you work for," she finally finished in a whisper.
Spreading one arm over the back of the sofa, Dimitri crooked a finger at her, silently commanding her to come closer. Reluctantly, Eve moved down the couch until there was only a couple of feet between them. Dimitri lifted a hand to her loose hair and pushed a few strands behind her ear.
"I would rather you forget than ever have to be reminded of the fact like I had to," he said, his eyes taking on a faraway look as if lost in a memory.
Whatever he was remembering wasn't good, she knew that instinctively, from the slight jump of the muscles in his jaw or the hardening layer of ice in his eyes. There was pain in those memories.
Why she opened her mouth in an attempt to pull him from his thoughts she would never know. Something to definitely self-reflect on later. Turning in her seat to face him more, she threw out a lifeline and asked. "What has been keeping you busy at work?"
Like a book shutting, Dimitri blinked and refocused back on her. A slow, wicked smile spread across his lips. "Why? Did you miss me?"
Eve made a scoffing sound under her breath and turned to sit straight on the sofa with her arms folded over her chest.
Dimitri laughed. "For one thing your brother has been earning his keep by running a small ransomware attack on an oil refinery in Alaska." Eve gasped but Dimitri gleefully ignored her and continued. "And I also called in a man's debt and I am now a partial owner of the Golden Desert Palace Casino."
She vaguely remembered that hotel. An old hotel located in the eastern part of town. Frowning, she focused back on the first thing he said. A ransomware attack?!
"Why are you using my brother for things like that?" she began, prepared to argue but Dimitri's fingers gliding along her jaw before sinking into her curls stopped her.
He gave her a hungry smile that stopped her breath. In this pose, with his head leaning back against the couch, he looked like a model in a high-end cologne shoot. His soft hair fell partially over his face almost obscuring one of his glittering sapphire eyes. Dimitri's wicked smile grew only by a fraction but it was enough for Eve to catch herself and school her face. He caught her staring.
"Don't worry about your brother, worry about me." His fingers curved over the outside shell of her ear sending little shudders throughout her body. "Come, have dinner with me tonight."
Eve frowned and looked pointedly over to the large windows facing the backyard and pool and looked at the pouring rain. The gray dismal scene was anything but inviting. She looked back at him and raised a brow in challenge.
Dimitri looked over her head out the window and she nearly allowed herself to smile at the disappointment that took over his features. For a single second, he looked like a dismayed little boy staring out the window watching all his grand plans for the afternoon get washed away.
But as usual, the moment of innocence was burned away by his smug expression. "Not a problem," he said, pulling out his phone from his pocket. "That's what private chefs are for."
