Page 10 of Ensnared
Dimitri then turned to her and Eve nearly took a step back. Gone was his usual playful, if not creepy smile. His face hardened as he fixed her with a condemning stare. His chiseled features were etched in stone and a muscle ticked along his strong jaw.
"Word of advice, Eve," her name rolled across his tongue like an arctic breeze. "The next time you laugh in a loser's face expect him to respond like one and watch your back."
"Wait a minute," she demanded, outrage quickly burning away the fog of shock. "I was the near-victim in this. Don't blame me for his actions." She pointed to the side door the security passed through.
Looking from the door to her, Dimitri looked at her without a shred of visible concern. Dismissively, he walked past her throwing back one last barb. "Sounds like a role you enjoy."
Eve's hands clenched into fists at her side and she whirled around to glare at his broad back as he walked away.
Bastard. Evil, rude, bastard. For the briefest moment when he grabbed the guy, her heart moved for the infernal man but just as quickly he destroyed that feeling. Closing her eyes, she pinched the bridge of her nose. This was too much for one day. The exhaustion of the long tumultuous day was starting to creep up on her and she still had three hours left in her shift.
Walking back, she passed by the bar without even looking at the jerk and made her way to another nearby bar to use their system to clock out for her break. After that, she checked her watch and smiled. Yes. She grinned. Her secret break spot would be nice and empty at this time of night.
After a few minutes of walking, she let herself into the empty players club room. The desk was normally open during the day serving people their loyalty play cards to use in all the machines, but at night the gold security bars were rolled down and the room was empty. Sitting at one of the empty computer terminals in the back, Eve let out an exhausted sigh and slipped off her shoes.
This was her favorite spot in the glamourous hotel. Though she could still hear the endless chirping and musical notes of the slot machines on the main floor it was better here where it was muffled slightly. No one to flag her down for a drink or just to talk like so many of the elderly customers liked to do, and more importantly away from that bonafide jerk Dimitri.
Leaning back in the office chair, she pulled out her phone. Eve reluctantly pulled up the text from Lisa and stared at the photo. It hurt even worse the second time. Tears stung in her eyes as the weight of the memories settled on her heart. They had been happy together, right? Not near the end, of course, but in the beginning. Eve looked up at the ceiling and exhaled. In the beginning, it had been a dream. Landon was more than anything she had ever expected. There had been nothing left wanting within her. They had shared so many of the same interests. They enjoyed their off time together hanging with friends and reading together at night. How had it gone so wrong?
She thought of those last months together as they both worked endlessly on finishing up his book on an in-depth study of pseudoscience and the rise of it in social media. She endured his emotional ups and downs, his tantrums when she didn't finish something in what he considered a timely manner, and even his punishments of the cold shoulder until she was forced to apologize.
But the worst part was that she still wanted him back. Even knowing deep down that he just used her and that everything her brother said about him being a narcissist was right, she still wanted it all back. She was just reacting on fear, she knew that. Fear of the time wasted. Fear of what other people thought of her and fear that she would have to eventually look in the mirror and face the fact that she was the one who let herself put off her graduate program and move away from the city she adored, Santa Barbara, and all of her friends, not him.
Still, wouldn't it be so much easier if it was all back in place? If she could be the one standing beside Landon happy and smiling instead of someone else?
With tears rolling down her face she opened her texts and found his thread. Everyone told her to delete him from her contacts. Ricky would kill her if he even knew she was thinking of him again.
"Well, you're not here are you," she whispered bitterly into the air. "You just up and left and haven't even bothered to call."
Hesitantly, she began to type a message. "Can we please just talk?" Her pride flared in her chest just reading the sad, pathetic words.
Just wait.A voice in her head said.At least let him come crawling back to you!But what if he didn't? What if he wanted her to fight for them? What if he was happier with that new-
Her phone dinged in her hand and she glanced up at the top of the screen to read the notification.
Annoying Jerk:Your break is almost up. You think I won't have you written up? Think again. Get back here. Now.
A coolness seemed to cover her heart dowsing out the burning need inside her chest, bringing her back to the cold reality. What was she even doing?
Deleting the drafted text, Eve stood up.
"I'm worth more than what he can give me," she said, even if she didn't fully believe the words. The important part was she wanted to. Her life wasn't over. There had to be something and someone out there for her, right?
Chapter 6
DimitricouldfeelRickystaring at him from across the empty room. Each time, his typing would slow down as he glanced at him.
Ignoring him, Dimitri continued to recline on the old couch, an ugly piece of furniture left over from the old casino that the guys dragged in from another room, and swiped at his phone. Andrey had given him complete access to Eve's phone. Everything she searched for and everything she typed, he could see it.
Dimitri stretched his neck from side to side. Working in the bar each and every night on top of the other shit he had to do was more than annoying but well worth it for her. He had gone in knowing what she would look like and even guessed at her personality based on her file, but what he got was so much more. Letting his head rest on the cushion behind him, he smiled at no one as he thought of the girl.
Tonight, she had worn her hair down for the first time in a week. The long black waves were partly pulled up into a ponytail at the top of her head while the rest of the voluminous mass hung around her shoulders. It reminded him of black storm clouds, soft and turbulent just like her. From the very start, she was wary of him despite his best efforts to blend in as just another employee. Behind those round gold-rimmed glasses were a pair of gray eyes that tracked his every move with outright suspicion.
He fucking loved it.
Looking at his phone again, he accessed hers once more. Her location said she was at home and she was currently setting an alarm for the next morning. Dimitri grinned. Such a proper little librarian. He could just imagine her taking off those gold-rimmed glasses and laying them neatly on her nightstand before sinking down onto her pillow. Would her hair be up or down? Knowing her she would have probably taken the time to tie it up. So prissy, so proper—he couldn't wait to destroy her.
Sitting up, he looked up to see his lieutenant standing next to Andrey's desk, two large tables put together that held four monitors and two computer towers. Occupying the space next to the desk, there was a smaller table serving as Ricky's current confinement, with his legs securely chained to it.
