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“What a night, huh?” he joked as he sat down, shifting uncomfortably in his chair.
“It has been. You alright?” I asked, finding myself feeling a bit bad for him. He opened his mouth to respond, but something behind me caught his eye and he froze. Taking a glance behind me, I didn’t see anything weird. I guess my movement shook him out of whatever it was, because he gave a small smile and picked his menu back up.
“Guess we should decide on dinner.” He promptly hid behind his menu, and I’d never felt more awkward in my life. Unfortunately, I was too hungry to just leave, so I opened my own menu, glancing through it and settling on shrimp alfredo. My favorite.
“Sorry about the mishap, sir,” the waiter said as he returned. “Here’s an appetizer on us.” He slid a tray of garlic bread across, heavy on the garlic, and I wanted to cackle. Between the wine and now this, there was no way that Dani wasn’t involved. I’d say it was the Adrostos, but how could they have known about the date?
“It’s alright,” Lance said kindly, wrinkling his nose before sliding the bread my way. “Eat up, sweetheart.” My eyes narrowed at the gesture. What a gentleman to slide something you find disgusting my way and then presumptively call me sweet. Dick, I bet he forgot my name.
“I’ll have the shrimp alfredo, and if you could, have them add a pinch of cayenne to it. I like it spicy,” I asked, giving him puppy dog eyes. He chuckled and nodded.
“Of course, my dear,” he said, his voice nice and soft. Once he turned to my date, however, his whole demeanor changed. “And for you?” The question was cold, just barely toeing the line between professionalism and outright sneering at my “date.” Yeah, this definitely wasn’t normal. Was it wrong that I wasn’t even a little shocked?
“I’ll just have the penne special, now leave us,” he said, practically throwing over his menu then snatching mine angrily to do the same, going from wholesome to rude in mere seconds. I nearly reached for my Sig because people shouldn’t just snatch shit from me, but I somehow held back. If he lives through this, it’ll be a fucking miracle.
The waiter seemed to share my sentiment, taking a deep breath before walking away, muttering in Italian under his breath.
My eyes flickered to Lance, but his eyes were locked across the room again. I followed his gaze, narrowing my eyes when I noticed a cute little redhead at the bar. Is he kidding me right now?
“See something you like over there?” I asked, pouring all the innocence I could into my voice. Okay, I’m not so great at being innocent, but I’m trying. He turned to me with an indulgent smile, condescendingly lying to my face. I knew right away he was the shady salesman type, and I wasn’t buying it. I could detect a lie on even the most highly trained people.
“Not at all, just appreciating the decor,” he said. “As general manager I have a hand in the set-up at the bistro and like to check out the competition.”
“I doubt this place is your competition,” I said, his left eye twitching slightly in response. He didn’t say anything, both of us falling silent as we waited for food, and I plotted my escape. He kept taking sips of his water like it would solve the problem that was this date while I drank wine and ate my garlic bread. He might have found it disgusting, but it was actually made exactly the way I liked it, and I wasn’t going to pass up on any delicious opportunity to avoid speaking with him.
“Here you are, sorry about the wait,” the waiter said sweetly, sliding my dish over. Then he plopped Lance’s in front of him, the sauce splashing out slightly, and I had to bite my tongue so I didn’t laugh. Twirling the creamy pasta against my plate, I watched as he mumbled to himself, still stealing glances at redhead. When he angrily shoved a big, heaping bite into his mouth, I put my fork down, ready to call him out on his childish behavior. It was hardly my fault this date was tanking, and fast.
He chewed for a few seconds before freezing. Within seconds, his eyes were watering and his nose running, and I knew they’d over-spiced his food. Curious, I twirled a new forkful of my own and tasted it. The slight hint of spices mixed with the flavor of the sauce in pure bliss, and I moaned at how good it was.
“This is amazing,” I mumbled, taking yet another forkful and glancing back up at my quiet date. He was profusely sweating and glanced around frantically before he snatched my wine glass, downing it all at once. He was now panting like a dog, so that had obviously been ineffective.
That’s a no from me.
“I’m going to need you to leave now. Go ahead and get a drink from the bar you can’t look away from,” I said, falling into a perfect resting bitch face.
“You know what, you dumb cunt, I think I will,” he bit out, standing up just as the waiter approached our table, furious. “You probably planned this whole fucking thing.”
“You will not speak to customers that way. You can come over here and pay, then leave,” our waiter said, pointing to a nearby register. Impossibly, Lance grew redder, stammering out a protest until a bigger waiter joined the first and he deflated.
“Fuck her and fuck this place! Everyone I know will hear about this,” he thundered, grabbing a wad of bills out, tossing them at our waiter, then storming out.
“You deserve a trophy for sticking it out,” my waiter joked, the other going back to his own post now that the danger was done.
“Let’s settle with a box for this, two orders of tiramisu, and a bottle of this wine to go?” I asked, giving him a grin. “And my check, please.”
“You’re already covered, an anonymous savior to help cheer you up from whatever the hell that guy was,” he laughed, taking my plate and walking away. He came back a bit later with a bag, handing it over. “We threw in fresh pasta, two servings to match the dessert. I hope your night improves, miss.”
“Thank you,” I said, discreetly opening my clutch and pulling out a few bills. He tried to wave me off, but I dropped it on the table with a grin, turning to leave.
Dani is never going to hear the end of this.
The entire Uber ride back, I couldn’t help but think how stupid the whole fiasco was. Every time Lance did something completely douchey, I couldn’t help but think about how the Adrostos would never act that way. Everything always led back to them, solidifying what they already knew. I’m theirs.
The moment I stepped back into the front of Gamester’s Paradise, my steps faltered. All three of the Adrostos brothers were walking in, bodies tense and murder in their eyes.
Two fucking days and here they were like angry demons watching their prey. They hadn’t called, checked in, nothing. I knew I was being petty, but I was pissed. Folding my arms in front of my chest, I glared back at them.
The moment Dani let out a low whistle, likely at the tension in the air, their faces changed, grins taking over. Well, except for Keir. He kept his eyes locked on mine like he was ready to either eat me or burn me up.
