Trapped By The Wicked Billionaire

Chapter 10: Ruin My Night

RIVA POV:

‘Time to suck it up, Riva!’ I told myself.

I walked into the lobby with my head held high. But I couldn’t keep my facade of confidence up as long as I wanted to as a swarm of people surrounded me and snapped pictures. The flash was blinding and the questions thrown my way so personal that I wondered if these people had filters.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw three men dressed in black suits push the journalists aside. I recognized one of them as Ethaniel’s right-hand man. And although I was annoyed by Ethaniel’s need to control everything and everyone like puppets, in times like these, I was grateful for the reporters being herded aside, making way for me.

When only the regular customers were left inside the club, I resumed work.

I had my back turned to the bar, busying myself in behind-the-scenes work so that I could avoid prying eyes. I felt his presence before I saw him. No, there was no gravitational pull and I definitely couldn’t hear his footsteps or voice through the loud crowd. It was nothing dramatic. Instead, the gasps and colorful reaction from my colleagues made me aware of his approach.

“What are you doing here?” I turned to Ethaniel, annoyed.

“Is that any way to welcome your fiancé?” he asked teasingly.

“I would have pretended to smile but you are on my bad side now. Who the hell opened their big f*****g mouth to the press?” I questioned, already knowing the answer.

“Don’t swear, it’s unbecoming of you. I might have told a few friends of my engagement and they… told others. Word got around… and it doesn’t matter.” He looked unapologetic and that told me everything. He had done it on purpose to trap me.

“It does matter when an army of reporters decide to surround me at my workplace! How would you feel if they disrupted your work?” I bit back.

“So, you’ve decided to continue working here?” he changed the topic.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Look, Ethaniel. I might have agreed to be your fiancé, but you are not my master. What I do on my own time is no concern of yours. And I don’t want to mix my private business with work. I see through your tricks.”

I gave him a pointed look.

He hummed. “That’s very professional of you. Could you get me a glass of scotch, please? On the rocks. Thank you.”

I gritted my teeth. “Did you hear anything I just said?”

“Loud and clear, beautiful. I am only here as a client, I assure you.”

I doubted that. For all I knew, he was here to get photographed by the journalists. How would I know what went through his twisted mind?

I didn’t like it one bit. I could feel my colleagues staring.

This was not a normal exchange. Neither between a customer and a bartender, nor between lovers. No one was fooled, surely.

I brought his drink and offered him a smile that was supposed to be sweet. But in reality, it was colder than the ones I offered my customers. He didn’t mind and smiled back.

“If you’re here as a client… what brings you here?” I started again.

He appraised me closely. “Can’t I come and have a drink after a long day of work? Maybe I want to spend time with my fiancé who has a different shift than me. It’s a small gesture that can pass without causing a scene.”

I laughed. “Fair point. Then why can’t I do my job without those hyenas descending on me?”

He looked down at his glass. “I’m sorry about that. I was careless. I should have come sooner or sent a few bodyguards with you. I will be more careful next time.” He actually looked apologetic, but what he was saying wasn’t the solution I had in mind.

“How about you leave me alone while I am working?”

He smirked. “I’m afraid I can’t do that. Home is too lonely without you around.”

‘Says the man who lived in a soulless house for at least a year before I came into the picture.’

“Snow is there,” I reminded him. “You can always find time to spend with her. I’m sure she would be happy.”

I secretly prayed he would take my advice and f**k off.

“She would love that, you’re right. But I would like the three of us to spend time together from now on.”

I couldn’t imagine a universe where that would go down well.

“Elaborate,” I said shortly. I was somewhat intrigued by what fantasy his mind had conjured. If the me in his mind was a good stepmother. And if that was why he had chosen me.

“Snow and I don’t have any engagements this weekend and I was thinking we could go rafting.”

I arched my brow. Rafting… I had done my share of water sports, having lived in a little beach town that made its yearly GDP from tourism and people interested in water sports. But the closest rafting location was a long road trip away.

“And you don’t have work on Monday?” I asked. I humored him.

The tension in his shoulder eased. I had not noticed it before.

“Fair point. Snow would be too tired to do anything else,” he agreed. “Then we can go paintballing. It’s exciting and needs teamwork.”

“Sorry to ruin your plans, but I have a double shift and would be dead on my feet afterwards,” I told him dryly.

His forehead scrunched up. Surprisingly, he didn’t protest or try to coerce me into going. Instead, he finished his drink quietly.

He wasn’t my only customer. I quickly became distracted by other patrons as the bar filled in. When I turned to him a moment later, he had disappeared. I sighed with relief.

Work has been my only constant for the past year. I didn’t particularly enjoy my job or see a grand value in what I did, but I didn’t want to lose it either. My smile brightened as I went about work, now without worry or being hounded by my ‘fiance.’

But it soon disappeared when I saw an unwelcome figure sitting behind the bar. Promptly in the chair Ethaniel had vacated a few minutes ago.

Waiting for my attention and a drink was Marco Stewart, one of the most disgusting clients I had come across and had the displeasure of dealing with.

It was amazing how after harassing all the female staff, he was still allowed inside the club. But it wasn’t surprising. His father was a congressman and he rarely faced the consequences of his actions.

Such people were best avoided as they never knew when to stop. I, definitely, didn’t want to get on his bad side.

Unfortunately, trying to be invisible didn’t help.

He had made me a target of his constant teasing since I started working at Serendipity. It started with innuendoes and jokingly hinting at taking me home. Every other male client tried it, so I wasn’t bothered.

But his language grew more colorful as time went on. Lately, he had become more forward. If that was even possible.

One time, he waited for me outside the club after my shift got over. It was a couple of hours past closing time, so I jumped when I saw him across the street, just staring at me.

He made an attempt to cross the road and talk to me, but I hopped into a colleague’s car and ripped out of the parking lot, pretending I hadn’t seen him.

I knew I could call security if needed, and that gave me the strength to act professionally.

“Well, hello there, darling. I’ll have a double martini.”

While I was preparing it, he continued talking to himself.

“Imagine my surprise when my lovely bartender was featured in the paper. I thought you would be seen with me first, but who would have imagined… you got yourself a rich boyfriend.”

My hand stopped midair. Then, I quickly returned to making the drink, trying my best to ignore him.

“I heard you met him here. Why didn’t you tell me you were looking for a man to keep you?” he asked.

No response again.

“You were late for your shift today. You don’t need money any longer? Or were you off riding your rich boyfriend?” he inquired. My blood boiled, but at the same time, the way he leaned over the bar made my throat seize up in fear. “You should have told me that was all it took, I wouldn’t have spent so much effort wooing you. I would have—”

I braced myself for the absolute filth that would leave his mouth, but it never came.

It was a punch to the face that silenced Marco and it was from none other than Jax.

Sensing the beginning of a brawl, I intervened. “Jax, don’t!”

Jax swiveled his head in my direction, his eyes cold and calculating. It took him a brief second to decide against violence. He nodded curtly before dragging Marco out by the collar.

The commotion had caught quite a few eyes. A few waiters had moved in my direction as well. Janice leaned in to whisper, “Riva, I don’t think Marco will make it home at this rate.”

My heart clenched. The evening had gone from bad to worse.

With the journalists outside, the scene of a congressman’s son being beat up because of me would make the news of my engagement more scandalous. I could imagine the wild stories they would spin about me.

“Don’t worry about him, Riva. He had it coming. Remember the time he grabbed me and no one wanted to help because they were afraid of the consequences?”

I did. He had done those things to me as well and everyone turned a blind eye.

“Good riddance! Oh sweetie, how I will miss you around here.”

I flinched and covered up my nervousness with a laugh. “Do you think I’ll be fired over this?”

“Fired?” Janice repeated, shocked. “No, no. I meant that you would quit, obviously!”

“I’m not going anywhere, silly girl.”

She looked at me strangely. “Really? Why would you stay in this shithole serving drunk perverts when you are marrying into money? When did you start dating? Why did you even come to work tonight?”

“Janice, I appreciate the sentiment but don’t speak like that. I actually like my job and I hope I can keep it.” It was no use explaining. Janice looked at me like I had lost my mind.

“Do you have any idea who Ethaniel Ryves is?” she asked with disgust before turning away. “Pretending to be down to earth when you sought a big boss out,” she huffed under her breath but I heard it nonetheless.

It hit me like a ton of bricks. I didn’t really know anything about Ethaniel, while he seemed to know everything… almost everything… about me.

I stepped back, my mind far away from the drinks I should be making. “Hey, can you cover for me? I need a break.” The guy nodded in understanding and patted her back.

“Stay clear off the road. The journalists are still snooping around.”

I smiled at him gratefully before grabbing my phone and heading outside.

I was going to Google Ethaniel Ryves.