THE DON’S DAMSEL

Three

I made the coffee the way I liked it by grinding it myself, soaked and stirred it. I sat down on one of the chairs at the farther end of the cafe where no one could see me inside and the lights are still turned off except for the flash from my phone. I am used to the dark since I could hardly pay my bills most of the time. Until Andrei showed up in my life.

Vividly, I remembered how I met him in the cafe the week it was opened. Kiera insisted that I go to the man myself because he was nice and super handsome in a daddy sort of way. She’s told me time and time again that she would probably end up marrying an older man but he won’t be as handsome as Andrei. I never asked why she was into older men.

Andrei was nothing but a father figure that I could hug whenever I feel down or when a panic attack would snake it’s way just when I was starting to relax.

As I nurse my coffee with both hands in a large mug —a gift by Andrei after my first month here— my eyes glazed over and a thought pierced through my head. Andrei’s sons look every inch the mobsters from underworld and they cared not that everyone knows that. They probably have the government in their pockets to keep such an image.

The way my limbs weakened and skin tingled earlier in the graveyard, I get a sense that something is going to change in my life and I’m not looking forward to it. That would’ve all been better had a don wouldn’t be involved in the entire mess. I have a feeling that the one that made my skin heat up in that sun is going to master me.

I lean my head on the wall behind me, eyes closed when I heard it. It was a noise from my left which happens to be where the door is. Perplexed, I c***k my eyes open to investigate what was going on only for me to fall back on the chair before I could stand. And no one pushed me.

There stood a man in the dark cafe surveying the entire place like it was a mere miserly nest that he cannot stay in without getting his unnaturally costly suit dirty. My heartbeat spiked up at an alarming pace making something lunge itself in my throat, wrapping my lungs. I blinked hoping I was just seeing things because there was no light in here.

That wouldn’t explain why my heart was racing at this uneven speed. It is frightening since it’s never happened before.

I cursed myself for not opening the curtains and allowing sunlight into the cafe. Now I cannot even see his face clearly though he has removed the sunglasses from his face. I badly want to know the color of his eyes and what emotions were in there to make me feel so hot and cold at the same time. This is a bizarre thing.

Swallowing the coffee in my mouth, I stood up on shaky legs thankful that I removed the kitten heels earlier. “Can I help you?”

The man turned around to finally acknowledge me not because he didn’t know that I was there but because he probably thinks I was not worth a second of his time. How did he manage to get in here? Of course, he was a don and could do everything illegal. This is just an ice on the cake, he’s used to it.

I recognize him to be the tallest son from earlier. The one that made my blood boil and perspiration to coat my skin.

He didn’t answer me which made a frown settle on my face. Is he mute, maybe? It could explain a lot of things as to why he’s never answered his father’s calls or reply to any of his voicemails. He took a step towards me in the dark, as though he was looking right through me. It unnerved me but I held my breath and ground by the wall. Where would I go to anyway?

The soft light caressed his hard features. They were almost too masculine. His rugged jaw was wide, the bridge of his aquiline nose slightly askew, giving him a roguish look. His lips might me a little too wide if not for his jaw. But on the whole, he was devastatingly attractive, with that dangerous aura about him.

I swallowed. This man reeked bad news from his looks and that startling cold look in his eyes.

I tried again. “Do you want something? The cafe is closed for now.”

“Is it now?” He tilted his head to the side, surveying and perusing over me from head to toe. Goosebumps pierced my naked arms and legs, heat sizzling from wherever his eyes landed on.

I blinked when all of a sudden he was standing a mere foot away from me. His voice drifted in my head making me shiver, I hope he didn’t see that because that would be humiliating. Why was he standing so close to me? What does he want from me?

For the cafe? Definitely, he wanted the cafe back since his father is dead and he is probably the one that will take over. But I cannot see a man like him managing a cafe so he is most likely going to sell it and then I will be doomed. There won’t ever be a generous employer like Andrei.

In a voice I couldn’t detect as mine, I stammered. “Yes. You’ll have to come back some other time.”

A cruel emotion settled in his eyes for a minute before quickly disappearing thanks to the flashlight of my phone that is directly facing him. What was that? And what color was his eyes? The light is not enough!

“We both know that I’m not here for a coffee.” His eyes fell on the mug I’ve long forgotten about on the table before flicking back to mine. “I’m here for you.”

I swallowed, biting back another shudder when the delicious smell of his cologne and scent hit my nose. There was spice, arrogance, sandalwood and some expensive perfume that I cannot place a finger on. This man is walking seduction and danger so malignant that my stomach quivered.

Licking my lips with my tongue, I tried looking confident and brave but I couldn’t so I squeaked. “Me? Why? I don’t know you and you don’t know me.”

A callous amusement tilted the edge of his lips and that sent my heart eschew. “Is that what you think, Evangeline Marie Fyodor? I know you.”

I knew he could hear the sounds of my heartbeat pounding against my rib cage and when he removed his hand from the pockets of his suit pants and place it on the wall beside my head, I panicked. Swallowing a thick gob down my throat. This is a don and he’s probably killed more people with that one hand on the wall beside my head. Is he going to kill me too? Strangle me or put a bullet through my head.

“How?” Was the only word I could breath out, panic gripping my guts. I was alone with this dangerous man, he could kill me and no one would notice I was gone except Kiera and there was nothing she could do about it.

“I know you and I’m watching you.”

With the warning hanging in the air, his hand slipped from the wall and he left the cafe without another word, his scent following him out.

I rested my head against the wall and breathed normally for the first time since he’d walked through the door. I didn’t know what that was, why it felt like I had a continual live wire under my skin in his presence, but I didn’t want to analyze it. I knew it wasn’t a good thing. Anything that stops your breath can’t be good for you.