Chapter 3 Three

"You didn't call, and I said I would be back."

Dmitri stands in front of her, changed out of the rugged street attire he had on before and into a crisp dark blue suit, the sleeves rolled half-way up to still reveal his skin lined in ink.

"What do you want?" she asks timidly.

Picking up a lock of her brown hair, he answers as if it were obvious.

"Your attention."

"M-my attention? What does that mean?"

"It means go to dinner with me tomorrow night."

His demand comes so suddenly she is left speechless for a few seconds, gaping like a fish out of water. "I work tomorrow night, same as tonight."

"I'll take a day of absence for you, Genvieve will understand."

Elena scoffs, already piecing together that whoever this man is, he is loaded.

"I can't just miss a day of work; I need to make an income." Even though she also comes from a wealthy family, that doesn't mean she has nothing to pay for. Her school debts are still a mountain weighing her down from pursuing whatever it is her heart really desires.

"It will be a paid day of absence, I promise."

"Why do you want me to go to dinner with you so bad?"

Dmitri shrugs. "Isn't it obvious? I like you."

"But why me?"

"Do you question every man who shows interest in you like this?" he asks, raising a brow at her, almost making her think he might be getting annoyed. Maybe that might mean he will leave her alone finally.

"I find that very hard to believe. You have no excuse, go to dinner with me tomorrow night at 7PM, I'll pick you up."

"Wait how do-" Elena starts to question him but is cut off swiftly when his lips fall on hers, giving her a gentle kiss and swallowing her words. She momentarily forgets the situation, her entire body freezing up.

He pulls away as quickly as it happened and walks back to his car.

"Get in," he says, opening the back door for her.

"W-what?"

Dmitri walks back up to her and she instinctively starts to step backwards. He keeps walking towards her until her back hits the wall of the diner behind her. Bracing the wall with one arm he leans down to her ear.

"Get in the car, Elena. Don't make me say it a third time."

A sudden surge of courage courses through her, and she boldly looks back up at him, also realizing how tall this man is.

"Or else what?"

Something dangerous flashes in Dmitri's blue eyes and her lips are invaded once more. Elena is able to come to her senses faster this time and pushes him away.

"Can you please stop doing that?" she yells.

"You asked." Dmitri chuckles lightly before wrapping an arm under her knees and picking her up. He starts to carry her to the car despite her kicking and protesting, throwing her in the back seat.

He gets in and closes the door behind him, looking to the driver. "Drive straight," he says, then turns to Elena. "What is your address?"

"Why on Earth would I tell you? You just forced yourself on me twice, might I remind you. I'm not exactly feeling very safe in this vehicle with you."

A slight burst of laughter comes from the front seat, turning Elena's attention to the man sitting up front. She recognizes him as one of the men who was sitting with Dmitri at the diner before, the only one who seemed to try and treat her like a regular waitress and human being. He has light brown hair and a thick burly beard, reminding her of a lumberjack a little.

"I'm glad you found her," the man says.

"Alexi, shut up." Dmitri turns back to Elena. "Tell me your address, or I will find it myself."

"How do you plan to do that?" she asks, half of her already knowing the answer. Dmitri strikes her as a man who can get whatever he wants, no matter how long it takes. If he wants to find out her address, she feels it won't take him that long to get it.

Feeling defiant again, she turns to the man upfront, Alexi, and whispers her address in his ear, asking him to please not say a word to Dmitri. He smiles instantly and nods his head.

Elena sits back, a small smile creeping on her face as she looks out the window.

"What did you just tell him?" Dmitri asks, looking back and forth between Elena and Alexi. "What did she tell you?"

Alexi presses a button on top of the car and a divider slides up between the two parties.

"I'm not sure how men where you're from pick up women, sir, but this isn't how you do it here. If you want me to go to dinner with you, then you should ask me like an ordinary person would."

Dmitri invades her space again, leaning down into her face.

"You don't strike me as the kind of girl who is into ordinary guys. Am I wrong?"

She is once again left flustered and speechless. If she were to have heard this from any other creep or sleazeball that has approached her. But despite his rash and erratic behavior, she hasn't felt unsafe at all while in his presence, a little uncomfortable with his straight-forward approach maybe.

"I don't know why you're so interested in me. There are tons of girls in New Jersey and New York even that I'm sure are willing to show you a good time, I'm not one of those girls." The last attempt she can try to persuade his interests; be blunt.

"Why do you assume I want a girl like that?" he asks back, lifting his index finger to lightly trail down her cheek, once again sending shivers throughout her body.

There is no reasoning with this man it seems. He will continue to answer her questions with more questions until her head is spinning uncontrollably. She wants nothing more than to escape this nightmare of a night and get up to her apartment where her cat Oliver is no doubt meowing at the door for her.

She almost wants to agree to dinner just so he will let her go, but she knows that will just further his interest in her and she won't be any closer of shaking this guy loose. As drop dead gorgeous as he is, a relationship is the last thing her life needs right now, especially one with such a domineering and complicated person.

Her last relationship didn't fair over well, and Elena knows she has the tendency to hang on to things longer than she should. If she falls for this guy in even the slightest way, it's going to be extremely hard to walk away and an ending with this guy seems inevitable.

"I'm just asking you to dinner, Elena, you don't have to think so hard about it," Dmitri says, kissing her lightly on the cheek then climbs out of the car. She was so deep in thought she didn't realize the car had already stopped moving.

Dmitri walks around to her side and opens the door for her. She doesn't believe he is going to let her go that easy, but low and behold, they are standing in front of her apartment complex. She doesn't remember it taking that long to drive down the street and wonders how long they were just sitting there.

"You have my number, think about my request and give me a call by tomorrow afternoon with your answer."

Elena suddenly remembers the card she tossed in the trash back at work, the one with his phone number on it. Debating telling him the truth or keeping it a secret, something tells her that if she doesn't call him tomorrow, he will show up again like before. A man like him appearing at her front door will have her neighbors and landlord asking questions.

"I-I threw t-the card...away." She can't believe how much her voice is shaking at the moment, in fear that he will do...she has no idea what she is expecting. She doesn't feel fear that he will hit her, but she knows he will be angered.

Instead of saying anything, he reaches into her back pocket and pulls out her cellphone, placing it in her hand so the back of it recognizes her fingerprint. He then proceeds to program his number into her phone and hands it back to her.

"Call me, or you know the consequences."

Elena expects him to try and kiss her again and prepares herself this time. But instead, he shocks her by doing nothing more than brushing his fingers across her lips gently before releasing her and climbing back in the car.

Alexi takes off without hesitation and they disappear like they were never there. She is left standing there in shock, trying to recall the events of the night. She looks through her phone for his contact just to confirm that it was all real. Not having many people in her phone, it isn't hard to find his name.

Dimi.

"Dimi, a nickname? But...why does it sound so familiar?"