When I met his gaze, my heart skipped a beat—I wasn’t sure why, but it did. He stared at me with a blank expression, his steel-blue eyes unblinking and merciless. His tailored black suit matched the color of his hair, kept short on the sides with the faintest traces of silver beginning at his temples.
He looked rugged, as if forged from the fires of war.
“A menu, sir,” I answered, sliding the leather-bound menu on the table before him.
The closest man to him chuckled under his breath as if amused by my response.
The man with the steel eyes wouldn’t stop looking at me, even after I handed him the menu. “Speaking for myself, what would you recommend from this?” He gently tapped the menu.
“Um….” I hesitated for a moment, unable to take my eyes off him. “It depends. What’re you looking for, something heavy, or something light?”
He paused, then asked, “What do you think?”
I squinted, my head tilting slightly to the side. “I’m sorry, I don’t—”
“What do you think I’m in the mood for?”
His colleagues exchanged glances among themselves but said nothing.
There was no way I could shake this man off; he obviously wanted to get an answer out of me. So, I took a shot. “Well, you don’t strike me as the salad type. Steak then?”
He paused, his expression still as blank as a sheet of paper. “Raw.”
I gave him a curt nod. “Roger that.” My gaze shifted to his associates, drinking in the ruggedness etched on their faces. “Gentlemen?”
One by one, they placed their orders with the arrogance and confidence of men who always got what they wanted. These men were scary—cold eyes, deep voices, and the steel gazes of monsters in suits.
However, the longer I lingered around their table, listening and taking down their every word, the more my fears gradually dissolved into thin air.
“Anything else?” I asked them after reviewing everyone’s orders.
They exchanged glances among themselves, and then the first man looked at me and answered, “That’ll be all for now.”
My lips curled into a polite smile, and I quietly left their table.
“I like this one. She’s different,” one of them said to the others before switching to a language I assumed was Russian.
Behind me, their voices were low and even as they resumed their discussion. I let out a soft sigh of relief, and my pulse steadied by the second. Even though I never looked back, I could feel someone’s gaze on me.
My best guess was the first man—the handsome one with the piercing steel-blue eyes.
Chapter 2 – Roman
I watched the strange waitress in silence, my eyes tracking her every move as she glided through the space—poised, elegant, and efficient.
My cousins and my younger brother, Demyon, were also seated at the table, their voices and easy laughter filling the air. They were busy discussing business, a conversation that I should be a part of, but I was distracted by the gorgeous waitress.
As I studied her like a book, I drank in every detail that my eyes could catch. Her blonde hair, cut just past her shoulders, framed her heart-shaped face. She was dressed in a crisp white top over a black skirt that accentuated her figure, her heels lifting her inches off the ground.
She was petite, with a quiet elegance that somehow managed to draw me to her. More than once, I’d tried to take my eyes off her so I wouldn’t look like a fuckin’ creep. But each time I tried, I failed. Then I noticed the way she stole hidden glances at me every now and then.
Our eyes met in a split second, and something cracked inside me. I wasn’t sure what, nor could I describe how it made me feel. She held my gaze a bit longer before one of the male staff members interrupted our little staring contest.
I watched him lean in from behind, whispering something in her ear that prompted a smile on her face. She laughed lightly as he walked past her, serving the table across. My expression darkened subtly, my right hand curling into a fist.
Who the hell was that? Her boyfriend?
She stole another glance at me and then headed toward a back door. I assumed she was going to check on our orders in the kitchen.
