She’s beautiful despite being scarred all over her face and body. Even with her missing ear and fingers. It doesn’t take away from her appeal. If anything, it adds to it. She survived something terrible.
Yulian pulled her out of whatever hell she was in years ago, gave her a job and purpose. He has a habit of picking up damaged people and making them useful.
“The room’s ready,” she says, eyes flicking curiously to Kelly. “Menus are on the table, servers are waiting for your signal.”
She gives me a small smile. I don’t return it. I don’t like the way her gaze lingers on him with obvious interest.
We follow her down the hallway. She opens a heavy door and shuts it behind us. The private room has dark green walls with low lighting from the ceiling. One wall is covered entirely with mirrors, the other draped with heavy curtains hiding nothing but concrete. Yulian’s always been a dramatic asshole. Everything has to look like a stage set. In the center, there’s a table set for two with black chairs and a single candle flickering between us. I pull out his chair. He sits, and I push him in, then move to the other side and drop into my seat.
He studies the room, taking in every detail.
“What is this place?”
“A restaurant.” Among other things, which I’m definitely not telling him about.
He nods and glances down at the menu. “I can’t afford this. These prices are insane.”
“Don’t think about that. It’s on me,zaychik.”
He chews on his lip and keeps scanning the menu.
I’ve eaten here more times than I can count and know exactly what I want. Besides, my dessert is sitting across from me. I plan to devour him later.
A waiter approaches our table and nods respectfully. “Ready to order?”
“I’ll have the special and a bottle of vodka.”
Kelly snorts, then clears his throat. “I’ll have the roasted chicken with herbed potatoes and garlic cream sauce. And wine, not the bottle, just a glass.”
He looks over at me while holding back a smile. He’s so pleased with himself for that one. The corner of my mouth pulls up before I can stop it.
The waiter nods and disappears, returning a minute later with our drinks before leaving us alone.
I tap my fingers against the table. “Not what you thought a first date would be like?”
“This is nice. I’ve had such a terrible day, you have no idea. I wanna quit and find another place to work.” He rubs his temple, then takes a sip of his wine.
“What’s so bad about it?”
He snorts. “My boss is such a cheap bastard. He refuses to upgrade anything; half the machines break down every other week. And now he wants to cut staff because apparently we can’t afford proper equipment or enough people, but somehow there’s money in the budget for his personal espresso machine.”
I raise an eyebrow.
“Two thousand dollars,” he adds. “And it’s only for him. Has his name engraved on it and everything. The rest of us aren’t even allowed to look at it.”
I listen while he continues talking about inventory problems, scheduling issues, then something about Camilla. His hands move more when he gets worked up. I let him ramble. I like thesound of his voice. Even if I’m only catching half the details, the rhythm of it settles something in my chest.
His boss is already on my growing list.
I wonder how he’d react if I started rambling about my day. I got one step closer to finding that retired detective, which is progress. I still have to work through more names. It’s eliminate, interrogate, disappear, repeat. It’s boring work; I’d rather be here.
The food finally arrives. Kelly takes his first bite, then closes his eyes. I stare at his mouth a little too long.
I pop the cap off the vodka and drink straight from the bottle.
“You’re not even going to pour it into a glass?”
I stop mid-drink and shake my head, then take another sip and wipe my mouth with the back of my hand.
