“Yes!” Nikita sat up straight and smiled for the first time in days.
“God bless you,” Jalisa breathed. “Any food you will give us is appreciated…”
“Marie.” The woman filled in Jalisa’s trailing off. “I’m Marie Kolovski.”
“Jalisa.” She gestured to herself and then to Nikita. “Nikita.”
The girls followed Marie to a diner about a mile away. The air inside was warm and thick with the smell of fry oil and cheeseburgers. A radio shaped like a jukebox played a pop song loudly. Posters of celebrities from the fifties covered the walls. Black and white tiles danced along the floor. It all felt very fake, but Jalisa was grateful that her sister would be getting food.
“Hey-o! Marie.” The man acting as host greeted Marie. The two embraced briefly, kissing each other loudly on both sides of the cheek. “Who’s your friends?”
“Jalisa and Nikita,” Marie said. “Can we sit somewhere away from that blasted jukebox?”
“Of course.” He gathered up a few menus and led them to their seats. “Ladies.”
“You come here a lot?” Jalisa asked while Nikita poured over the menu.
“Oh, yes, I work just around the corner,” Marie explained with a wave of her hand. “Sometimes I get off my shift quite late, and this place is open twenty-four seven.”
“Where do you work?” Jalisa asked, not even bothering to look at the menu. If it was anything like other diners, it was safest to just get the original burger and leave it at that.
“I work at this bar called The Semya. It is English letters for the Russian pronunciation of ‘bar.’” Marie laughed.
“The owners couldn’t think of anything better to call it?” Nikita asked. Jalisa swatted her on the arm.
“Be nice to her. This woman is buying you food. Maybe she’s friends with the owner,” Jalisa scolded.
“Oh, no, it’s fine.” Marie tossed her blonde hair back. “I do know the owner, though. He’s okay, I guess.”
“Hey, Marie.” A waitress came over and looked between the three. “What’s with the kid?”
“I’m fourteen,” Nikita defended herself.
“They’re just some hungry folks looking for a meal.” Marie smiled at the waitress, but it was strained.
“Uh-huh. Sure. You want the usual?” she asked.
“Yes,” Marie answered. They went around the table, ordering their food. Jalisa mentally totaled up everything that she and her sister were eating. Nikita’s eyes were bigger than her stomach, and she alone ordered twenty-five dollars of a deep-fried mess. Jalisa planned on paying the woman back once she got a job and had a stable life.
“Do you have any openings at the, uh, Sem-ya?” Jalisa asked.
“Semya.” Marie said it with a throaty sound that Jalisa knew she would never be able to replicate perfectly. “I think we have an opening, but you’d have to come in and see the owner.”
“I can do that.” Jalisa sent up a silent ‘thank you’ to God. Marie might be God’s way of answering her prayers. With someone on the inside vouching for her and who also knew her situation, she would have a good chance of getting the job. She could see the light at the end of the tunnel.
“Perfect.” Marie smiled warmly at her. The plates and plates of food that the two starving girls order arrived along with Marie’s chicken and lemon salad.
Jalisa popped one of the hot fries into her mouth and savored the taste. It was simple diner food, but it was one of the first things she had eaten since running away. The two had packed canned food that wouldn’t go bad and had gone through it during the two days the bus had taken to get to Los Angeles. They saved one can of ravioli for breakfast tomorrow. It was all they had.
It took nearly an hour for Nikita and Jalisa to finish eating. They boxed up what little leftovers they had and stowed them away in Nikita’s pack. Marie sipped her tea and made pleasant small talk with the girls. She paid the bill with a stack of cash, mostly small bills.
“Tips,” she explained. “I’m a bartender.”
“I really hate to do this,” Jalisa started as soon as the waitress had left for the last time. “But can I borrow some money? I fear for my sister if we have to sleep out on the street. We just got here, and I don’t know where any of the homeless shelters are and judging by the number of people out on the streets, it doesn’t look like there even is a homeless shelter-”
“Jalisa.” Marie giggled, cutting off Jalisa’s stream of babble. “One step at a time, okay? Let’s go see about getting you a job.”
The three departed and walked toward The Semya. Jalisa felt as though she was standing on a cliff. The fate of her and her sister rested upon the shoulders of the woman she just met and a stranger she was heading to meet. She just prayed they were kind.
Chapter 2
If you didn’t know what you were looking for, the building was easy to miss. It was one of a hundred brick buildings in Los Angeles, nothing special. Two stories and a flat top were connected by a hazardous looking fire escape. A neon green sign displaying the name of the bar blinked lazily at them. An alley full of trash and something moving around gave off an awful smell. Jalisa was not impressed.
Two drunk men stumbled out of the bar and into the street in front of them. They were attempting to yell at each other, but their speech was so slurred that it came out sounding like a monster screeching. They swung at the air near each other, missing the other man by a wide margin. Jalisa pulled Nikita close and said a silent prayer for the men as they stumbled closer and closer to the traffic on the road.
“Don’t mind them.” Marie laughed, her kitten heels clicking along the sidewalk.
“Should we call someone?” Nikita said. “Like the police?”
“You think the cops care about two drunks trying to fight on the street? This is L.A., baby; they got bigger things to worry about.” Marie paused in front of the alley and watched the men for a second.
“They might get hit by a car,” Nikita whispered to Jalisa, her body shivering as the warmth from the diner wore off.
“It’s okay.” Jalisa gave her a reassuring squeeze. “Jesus will take care of them.”
“See? Look-y there.” Marie pointed her finger back to the men. One was now doubled over and vomiting profusely. The other appeared to be sleeping standing up and pressing his face against the cold brick wall. “These drunks only got about one good minute of fight in them. After that, it's done.”
Marie gestured for the girls to follow her down the alley. Jalisa watched her be swallowed by the shadows and rushed to keep up while Nikita dug in her heels and had to be dragged. Jalisa understood that it was smelly and scary, but Marie might be able to save them from sleeping in an alleyway just like this.
The two girls made their way through the darkness to the only point of light in the alley. A single light bulb with a metal net cover hung over the top of a door that displayed ‘Employees Only.’ The door was a thick metal that was odd in comparison to the old wooden door at the front of the bar. A series of complicated locks lined the right side.
“Just one second.” Marie glanced over her shoulder before reaching into her purse and pulling out a roll of keys. There had to be at least fifty of them on the key ring, all painted brightly with different colors of nail polish. Jalisa had no clue why a bartender would need so many keys, but she kept her mouth shut.
The locks clicked open, and the door squeaked on its hinges. Muffled music thumping in the distance played. The smell of smoke and alcohol rushed out like a fog. Nikita coughed a few times and covered her mouth with her shirt. Marie stepped into the doorway and motioned for the girls to come inside.
It was not much brighter inside the back entrance. Jalisa tried to look around while Marie relocked the door, but she could hardly see. Large square shapes that had to be storage crates took up most of the room. Jalisa squinted and tried to make out one of their labels, but failed.
Marie guided them through the
maze of storage crates and to a set of stairs. Jalisa went first, holding Nikita’s hand and leading her. They soon arrived at a landing and door. Marie knocked on it a few times before it opened.
The light blinded the girls. Jalisa blinked a few times and looked around Marie’s shape once she had regained her vision. An enormous white man with a sour expression held a bottle of something. Jalisa’s muscles tightened in fear.
“Hey, Stone. I brought by a girl looking for a job.” Marie’s bubbly voice seemed out of place on the dark stairs.
“Oh.” He quickly moved out of the way. Marie walked in, and Jalisa and Nikita followed. The man set down his beverage before wiping his hands on his shirt and giving Jalisa a dazzling smile. “I am so sorry for the mess. I was not expecting company.”
“It’s fine.” Jalisa reached out and shook his hand while still holding onto Nikita with the other one. His hand easily dwarfed hers.
Standing at six feet, Stone was intimidating. His hair was so light that his crew cut made him look bald. A detailed tattoo of a dragon with two heads curled around his biceps. He dressed casually in a loose t-shirt with the sleeves cut off and a pair of black pajama pants. His eyes were the shade that could only be described as icy, and Jalisa could almost feel their chill as he raked them up and down her curvy form.
“And you are?” He lowered his hand to Nikita, his voice sounding too friendly for his appearance.
“Nikita.” She sounded a bit too happy for Jalisa’s liking. Her older sister hoped she was just being friendly.
“Well, Miss Nikita, how about I set you up on the Xbox and your sister and I can talk about getting her a job?” he asked, smiling to reveal a set of perfectly straight, white teeth.
“You have an Xbox?” Nikita let go of Jalisa’s hand and smiled back at him.
Jalisa and Nikita walked over to the main area of the studio apartment. A giant TV was surrounded by chairs and a coffee table in a living-room-type setup. He let Nikita flip through his games, and it took a while before she found one that wasn’t rated Mature.
The TV turned onto a loud building block game, and Nikita was instantly enthralled. She sat cross-legged on the shaggy white rug in front of it and started playing. Marie walked over and lounged on one of the seats, quietly sipping a beer. Stone excused himself to change into more reasonable clothing.
By the time he emerged in the same t-shirt and jeans, Jalisa had taken a seat on one of the plush couches. He took so long to change that Jalisa was certain that wasn’t all he was doing, but she didn’t say anything. She simply rose and followed him to the corner where it was quieter. They sat at the kitchen table.
“Tell me about why you’re here,” he murmured to her. “How can I help?”
“I just need a job.” Jalisa tried to make eye contact but found his stare was too intense. “I’m willing to work anytime. I can do late nights or early mornings. I can go to work right now if you want.”
“Tell me about you.” He placed both elbows on the table and rested his head in his folded hands. “The Semya is a family, and I don’t just let anyone into my family.”
“Well,” she hummed. “I’m 18, but don’t let my age fool you; I’m ready to work hard-”
“Let me stop you,” he interrupted. “Tell me things that don’t relate to work. If you’re ready to work hard, you’ll prove that later. I want to hear about things that matter right now.”
“Like what?” She reached up and nervously fiddled with one of her long twists. Her emotions were raw enough as it was; she couldn’t hold up to being questioned by this stranger. At least Nikita was warm and safe.
“Marie doesn’t bring just anyone to me. She rescues girls off the street and brings them to me for jobs.” He paused and then said in a much softer voice, “Do you have anywhere to sleep tonight?”
For a brief moment, she thought she could keep it together. The motions she was making with her hair got rougher as the emotion bubbled up. A lump rose in her throat. She opened and closed her mouth several times, chin quivering. The fear of sleeping in an alley in Los Angeles was something she never wanted to know.
“No,” she admitted, tears blurring her vision. Her body felt shaky inside, and something inside of her snapped. “We just got here today. We don’t have anywhere to go.”
“Well, I’m glad that Marie managed to find you before you had to sleep on the streets. You’d be shocked at the stories I hear from homeless women just like you. The last girl Marie brought to me was held down and shot up with drugs over and over until she developed an addiction and willingly did whatever the dealer want- Oh, hey now.” Stone stopped in the middle of his inappropriate story when she started sobbing.
“I’m so sorry. I’ve just been through too much too fast.” One hand placed on her fluttering chest, she started from the beginning. “My mom was never in the picture. She would have abandoned us before we were even out of her if it was possible. My father raised us. He was a good, good man.”
“I take it something happened to him?” Stone asked.
“He died of stomach cancer. It was a long, slow death. You could tell he was in constant pain, but he still kept that smile up. He’d joke around with the nurses, blaming the cancer on too much good home cooking or years of scraping his vegetables into the trash. He could make a friend out of a rock.” Jalisa laughed a bittersweet tone. “His funeral was a few days ago.”
“You’ve got to be joking. Damn.” Stone whistled, his eyebrows shooting up.
“It’s all true, sadly. What happened next was even worse. The state stepped in since I had only recently turned eighteen and Nikita is only fourteen. They didn’t help one bit. Our mother was untraceable, and we had no other relatives who could take us in. Nikita was to go into foster care, and I was to be shipped to a halfway house on the other side of the state.” Jalisa shook her head. “I took Nikita and ran as far away as we could go by bus. We got here this morning with a little money and some personal possessions.
“I knew it maybe wasn’t the best choice. Nikita’s life has basically been destroyed. She used to play softball and sing in the choir. Those were so important to her. All of her friends are hundreds of miles away, and she isn’t allowed to contact them, or the department could find us and try to separate us. Again. Don’t even get me started about how bad it is that I pulled her out of school.
“Then there’s my life. I graduated high school in May of this year. I was working on going to college. Maybe become a chef. I waited tables and helped my father pay the bills when he got sick. I didn’t have a boyfriend. But there was this guy I’m - well, I was - talking to.”
“Jalisa, I’ve helped homeless women before. Together we can make a plan to get you back onto your feet.” He leaned across the table and held her hand. Squeezing tightly, he rubbed his thumb across her knuckles. Jalisa kept the look of shock off of her face but did not manage to keep her hand still. She pulled it out of his grip and brought it closer to her body.
“Hey,” Stone sounded a bit offended. “It’s okay now.”
She chuckled nervously, an instinctive response when being touched by a man she didn’t like. He laughed as well, and the confident sound was loud enough to drown out everything else. Suddenly, Stone stood up and leaned over Jalisa, his form towering above hers. Fear pumped through her as her eyes widened. He pulled her close to his chest and wrapped his arms around her.
Nose forcefully pressed to his chest, Jalisa realized Stone had a sharp, acidic yet smoky smell that clung to his clothes. That, combined with his forceful touching, made her want to throw up. His hands moved down from her shoulders and rubbed hard circles where the band of her bra stretched across her back. She quickly gave him a squeeze on his shoulder so that he would think positively about her and give her a job.
Thankfully, after a few seconds, the door opened loudly. Stone jerked away as if she had caught on fire and ran into the kitchen. He stood next to the breadbox, looking aggressive. Jalisa wat
ched him for a moment before she figured out that he hid weapons, most likely handguns, around the apartment. Marie rolled her head toward the door.
“It’s Erik,” Marie said, sounding bored. Stone relaxed and took his hand off of the breadbox. He walked back over to the kitchen table and took the seat directly beside of Jalisa instead of his previous one across the table.
Erik walked in and stood in the middle of the room, looking around at the guests. Jalisa knew immediately that he was different than Stone or Marie. He dressed in a well-tailored black suit that made his pale white skin particularly striking. His brown hair was styled in a sleek undercut, with the long top part sweeping over and framing his handsome face. He had a rock hard jawline and curious blue eyes; Jalisa’s heart missed a beat when he looked over her sitting with Stone. She was suddenly aware that she wasn’t wearing makeup and that her jeans were stained.
“Stone,” Erik said, his Russian accent made his voice sound like music. “Why are these girls here? How old are they?”
“Jalisa is eighteen. She’s an adult.” Stone gave Erik a wide smile and reached over to pat Jalisa’s thigh.
“And her?” Erik gestured toward Nikita, who had paused her game to look over at the handsome stranger.
“I’m fourteen, almost an adult.” Nikita spoke up.
“Stone. Office. Now.” Erik didn’t wait for a response. He walked back to the door and Stone followed, looking like a kicked puppy. Marie waited until the two had had enough time to walk down the stairs before speaking.
“Now that the boys are gone, let’s do some fun girl stuff!” She wobbled as she stood up and Jalisa noticed the collection of empty beer cans next to her chair. “Let’s get drunk and paint each other’s nails!”
“We don’t drink,” Jalisa said. Marie looked at her like she was crazy, so she reminded Marie that they were both underage.
“That doesn’t matter!” Marie laughed and went off to collect nail polish.
Her Russian Millionaire (BWWM Romance Book 1) Page 2
