“I know how you feel. I could stay up there forever.” His voice held the same regret I felt.
“Thank you, Will. That is the most fun I think I’ve ever had.” My adrenaline was still running high.
Will got out of the plane first and held his hand out once again to help me down. I was glad I took it because my legs were wobbly from the excitement and I almost fell over. He reached out with his other hand to catch me but I’d already regained my balance.
We took off our equipment, put it away, and jumped into a jeep. It was time for dinner and I was hungry. We laughed and talked about the flight all the way back to the mess hall and were still talking when we walked in. There was no line because we were late. Everyone was already at the tables, chatting and eating. We each grabbed a tray and I looked over to our table. I was going to give Brown an evil grin but instead I almost dropped my tray and I took in a sharp breath. My reaction made Will look toward the table and he said, “Ah, Commander White.”
White was sitting at the table with Brown and Stevens. He had an undecipherable look. I hadn’t expected to see him here and I immediately felt guilty for even talking to Will.
“I wondered how long it would take him,” Will said as we got our food.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I called him and told him that you and I were getting along very well. I just wanted to see if he’d show up.” Will gave me a knowing look.
“I’ll bet you twenty bucks he’s here because I have a job.” I said, hoping Colin had already called him. Yet, at the same time, I wanted him to be here for me.
We found our way to the table and sat down. Will and White shook hands and both said it was good to see the other.
“What brings you here?” I asked White.
“You.” He said, making my stomach turn.
“What?”
“I’ve come to collect you, Ms. Grey. You have a job elsewhere.” He said shaking his head in disdain.
I looked at Will and smiled, but inside I wondered what I’d done that was so wrong. Will started to get his wallet out so I quietly told him to do it later.
White and I were nothing more than friends, but I did feel a bit like a cheater. To have one person as the object of your infatuation for more than ten years helped to make it feel more permanent than it really was. I couldn’t help feeling disappointed I’d won the bet.
“When do we leave?” I asked.
“You’ve already talked to Colin so you should know he wants you to start ASAP.” Everyone at the table felt the tension, especially me.
“I’m not paying,” Will whispered in my ear. It gave me a chill and I grinned but when I looked at White I suppressed it.
“He just asked me if I’d be ready to do a job with the info he gave me earlier.” I didn’t know if I should let on that I’d be using a separate identity. “He didn’t say he had a job for me for sure. What is the job anyway?”
“So he didn’t tell you what he wants you to do?” White was shocked.
“No…” I didn’t like his reaction.
“Well,” he smirked. “I’ll tell you later.”
“So, did you have a good time?” Brown cut in. White’s face became expressionless again and that was always a bad sign, but I didn’t care. He was being a jerk. It wasn’t like I’d gone off on a weekend getaway with another man and even if I had, he had no say.
“Yeah.” I bragged up Will something fierce, telling them about all the twists and turns and how I didn’t think I’d ever had that much fun in my life. Then I added, for Brown, “I didn’t even touch the controls.”
The general mood lightened up after I picked on Brown. White, however, ate quietly. Stevens and Brown finished their meals first and left me alone with Will and White. The tension returned somewhat and I decided to leave and let the brothers talk. Both of them stood when I did.
“So, will we be leaving tonight or tomorrow morning?” I asked White.
“First thing in the morning.”
Turning to Will, I said, “Thanks again, Will. I really did have a great time.” I had an urge to hug him but he grabbed my hand and gave it a tender squeeze.
“It was my pleasure, Ms. Grey. Anytime you want to do anything, you give me a call.” Will was pouring on the charm, making me smile.
“You can count on it,” I replied, noticing the sour look on White’s face. As I turned to leave he added, “I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of each other.”
As an afterthought, I looked at White and added, “I’m going to go find the guys to say good-bye. I’m sure they are at the bar. Should I tell Stevens he’ll be starting his training now that I’m done here?”
“You might as well. Don’t stay out late.”
Who did he think he was? Not even my parents had enforced bedtime for years. I raised my eyebrows at him and had my finger in the air before I decided against giving White a piece of my mind. I turned and left the mess hall, biting my bottom lip to keep it in place.
My mind reeled as I walked to the bar. I really liked Will, but seeing him and White together, I knew there was no comparison. I felt horrible for spending time with Will and yet at the same time was glad that I’d done it. The horrible feeling didn’t last long when I thought of White’s attitude toward me. Who did he think he was, trying to tell me how long I could stay out? I was a big girl and I was single in a compound full of men.
White and Will showed up at our table almost as soon as I’d sat down. I hadn’t even been able to tell Stevens he’d be starting his training with the rest of the picks from this compound.
“I’ll buy the first round.” White offered and went directly to the bar. He came back with beers and shots all around. I had no intentions of drinking but I didn’t want to do anything to hurt this sudden change of attitude.
We all drank down our shots to “Cheers!”
“So what’s with the black eye?” White asked Brown.
“He grabbed my butt.” I explained when the whole table of men eyeballed me.
“He did what?” His voice was tense.
“He told the guys here something about me that made them all afraid of me and grabbed me to get a reaction. I have to admit, it might not have been a bad idea.”
“What?” He wasn’t grasping it so I went on to explain Brown’s intentions and White actually ended up laughing.
“Well, he knows you pretty well, but you can’t react like that. You’ve got to think things through first.”
“I know, but I will say in my defense, I knew it was Brown behind me and there was no other reaction. If you give him an inch, he thinks he can take a mile.”
“Sounds like you know him pretty well, too.” This topic lightened the mood further and Brown left to order us another round.
“None for me,” I yelled after him but he brought another full round of shots. I knew I was going to find myself in trouble if I let them buy me any more. It wasn’t long before Brown was asking who’s turn it was to buy so I offered. Will objected and beat me to the bar. He returned with our third shot and after the toast I tried to take my leave. I knew the booze hadn’t all kicked in yet and I wanted out of there before it did. They all protested that I hadn’t bought my round yet so I made a trip to the bar. I gave the bartender a twenty to give me water in my shot glass and call it vodka.
“Since when do you drink something other than whiskey?” White asked.
“Since right now. Cheers!” I held up my shot glass and the men all followed suit. Stevens and Sam bought their rounds and thank goodness the bartender remembered my special order.
“Gentlemen,” I stood. “I’m going to leave you to your drinking and get to bed.” I wasn’t slurring my words but I felt close to it.
“I’ll be right there,” Brown chimed in.
“Yeah, you wish.” I chided him.
He stood up and came over to me and lifted me off the ground in a huge hug. I knew the liquor was certainly kicking in for him.
“I th
ink I’ll be right behind you anyway. I have to fly us out of here tomorrow,” he said in my ear.
“Oh, I can get us home.” I knew that would get a rise out of him.
“Yeah, you could.” This surprised me so I told him he needed to go to bed right now. We laughed and he finally put me down on my own feet again.
“Good night all.” I gave them a little wave and walked out the door.
*****
Chapter Nine
I hadn’t been in my room more than two minutes when White came knocking on my door.
“What are you doing here?”
“Wow. Nice greeting.” He smiled.
“You were the one with the attitude earlier,” I was still peeved at him.
“Yeah, well, that’s when I thought you’d taken the job Colin has in store for you.” His smile turned evil.
“Okay, what is this job?”
“Dimitri has finally taken control of Gigi’s and Colin wants you to start working there right away.”
“What? The strip club?” I didn’t entirely believe him. Colin wouldn’t think I’d actually take a job as a stripper.
“Yep. That’s what he said. Do you want to refuse to take the job?”
“What the hell do you think?” I didn’t know if it was the alcohol or the thought of having to take my clothes off with everyone watching that was making me sick to my stomach.
“Are you sure? Colin said you’ve had dance lessons.” I noticed the amusement in his voice but I played along.
“What else did Colin say?”
“That’s about it,” he shrugged.
“You tell Colin…” I had my finger pointed at him like I had started to do after dinner. “No, I’ll do it myself.” I went straight to my phone and started dialing Colin.
White came over and took the phone from me, laughing. “We thought if we could get you to strip it would be a miracle so Colin’s lined up another job as a waitress instead.”
“But still, in a strip club. I’ll have guys all over me and that’s why I quit the Skylight. I mean, look at Brown’s eye. I don’t do well with uninvited touches.”
“I know, but you’ll have to suck it up. It won’t hurt you.”
I cocked my head to the side, “Really? They won’t be groping you. What about a bartender? At least I’d have the bar between me and them.”
“No, he needs you to be able to go anywhere and a bartender is stuck behind the bar most of the night. We’ve got a couple of “regulars” in place so you won’t be without backup.”
I put my hand to my forehead. “I really don’t want to do this.”
“You can refuse. I just hope you don’t. I can get extra out of Colin for a job like this, especially since he knew how you’d feel about it. You notice he left it up to me to tell you about it. Also, I doubt he’s run this one past the Admiral.” He was enjoying this way too much.
“Fine, but I expect hazard pay for this one and I mean a big bonus.”
White retrieved me early the next morning and I could tell he wasn’t feeling too well. Brown was in about the same shape so I kept my mouth shut for the flight back to the office.
We rode the elevator down to my apartment and White stepped out with me. I gave him a questioning look and he said we needed to go over the job a little more while I packed.
“Pack? For what?” I was just going to go apply for a job today.
“Yes, pack. You’ve taken on a separate identity and you have to act the part. You do know your identity, don’t you?”
“Yeah. I’m Emma Robertson. I’m from the Midwest and my parents are dead,” I rattled off.
“It’s more than that. You don’t just have to know who you are playing, you have to become her. She has a personality that doesn’t belong to you but you have to make it yours.”
“Okay, what kind of personality does she have?” I rolled my eyes.
“This is serious. Colin is putting you deep into the workings of the Russian Mafia. They’ll check you out, especially if you don’t seem to fit. You are not a Midwest girl and it shows.”
I didn’t say anything. I knew he was right and I had given it some thought. I just felt silly trying to be someone else.
“Colin didn’t give you much of a back story, other than your parents so you’ll have to create it yourself. You might not need it, but it’ll help you become Emma.”
“I have actually given it some thought. I’m thinking she’d be a little naïve, coming from a rural area to a city.” I was more inexperienced than I like to admit so this may not be that much of a stretch.
“Good start. Colin wanted to meet before we set you up in your new apartment and he should be here soon.”
I left White in my living room and went to pack some clothes. He reminded me to be sure to pack what I thought Emma would wear.
“Oh, and pack enough to make it look like it would be everything you own,” he added.
Colin arrived before I was finished and White let him in. I heard an unfamiliar voice so I stuck my head out of my bedroom.
“Emma, this is Michael Evans. He’ll get you set up in your new apartment.” Colin introduced me to the man standing next to him.
Mr. Evans was an older gentleman with graying hair at the temples. He wore a crisp suit and an equally crisp expression.
“Mr. Evans.” I walked over and shook his hand.
“Emma,” he pulled me into a hug and rubbed his hand down my back. This caught me off guard but I didn’t budge and gave him an equally affectionate hug.
“I’ve found you an apartment. Are you ready?”
“Almost. I shouldn’t be too long.” My tone was affable though he made me nervous. I wondered how closely I was going to have to work with Mr. Evans. His touchy demeanor was off putting.
I finished packing and lugged two large bags from my room. Mr. Evans took a bag from me and Colin put a cell phone into my free hand.
“Contact us only through Evans, unless it’s an emergency and you need to be pulled out. I need you to keep your eyes and ears open for anything that will help us get Dimitri and Grigori.”
“We’ll lock up,” White added as I followed Evans out the door. I hope they don’t snoop through my apartment, I thought.
Evans put my luggage into the trunk of his car but his habit of putting his hand in the small of my back bothered me. I wasn’t looking forward to being cut off from everyone and he didn’t make me feel any better with his touchy feely ways.
Once inside the car Evans said, “My number is programmed into your phone.” We pulled out of the parking garage and all was silent until we reached my new apartment.
Evans had driven me to one of the worst parts of town. The building had to be the most neglected on the block and I was appalled. At least my apartment was on the bottom floor of the rundown building. I tried to make myself feel better.
“We’ve set up an interview for this afternoon. Let’s get you unpacked and then you can catch the bus to Gigi’s. Don’t worry. You’ll be fine. My friends will look out for you. I know it’s hard being away from your hometown but you’ll be glad you moved here.” He was giving me hints of Emma’s expected personality and it sounded as if I was to play a scared little girl.
Mr. Evans helped me unpack and this made me uncomfortable as well. He found my most conservative outfit and instructed me to put it on for my interview. I did as I was told as he finished unpacking my belongings. When I came out of the bathroom he ushered me out the door so I wouldn’t be late for my interview. He was starting to make me feel inadequate and scared. Instead of taking my normal defensive stance I went with the flow.
Gigi’s was downtown, quite some distance from my new apartment, so the bus ride wasn’t a short one.
I had to walk only a block from the bus stop to get to Gigi’s front door. I walked with purpose until I was within a few feet of the establishment and my confidence dropped. Tentatively, I opened the door and stepped in. I really didn’t want to see naked women runnin
g around and figured Emma would feel the same. I kept my head down as I walked in but when I looked up I was full of angst and my hands started to sweat. I’d never been in this type of establishment before and it was harder than I’d expected.
I made my way to the bar and said I had an interview for a waitress job.
The woman behind the bar eyeballed me up and down and with a scowl she pointed me toward the back of the building. “Go to the office.”
Maneuvering through the tables and past the stage I entered a tight hallway. The walls and carpeting in the hall didn’t change from the rest of the building. The wallpaper was a velvety deep red with carpet to match. The deep red color of everything kept the light subdued and unnatural. Labeled doors broke up the walls on either side of the hall. There were dressing rooms, restrooms and one unlabeled door. I knocked on this one, hoping it was the office.
It swung open slowly to reveal a large man. His body filled the entire frame and he stood there just looking at me.
“Uh,” I stammered. “I have an interview for a waitress job?” It wasn’t hard to fall into the personality of Emma Robertson.
“Let her in,” I heard a voice come from behind the huge man. He stepped aside to allow me access and I walked in with my eyes on my feet.
“Miss?” The man asked in a strong Russian accent. I looked up and immediately recognized him as Dimitri. My stomach ached.
“Robertson.” I replied timidly.
Dimitri was clearly sizing me up.
“You would like to waitress?”
“Yes sir.”
“You can’t dance?”
“No, sir.”
“You will learn.” I screamed inside. I would not take my clothes off in public. Panic set in.
“I… uh…” my stammering was unconscious. “I’d rather wait tables, if I could.” I felt tears of dread well up into my eyes.
“I like my girls on stage to be more confident, but you will learn.” Dimitri ordered. “Here,” he walked to a closet in the back of the room and pulled out an outfit. “Put this on and I’ll see if you’ll do for a waitress until you learn to dance.”
Reflections of Grey: Book Three of the Alexis Stanton Chronicles Page 12
