Enchanter (15 page)

As we walked in, Dmitri gestured toward the large, rectangular-shaped
mahogany table sitting in the middle of the room and we followed him to it.
Before introducing us to the small group already waiting by the table, he
politely asked us to sit.

“You may shut the doors, Leon.”

Leon did so and joined us at the dining table.

Brandon and I sat across the trio that had been present when
we arrived and Dmitri took the seat on my right. Everyone in the room had a
pleasant, amiable, and aristocratic appeal to them, which I instantly liked.
That opinion changed the instant my eyes rested on a pair of ice blue orbs that
were practically spitting fire at me, and I knew this was going to be a far
more interesting night than I had anticipated.

Ignoring the vixen sitting a mere two and a half feet away
from me, I turned my attention to Dmitri as he waved a hand around and a set of
wooden doors at the opposite side of the room opened. A crew of about six
waiters came in, pushing carts filled with platters of food and beverages.

“As host of this event, I would like to introduce you all to
Miss Leah.” He gestured toward me. “Leah, these are my partners in crime, Mr.
and Mrs. Torres, and Mia Rusakova.”

The young Latin couple nodded and greeted me with welcoming
smiles. The tall Russian woman however, merely glared at me over the top of her
red-wine-filled glass. No one noticed her obvious hostility but me. At first I
was confused because I did not even know her. Why was she being a bitch? Until I
caught her blue eyes devouring Brandon, and I immediately realized what her
deal was.

Great! Just what I need! A jealous rival.

“Hello, Leah, it is nice to meet you,” Mrs. Torres said, a
warm smile plastered across her face. “Known our dear Brandon for long?” She
too, spoke as if she had been born at some past time in which formal
conversations were served morning, noon, and night.

“Actually, since the first day of kindergarten.”

“Oh, my.” She laughed softly, obviously surprised by the
fact that we had known each other for so long. “And here we naively thought we
were better acquainted with him than anyone else.”

“Well, I’m sure that still hasn’t changed.”

Mrs. Torres arched her eyebrows questioningly. Brandon
clarified, “You see, Mrs. Torres, Leah and I kind of drifted apart as we were
growing up, but we’ve recently gotten reacquainted.”

“I see.” She smiled. “It sounds just like when Alberto and I
were separated during the war and faith brought us together again, years
afterwards.”

War? What war? Iraq?

“When exactly did—” I started, but was rudely interrupted by
the blonde sitting across the table from me.

“But we are deeply excited to meet the girl who’s been on Brandon’s
mind more often than not. Aren’t we?” she practically hissed, earning herself a
glare from Dmitri.

“And you would know that how?” I did not want to stoop to
her level. She was itching to start something, I could tell from the second I
sat down on the chair across from her. Being that I was a guest at the grand
opening of Dmitri Salvatore’s restaurant, I did not want to blow things by
acting out, but something about the woman irked me. “You a mind reader or
something?”

Dmitri chuckled next to me.

“You could say that,” she replied before taking another sip
of red wine.

“Please,” Dmitri nodded to one of the waiters, who began to
place exquisite-smelling plates filled with food before us. “I hope you don’t
mind, Leah, but I had our chefs prepare several of our finest dishes. I was hoping
you could savor them and tell us your opinion of how good they are or what we should
do to improve them.”

“God, no, I don’t mind at all. This smells divine and if it
tastes as good as it looks…” I left the rest of the sentence unsaid, but he
caught my meaning well enough.

“If there is anything you don’t like, please let me know and
I’ll take care of things.”

I was kind of taken aback by the fact that he had not bothered
to accommodate the same request to the rest of the group present, but I held my
peace.

“Thank you.”

“But first, you must taste some of this wine.” Dmitri began
to pour some wine in a glass for me before I could form a protest. I was not much
of a drinker. “It is the best of the house,” he reassured me.

“Sure.” I took a quick sip after he was done filling my
glass halfway, and smiled when the delicious liquid rushed through my lips and
down my throat. “This is the best wine I’ve ever tasted.” Being that I had
almost no experience with wine, that statement was a hundred percent truthful.

The compliment eased a smile out of Dmitri. “I’m glad you
like it.”

“Aren’t you going to drink some, Brandon?” I turned to him, only
to see his head shake from one side to the other.

“I’m not much of drinker.”

“Of course,”

“Brandon, what do you think of the place so far?” Dmitri
asked as he started picking through the ravioli in his plate. “Is it all you
dreamed of?”

My ears were on high alert.
What? Brandon’s dream?

“It’s pretty damn close.”

“The place turned out to be better than we could have
expected.”

“I agree.”

“Brandon did a wonderful job designing this place,” Mia, the
blonde bimbo, added just for my benefit. It was obvious I had no idea what they
were talking about and she knew it too.

“You designed this place?” I turned my attention away from Mia’s
irritating smirk and tossed a questioning frown Brandon’s way. “I didn’t know
you’re an architect.”

“I’m not,” he hurried to say. “This was just something that
surfaced one afternoon while Dmitri and I were talking about new business
possibilities for the area, and I sketched out something for him and—”

“I loved his ideas enough to make them come true,” Dmitri
finished. “Which is why I asked him to become partner.”

“I had no idea that…” I stopped when Mia’s knowing sneer
nearly forced me to splash her with the remainder of my red wine. But it was
damn good wine, and I certainly did not want to waste it on her.

“I didn’t accept right away,” Brandon added, ignoring Mia.

“Being the young man that he is, Brandon didn’t want to
accept my offer. After insisting for about the hundredth time, he accepted.”

“Why were you reluctant?” I asked.

“Because I… had no money to contribute.” Brandon shrugged,
apparently uncomfortable with that fact.

“But he did contribute many hours of hard and intensive
labor with the construction crew. He was here nearly every day, overseeing the
entire process. In fact, every single room was decorated by him personally.”
Dmitri took another sip of wine before continuing, “I only put in the money.”

“This is an amazing place. You did a great job, Brandon,” I
said, easing a smile from him.

“Thank you.”

“I understand now why tonight is so special to you.”

The emotions that flickered behind his eyes forced me to
swallow hard. Brandon, despite his reserves, was a vulnerable person at times.
Whenever I was present, he had a hard time keeping all sentiments successfully
hidden. However, his capability of showing any emotions lured me in even more.
Most men I knew refused to allow any woman to see what they felt, and although
Brandon said very little, there were times when he left himself open for me. It
seemed the more time I spent with him, the more I got to see a side of him that
I was sure others had never seen.

“This is a special occasion for us, but for Brandon, this
event means even more,” Dmitri continued. “He is now able to see all the
efforts of his hard labor. It is a huge triumph, especially to a young man who
often doubted his abilities to continue with such arduous tasks. How better to
celebrate such an accomplishment than with a special person.” Dmitri smiled
before lifting his glass up in the air. “I propose a toast.” Everyone present
stopped eating long enough to raise their glass and wait for the host’s next
words. “To a successful business, life, and happiness to those lucky enough to
have found love.” The fact that Dmitri glanced our way as he repeated the last
words did not go unnoticed by me.

“Salud!” Their voices echoed across the room.

“Now that the restaurant has finally opened, are you still
going to keep working at the factory?” Mrs. Torres asked Brandon as she
finished the last of her meal.

“Maybe, I haven’t made up my mind yet.”

“Being one forth owner, you don’t really have to return to
work there if you choose not to,” Mr. Torres insisted.

“That’s true but I don’t like to lie around and do nothing.”

“I know that feeling.”

“You can always work with me here,” Mia butted in, eying me
as she added, “I would love to work alongside you.”

“Don’t forget Brandon is a college man too,” Dmitri
interjected, frowning as he pinned Mia down with an annoyed frown. “He’s plenty
busy with classes most times.”

I understood that the woman was deliberately trying to get
on my nerves, but it was obvious her antics were not sitting well with the
tall, dark, and handsome Dmitri.

Deciding that it was best to ignore Blondie, despite the
fact that I wanted nothing more than to jump over the table and drag her all
over the floor by her long hair, I opted for finishing the amazing pasta still
waiting on my plate before it got cold.

After we were all done with our succulent meals, the staff
removed the empty plates, placed them back on the carts, and wheeled them away.

“Can I ask you a question?” I turned toward Dmitri.

“Go ahead.”

“Why is this place so big? Was that the original plan?”

“Actually, no. When Brandon first sketched out the design,
it was just a two-floor plan. However, since I was planning to move to Direct
City indefinitely, I asked him to add a third floor to the building.”

I turned toward Brandon. “If you have such an amazing
ability to design places like these, why don’t you become an architect?”

“It’s not something I see myself doing on a long-term basis.
I have other priorities in my life that I need to take care of.” His response
was slightly surprising.

“You have a real talent,” I said.

“Thanks.”

“So, as far as I could tell, the main restaurant and bar are
on the first floor. What’s on the rest of the second?” I had only seen the room
I was currently in, but the second floor was just as large as the first, so I
wondered what else this place hid.

“The second floor has five more private dining areas like
this one,” Dmitri informed me. “And there are three small private kitchens that
are specifically reserved only for dinner parties in these rooms. There are
several bathrooms on the first and second floor as well. However, the bathrooms
up on the second floor are off limits to the customers on the first floor.”

“So, a reservation for these suites is required?”

“Yes, but it’s not costly. I can assure you that anyone can
rent one of these rooms, order meals for a family of four and not break their
wallet.”

“I like that concept.”

Dmitri smiled. “My apartment takes up the entire third
floor.”

“You live here?”

“Now I do.”

“Wow.” I was unable to contain my awe. Not only was he three
parts owner of such a magnificent place, but he actually got to live just a
floor above from where we were currently sitting. “How do you fit into all of this?”
I asked the Torres couple.

“We provided all the furnishing needs,” Mrs. Torres, who
always wore a contented smile, replied. “We have a furniture company that
extends across the United States, Europe, and Asia. Most clients are nightclub,
restaurant, and theater owners, looking to spruce up their places of business.”

“Sounds like a very interesting way of earning a living,” I said.

“Oh, it is.”

“Leon is one of the security guards and Mia is the
restaurant manager,” Dmitri gestured first to one and then the other.

“I see.”

After our brief conversation, Dmitri took us on a tour of
the first and second floors of the elaborate building. To say that I was
impressed by the work Brandon did was an understatement. I was downright
marveled by how talented he was. How he managed to juggle school and two jobs
was beyond me.

At one point, I was left standing alone in another of the
private rooms on the second floor, when Mia approached me. The second I felt
her presence next to me, I fought the urge to roll my eyes, and listened as she
spat some venom my way.

“You don’t deserve him,” she practically hissed.

“You’re assuming a lot, considering that you don’t even know
me.”

“Just by looking at you I can tell that you’ve never
appreciated the kind of person Brandon is, and possibly never will. You are the
type of person that makes things all about you.”

Damn it, Brandon accused me of the same thing!

“And you’re the kind of woman that trails after a man even
when it’s evident he’s not interested.”

She flinched as if I had slapped her.
Ha! One point for
me!

“Well, he was doing a great job on leading me on until you
showed up.”

Now, it was my turn to flinch. Even when I knew that she
probably said that to force a reaction out of me – which she did, by the way – I
still had doubts over whether or not that statement could be true. Duke did
mention that Brandon’s heart belonged to someone, but I could not automatically
assume that person was me. I tried to conceal my thoughts and said, “That can
only mean you weren’t that attention-grabbing, if he came to me.”

Mia actually raised her hand as if she planned to slap me,
but Dmitri’s booming voice stopped her at once.

“Mia! Shouldn’t you be downstairs making sure all is well?”