Wed or Dead

VII

"Marry you?" Elaina asked. Did Rafael Vincenti just propose to her? The Rafael Vincenti? The same person Eva was telling her about?

Where was she? Is this real life? Of course not. This is hell. The bad place. Should she accept? Refuse? After all her goal was to survive.

"Don't look at me like that," he said, sparks of amusement appeared in his eyes.

"Like what?" Eliana asked and tilted her head, unaware of my movements.

"Like a confused little puppy. I have my reasons to be interested in your company and marriage. If that wasn't the case, this night would've ended very badly for you. You're very fortunate that my plans don't include your death. However, don't think you're completely safe. If you do something I don't like, who knows what will happen to you? This arrangement will work on my terms I expect you to listen to what I say otherwise you will face the consequences"

If he tried to scare me, he succeeded. What exactly did she get herself into?

"What... consequences?" she asked carefully.

"Well, that depends on your transgression. I can get very creative"

"I will be good" she promised, determined to fulfil this declaration. Eliana did not want to fuck with this man, she had no desire to test what he was capable of.

"I'm glad you see it my way," he said, clearly satisfied with her answer. He checked his watch, "Ms Snow, I believe your shift hasn't ended yet. It's time for you to go back to work" Oh, wait, she's technically still working here. "Antonio, help Ms Snow find her way upstairs" then he paused for a moment, and they were about to leave when he added one more sentence that terrified her"And one more thing, if you ever show up here again, uninvited,  I will lock you up in the room without windows for a week, understood?" It didn't sound like a joke or an empty threat.

This is when she promised herself to never set foot in this office again.

"Yes, sir," Eliana said automatically now on the verge of a panic attack. She thought he smirked at being called sir. She made a mental note to call him that in case I need to beg him to spare her life.

Eliana breathed a sigh of relief as soon as soon as she found herself upstairs. She could feel my legs going weaker as adrenaline levels started to drop. Her head was spinning, and I felt like I am about to throw up. What has she done? Holy fucking shit she should've advertised her marriage offer on eBay or whatever. Asking that mafia guy for help was clearly a big mistake. She had zero ideas on how to fix it.

And there's another problem. Where the hell is Eva, is she okay?

Eliana didn't even have a phone to call her, and I had another two hours of work ahead of her. Eliana decided to finish her shift and then call her from Casey's phone as she gets home. 

When Eliana was on my way to the bar, someone stopped her by grabbing her wrist tightly. As soon as she stopped to take his order, he let her go, but she felt uneasy about him touching her.

"Hey, love, get us a round of vodka"

"Sure thing, I will be right back," Eliana said, forcing her voice to be light and polite. Why did he have to grab her? Something about this man didn't feel right. The way he was staring at me was disturbing.

For a moment Eliana considered asking someone else to make this order, but she quickly pushed this thought aside. She was feeling uncomfortable for a whole evening, it's not like this situation is any different. The job at the nightclub just wasn't for her.

Eliana poured vodka into six shot glasses and placed it on a tray. When she arrived at the table, she was about to just leave them a tray and leave as soon as possible, but she couldn't because that man's hand found my wrist and grabbed onto it tightly. This time he didn't let her go as she tried to pull my hand away.

"Join us, won't you?"

"I'm sorry, I can't. I work here"

"Exactly, you work here. Isn't that your job, to entertain the clients?" his hands wrapped around her waist, and she was pulled to his lap. She could feel his stinking breath on her neck.

"Please let me go," Eliana managed to say before panic completely overwhelmed her. She couldn't move, she was actively fighting to get out of the dazed state, and she was barely doing any job. "Let me go," she repeated. It was more like a whimper. She was trapped in some sort of hug that resulted in his hand conveniently touching my breast.

"Relax, I will give you a generous tip if you just sit here and be a doll for me and my friends. Have a drink and relax"

Don't touch me I want to leave please, that's what she wanted to say, but none of those words left her mouth.

Eliana reacted suddenly as the surge of adrenaline started affecting her brain. She tried to stand up, but he kept holding her, unbothered by her pitiful attempts to get away. She started fighting him as hard as I could without much success, then screaming, but the music was too loud for anyone to hear.

Then she did the only thing that could come to her mind.

She grabbed the empty bottle of vodka from the table before any of that man's friends could help him, and then she smashed it over his head.

This is when other people started noticing what is going on because as the bottle fell on the floor it was crushed into millions of pieces, and people who were dancing in near proximity to the table were forced to jump out of the way. There was a small wound on the man's forehead from which blood came out, dirtying his face. He really looked like a crazy serial killer from a slasher movie. 

Eliana was about to throw up. This is when the bouncers appeared. One was right behind me. The second who was checking if the man who was hit is doing okay was speaking to someone and used a radio communicator to inform someone about the situation.

In a few minutes, Lorenzo appeared with a serious look on his face.

"What is happening here?"

"That crazy bitch attacked me, are you the manager? I want to file a complaint, I want the police called right now," The man yelled loudly and clearly, and Eliana lost her breath for a moment. What? Did he really say that?

"It's your lucky day, the club owner is here today. You can give file your complaint directly at his office. Come with me. Eliana, you too," Lorenzo said, ignoring the remark about the police. She started moving towards the forbidden doors.

This is not happening. Shit, I don't want to go back there. If Eliana started running now, the fastest she can... No. Who was she kidding? She was way too slow to get away. She was cursing her life right now. How did she get herself in a situation like that?

The music started blasting again, the outside world went back to normal. On the other hand, Eliana couldn't believe it. She just left that office and survived, how did she ended up being forced to enter the forbidden door again in one night?

Just. Her. Luck.

———
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Do you think Eliana will ever leave the Himeros Club? Well, send your prayers.