Page 13 of Love Among the Ruins
Dominic frowned. He hadn’t seen what had happened. He’d only seen the waitress kick out, and Ioannis double over with pain. He’d walked in on something, but exactly what, he was too scared to ask. “No, nothing like that, and he’s not my friend. That guy is an asshole.”
“You party with these guys. You’re worried about him.”
“That’s not true.”
There was a knock on the door, then “Eleni?”
Wasthather name? Eleni?
“Did you have to come in here?” she hissed. “Now I’m really in trouble.”
Shit.
“I’ll explain.” He moved towards the door.
“How?”
He opened the door and a woman charged in. She looked at him, then at Eleni, her mouth hanging open. “What’s going on?” Her voice was deathly quiet. “What are you doing in here with aguest?”
“I can explain,” Dominic replied, with the confidence of a man of his station.
Asshole.
The woman ignored him and glared at the waitress. “You are in so much trouble. Did you kick one of the guests?”
“I can explain,” the waitress said. “He grabbed my breast—and then he—”
“It wasn’t her fault.” He couldn’t stand by and listen to this. That fucking Ioannis. Dominic was tempted to go up to him and punch him.
The older woman spun around, her blazing eyes softening as she surveyed him. “You’re not supposed to be in here.”
“I was making sure she was okay.” He gestured to the waitress. “I saw what happened. I heard her scream. It wasn’t her fault.”
The woman studied his face and didn’t appear to believe him. “You really should leave, sir.” She turned to the waitress. “You kicked a guest, and not justanyguest. That’s Ioannis Baros. Do you know how important he is?”
The waitress threw her hands up in dismay. “I don’t care who he is.”
The older woman took a deep inhale. “Eleni. I have tried, I really have, and only because my nephew told me to give you a chance. I’m sorry for what happened to you before, but you are a liability to my business. Go home and take some time off. Take a month off.”
“A month? But Cassia it wasn’t my fault. The man was a pig. He touched me inappropriately. What do you want me to do? Let him?”
“What I can’t do is let you kick my guests.”
“But what about him?” the waitress shouted, shaking with anger.
“It wasn’t her fault,” Dominic didn’t like the way the woman was blaming the poor girl. His temper sparked. “Are you not listening to what she’s telling you?”
“Go home, Eleni. Go home before I fire you. I have a party full of people I need to impress. Important people, people who I need. I can’t afford for your behavior to mess things up for me.”
The waitress threw her boss a contemptuous look and stormed past him.
“Get to work,” her boss yelled at the tall thin guy he’d seen earlier.
Dominic left the washroom quickly, feeling useless and uneasy; a new and unfamiliar emotion sweeping over him—he felt sorry for the waitress and the situation she was now in.
On his way out he saw Ioannis flirting with one of the women who had been dancing on the deck. The sight made him shiver in disgust.
* * *
ELENI
Eleni arrived back home desperate to crash onto her bed and decide on her next course of action, but as she put her key into the lock, she heard the noises. Eleni squirmed, not wanting to take another step.
Her mother’s new boyfriend was over.
“Oh, yes … yes! Yes! Like that. Deeper …”
Bile trickled down her throat and a heavy weight settled in her gut. She couldn’t stay here during this. She turned around and tiptoed away.
Her forty-two-year-old mother having sex was drama she didn’t need.
