Dino by Jaime Lewis
Chapter SIXTEEN
Arianna busied herself behind the bar while getting familiar with where everything was. It looked as if she’d be pulling double shifts between the administrative work and bartending until she could find a replacement for the guy she had to fire yesterday.
The guy hadn’t been there to work; he was there to pick up women. A few longtime patrons had complained that the guy ignored the customers—unless they were a “cute” girl. She had talked with her dad yesterday morning about it, and he told her that she was in charge of that now and to do what she thought was best for the restaurant and bar.
Her dad always closed the restaurant on New Year’s Day, so her first day had been the day after. She got right to work, starting with administrative tasks; making sure the employees’ paperwork were up to date, payroll needed to be done, inventory logs, and the list went on. That was a week ago, and she was still buried in paperwork while getting things organized her way. Now she had to add hiring a bartender to her list.
Somewhere she had found a few minutes and decided to call Chris, her former supervisor at the bureau, to check in and see if anything had come to light regarding the complaint filed against her. She had been surprised when he answered the phone. He sounded both excited and relieved to hear from her. He had apologized for throwing her to the wolves during the debriefing process. He explained how he had been called out of town, and she understood. He still hadn’t heard any developments on the status of the complaint, but he did tell her that things were progressing, whatever that meant. She was a tad bit suspicious that Chris knew more than what he was letting on. Actions like that just made her take another step away from the bureau.
Before they ended the call, she had flat out asked him who had filed the complaint. At first, he hesitated. Again, another red flag. But then he told her he didn’t know. She didn’t believe him, but she wasn’t going to push the issue. His last words to her had made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. He told her that she needed to be vigilant until things blew over. When she asked him if he could elaborate more on that comment, he told her to just be careful, aware of her surroundings, and try not to draw attention to herself. Immediately her mind went to Demitri, and a knot formed in her stomach.
She ran to the walk-in cooler to get a case of Miller Lite to restock the small cooler at the bar. When she returned, she smiled when she saw two new customers sitting at the bar. She placed the case on the floor and walked over to Dino and Skittles.
She hadn’t really talked to Dino since New Year’s Eve. With the hours she had been working, she was never home. She saw him the other morning when he was leaving for work and said hello. But other than that, it had been quiet between the two of them. She missed him.
“Hey, guys!” She greeted them and set down two drink napkins in front of them.
“Hi,” Skittles said.
She looked at Dino, and he showed her his signature smirk again. He winked and then said hi to her.
“What can I get you guys?”
“Are you working the bar now too?” Dino asked, looking a bit confused, and she shrugged.
“Yeah. The previous bartender wasn’t working out, so I had to let him go.”
Skittles shook his head. “That guy was trouble anyway.”
Arianna wondered what he meant by that. “Why do you say that?”
Skittles gave Dino a strange look. Dino cleared his throat. “We’ve heard that the guy would take women to the stock room or basement.” Dino raised his eyebrow as if asking her if she understood what he was saying.
Her eyes widened and then narrowed. “That is disgusting, not to mention that we could’ve been liable if anything had happened.”
She was fuming and even more glad that she had made the right decision in firing him. She went to ask Dino how he’d been when a customer shouted at her.
“Hey, sweetheart. How about another drink down here?” a guy called out.
Arianna hadn’t recognized him as one of the regulars. She excused herself and went to pour another beer for the guy. When she set it down in front of him, he winked, but it wasn’t a flirtatious wink; it was a creepy wink.
“Where’s your old man?” he asked, catching her off guard.
“Are you talking about Paul?” she asked.
“What? That is your old man, right?”
The guy provided her a predatory grin, and she promptly became uncomfortable. There were many people who she didn’t personally know who knew Paul was her dad, but something in her gut told her this guy was on a fishing expedition to gain information. She gave him another once over, looking for any familiarity but there was nothing about the guy she could connect to.
She didn’t answer his question directly but politely told him that Paul wasn’t around. She didn’t know how to operate the security cameras yet, but she would make sure she left a note for Bruno to tag this guy and show it to her dad.
Well, that had been a total lie considering she knew her dad was home with Victoria.
Her dad had been at the restaurant earlier but left a few hours ago because he hadn’t been feeling well. Earlier, she had found him leaning against the wall in the hallway back by his office. When she asked him if he was okay, he said that he had a dizzy spell. She pushed for him to go home, telling him that she would close up. At first, he just grunted, which meant he was being stubborn and wasn’t going to take her advice. But a little while later, he started to get a pain in his stomach. Again, he tried to blow it off, but thankfully Bruno stepped in and told him he needed to go home and rest. Arianna knew that her dad really wasn’t feeling well when he told her that he had to call Victoria to come and pick him up. Yeah, the wicked witch of the west had flown in on her broom a few days ago. Thank god, she had stayed away from the restaurant and away from her.
Arianna looked back at the guy, and he was staring at her with the same creepy grin.
“Do you know Paul?” Arianna asked, eyeing the guy skeptically. She neither confirmed nor denied that Paul was her dad.
“He and I go way back.”
Arianna figured it could be someone her dad had served with in the military.
“What’s your name? I can tell him you stopped by.”
The guy picked up his beer and chugged in until there was just a small amount left in the bottom. He set the mug down then threw some cash onto the bar.
“Don’t bother. I’ll catch up with him later,” he said as he stood up, put his coat on, and left.
Arianna picked up the cash and walked back down to the cash register. What an odd encounter, she thought to herself as she closed out the transaction on the register.
She looked at Dino and Skittles and realized they were still waiting on her to get their drinks.
“Sorry about that,” she told them. “What can I get you?”
They waved her off as if it was no problem.
“Yuengling Lager for me,” Skittles told her.
“I’ll take a Bud,” Dino said.
As she started to walk away, Dino caught her hand that was lying on the bar top.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, why?”
“It seemed like that guy was giving you a hard time.”
She glanced at the empty seat that the guy had vacated and debated if she wanted to involve Dino in her opinion of the guy. It couldn’t hurt for someone else to know about him in case he ever returned.
“He wasn’t giving me a hard time. He was asking about my dad.”
Dino scrunched his forehead up. “What’s wrong with that? Your dad knows a lot of people.”
“True. But it was his body language and the way he asked ‘if my old man was around.’ I have no idea who the guy is, and when I asked for his name, so I could let my dad know he had stopped by, he clammed up and left saying that he’d catch him later.”
“His behavior sounds a little strange. Just keep an eye out and see if he returns. But I’d let your dad know.”
“I planned on that,” she also told him about having Bruno pull the video footage behind the bar so he could show it to her dad.
Dino still held her, and she looked down at their conjoined hands, then back up at him. He was focused on her and her only, and his intense gaze made her fidget.
“I need to get your drinks.”
He grinned. Before he released her hand he lifted it to his lips. His lips felt warm as he softly kissed the top of her hand. She stood there for a beat, shocked that he was showing her affection in public considering he wasn’t sure what he wanted.
When he released her hand, she turned on wobbly legs and walked to the cooler. She pulled the bottles out, popped the tops off, and set them down in front of them. They both pulled cash out, but she waved them off.
“This round is on me.”
They both thanked her. Her next thought was to head to the walk-in cooler and take a few minutes to lower her body temperature because that man made her hot.
◆◆◆
Dino watched Arianna as she ran up and down the bar waiting on customers. Coming to the bar had been a spontaneous decision, just as he and the others were leaving work. Skittles had been the only one who didn’t have plans, so he tagged along though he brought his laptop to do some research.
He wasn’t there because of the food or drinks. He was there because of her. He missed her. Other than seeing her the other morning when he left for work, he hadn’t seen her. He was disappointed that the bar was busy, meaning he wouldn’t be able to talk with her much, but at least he could see her.
He had done quite a bit of thinking since their talk on New Year’s while watching the Jets. He hadn’t lied to her when he admitted that he really liked her. What wasn’t to like? She was appealing in so many ways. She was smart, funny, and kind. The only hang-up he still had was the area of trust. She hadn’t been forthcoming with him when they first met, and he still somewhat held that against her. When she explained why she did it, he could understand it to a point, but it was still something he would have to overlook. And the only way to do that was to spend time with her and get to know her on a personal level.
He had demons from his past. He had shocked himself that he even mentioned a sliver of what happened to him years ago. But he knew that if he wanted a future with Arianna, he would have to man up and tell her the truth. She would have to know what happened. Just then, she bent over to get a piece of paper she dropped on the floor, and he couldn’t help but stare at her ass. He missed that body of hers. He shifted his body on the stool to give his dick a little more room. He picked up his bottle and took a drink, then glanced over at Skittles. He needed something to occupy his mind for a bit.
“What are you doing?”
Skittles shrugged his shoulders, never looking away from the laptop. “Just looking over some information.”
Dino leaned in to get a closer look at what had Skittles’ interest. It was a newspaper article about a missing girl. Then it clicked.
“Is that information on that girl from your past? The missing one?”
“Yeah, I keep hitting a wall. Things just aren’t adding up.”
“How so?”
“Her parents were murdered, and she just disappeared out of thin air.”
“Her parents were murdered?” Dino repeated, and Skittles face turned grim. She must mean something to him.
“Don’t get pissed at me because I’m going to play devil's advocate. Obviously, this chick means something to you, but did you ever consider that maybe she could’ve been involved?”
“Of course she was involved. Nobody can find her.”
“My point exactly. You know what I mean.”
“No, I don’t,” Skittles stated, appearing agitated.
“Is it possible that she killed her parents?”
“She didn’t,” Skittles said very seriously.
“I’m just saying…”
“And, I’m telling you that she didn’t kill her parents,” Skittles said, his voice firmer.
Damn, this girl, whoever she was, had the kid twisted up. They all knew that a girl from his past had disappeared, but they didn’t really know any of the specifics, just that Skittles spent most of his free time actively searching for information.
“According to the medical examiner, her parents were killed sometime between two and three in the afternoon. A.G. wasn’t at home in that timeframe.”
“So ,she has an alibi. Is it a reputable one?”
Skittles stared at Dino. “Me. She had been with me all day.” Dino raised his eyebrow, and Skittles continued. “She and my sister were supposed to hang out, but then Nicole came down with a stomach bug and couldn’t go. So, I went with her.”
“Sorry, man. It sounds like she really meant something to you.”
“Not just me. She was like a part of our family.”
“Did you and she ever…”
“No!”
Dino smiled when he saw a slight pink tint on Skittles cheeks. “But you wished you had.”
Skittles blew out a breath. “What I wish is that I would have ended the day differently. Instead, I just dropped her off in front of her driveway.”
“Do you honestly think she’s out there somewhere?”
Skittles leveled his gaze at Dino. “I do. I know it sounds crazy, but something in my gut keeps telling me not to give up.”
“What about any other family? You know, grandparents, aunts, or uncles?”
“As far as I know, it was just her mom and dad. I can’t even find death certificates or a burial plot for them.”
“That’s strange. Who oversaw the crime scene and investigation?”
“Local PD, but I’m really starting to question things. When I accessed their system looking for a report, I couldn’t find the case.”
“What?”
“Exactly.”
“Coverup?” Dino questioned.
“Every time I get a piece of information, it looks more like it, but I don’t know who to even reach out to.”
“Have you thought about that maybe…maybe she received the same fate as her parents?”
“It crosses my mind every day.”
God, he hoped the kid got some answers, and soon. Even if it wasn’t the news he wanted to hear, at least he would have closure.
“Well, if there is anything I can do, let me know.”
“Thanks, man.”
◆◆◆
It was close to two o’clock in the morning when Arianna locked up the bar and started walking to her car. She was tuckered out from the long day. Her feet were killing her. She didn’t care what time it was; she was soaking in a hot bath when she got home. Poor Nigel had been home all by himself. She was able to run back to the house mid-afternoon to check on him and let him outside for a little bit. Her dad had told her that she could bring him to the restaurant as long as he stayed in the back.
As she moved across the quiet parking lot, she had been looking at her phone and deleting some texts she had received and didn’t notice that the car parked next to hers was occupied.
The loud honk of the horn scared the living daylights out of her. She half jumped, half stumbled backward, and in the process dropped her phone on the ground.
When she looked through the windshield of the SUV, her heart felt like it was going to beat itself right out of her chest. She was shocked to see Dino sitting there watching her, and he didn’t appear happy. He got out of his car and walked around to the front of it, where she was standing. Dino and Skittles had both left hours ago.
Had he been sitting out here the entire time?
“Dino? What are you doing here?” she stuttered looking up at him standing in front of her with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Don’t you ever walk to your car without being aware of what or who is around you?” he barked at her. “Do you know how many women fall victim in parking lots, let alone in the dark, because they aren’t paying attention?”
She didn’t say a word as she stood there staring up at him while he lectured her. Once he finished his tirade on parking lot safety, she wasn’t sure what to say. She knew it was a lack of judgment on her part. But for some reason, his dominant and commanding tone aroused her. She felt the desire building within her.
He stepped toward her and positioned his hands on her hips. She could feel his thumbs lightly rub against the fabric covering skin. Her eyes were still fixed on his. The dark blue orbs appeared black in the darkness.
“I’m sorry,” she forced the words out of her mouth, trying not to sound breathless.
“I didn’t realize that you’ve been closing at night by yourself.”
She tilted her head. “How did you know?”
“I asked Bruno, and he told me.”
“So you’re stalking me?” She joked, but he didn’t crack a smile. Damn, he was so serious.
“No, I care about you.”
Well, shit. How was she supposed to respond to that? She didn’t have to when Dino took her face between the palms of his hands, dipped his head, and kissed her deeply.
◆◆◆
Dino was trying not to act barbaric, but he’d been a little on edge ever since Arianna told him about that guy earlier at the bar. And he completely lost it when he saw how unaware she was as she walked through the dark parking lot to her car. She acted like she was out for a fucking Sunday stroll. He had run home for a little bit but then came back about an hour ago and had been sitting in his car waiting for her to leave. He wasn’t comfortable with her walking out alone.
She had driven him crazy earlier at the bar when he had watched her wiggle her ass in her fitted jeans as she ran up and down the bar waiting on her customers. He’d admit that he was even jealous at the way some of the guys she was serving had hit on her. But he kept his cool.
But now, with her in his arms staring up at him, he couldn’t resist. It had been too long since he’d tasted those lips. The smell of her perfume combined with her sweet smile made his dick so hard. His body craved contact with her.
He kissed her harder, deeper, wanting to imprint his taste so she would think about him. Her hands reached around his waist, and he pulled her closer against his body as he slid his hands down against her ass. She rubbed her chest along his body, and holy hell did it excite him.
Remembering they were out in the open, he released her lips. The look on her face was unforgettable. Her lips were wet and swollen, and her eyes shimmered.
Knowing he needed to get her to the car before he did something wild, like throw her in the backseat of his Blazer and fuck her senseless, he took her hand and guided her to her car. He stopped and picked her phone up from the ground and handed it to her.
She hit the button to unlock the car, and Dino opened her door. She turned and faced him.
“Thank you.”
He quirked his eyebrow.
“For coming back and seeing that I made it to my car.” She nibbled on her bottom lip nervously. Then she surprised him. “And for the kiss.” She got up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek before sliding into her car.
He held onto the door and looked down at her.
“When do you work again?”
“Tomorrow. I’m closing again.”
He nodded his head. “Call me when it's near closing time, and I’ll come up.”
She tried to argue with him but then quickly realized she wasn’t going to win the argument. He had meant it when he told that he cared about her—especially her safety.
They said bye, and he closed her door then got into his vehicle. She pulled out first, and he followed. He would always have her six.
