Daddy’s Girl by Miley Maine
Erik
It’s late afternoon, and I’m trying to decide what I want to do for dinner that evening, when someone knocks at my hotel room door. I’m not expecting anyone, and know if it was one of my friends, they would have called ahead.
My heart pounds wondering if it’s Savannah, come to take me up on any one of my offers. I jump up off the bed, and dash across the room to answer the door, and there she is.
For a moment, I’m speechless.
She looked hot the night before in the low-cut blouse and short shirt she was wearing at the casino, but right now, she looks stunning. She’s wearing a slinky, knee length black dress that is slightly more modestly cut than her work blouse, and that makes it all the more sexier. I can just see the curve of her breasts, and knowing the fullness that hides beneath the dress, I long to strip it away, and ravage her…
When Savannah’s eyes widen, and her cheeks blush, I realize I’ve kept her waiting for a reply.
“Hey, it’s good to see you.”
I stop back so she can enter my hotel suite, her eyes widening even more as she takes in the massive room.
“Holy Shit. You could fit my trailer ten times over in here,” she blurts out and I can’t help but chuckle. She looks horrified and slaps a hand over her mouth. “Sorry, that wasn’t very ladylike.”
I step in close, so our bodies are mere inches apart, and say, “Is that what you think I want, Savannah. Someone ladylike?”
Savannah gulps and I can see her blush intensify. Fuck, she’s so innocent, and so easily flustered around me it makes my dick twitch. But she hadn’t even told me why she’s here yet, so I shouldn’t get ahead of myself.
“Sorry, I’m being awfully uncouth, aren’t I? Please, take a seat.” I gesture to the large leather couches that dominate my suite’s sitting room. “Can I get you a drink?”
I open the mini bar and produce a bottle of expensive white wine most women I’ve dated tend to like.
“I … erm … I’m not much of a drinker,” Savannah says, the redness in her cheeks intensifying, and I’m starting to realize how inexperienced she really is.
“Please, tell me what you’d prefer then.”
“I’d be okay with just water, thanks.”
I pull out a bottle of the finest mineral water and pour it into a cold glass with some ice. I hand it to Savannah, who has taken a seat on the couch, then settle near her, but at a safe distance so we’re not touching. I don’t want to scare her off.
“I’m sorry if it was inappropriate of me coming to your home last night. I hope you don’t mind; it’s just we really are serious about getting rid of Dimitri. I’m not sure what you know, but he’s a dangerous man.”
Savannah gulps and nods. “He is. One of the girls … she … he …”
I’m alarmed when she starts crying and instinctively, I move in closer and wrap my arms around her. “Whatever it is, I’ll do my best to help you, to protect you, I swear.”
“He killed one of the girls,” Savannah hiccups out.
My body goes rigid, and Savannah looks up into my eyes. Her yellow-green eyes are wide, and glassy, and her face is just inches from mine.
Is it wrong that I want to kiss her? I want to kiss her until her lips are swollen, and all her fears are replaced by the longing I feel. I shake my head and try to refocus.
“He killed someone! You’re sure?”
“I’m not certain, and the official report is she got drunk and fell into the water at Mandalay Beach -- but well, she was one of his girls.”
My brows crease. “One of his girls?”
“She was his favourite, he used to… he’d…” Savannah shudders all over, and it doesn’t take me long to work out why. If Dimitri isn’t against killing innocent women, what else is he capable of?
“Are you one of his girls?” I ask, afraid of the answer.
“What? No, never! He wants me, but I won’t give in to him. I won’t let him force me. I’ll kill him before that ever happens.”
Angry fire blazes through me, and I tighten my grip around Savannah. “If he touches you again, I’ll kill him.”
Savannah backs up a little, and gazes at me, frowning. “Why are you doing this?” It’s the same question she asked last night, and a million answers tumble through my mind. I figure the least I can do is be honest with her.
“I’m not quite sure, but something about you has me enthralled, and I can’t stand the thought of Dimitri -- or anyone -- hurting you. I meant it about me, James and our friends being serious about taking Dimitri down, and knowing he’s capable of rape and murder just makes me even more certain we have to stop him. None of you women who work for him deserve that.”
“So this is just about stopping Dimitri and protecting innocent women. Are you all some sort of vigilante group or something?”
I can’t help but chuckle. It certainly seems that way, but it was never our intention. Originally, it was just so James could buy out Mojave, and Lucas could keep the strip free of scum, but the more I learn about Dimitri the more I feel like someone has to stop him. If my friends and I have the money and resources, why shouldn’t we be the ones to take down this monster? I know the others will agree with me.
I shrug, trying to put into words what I feel. “Some people with money like mine are happy to horde it and help no one. They amass savings they won’t be able to spend in their lifetime, maybe not even in their children’s lifetime. I don’t want to sit on my pile of gold like Smaug--”
At this Savannah giggles. “You’ve seen the Hobbit movies, too?”
I feel my body relax. “I have, and my mother read the books to me when I was younger.”
“I haven’t read the books, but I did watch all the movies with my dad…” Savannah trails off and I can hear the sadness in her voice. My heart aches for her and all she’s been through.
“If you ever want to talk about him, and what happened, I’m here.”
Savannah’s gaze snaps to mine, and again she asks, “Why? I get you want to use your money to stop Dimitri and help people, but why do you care about me? We hardly know each other.”
“You’re right, but I feel a connection. Is that stupid? We both lost our fathers and we both like the Hobbit, that’s a start, right? And if you are interested, we could spend some time getting to know each other. In fact, why don’t you join me for dinner tonight?”
Savannah bites her bottom lip in a way I find utterly adorable until she says, “I’d like that, but we have to be careful. If Dimitri finds out he won’t be happy. He already interrogated me about talking to you and your friends last night, and he doesn’t like any of his employees dating--”
“What? Because of the money you owe him. That’s insane.” The more I hear about Dimitri the more I hate him. At first, I viewed him as just a business rival, then I learned from Lucas he’s some wanna-be gangster. But the more Savannah tells me, the more I realize there’s nothing ‘wanna-be’ about it. Dimitri is the worst kind of person, using his money and power to take advantage of others. He needs to be stopped.
Savannah laughs hollowly. “Insane is about the scope of it. He’s deranged. Getting caught up with him is dangerous. I don’t want you getting hurt because of me.”
“I can take care of myself; in case you hadn’t noticed?” I look at Savannah and see her gaze drifts to my biceps. “And I’d be going after Dimitri even if we hadn’t met. James wants the casino, and now I know what type of man Dimitri is, I won’t let him get away with it. I know my friends won’t either. Besides, I think getting to know you would be worth the risk.”
Savannah blushes and gazes away, murmuring, “Okay, I’ll have dinner with you.”
I can’t hide my grin. “Excellent. What do you fancy? We can go down to the hotel restaurant, or if you’d prefer, we can get away from the strip.”
“Getting away from the strip sounds good.”
“Okay, great. Let me freshen up, and while I shower, please make yourself at home. Watch the TV, have a drink, whatever you’d like.”
I give Savannah’s hand a squeeze and then head through to the bedroom and bathroom area of the suite. As I go, I text James and the others letting them know Savannah has come to see me, and we’ll need to discuss Dimitri ASAP. Then, I make dinner reservations at a high-class steakhouse in Henderson. In the shower, I try to stop my thoughts from racing. Savannah hasn’t expressly said she’s interested in a relationship with me. This could still be part of her accompanying me to events and gathering information on Dimitri -- it’s details we’ll have to discuss over dinner -- but I can’t help imagining bringing her back here later and stripping off that black dress.
When I re-enter the lounge, I find Savannah relaxing on the couch. She’s removed her heeled shoes and tucked her legs under herself, and by the looks of it, she’s poured herself another glass of water. Her eyes are glued to the TV screen as she giggles along to some sit-com.
She looks so happy I almost don’t want to disturb her, but the dinner reservations have already been made, and besides, I want to start our ‘relationship’ off on the right foot with a proper date. I clear my throat to announce my presence, and Savannah turns towards me.
Her yellow-green eyes drink in my appearance, and her jaw slackens slightly. Exactly the response I was hoping for. Seeing as Savannah made the effort and dressed up, I thought I should too, so I’m wearing a black suit with an open collared white shirt, and some nice dress shoes.
“You look very handsome,” she says, rising from the couch. She turns off the TV and then crosses the room to me.
I take her hands and lean in to kiss her on the cheek. “And you look beautiful.”
Once more, Savannah’s gaze drifts away from mine, and I get the impression she isn’t used to men genuinely complimenting her -- unless it’s creeps like Dimitri.
That’s something I plan on changing.
Savannah slips on her shoes, and then hand in hand, we make our way from the hotel suite, down to the hotel lobby and then to the parking lot.
“Where are we headed?” she asks, when we get to my rented Audi, and I open the front passenger side door for her.
“I’ve made reservations at a steakhouse in Henderson. I hope that’s okay?”
Savannah offers me a dazzling smile. “It sounds perfect.”
As it’s warm, I lower the top on the Audi so we can feel the breeze while we drive, and then turn on the stereo. Nordic metal music blasts out of the speakers, and I quickly switch to the radio and search for something softer.
“You can leave that on, if you want. It sounded interesting,” Savannah says as I search for some light jazz.
“Really? You’re not just saying that to be nice?” Not many people appreciate my love of Nordic metal, and given how Savannah has been trained by Dimitri to be a people pleaser, I’m scared she’s just saying it, but when I glance over, she shakes her head adamantly.
“I’m serious. I got through university listening to Æther Realm. Have you heard of them?”
“Yeah, I saw them play a few years ago. They’re amazing.”
Savannah grins. “Aren’t they?”
“One of my favourites,” I reply, switching to their most recent album -- Redneck Vikings from Hell -- and instantly Savannah begins singing along.
I mentally add another thing Savannah and I have in common to my growing list.
When we arrive at the restaurant, Savannah lets out a small gasp. “This is some fancy steak house!”
“I don’t do things by halves, especially not when it comes to steak,” I quip, and Savannah laughs.
We’re quickly shown to our table by a server, and I ask Savannah what she wants to drink.
“What are you having?” she asks.
“I’ll probably stick with soda, seeing as I’m driving.”
“Then I’m fine with soda, or water. I told you, I’m not much of an alcohol drinker.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want you agreeing to things just to please me. Promise me you won’t do that?”
Savannah bites her bottom lip. “I’ll try, it’s just that Dimitri has me so used to always doing as I’m told -- to appease him, to keep the customers happy. But honestly, I really am not much of an alcohol drinker. I think I overdid it at house parties when I was at the University of Nevada.”
“You graduated from UNLV? What did you study?” I ask, genuinely interested. I had no idea Savannah had a degree -- though, I suppose if she applied to Robb’s finance firm, she would have needed one to even be considered.
“I have a BA in Math,” she replies, then the conversation pauses for a moment, as the server returns.
We both order water, and decide to share a 32oz tomahawk steak, with various sides we can share, too.
“I’m impressed. Uni is tough,” I say, thinking about my own time at Penn state.
“What did you study?”
“Kinesiology, with a focus on human health and exercise.”
Savannah laughs. “I should have figured that out. And you said last night you moved here from Norway? How old were you when you moved?”
“I saw almost thirteen. We moved just before I started High School. My parents thought that would be the best time for me to be ‘the new kid,’ though honestly, coming from Oslo and being on the poorer side made me stand out regardless.”
Savannah sighs. “I know what that’s like. All my life it was just me and Dad, and well … you saw where I live. I’ve lived in that trailer all my life.”
“Is that why you owe Dimitri so much money?”
“Yeah, pretty much. My dad took out loans without me knowing, and only told me just before he died.”
“Oh my god, that’s terrible. I’m so sorry. I could pay Dimitri off, you know. You could pay me back instead, and I wouldn’t make the sort of demands he does.”
“Yeah, but if you pay off my debt to him, I’ll have to reason to keep working for him, and then who will you have to help you dig up dirt on him?” Savannah replies, raising a thin, carefully penciled brow.
“You’re going to help us then?”
“I’m going to help you. What he does isn’t right, and even if you did pay off my debt, my friend Maddie would still owe him. There are other girls, too. Just because I’m not as close to them as I am to Maddie doesn’t mean I’ll abandon them to that creep.”
I can’t help but smile, feeling oddly proud hearing Savannah say she wants to stand up to Dimitri. “Okay, I’ll let James know and all of us can get together to discuss what to do next. I don’t want you putting yourself at unnecessary risk though.”
Savannah’s eyes harden and she looks at me fiercely. “He killed someone. Cherie wasn’t my friend, but she was a nice woman. She was always kind to me at work, and he just murdered her. I’ll be careful, of course, but he won’t get away with what he’d done.”
“Okay, fair enough. I saw you know how to use a pistol, and it wouldn’t hurt to take a concealed weapon to work with you, either. We can discuss it with Lucas.”
“That sounds good, but what about your other offers?” A slight smirk plays on Savannah’s lips, and the sight of it makes my heart pound.
“I want to get to know you, Savannah. If that means I have to pay for your company for a while, then that’s what I’ll do.”
Savannah shakes her head. “I’m here because I like spending time with you, not because I’m hoping to get some payment out of it. I’ll accompany you to events, but as a proper date. I’m not expecting you to uproot your whole life to be with me, or propose in a few weeks, or anything like that. But while you’re here, I’d like to get to know you, and I’d like that to be exclusive. When you have to go back home, well, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
I take both of Savannah’s hands in mine, staring at her steadily across the table. “That sounds more than fair, and what about my final offer?”