This cold business side of things, I could handle. I could read cards easily and had been brought up to handle all company politely.
Plastering a professional smile on my face, I crossed my one thigh over the other, the houndstooth skirt not leaving much room for such a maneuver.
“Dimitri, I will read for any situation you need, you’ll just have to tell me what you are looking to know around the specific situations.”
I tried to alleviate any fear that he had, but honestly, most of the clients I had read or done Magick for were delighted to see me. I had never had to sell our services after Charl had sent me somewhere.
He grunted in response. He actually grunted as if he were thinking things over.
“Fine," he spat, glaring at me from across the table - as though my very presence was an affront to him somehow. "We can’t talk here. Where is your hotel?"
“What?” The word tumbled from my lips before I could even think.
Green eyes flashed with annoyance as he grabbed my wrist loosely, a man fully accustomed to getting his way.
“If I am to tell you the situation I need you to read for, I will do so in private,” he growled. “Which hotel are you staying at?” he pressed, his green orbs boring into me.
The energy that was all Dimitri hovered over me, demanding, seeking submission by its very nature. I wondered if he knew that that was what his energy - his aura even, felt like. My fight or flight reflexes kicked in, and I didn’t want to be locked in a hotel room with him. Mixed in with his dark, demanding nature was the smell of his cologne - musk and spice with the underlying scent that was uniquely Dimitri. Somewhere during our stalemate, we had inched closer to one another. Neither of us giving, willing to back down, or break eye-contact. The muscle ticked in his jaw, as he clamped down his annoyance. My teeth stung my bottom lip as I bit down to avoid grinning like an idiot. I was annoying him. That thought alone thrilled me.
“Why don’t we go where you are staying?” I scowled in response, “If you wanted a private meeting we could have booked the conference room at my hotel, but we met at Café Du Monde upon your institance.”
I didn’t need to confirm such a sentiment with Charl, he had a string of shortcomings, but booking a Tarot reading in a landmark restaurant was something he would never do. As a Club, of course we wanted to draw attention to ourselves, but not the kind that could be associated with hat tricks and tourists.
But this was it with clients, you have to set boundaries… if you give them a hand they’ll take an arm, and Charl, after establishing our Club rules and guidelines, we all held firm.
“And here I was being considerate, thinking you wouldn’t want to meet the rest of my organisation because if you come back to my house, that's exactly what will happen.” His eyes flashed with the challenge, and he damn well smirked.
My hairs stood on end as agitation radiated through me. Everything about Dimitri grated me the wrong way. His challenge irked me as if I was not Witch enough to meet the mafia. I just needed to get through this assignment
And even though it went against everything we stood for - it went against all those carefully agreed upon and laid out rules and regulations of the Club, I steeled my spine and pushed back.
“I think that would be perfect, that way I will get a better feel for your organisation and will be able to tap into your energy easier when reading for you.”
I bared my teeth in what could pass as a grin, but we both knew I wasn’t smiling.
He grimaced and looked as if he was about to retract his offer, and then his phone started ringing. How much longer would I be able to do Magick with the Club? How much longer would I even be reading cards for Charl’s clients? My window of time was closing, and I wanted to grip the remainder of my time with the Club until my knuckles turned white. I wasn’t ready to let go, to walk away.
A thrum of excitement ran through me as I realised that he hadn’t been expecting me to be openingly willing to read for him at his house. Perhaps it was due to Charlain’s careful explanation and guidelines of how the Club operated, or perhaps it was due to the fact that Dimitri didn’t seem to think much of me. Either way, I didn’t care. We both had been skirting around what and who he actually was, but I would not cower in the company of powerful men. If nothing else, my upbringing had been good for that.
Hissing into the phone in hushed tones, he rose from the table and motioned for me to follow him. My palms grew clammy as I realised that we were actually doing this. Our waiter dipped his head discreetly at our departure, not even attempting to dish out our bill.
The air shifted around me as I stepped out onto the street and followed my client into the thrum of the French Quarter. The humidity settled against my skin, humming against my very essence. As Dimitri’s long strides marched straight past the various cars parked against the sidewalk, I realized that we were not taking a car anywhere, but instead we were walking to our destination.
I exhaled my relief. The thought of being in a car with Dimitri was too overwhelming to consider. All that confined space with his dangerous energy brushing up against mine. No, thank you.
With each step, hoards of people seemed to part for him as if it wasn’t simply an automatic response but a survival instinct. We passed expressions of both awe and respect as we walked down the street, and it didn’t take long for me to notice a few men that seemed to flank Dimitri - even if they did hold back by giving us some space through distance. His security maintained a casual distance, but the power that radiated through Dimitri seemed to only be enhanced by the men flanking him.
I trailed after him, and now that we weren’t sitting down with the safety of a table between us, I realised that he was tall - much taller than I had initially thought. His broad shoulders tightened with each step he took, muscles tense between his shoulder blades, which only drew my attention to how broad his shoulders actually were. The man was built. A flash of more ink just visible beneath the collar curled towards his neck, hidden from view with his very next step..
I trailed behind him, unable to keep up with his long strides as he led me towards the wolf's den. For all my posturing and bravado, I wasn’t sure if walking into his home to do a reading was my finset idea. I couldn’t even stop to dial Charl and inform him of the change in plans - even if it would result in Charl’s annoyance and a tongue lashing. Because what would that look like to Dimitri? He already didn’t think much of me and now I needed to scurry and call Charl to get his approval to do a reading for Dimitri at his house after I was the one who forced his hand in bringing me here. Yeah, not my finest moment.
My determination to live grew with each step - to hold onto this last sliver of time with the Club, to stretch out, allowing it linger, no matter how painful it would be.
Perhaps that was why I was admiring the view that was Dimitri - the way his back muscles bunched and clenched beneath his shirt as he moved, tapering into a slim waistline. How high up was he in this organisation? He was still barking orders into his phone - he sounded like he was talking Russian, but I couldn’t be sure, when he looked at me over his shoulder. Covering his phone, he smirked. He had been aware of my admiration, I supposed you couldn’t be in his kind of organisation and not be aware when someone was walking behind you, taking in every inch of you, even if that gaze was usually associated with ferreting out weaknesses.
“You done checking me out, Bambi?” His green eyes gleamed with delight and I wanted to punch him.
I couldn’t have been more mortified. Ducking my head, I finally managed to keep pace with him. All I had to do was get to his house and figure out what kind of reading he wanted.