Chapter 48

Ava.

"I'm sure you all had a blast yesterday," Aiden said.

We were in the dressing room getting ready for work when Aiden walked in, just as Willow was telling us about the guy who had tried to hit on her when she got home.

It was starting to get hard to remember which guy she was talking about. According to her, every guy was thirsting for her. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, and we all nodded.

Apparently, it was only Willow who was as agile as a fox, as if last night hadn't happened. The rest of us had drowsy, sleepy, and tired eyes. Olivia was resting against Mia, who was struggling to stand still as we faced Aiden. Lisa was at the back, but a glimpse of her told me she'd rather be home sleeping than here.

There was a headache slamming my head, and I yawned as Aiden turned to me.

"Didn't sleep much?" he asked, and I nodded, not trusting myself to utter a word.

"Well, it's none of my business what you guys do on each other's birthdays, but we have a lot of customers to attend to. So get out!" Aiden suddenly shouted, and everyone jerked.

Aiden glanced at each of us before sighing and walking out of the room. I yawned and went back to my chair, resting my head against the table and closing my eyes.

"Guys! Stop this, we have work, and don't forget today's Friday. Hot billionaires would be coming today," Willow yelled as Olivia groaned beside me.

"Don't you ever get tired?" she asked, and I opened my eyes to see Mia nodding.

"I don't. You all are weaklings," Willow answered, turning away from us to snatch her clothes for the night. It was a black tights with fishnets, a black fitted crop top, and a pair of black platform heels. Aiden had said we should do dark makeup.

"Come on, Ava, let's do your makeup quickly. It's almost time," Olivia said as she lazily walked to me.

It was another fifteen minutes before we all got ready, and during that time, I kept my mind busy with thoughts of Mikhail and the kiss we had shared in the jet.

I suddenly wanted to see him again, to talk to him, and have Zeus sit on my lap once more. The image of Jayden throwing the vase on the floor had me jerking.

"Yo, sit chill. I just messed up the mascara," Olivia scolded, and I apologized.

That had to be the first time I'd ever see Jayden so angry, but a part of me understood him. I would be pretty upset too if someone who had been staying over at my place didn't return home, and I didn't receive any call.

I made a mental note to call him later, glancing at my phone. I realized the screen was already really bad, and it was getting harder to see my screensaver.

I groaned and threw it back into my purse when I looked sideways to see Mia staring at me as Willow talked beside her.

She smirked before nodding at whatever Willow was saying and ignoring me once more. A part of me was confused by her action. Mia had always hated me and stared at me with nothing but hate and anger, but now she was smirking for no reason.

Does she know something I don't?

Or did I tell her anything yesterday when we were drunk out of our minds?

"All done!" Olivia yelled, jumping off the table to get dressed.

"Thanks," I whispered as I followed her, not wanting to be left behind with Mia or Willow.

In a few minutes, we were finished and walking into the club. The loud music blasted my eardrums, and it took so much self-control not to run back to the dressing room to hide from all the noise.

"Ava and Mia, top floor. Olivia, second. Me and Lisa, ground floor," Willow said before leaving us, heading to the bar first to down a glass before attending to a group of people.

Why did I have to be stuck with Mia today?

I waved at Olivia as we headed up the stairs and went our separate ways. My heart thumped loudly in my chest, and I didn't know why. Maybe it was because Mia smiled uneasily around me, like I was prey waiting to be attacked. So instead, I just thought of something else as I worked.

There was no message from Potty yet, so I assumed everything was fine. But I decided I was going to visit her after work before I went back to Jayden's.

"Are you even paying attention to what you're doing?" Mia asked from behind me, and I gasped, turning to her.

"Huh?"

"Isn't it the champagne those girls ordered? Why are you taking the white wine the couples ordered for them?" she asked, and I only realized I was getting distracted by my thoughts.

"Sorry," I whispered as I shook my head before walking past Mia to the right table.

"Do you remember what you told me last night?" she asked from behind me, and I froze before turning back to her. My hands had started to shake, and my forehead became sweaty.

Those words only confirmed my thoughts that Mia had something on me, and I could only hope it wasn't anything too serious. But the way she smirked told me it was something that could get me in big trouble.

"What?" I asked carefully as Mia smiled, snatching a tray from Daniel, who gasped in shock at her actions before he shook his head and looked away from her.

Mia stalked towards me, and I stepped backward. She leaned closer to me and whispered softly in my ear.

"You should avoid drinking too much," she said before chuckling darkly and walking off.

I finally let out a deep breath as I looked after her, worried about what she knew. Of course, she wasn't going to tell me what it was. I shook my head, trying to disperse every thought about it and focus. But as I sharply turned, I bumped into someone, spilling both drinks on the person.

"I'm so sorry!" I gasped as the tray fell from my hands and clattered on the floor, the glasses breaking almost immediately as we both jerked backwards.

"If it isn't the clumsy waitress," a loud voice said from above me, and I looked up at the person I had hit.

Adrik stood in front of me, wearing a plain black suit, his black hair falling past his face as he smirked down at me. I stepped back, mentally scolding myself for bumping into the Russian Mafia. Behind him were two men wearing dark sunglasses, but I tore my gaze away from them to see Adrik smirking at me.

"I'm sorry, sir," I whispered, ready to leave when he grabbed me by my wrist and jerked me closer to him. I heard the sound of glass pieces under my heels and was thankful they didn't pierce through my skin.

Fear overtook my body as I noticed Mia was occupied with someone and everyone else seemed so busy in their own little world that no one spared me a glance. I quickly looked at my feet once more, shivering under Adrik's hold.

"I can see that it worked," he whispered in my ear, sending chills down my spine as I leaned away from him. He chuckled and pulled me closer so I could smell his exotic cologne.

"Be careful, Ava," he whispered again, and I stopped shivering as all the hair on the back of my head stood up. He continued, his lips now touching my ear, and I could feel his breath on my neck.

"You're in the Lion's den right now, and he's hungry," Adrik said, and I froze, unsure of what he meant. Confusion clouded my features, leaving the fear lying underneath.

I heard Adrik chuckle before he let go of me, and I stumbled, staggering and almost tripping before I held myself steady.

I looked back at him as his eyes trailed down my body, and he smirked, winking at me before walking off, the two men following behind him as they went downstairs, away from my line of vision.

I finally let out the breath that I had been holding as my mind trailed off to what he meant by that.

"You're in the Lion's den right now, and he's hungry." Those words resonated in my ears, and my blood ran cold as I tried to decipher the meaning of his words.

Whose den?

"Ava! What the hell happened?!" Mia finally walked towards me, and I said nothing, walking past her to the bathroom to catch my breath.

I got to the bathroom, and I realized my hands had been shaking from fear, and my breathing was labored.

I hadn't seen Adrik since he humiliated me, and I still hadn't gotten over that. Now he comes to warn me. I shook my head and turned on the tap to wash my shaky hands.

I remembered his breath on my neck, his lips on my ear as those dangerous words were said, and I snapped my eyes shut as tears started to flow down my cheeks, trying to erase the memories of him.

I suddenly remembered Mia's words about knowing something I had told her, and it only increased my anxiety.

I couldn't handle all of this right now. I didn't want to think about this. I wanted to be normal, with a normal job, a normal sister, and I wanted to like someone and not hide it.

But suddenly it felt like everyone was against me, and I couldn't trust even myself. My breathing became labored, and I snapped my eyes open as I splashed water on my face and took deep breaths.

It didn't take long before I finally calmed down, and I heard my phone vibrate in my pocket. I took it out to see a text from Jayden.

"I'm sorry for scaring you like that. Please be home early, I wanna make it up to you." It read, and I smiled, placing my phone back in my pocket as I looked at myself in the mirror.

"At least one thing in my life was going well," I smiled before heading back to the club to clean up the mess I made.