Enzo (The Wolves Den: New #1)

4. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

The alarm clock went off, waking her out of a pleasant dream where she was being held in a pair of muscular arms and kissed senseless by a male with green eyes. She hated alarm clocks. She rolled over to turn it off and noticed it said seven. Why was it going off so early? It wasn't like she had a job.

The word job triggered memories of the day, and she rolled out of bed, almost hitting the floor in her haste to get up. She had a job. She took a quick shower before jumping out and looking in the mirror. She looked at her hair and once again told herself she did the right thing. When it had been time to get her mass of hair done again, she considered the cost and thought about her ability to eat and then cut it all off. She'd been natural now for a few weeks, and though she still looked strange to herself, she was getting used to it. That, combined with the fact that she didn't need almost forty-five minutes to curl her hair, was making her happy.

The ringing phone brought her out of her thoughts. Her time was running out, and she needed to leave soon, so she would dress and talk at the same time.

"Hello."

"Deja, where have you been? I've been calling you, and please don't tell me you're still in that apartment building."

"Calm down, Fire. You know I can stay here until the end of the month."

She could hear her best friend Safire stewing on the other end of the line, but she didn't want to move in with her. She loved her, but two plus-sized females in a small apartment wasn't going to work out well.

"Deja."

"I found a job."

"Where? What will you be doing? Is it in a doctor's office? I'm so happy for you!" The last part came out high-pitched. Her friend loved to celebrate when things went right in Deja's life.

"Not a doctor's office, a club."

"A club?" Safire screeched that.

Deja took the phone away from her ear and used the time to slip into her shoes. It was warm outside, so she didn't need a coat. She grabbed her purse, making sure she had her keys and mace. She looked in her wallet to make sure she had a little money so she could buy something to drink on her break and maybe even get a sandwich if they served food. She headed out the door, still talking to her friend who was having fits on the other end of the line.

"Deja Brown, you don't even like alcohol. How can you work at a club?"

"All I have to do is pour the drinks, not down them. Besides, I like daiquiris." She was walking fast because she didn't want to be late on her first night of work.

"The non-alcoholic kind!"

"Well, I'm turning over a new leaf. Give me alcohol and plenty of it. As long as I make money, I don't care."

It was still summer, so it was light out, and she could swear that it was the third time that car passed by her. Maybe she was wrong; talking to Fire distracted her. She almost felt like she was in some other world because the streets seemed out of order to her, but she recognized the house on the corner, so she turned the corner and ended up in front of the club with ten minutes to spare.

"I don't know the name of the club. Well, there's no sign out here with the name, and yes, it is a club. It has the appearance of an upper-crust gentlemen's club. Nope, I don't know the address. Yeah, you're right, I'm falling down on the things I should know. Uh-huh, I will text you all this information on my break. I have to go, and yeah, you know my phone has a chip so you can find it anywhere. Later."

She acts like she's our mother.

The sarcastic voice in her head said with a slight sneer.

Thank God, we have her, or we'd be all alone.

The other voices ganged up on Ms. Sarcastic. Safire had kept them safe more than once. She took a deep breath before making her way up the steps. Maybe the night hadn't started since she couldn't hear a sound coming from inside.

One pull on the door told her how wrong she was. The music was playing, there were loud voices, most of them male, and laughter causing the club to vibrate. They all stopped to stare at her when she stepped inside.

Maybe this was a mistake because they were all big. Like almost seven feet tall with eyes that almost seemed to glow and teeth that seemed a little too sharp when they smiled real wide. The one male at the bar was drinking as he watched her.

"My, my, what do we have here? She's a pretty bite-sized morsel." He grinned at her, taking a deep breath as if he were scenting the air. "She stinks."

A frown crossed her face. She took a shower and made sure to put on deodorant. She sniffed at herself but couldn't smell a thing.

"Remember that scent because it will be the last thing you ever smell if you put one hand on her." Enzo walked out from behind the bar. "You're right on time. Follow me, I'll show you where to clock in and store your things."

She nodded and followed him. She hadn't been sure what the dress code was, so she put on a pair of black slacks with a white shirt. He took her behind the bar to another door on the side. Her body flared back to life, reminding her that he seemed to have a direct line to her clit. She hoped that sleep would help, but it only seemed to make her hypersensitive to him.

"This is where you can put your purse and take your breaks if you want privacy. Make phone calls, etc. We have a main office on the other side of the bar. That's where you can find Declyn or me if we're not on the floor." The sound of his voice brought her out of her thoughts.

"Thank you. I realized when I was coming here that I didn't ask you for some pertinent details earlier, like how much will I make an hour, what's the name of the bar, and what's the address."

They walked out of the main room into a door on the back wall that led into a small locker area where he gave her a lock and a key and assigned her a locker for her belongings. Then they went to the side where he showed her two small rooms, each holding a shower.

"Sometimes spills occur, so you may want to keep an extra set of clothes here. As you can see, we have two showers, and they both have doors that lock, so there's no fear of someone walking into the room while you're showering." She nodded, looking around; the setup was nice, catching her by surprise.

They walked back into the main room; there were nice chairs for sitting and a fridge to store food. Enzo indicated a chair for her to sit. Her mouth popped open when he told her how much she would make an hour. She would be able to afford a decent apartment.

"We call this place The Wolves' Den. It was catchy, and we liked it. As for the address, it's 1722 Wolverine Ave."

"Somebody is obsessed with wolves."

"Guilty," Declyn said as he walked in. "I was just checking to see if you were here."

"I am," she stood up, feeling guilty that she was sitting when she should be on the clock. It wasn't right, but she had wanted a few private minutes with Enzo, to bask in his presence and his smell.

When she woke up earlier, she could have sworn that she smelled him on her sheets. She'd make sure she had eight hours before she got up tomorrow.

"I'm ready." Enzo nodded and led her through the door and into the bar area.

"Deja, this is Cole. He works at the bar, and we're hiring help for him. It can get rather brisk here late at night. Cole, this is Deja." Enzo made his introductions and backed up while keeping his eyes planted on Cole.

"Hi, Deja," Cole stuck his hand out. "Nice to meet you."

His hand was big and warm, reminding her of Enzo, but she didn't have the electric feeling of warmth circulating through her body.

"Nice to meet you, Cole. I can't wait to learn."

He gave a nice laugh and a friendly smile. "We'll start out easy tonight. You'll be responsible for the beer and anyone who wants a soft drink."

A round of boos went up at the mention of soft drinks, and she broke out into an amused laugh. The whole bar stopped to look at her. Those eyes she thought were shining earlier were ablaze now. She was closer to being clinically insane than she thought.

"If you're not drinking, I'm kicking you out!" The whole bar started mumbling at Cole, but at least no one was staring at her now. She could do this. With a smile, Cole showed her which glasses he used for beer and which ones he used for soft drinks. She truly wasn't much of a drinker, so she was amazed at the different glasses he used behind the bar.

"Are you messing with me? You don't drink?"

"I'm telling the truth. I had a couple of wine coolers when I was younger, and I even had Sex on the Beach and a Masturbation." Her cheeks turned red even as she said the words.

"It was on a dare, wasn't it?"

She laughed, "It was. I had to go up to the bar and order them. That was back when I was in college. It feels like forever now."

She was wiping up the bar even though it didn't need it. These males seemed to like things clean.

"Well, my teetotaler, you're going to have to drink alcohol, so you know the different flavors. It will help you make sure the patrons are ordering what they need."

"I hope this doesn't sound bad, but shouldn't they know what they want to drink?"

"Not always, but I'll explain that further after your thirty days are up."

She was fine with that. What she wasn't fine with was her stomach when it started to rumble.

"Did you eat dinner?" He looked her over with a frown.

"I didn't have time; I'll get something when I get home."

"Enzo!" Cole's voice cut through all the noise. The door beside the bar opened, and Enzo and Declyn stuck their heads out.

It was obvious to her by the looks on their faces they were expecting trouble.

"She hasn't eaten." His voice was calm as he pulled her away from the bar, putting his body in front of her.

"Shit," Enzo jumped the bar. Her eyes went wide while her hormones went into overdrive.

"Damn, she smells good," a thick male voice said.

"And this is why we don't hire tasty little morsels like her," Declyn said as he jumped the bar. "Get her fed."

"You want her, you'll have to go through me." Declyn looked at them with a smile.

She could swear his body was getting bigger. She wanted to protest, to stop the madness before it went any further, but she was scared, and no matter what she said, she didn’t scare easily.

Enzo took her by the arm and started pulling her into the other room. She knew it was him by the way his hand felt on her arm. His touch was different from the others, and she would have wondered about it, but she was too busy making sure no one jumped her.