Chapter 6
Ravage sat across from Demetri as the older man stared at him.
He was all too familiar with the look. It was the one that often intimidated anyone on the other side of it.
However, Ravage wasn’t just anyone, and that look had never worked on him.
While he respected Demetri and did his best not to do anything to disrespect him, the older man did not intimidate him.
The silence had dragged on for several minutes, and Ravage was sure it could go on for several more. It was honestly better than he had expected.
When he’d envisioned himself telling Demetri that he wanted to date Karter and asked for his blessing, he saw a lot more swinging and not at all any silence, but he wasn’t sure if he preferred the silence. It meant that Demetri was thinking.
“I, for one, don’t see a problem with it,” Sora said, breaking the silence that had hung over them.
It hadn’t explicitly been Ravage’s plan to confess his intentions to Demetri with Sora in the room. He had wanted her close by if things went wrong. However, she was Karter’s mother, and he had decided that he would like to have both of their permissions, even though he didn’t expressly need them.
When Demetri remained quiet at his wife’s comment, Ravage saw her look at him. Releasing a silent breath because he knew what he was about to say would more than likely be met with controversy, He spoke for the first time since he’d made his intention known.
“No disrespect, Demetri, I’m asking, but I will pursue Karter even without your permission.”
At that moment, you could hear a feather drop. It was as if the birds outside the window had stopped chirping, and everything in the neighborhood had come to a standstill. Ravage watched as the older man’s eyes narrowed at him.
“You’d risk our friendship, having my disapproval and anger to date my daughter without my permission.”
“Every day of the week,” Ravage told him, undeterred.
“Because I don’t need it to date her, and she’s an adult who can make her own decisions.
I know how protective you are of her. So, I’m trying to do the right thing.
But I will pursue her either way, regardless of your answer.
Besides, you know me, Demetri. Which means you know there is no safer place for Karter than with me. That might even apply to you.”
Ravage was being bold now. He had always been a courageous man.
It was one reason Demetri had taken such a liking to him and taken him under his wing.
The potential the older man had seen in him brought Ravage off the path he was traveling on, which he knew was not a good one, and taught him how to be a self-made man who worked for himself.
He had been prepared for many things coming into this sit-down with Demetri.
The one thing he was sure Demetri would bring up, his age, had not come up.
He didn’t see why that mattered since they were both adults, but he’d prepared for it in case.
Ravage was sure Demetri was steering clear of it, considering the age difference between himself and Sora.
On top of that, it wasn’t as if Ravage was twenty years older than Karter, just seven.
“Karter is stubborn. You’re going to have your work cut out for you,” Demetri told him as he leaned back in his chair, rubbing his chin.
Ravage let his words sink in before nodding his head. “I know, but she’s worth the work.”
He let out a silent breath. He was prepared to pursue the woman he wanted without his friend’s blessing. He could admit that it would be much easier with Demetri on his side, and he was grateful for that.
Leaning back in the chair he occupied, he took a drink of the lemonade Sora had given him when he’d gotten there, for the first time.
He’d already devised a way to show Karter that he had not been playing with her the other day in the storage room. He even had several backup plans. Because he knew that the woman he had feelings for, the woman he wanted to be with, was more stubborn than a mule at times.
Ravage was going to put his plan into action as soon as possible. He wasn’t patient regarding what he wanted and had been waiting on Karter since she started working at his bar. He doubted he could wait more than a few more days.
Once he finished his visit, he headed to the front door after saying goodbye to Demetri and Sora. He was almost out of the door when Sora placed her hand on his arm, stopping him. Ravage turned to face her.
“I don’t think it’ll be as hard as Demetri claims.”
Ravage raised a brow at her. “We all know that Karter can be hard to get through to sometimes. After all, she is his daughter,” he told her with a smirk.
Sora laughed. “Yes, that’s true. However, she’s never been one to lie to herself blatantly when forced to see the truth. Just keep that in mind.”
He let her words sink in as he nodded, stepping out the door. He waited for Sora to close and lock it before going to his truck. Once inside, he headed to his house. He had a few things to order to ensure things went off without a hitch.
Karter could feel Creed’s eyes on her as she worked.
It had been that way since she’d arrived.
She’d gone out of her way to ignore him, and to her surprise, he had allowed her to do so.
She had been more than sure that he would try to approach her.
She was glad he hadn’t. She wasn’t ready to face him.
Honestly, she didn’t know what she would say to him if he approached her, how she would respond to him.
Grabbing the glasses off a recently vacated table, she took them to the kitchen and placed them in the dirty glass bin. She then returned to the table with a towel and some cleaning solution, cleaning it off.
After placing the cleaning materials back where she got them from, she went over to a table that had flagged her when she passed. She put on a fake smile because this table had been getting on her nerves since they walked in.
“What can I do for you, gentlemen?”
“There are so many things you can do for me, I can’t think of just one,” one man stated.
Karter raised a brow at him as the other two men at the table chuckled. It took everything in her not to close her order tablet and hit him with it. Granted, it wouldn’t do much damage to him, but it would satisfy her.
“Do you want a drink or food?” she questioned. Doing her best not to let the irritation she felt seep into her voice.
“I could eat and drink you,” he responded. His friends laughed harder, and Karter wondered if they were children.
She was not in the mood for their shit. She had come to work a bit frustrated and anxious to begin with because she’d been having overly provocative dreams about Creed.
Granted, they weren’t the first ones, but they were definitely on a level of their own.
It hadn’t helped that she would have to see him tonight.
“Okay, the three of you can leave,” she told them, closing her order pad and gesturing toward the door.
One of the other men raised a brow at her. “Yeah, we’re not ready to go yet. So, we won’t do that.”
Karter lifted her own brow at him as if asking him if that was so. She said nothing and turned to get George, the security guard. However, as she looked around, she couldn’t find him. Her next thought was to get Nico, but she figured getting him from the bar wouldn’t be wise.
“Hey, Karter,” Ilia called, getting her attention. “What’s wrong? You have that look.”
“There’s a table of assholes that are getting on my nerves. I was looking for George.”
“He’s dealing with a guy who tried to stab another one outside. The police are taking a report.” Ilia looked around. “Oh, there’s Ravage,” she said, flagging him over.
“No, don’t. It—” Karter was unable to get her words out as she saw Creed approaching them.
“What’s going on?” he questioned, looking between them.
“There’s a table giving Karter a hard time,” Ilia stated.
“Which table is it, Kaere?” he inquired as Ilia returned to the bar. Karter saw his eyes darken, and she knew he was mad. He got that way when a patron harassed one of the waitresses or Ilia. However, this look seemed to go beyond anger.
Karter signaled to the table, and Creed turned and headed in that direction. She followed him to ensure he didn’t do something that might go too far and jeopardize his business or give the officers outside a reason to come in.
“Alright, boys. Time to go,” he told the table of three.
The three men looked up at Creed before looking past him to see her standing behind him. Her principal antagonist from before spoke up.
“Let me guess. The little wench lied and said we were harassing her.”
Karter watched as Creed grabbed him by the shirt and yanked him out of the chair. The man’s eyes widened as he yelled for Creed to “chill.”
“You and your friends get the fuck out of my bar,” Creed told him. “And if I see you in here again, you’ll be eating through a tube when I’m done.”
She watched as he flung the man he was holding towards the door, and the other two followed quickly behind him.
“You didn’t have to threaten him with bodily harm. They could report you for that,” Karter told him. Creed turned to look at her.
“Then let them, but I meant it. And that goes for anyone who bothers you, Kaere.”
Karter swallowed as she heard the honesty in his voice. Though she knew Creed hardly ever said anything that he didn’t mean.
“Will you come see me before you leave?”
“Creed I—”
“So, I can give you the deposit to drop off,” he stated, cutting her off.
Slowly, she nodded. She often dropped the deposit for him since the bank was closer to her house and on her way home, so she agreed.
Saying nothing else, she turned and got back to work. Being in Creed’s presence made her anxious, and she didn’t like it because it never had before. Karter put it out of her mind and focused on finishing her shift. Though as she felt his eyes on her again, she knew it would be a long night.