by Mia Knight
“You have my number,” he said.
She nodded and turned the key in the ignition. “Right.”
“Carmen.”
She mentally braced before she looked up. “What?”
“If you change your mind and want to hear what my version of fun is, call me,” he said and closed the car door.
She watched him saunter into his house and let out a long breath as she clutched the steering wheel. That man should be locked up. She could just imagine the havoc he would wreak on the city’s female population. Having a Roman take over as crime lord was definitely an unexpected turn of events. Thankfully, she had nothing to do with that. She would keep her promise to herself and live free of the worries of the underworld and the death and heartbreak that came with it.
When she reached home, she was disappointed to find her mother was out. The house felt cold and empty. She hated it, especially when she was keyed up. Restlessness prodded her between the shoulder blades. Thank God, she had the meeting with Alice to distract her or she might have taken Angel up on his offer of dinner. Being the wife of a COO fit her personality like a glove. There was always some event to attend, a party to host or contact to schmooze. Besides that, she grew up in Las Vegas and always had a list of friends to party with, but times changed. Most of her friends had settled down and were strapped with kids while she had nothing.
She stripped off the tangerine dress and showered before she sat on the counter in her bathroom to apply makeup. She was halfway through when the need for company forced her to fetch Vinny. She set him in the corner and stood in front of the mirror, hands on her hips.
She wore a thong and nothing else. Red hair spilled over narrow shoulders and pale skin. How long had it been since she had a spray tan? She cupped her breasts and glanced at the urn.
“I know you liked them big, but I’m kinda digging these little ones. I can wear whatever I want, I don’t have to wear a bra twenty-four seven, and my back isn’t sore.”
She perused her eyeshadows and settled on a berry color. She wasn’t feeling light and playful, so her makeup and outfit would have to do the work to raise her spirits.
“I saw Lyla today. She’s struggling with the whole killing her dad thing.” She pawed through the makeup strewn over the counter. “I mean, I get it, but it was him or us, and I’m glad I’m still here.”
Her hand shook as she applied eyeliner. She paused and closed her eyes. She understood where Lyla was coming from. It was over, but it didn’t feel over. The rage and discontent were still there, along with the depression and loss she couldn’t quite shake. There was nothing she could do except push through. She took a deep breath and grabbed her makeup brush and eyeshadow palette.
“Did I tell you that I’ve been calling Blade Daddy? He really hates it.”
She talked until the grip on her lungs eased. Her determination to move on didn’t mean the grieving episodes and panic attacks would magically disappear. This was life. She had to learn how to keeping moving forward even while a part of her wanted to curl up on the floor and cry.
She slipped into a crimson colored halter dress with two thin straps crisscrossing over her bare back and two high slits. Now that she had small tits again, she could wear dresses like this without fear of having a nipple mishap—not that that stopped her in the past. Her smoky berry eye was perfection, and she found heels in the same shade. Fiery ringlets highlighted her kickass makeup job. Seeing pops of color definitely improved her mood. She added a bracelet with rubies in the shape of hearts and put a ring on each finger. One could never go wrong with bling. The more jewels she added, the better she felt. Her massive wedding ring didn’t fit with her ensemble. She stared at the diamond ring for a long minute before she slipped it off. She glanced at Vinny before she placed it in the black velvet box he proposed with. Her hands shook as she placed the box at the back of her jewelry chest.
“What do you think?” she asked, turning to show Vinny her ass. He was back on the dresser where she preferred him to be, watching over her. She backed it up the way he liked it before she went to him. She went up on tiptoes to give him a kiss, leaving a berry outline on the shiny metal.
“I love you,” she said as she backed away and grabbed her clutch. “Don’t let me do anything too stupid.”
8
“Alice, the event is going to be fine,” she said as Alice scribbled in a notebook.
“I need to make sure everything is perfect.” Alice’s unicorn pencil glided across the page. “If it’s not perfect, I have to answer to Mr. Pyre, and I don’t want to answer to Mr. Pyre.”
“I’m pretty sure you can call him Gavin.”
“I do,” Janice said as she settled in the booth. “The meeting went well. I think this animal adoption is going to be fantastic. It’s just what we need after what happened at the hospital last week.”
“Yes.” Alice pursed her lips and ran her finger down a two-column list. “After that incident, I need to make sure my events run smoothly. What if Mr. Pyre decides to fire me?”
She nudged her. “Stop, Alice. What happened at the hospital wasn’t your fault, and it was phenomenal. I can’t believe you were able to pull this event together so quickly. You have more than enough volunteers, and everyone’s on the same page.”
“I know,” Alice said but still looked troubled.
They made quite a trio, she thought, as several men paused to study them on their way to the bar. Janice was the epitome of a career woman with her power suit and cell phone in hand. She was a savvy shark with glittery pointy-toe Jimmy Choos. Although Alice could more than hold her own in the looks department, she stood out like a sore thumb in her deep purple velvet jeans and a button-up blouse. Her fingers itched to undo the buttons around Alice’s throat. How could she breathe?
A server delivered a round of martinis. As she and Janice took theirs, Alice scowled and crossed her arms over her chest.
“What?” Janice asked when she snickered.
“Alice is afraid I’ll get her drunk again.”
“You got her drunk?”
“I had to call in for two days,” Alice said irritably.
“Two days?”
“One day to recover and another to clean up my apartment.”
They laughed while Alice gave them a withering glare.
“I gave you two drinks, and you did the rest,” she said and turned to Janice. “I had to cut her off for fear of alcohol poisoning.”
“I didn’t think alcohol would taste so good,” Alice muttered.
“Why were you drinking anyway?” Janice asked.
Alice opened her mouth, but Carmen beat her to it.
“I was trying to get her laid.”
Janice looked intrigued. “Did you hook up?”
Alice’s eyes darted back and forth between them and then away. “No.”
“Did you try?”
Alice played with her utensils. “Yes.”
“And?” Janice pushed.
“He said no.”
“How many did you ask?”
“One.”
Janice sighed. “Well, you can’t expect the one and only guy you ask to say yes.”
“How many should I have asked?”
She bit her lip to stop herself from laughing aloud. Any moment now, Alice was going to start making notes.
“I think five is a good number,” Janice said after a moment. “Carmen?”
She’d never had to ask even one to hook up. “Sure, five sounds good.”
Both women glared at her.
“What?”
“You’ve never had to ask, have you? Bitch.” Janice downed her drink and signaled for another. “I don’t have time in my schedule to get laid. I can afford to take care of a man. All he has to do is cook for me, keep my fridge stocked, and give me an orgasm when I ask for it. That’s not too much to ask for, is it?”
Alice flushed and dug through her purse. “I-I don’t know.”
“That’s not a bad ide
a, Janice.” Sex on tap. No emotions, just raw sex whenever she wanted it. That sounded amazing. This was Vegas. There had to be a business that catered to busy, successful women who could afford a full-time gigolo. What would be on their menu of sex services? Fifty dollars for every ten minutes of fucking? Surely, she could order—
“What about you, Carmen?”
She jerked her mind out of the gutter. “What?”
Janice bobbed her brows. “What about you and that hunk?”
“Hunk?”
“You and Kody Singer. Have you seen him since the hospital?”
“No, I haven’t.” He had left some voicemails, but she didn’t respond. She asked him to attend the hospital event in exchange for a date. That day, she let emotion get the better of her and had a heavy make out and petting session with Kody in a bathroom. During their lunch date, she had been blindsided when he asked her to go to Europe with him while he shot a movie. He wanted strings, and she didn’t. She wasn’t looking for a full-time man; maybe a part-time one… one that didn’t talk. Maybe the gigolo service had a mute who was a god in the sack…
“He’s still in-house,” Janice said.
“Who?”
“Kody Singer.”
“Oh,” she said without much interest.
“Seriously, you’re not interested in him? He’s polite, prompt, and sexy as all get-out.”
“He’s a great guy, but I’d destroy him.”
Janice pointed a finger at her. “I get you, girl. Us woman beasts got shit going on in our daily lives. When we come home, we want a man who can make us submit in the bedroom.” She raised one brow. “So, Singer’s out. What about Marcus?”
She tried to look casual even though her heartbeat sped up a bit. “What about him?”
“You gonna make a play for him?” Janice pushed.
“What are you talking about?”
“He’s all kinds of hot, right, Alice?”
Alice smoothed her hands over her shirt and shrugged, evading eye contact. “He’s attractive, I guess.”
“He’s sex on a stick is what he is,” Janice said and immediately snatched up the second martini put in front of her.
“Why don’t you make a play for him?” Carmen asked.
Janice was hot, blunt, intelligent, and dressed like she shopped on Fifth Avenue. What man wouldn’t want her?
“I don’t fuck co-workers,” Janice stabbed an olive and munched vigorously. “And I don’t fuck bosses.”
“Is that the voice of experience talking?”
Janice gave her a deadpan look and sipped without answering. So, Janice fucked a boss in the past. Interesting. Alice shifted restlessly in her seat, looking anywhere but at them. Poor girl had no idea what she was getting into when she started working at Pyre Casinos.
“Ladies.” A server set down three cosmopolitans. “Compliments from the men at that table.”
The server nodded to three men dressed conservatively in button-up shirts and sports jackets. They appeared to be in their forties, and she pegged them as businessmen on a work trip at a glance.
“Maybe my night’s looking up, after all.” Janice raised her glass to salute the men. “One’s a moose, but the other two aren’t bad.”
“Moose?” Carmen and Alice echoed in unison.
Janice frowned at them. “Moose, a cosmetically challenged man.”
Carmen slammed her hand on the table, rattling their glasses and making a commotion, but she didn’t care. She threw back her head and laughed uproariously. She laughed until her belly hurt and her eyes were wet, this time with happy tears.
“Oh, man, I needed that,” she wheezed when she could speak.
“Anytime,” Janice said, all business now. “So, who gets the moose?”
She hid behind Alice’s back and snickered as their food was served.
“Why don’t you take him, Carmen? Take one for the team?”
“Fuck, no,” she said as she straightened. “I’m not fucking a moose. I don’t care how much you pay me.”
The male server dropped the plate a little too hard on the table. Alice let out a nervous laugh and flapped her hands urgently, but they ignored her.
“Usually the moose is better in bed since he has to be. He can’t be ugly and bad in bed, you feel me?” Janice said.
“Then why don’t you take him?
“I don’t need the guy to be good in bed. I’m good enough for the both of us, and I want something pretty to look at while I’m bringing it home, you know?”
“Makes sense,” she said.
Janice looked at the server who was frozen in place. “Can I help you?”
“Uh, no, ma’am,” he said and gave them a little bow as he left.
“Carmen?” Janice prompted. “Moose?”
“Hell, no.”
Janice gave Alice a megawatt smile. “It’s your lucky day, honey.”
“I, uh, I have things to do,” Alice stammered and began to stuff her face.
It was obvious that Alice was planning to dine and dash to get away from them. Unluckily for her, the men made their way over before she finished her meal. Alice looked like a deer in the headlights. The men were tourists from Germany with great accents and no clear reason for being in Las Vegas. She added little to the conversation despite the men’s interest. She wasn’t tempted by polite, vanilla businessmen. Besides, watching Alice flounder was much more entertaining.
She took care of their bill and winced when Alice grasped her arm in a death grip. She gave the moose and his friend a polite brush-off as Janice disappeared with the best looking of the trio. She silently wished her a happy fuck. She could feel the night coming to a close. The last thing she wanted was to go home to her empty bed and count the hours until daylight. The night was young, and she needed to do something to cure the restlessness thrumming through her body.
“Thanks for that,” Alice said as they walked through the casino.
“I guess you’re still a virgin.”
Alice gave her a frosty look. “Do you have to keep bringing it up?”
“Are you planning to be a nun?”
“No.”
“Then what’s the deal?”
“Men don’t look at me the way they look at you.”
“I beg to differ. That guy would have given you a one-night stand in a heartbeat.”
“The moose?” Alice tipped her nose up. “If I wanted a one-night stand, I could get one. Men don’t have to like a woman to have sex with her.”
“True. So, you want the white knight?”
“I want a guy who likes me for me. What’s wrong with that?”
Men she dated in the past said they had a hard time keeping up with her. She was restless and manic and always into something, whether it was real estate, cooking, driving race cars, skydiving, or painting. She was a jack-of-all-trades, master of none. Most men saw her as arm candy and a body to fuck. She was much more, but no one cared what was inside her. Vinny was the only one who accepted her, flaws and all.
“Carmen?”
She cleared her throat. “There’s nothing wrong with waiting for the right guy.”
“Really? I thought you said—”
“Forget what I said. I don’t know anything.”
“Are you okay?”
Before she could answer, two hands gripped her waist and lifted her. She aimed her heels down to impale the buffoon holding her aloft, but her irritation disappeared when she recognized him.
“Connie!” she squealed.
“Jesus, woman.” Cormac, aka The Heat, didn’t look pleased. “Don’t be saying that pansy ass name so loud. It’s Mac or The Heat.” He bobbed his brows. “Or the man who’s gonna make your dreams come true.” He set her down and then tucked her under one arm. “I caught a glimpse of your ass and told The Punisher it was mine until I realized it was you. Gavin would have my hide, wouldn’t he?”
“He would,” she agreed and smiled at The Punisher, aka Walter, who she hadn’t seen since
Incognito’s opening night. “What are you assholes doing here?”
“My buddy’s having a get-together in the penthouse, and we’re bringing the party.”
Behind Cormac and Walter was an entourage of men who had the bodies of Chippendale dancers. Alice stared at Cormac as if he was the devil incarnate. She had to admit that Cormac looked outlandish in a ridiculous white fur coat, baby blue sunglasses, thick gold chain and red Mohawk. He wore jeans and no shirt beneath the fur coat. His abs and beautiful tattoos were on full display. Cormac was brash, uncouth, flashy, and a shit talker of the highest order, which wasn’t a surprise since he was the reigning UFC Lightweight Champion. She met Cormac years ago and watched him get his ass whooped more times than she cared to remember. But Cormac was a stubborn bastard and kept getting in the ring. Now, he was a millionaire and a champion determined to suck life dry. She could relate to that. A night with Cormac was just what she needed.
“And who’s this?” Cormac asked, following her gaze to Alice.
“This is my friend, Alice. She works for Gavin.”
Cormac raised his ridiculous sunglasses to examine Alice with dark eyes. “What do you do for Pyre, honey?”
Alice opened and closed her mouth without uttering a word.
“She’s the community outreach coordinator for the Pyre Foundation. You know, Connie…” She stroked his bare chest absently. “You could really help Alice out. We always need huge celebs to up the ante for press at her events.”
“No problem,” he said and flexed his pecs.
Alice looked like she might faint.
“Of course,” she drawled, “you’d have to be a gentleman and not cause a ruckus.”
“I thought you wanted press,” he said with a wink and focused on Alice. “You want to come with us, sweetheart?”
“Uh, no, I have—”
“Great.” Cormac yanked her under his other arm and propelled them through the casino.
“Uh, I have stuff to do,” Alice stammered.
Cormac held up her bare left hand. “No ring, no claim.”
“Claim?”
“No man, so you have no reason not to come with us.” He looked her over and smiled. “You have potential, sweetheart.”