by Frankie Love
I’ll never see Boss-man again. Maybe if I’m lucky I’ll glimpse his friends around the casino.
Before I dress, I grab my purse from the closet where I stowed it last night when I got here. No missed calls on my phone, so that’s good. Though I did miss a text an hour ago from Claire asking if I wanted to meet for morning Bloody Marys.
I smile, hoping she had a good night, knowing there is no way in hell I am going to dish about mine.
I need to put that orgasmic time behind me.
It’s for the best—I certainly have enough on my plate. Determined to move forward, I walk through the living room to get last night’s uniform. Putting my sad excuse for an “outfit” back on will equal a walk of shame I’ve never experienced in Vegas.
But there are worse things than getting properly screwed.
No shame here.
A few shopping bags sit next to my rumbled uniform. Looking around the empty room, I frown, knowing they weren’t here last night.
Setting my phone down on the stack of magazines on the side table, I take a better looks at the bags around me. Designer everything. Completely above my pay grade.
I pull out a tissue-wrapped pair of Saint Laurent white skinny jeans and a black-and-white top in a size six. My size.
Well, at least on the days I don’t eat Tommy C’s pizza. Which last night I did not.
Next to it, a Jimmy Choo bag contains a box with a pair of size nine leopard print heels, that yeah, look like they might hurt to walk in, but it would be worth dying in these. A La Perla bag holds a gorgeous white medium-sized thong, and a matching white lace bra — 34DD, my size again.
A fourth bag holds a Bordeaux-colored, sleeveless bandage dress from Herve Leger that literally has me drooling. Another shoebox holds a pair of Dolce and Gabbana peep-toe booties in black. There are no underthings for this dress, and I kind of think that’s the point. This dress leaves exactly zero to the imagination.
I swallow, never actually having held such amazing pieces in my life. I empty all the tissue paper from the bags, wondering what it all means, not liking what it implies. There’s no note, no explanation. No nothing.
Standing, I bite my lip. Hesitant. Near the door, there’s a cart with a carafe of coffee and a silver lidded tray. I walk to it and lift the lid, revealing fresh fruit and a bagel with lox.
I frown; my stomach roars. I try to think. What the fuck does this all mean? Then, next to the food on the cart, I see a small vase with a single exquisite red rose. An envelope leans against it.
On the front it reads Emmy Rose in a rough scrawl.
Running my finger across the seal, I pull out a piece of Spades Royalle stationary.
Emmy,
I want to see you again.
In this dress.
Then I’m gonna tear it off of you.
And you are gonna fuck me.
I won’t take no for an answer.
Tonight. Eleven o’clock. Stacked.
— Boss-man
My heart pounds in my chest, and I don’t know what to think. I blink, trying to decide … do I put on these fucking clothes and walk out of here like I’m the property of a guy who is supposed to be a one-night stand?
The property of a guy who’s shady. Shady like the kind I have to avoid—the kind that was my father. The kind that killed my mother. The kind that nearly killed me.
I saw the way Boss-man spoke to the guy in the hallway last night. It sent a shiver down my spine … I can’t go back to a life full of loss, full of nothing. I’ve worked too hard to become something.
I can’t. I can’t get tangled up with this cocky bastard. That note alone should be reason enough to stay clear of this womanizing, no-name asshole.
He thinks he can buy me? I cannot be bought.
Grabbing my fishnets, I sit on the couch, determined to walk out of here—yeah, maybe in yesterday’s clothes, but my head will be held high.
As I start to roll the netting over my foot, I hear my cellphone ring. I grab it, wondering if it might be Boss-man.
Ugh. Like it would be. Like it matters.
I reach for my phone and a hotel magazine with the name SPADES ROYALLE splayed across the front tumbles to the floor. I grab my phone, answering it before it goes to voicemail.
“Hello?” I grab the fallen magazine, pausing on the article that it’s flipped open to.
What the fuck?
“Emmy? This is Detective Clark, down at the station.” His voice is gruff, the only way I’ve ever heard him speak.
“Detective Clark?” I ask, my voice catching. My eyes stuck on the article on the floor. Detective Clark is the last person I expected to hear from. “Is everything okay?” I pick up the article, completely distracted by the picture of Ace, the owner of Spades Royalle Casino.
Completely overwhelmed. Dizzy.
I sit down, trying to focus on the detective.
“Yeah, it’s Clark. There’s been some development on your sister’s case. You need to get down the station, stat.”
“Do you know who the driver is?” I ask, hoping the answer is yes. Finally, yes.
“Just get down here and I’ll fill you in.”
“Okay, I’ll be there as soon as possible.” Finally, something about my sister. I’ve waited two months for this phone call.
I hang up the phone, my eyes absorbed with the picture of Ace.
The smoldering green eyes that had locked with mine all last night.
Ace, the man I slept with. The man who fucked me silly.
Ace is Boss-man.
I’ve been royally screwed by a bad boy.
WANT TO READ PART 2?
❤️DOWNLOAD ACE 2 ❤️
THE ENTIRE SERIES IS AVAILABLE NOW!
JOIN FRANKIE LOVE’S
MAILING LIST
AND NEVER MISS A RELEASE!
TAKEN by Audrey Alexander
Taken (Saved by the Billionaire Bad Boy Book 1)
My name is Franklin Snow. Or so I say. I’m on the run from a past as dark as my soul and secrets that could get me shot in the head. I’m a loner. A drifter. My only purpose in life is not to get caught.
Until Rosie Smith walks in through that goddamn door with her wild hair and fiery eyes, begging for my help.
She needs a hero. Someone to save her from the man who wants her head on a spike.
I should keep running. But I don’t stand a chance against her sweet smile and smooth skin. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her safe, even if it means sacrificing it all.
I could get caught. The FBI might finally trap me.
But I’ll be damned if I don’t save this girl from her pain…though I might not make it out alive.
TEMPTED BY HIM by Tessa Blake
Tempted by Him (The Billionaire's Contract Book 1)
Rafe Garrett is NYC’s most talked-about billionaire—a ruthless negotiator, too handsome for his own good, and a man of … particular tastes.
Investigative reporter Ainsley Dumont has landed the assignment of a lifetime: prove that Rafe is behind the crooked development deal that’s threatening to ruin the careers of some of the country’s top political figures—including the President himself.
But as Ainsley gets closer to Rafe, sparks fly, and she has to balance her assignment—and her ethics—with the urge to forget who she is and be what Rafe wants. And what Rafe wants is so far outside her experience, she might lose herself … but it just might be worth it.
BLOWN AWAY by Abby Brooks
Introducing BLOWN AWAY, book one of the sweet and sexy new series THE MOORE BROTHERS, by Abby Brooks...
A girl on the run…
Things in New York have gone very wrong for Juliet Lane. She’s gotten tangled up with the most dangerous man she’s ever met and needs to get the hell out of town, like yesterday. She’s ready to start over. To rebuild her life from the ground up. And this time, she’s determined to do it all without the help of any man, anywhere. But when she meets Ian Moore, she can’t take her ey
es off his sexy body and gorgeous face. And the fact that he goes out of his way to help her when she needs it the most makes it impossible for her to stay away from him.
A fighter pilot with a tragic past…
Ian Moore is so tired of dealing with women who are either digging for his wealth, giggling away their last brain cell, or who are way too uptight for their own good. He’s a man who knows what he wants and isn’t afraid to take control and he needs a woman who will let him protect her. Who will let him help her through the hard parts. Someone who knows how to manage herself in a ballgown, but doesn’t laugh at his cowboy boots. Someone who’s both strong and soft and willing to let him dominate her in bed.
A small town on the coast…
When fate brings Ian and Juliet together in his home town of Bliss, South Carolina, Ian is at once everything Juliet ever wanted and everything she’s running from, all wrapped up in one handsome, tuxedoed package. And Ian can’t get Juliet out of his head even though she’s exactly not what he’s looking for. There’s something about her, something that makes him think she might be in trouble. That she might need his protection...
She needs a hero and he’s the one to save her. No matter how hard they fight it, when Ian and Juliet come together, they’re just BLOWN AWAY.
WILD by Alison Ryan
From romance author Alison Ryan: WILD. New Billionaire. New love story. And another chance at the one who got away...
Declan DeGraff is old money, turned no money, turned new money.
He's fresh off the deal of the decade; he's just sold his tech firm for over two billion dollars and he should be on top of the world.
But he's still missing what he lost, long ago. And every time success comes his way, he's reminded of how he would trade it all to have her back again.
Charlotte Sanders is running from the past. Again.
Years ago she fell deeply in love with the last man she should have allowed into her heart and near her body. After a summer of passion he ended it abruptly, tearing Charlotte apart and making her swear off ever letting anyone in again.
But now she's come back to the city where it all happened, Charleston, South Carolina, determined to find answers to the questions he never wanted her to ask.
A chance encounter takes them right back to where they started. But can they get past the secrets they’re keeping? Or are they destined to repeat the mistakes of a past they’re both desperate to forget?