by Hamel, B. B.
A wicked idea came into my head, and I could feel myself already beginning to smile.
If father wanted me to get married, then I’d get married. That was his only order, wasn’t it? All I needed was a marriage certificate and I will have done as he asked and bought myself some time.
What is marriage, anyway, but an empty promise made to some woman that only wanted your money?
Not even marriage could slow me down. I was Lucas Barone, heir to the Barone Crime Family.
As I booked my flight to Vegas, I laughed.
I’d find my wife. I’d take her and make her mine, and then I’d take control of the Family.
Vegas was the perfect place to find her.
I climbed out of the limo and looked at the line in front of my favorite club. It was exclusive and tough to get into, but the bouncers all knew me. Plus, they were good about letting in attractive women, exactly the sort of thing I was looking for.
Time to find a wife, I thought. I gave a nod to my second in command and he grinned back.
“See you inside, Vince.”
“Yeah, boss.”
I didn’t need a bodyguard or anything like that, but I liked Vince. He had been with me for a long time and was basically my number two. It was good to have people around, especially loyal and armed people.
I walked toward the entrance and the bouncer nodded to me.
“Mister Barone,” he said.
“Jimmy.” I flashed him a smile. “Talented in there tonight?”
He grinned hugely. “Very talented. You’ll be pleased.”
I slipped him a twenty as I walked past.
Once inside, I let the beat wash over me.
I didn’t love clubs. I didn’t like the crowds, the assholes, the vapid girls, the annoying staff. But there was nowhere in the world better for picking up the sort of empty-headed club girl that I needed.
I quickly went into the VIP area and got a drink. It was quieter but still packed. I wondered briefly if they were lowering their standards, but it didn’t matter. I wasn’t like all the other rich, spoiled assholes around me. I worked for what I had. Even if my father weren’t the boss of the Family, I’d still be hustling on the streets. I had a better mind and a stronger arm than any other goon out there.
Soon I found myself scouting out the dance floor. Talented, like the bouncer had said, but nothing was interesting me. I skirted around toward the bar again.
“How’s it going, boss?”
I looked over and nodded to Vince. “Not the best in the world.”
“Really?” He looked around. “Seems like plenty of ass in here.”
“I’m looking for a specific kind of woman here.”
“What type?”
I cocked my head at him. “Dumb and easy.” I paused and laughed. “The kind of woman that would marry a fucking mobster like me without getting to know him.”
“I think you’ll find that, boss.”
“We’ll see.”
He leaned back up against the bar and crossed his arms. Good old Vince. I hoped he got laid tonight.
I moved back toward the dance floor, letting the waves of music and motion wash over me.
That was when I spotted her.
Full lips. Green eyes. Long brown hair. Pale, but in a fucking pretty way. She looked way too gorgeous for the club, almost normal, like she wasn’t fucking trying so hard.
For some reason, I felt my cock starting to stir. At a single glance I was already getting hard for her. There was something in her look that drew me toward her. She quickly looked away, but it was way too late.
There was no turning back. I was way too curious.
I moved through the crowd and finally found her. She was dancing with a friend, a perky little blond chick who stopped and stared at me as soon as I rolled up behind them. I put my hand on the small of the girl’s back, and she slowly turned to look at me.
I knew the expression on her face.
Her name was Natalie. And it didn’t take too much dancing before we left the club, heading out to my limo.
“Nice car,” she said, smiling uncertainly.
“Can’t travel Vegas any other way,” I said.
“What are you, rich or something?”
I smiled suggestively at her. “Or something, yeah.”
She bit her lip. “Where are we going?”
“I’ll tell you,” I said, moving closer to her, “but you have to get inside first.”
“I don’t know. I don’t usually take rides from strangers.”
“Oh, I’m sure you’re used to riding,” I said. “In fact, you can show me exactly how you ride it.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“You can get out any time you want, but I think this will be fun.”
For a second, I thought she was going to say no. I could see it in her eyes. But suddenly her expression changed, hardened, and she nodded. “Okay. Let’s go.”
We climbed into the limo and I poured us some champagne. The driver rolled down the window.
“Sir?”
“Drive around for a bit.”
“Yes, sir.”
The divider went back up, and I looked at Natalie. “To you and me, Nat.” We clinked glasses.
“Okay, now, tell me where we’re going.”
“What’s Vegas best known for?” I asked her, sitting close.
“Sin,” she said, laughing.
I grinned at her. “Sure, sin. What else?”
“Hmm. Gambling. And quick marriages.”
“Did you gamble already tonight?”
She nodded. “Pacey did. She’s bad at it.”
“So you gambled.”
She nodded again. “Yeah.”
“How about you get married then?”
I watched the expression on her face change. “What do you mean?”
“Listen, sweetheart. In Vegas, marriage is quick and cheap. It doesn’t have to be for real, but I’ve never done it before. Have you?”
She laughed uncertainly. “Have I ever been married before?”
“Sure.”
“No, never married.”
I put my hand on her thigh, sipping my drink. “Let’s get married.”
She laughed, shaking her head. “No way. That’s crazy. Are you serious?”
“Dead serious.” I moved a little closer. “I’d love to see what you’re like on your wedding night.”
“We can’t get married. I don’t even know you.”
“You know my name. You know what I look like. What else do you need?”
She ran her finger around the rim of her glass. “I don’t know. What do you do for a living?”
“I run a few businesses.”
“Sounds shady.”
“It is.”
She laughed, not sure if I was joking. “Okay, but you don’t know anything about me, either.”
“I know enough. I know you were the sexiest girl in the club back there. I know you’re smart, honest, and I’m betting you’re wet as hell.”
“I am not wet,” she said quickly.
“Sure you’re not. I bet you’re also wondering if I’m totally crazy, and I’m telling you I’m not.”
“But why?” she said softly.
“Because I want a new experience, and you’re it.” I kissed her neck gently, and she let out a soft moan. “I want to experience you, Natalie.”
“I don’t know.”
My hands moved up her thigh. “I know.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck. “Why me?”
“The second I saw you, I knew I wanted you.”
I found her pussy, warm and wet. I knew she was practically begging for it, but I had no clue just how soaked she was going to be.
“Say yes,” I whispered as I gently rubbed her.
“I don’t know,” she moaned.
“Marry me, Natalie.”
She paused as I slipped my fingers down her panties and touched her clit, rubbing softly.<
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“Okay,” she said.
I kissed her hard on the lips, losing myself.
Chapter Three: Natalie
I woke up with a start.
For a second, I thought I was hungover. But I quickly realized that I hadn’t really drunk that much the night before. I looked around my hotel room and smiled at Pace’s snoring face.
And then what had happened came flooding back to me.
Lucas, the limo, the ceremony. He was mysterious and sexy and incredible. I couldn’t believe I did it, but it was beyond the most exciting night of my life.
And it started with his fingers on my clit, rubbing me in agonizingly incredible circles. He kissed me hard and I kissed him back, hungry, hungrier, as he pressed against me, his fingers working my pussy. I spread my legs wide for him, letting him take me, and I couldn’t believe it.
I couldn’t believe I was kissing a man like Lucas, letting him touch me, following his lead. As he pressed a finger deep inside me, I felt the sweet pleasure rock my spine. I kissed him hard as he worked me.
“This is just a taste, Natalie,” he whispered in my ear as he rubbed my clit. “This is just a little bit of what I want to make you feel.”
The pleasure was overwhelming. My pussy was soaked, had been ever since we’d started dancing. I didn’t want to say no, couldn’t say no. What he was suggesting was crazy though. Marry him? It couldn’t be real; it definitely couldn’t be.
But the way he made my pussy feel, the way my head spun when he whispered dirty words in my ears, I just couldn’t stop myself.
I was saying yes.
The orgasm rocked through my body. I came on his fingers, his practiced fingers. He whispered in my ear the whole time, dirty words, as I came and came hard.
“Come on my hands, Natalie. I love this slick pussy. Come for me now and I’ll make you my bride. Then I’ll make you feel things you didn’t know you could feel. I’ll slide my thick cock between your legs, fuck you until your knees shake.”
The orgasm rocked through me, rolled up my spine. I was spinning on an incredible cloud.
The orgasm. From only his fingers. My only orgasm of the night.
I shook my head, looking at the window. I wasn’t sure what time it was. Part of me couldn’t believe what had happened.
I still didn’t know his last name.
“Nat?” I looked over and Pacey as awake. “Where did you come from?”
“Hey, Pace.”
She sat up, her head in her hands. “I feel like fucking shit.”
“I know. I saw the puke in the toilet.”
She made a face. “Oh god. I’m so sorry.”
I laughed. “It’s okay. It’s Vegas, right?”
“Speaking of which.” She looked up at me, grinning. “What happened to you last night?”
I opened my mouth but stopped. How could I explain it to her? Well, I married a guy, but I freaked out after the ceremony and made him take me home. I couldn’t say that, but I didn’t want to lie.
“Nothing really happened,” I said, telling a half-truth. “We didn’t sleep together or anything.”
“Seriously?” She looked genuinely surprised. “That guy was gorgeous, Nat. Why not?”
“Well,” I said slowly, “it got a little weird, I guess. Freaked me out, moved too fast.”
She sighed. “Typical,” she said, grumbling. “A guy wants to do more than kiss you and you’re suddenly freaking out.”
I nodded sheepishly. “That’s right. Silly old me.”
“Ugh, I need to wash this vomit taste from my mouth.” She stood up and walked into the bathroom unsteadily.
I felt bad about keeping the truth from her, but it was just all too soon and too strange. I kept thinking about the way he got me off, so confidently and seriously, and then about what had happened afterward.
I kept thinking about the Elvis preacher. About the vows, the ceremony, the kiss. It felt fake, but I knew that those things really were legal in Vegas. Afterward, I asked him to take me home. He only nodded and dropped me off, disappearing as mysteriously as he had appeared.
And yet I couldn’t stop thinking about his kiss, his touch. It was addictive and incredible, and I had never felt like that before, not with any other guy I’d been with.
Lucas wasn’t a guy; he was a man. A totally different breed of man than I’d ever been around before.
I heard Pacey brushing her teeth in the other room, so I quickly checked my phone. As I’d left the limo last night after the ceremony, I had given Lucas my number.
No calls or texts from any unknown numbers. But there was a voice mail from my mother.
I felt a little disappointed, but what did I expect? I had let the guy get me off, married him, and then freaked out and ran away all within like a few hours’ time.
“You ready to get out of here?” Pacey said, leaning against the wall.
“I am, but you definitely don’t look like you are.”
“I just need breakfast,” she said. “An enormous breakfast. And vodka.”
I laughed. “No vodka for you. We’re going back home now, remember?”
“Don’t remind me.”
She disappeared back into the bathroom and I heard the shower go on.
Curious, but also dreading it, I tapped on my mother’s voice mail and held the phone up to my ear.
“Natalie? Ugh, I hate leaving messages, but this is important. You’re coming home, right? You may have seen some stuff in the gossip rags. It’s very important that you call me back immediately. Love you!”
I frowned at the phone and listened to the message again, a stone growing in my gut. Mom didn’t normally even talk about the gossip rags, so it was a little unusual that she mentioned them specifically. I tapped her name and called her back.
“Hello? Natalie?” She answered on the second ring.
“Hi, Mom,” I said.
“Where are you?”
“I’m in Las Vegas right now. I told you that.”
“Oh.” I could hear the annoyance in her voice, but I had told her. I’d texted and called and emailed my itinerary, but obviously she hadn’t paid attention to it. “Well, I have some important news.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing happened,” she said. “Not everything is bad, you know.”
“Sorry, but the last time you said that you had gotten arrested.”
“That was just one time,” she grumbled. “And anyway, that’s all behind me now.”
“What do you mean?”
“The drinking, the partying. Hell, even the TV. It’s all done with.”
I felt that little stone of dread blossom into an enormous boulder. “What’s going on, Mom?”
“I got married, sweetie.”
Worst nightmare confirmed. “To who?”
“A very nice man. His name is Arturo. He’s a Chicago businessman, and we’ve been seeing a lot of each other lately. Oh, I’m so sorry you couldn’t be at the wedding, but it was a spur-of-the-moment type thing. You understand?”
I was barely listening. My mother tended to ramble when she was uncomfortable, and she began to tell me all about the wedding. I had stopped listening when she’d told me that she had gotten married again.
I couldn’t believe it. After Dad had died and left her his fortune, I never thought she’d move on to anyone else. She seemed so heartbroken, so upset. I always thought that her acting out and being a reality TV star was just a way to run from her grief.
And yet here she was, married again.
I felt angry and betrayed.
But I shouldn’t. She was a grown woman who could make her own decisions. And besides, Dad had died a long time ago. Even though Mom made plenty of very bad decisions, she wasn’t really a bad person.
“I’m very happy for you,” I said finally during a very brief pause.
“Oh I’m so happy to hear that,” she said. “There’s one more thing.”
“What?”
“Well, I
’ll be moving into his estate.”
“His estate?”
“Yes. It’s right outside the city, and it’s so, so lovely. Lots of land, animals, all of that. You’ll really love it, sweetie.”
“Wait, what?”
“He says you can have an entire wing to yourself if you like. There are hiking trails and a little pond.”
“What about our house?”
There was a pause on the other end. “Well, I sold it, honey.”
“What?”
My childhood home. She had sold my childhood home?
“I’m sorry, but Arturo said that it wasn’t appropriate for me to own my own house anymore. We don’t need it, honey.”
“How could you?” I blurted out, anger finally winning. “How could you get married again and sell the house without even talking to me?”
“Sweetie,” she said slowly, “I know this is a lot to process. It just happened so fast.”
“No, Mom,” I snapped. “You messed up big time. You have been an irresponsible train wreck for years, one of the worst parents imaginable. I thought it was bad when you got arrested for drugs, but this? This is way, way worse. This is a betrayal.”
“Sweetie,” she said more firmly, “we can talk about this when you’re home. When you calm down.”
“I won’t calm down,” I said.
“I’ll have Arturo’s people get you at the airport.”
“Mom—”
“Goodbye.”
She hung up.
I stared at my phone, my mouth hanging open.
In a single moment my life had suddenly been thrown into chaos. Everything I thought I knew about my life had suddenly shifted. I didn’t have my home anymore, and my mother had gotten married to a man I knew absolutely nothing about.
“You okay?” Pacey asked.
I looked at her, my face ashen. “She sold my house, and married some guy.”
“I heard your side. I’m sorry.”
She walked over and threw her arms around me.
“This summer is really going to suck,” I said after a minute.
Pacey laughed. “Yeah. This summer is really going to suck.”
Chapter Four: Lucas
I woke up groggy in my huge Vegas bed and rolled onto my side. I was conspicuously alone and had spent my wedding night drinking good scotch with Vince.