King (Vegas Kings Book 2)

by McKenna James

  I’m not happy with King right now, but I don’t really want my crazy brother showing up on his doorstep ready to fight for my honor like some Victorian nobleman.

  “I need to talk to him. Is he in his office?”

  Ellie makes a face, not sure if she should stop me, try to run interference, or just step out of the way. She seems to settle on the last one.

  “His outdoor office,” she says with the appropriate amount of disdain, even rolling her eyes a little.

  Jack’s outdoor office is the pool with the tiki bar. He thinks it makes him sound like he’s still working when he just wants to sit by the waterfall and have a drink. He’s not fooling anyone—except maybe himself—but he’s the boss, so he can do whatever he wants, including shutting down an entire pool for maintenance just because he wants the place to himself.

  It would annoy me more, but it is his resort. If we had a guest staying here with the kind of money he has to throw around, we’d bend over backward to give them everything they want. Jack’s just willing to extend that kind of hospitality to himself—something I could never bring myself to do. Of course, I’ve always been far more concerned with fitting in than he has. He’s always had his best friends; I tried to tag along with them, but I never really had friends of my own, no matter how hard I tried. Not until recently, at least.

  When I actually stopped trying. Of course.

  The whole way down to the pool, I’m running through what I’m going to say in my head. I rehearse and edit, rehearse some more, and then say a little prayer.

  This is going to be a disaster.

  I don’t think there’s any good way to tell your brother you’ve been lying and hiding a huge secret from him for the better part of a month. Especially considering he outright confronted us back at the hospital, and we still denied everything.

  But that wasn’t the time to make a big scene, and Jack has to understand that.

  Right?

  I find him stretched out on one of the lounge chairs under the shade of a palm tree, facing the man-made waterfall with a frosty glass in his hand. The sounds of the guests and the rest of the resort seem distant with the roar of the waterfall covering them up, and with the shady palm trees wrapped around the whole secret grotto, it feels very private. Very secluded.

  I can see why Jack likes to hide away here. Too bad I have to be the jerk who ruins his relaxation time.

  “This seat taken?” I ask, walking over to the lounge chair next to him.

  He sits up straighter, pushing his sunglasses up to his forehead. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

  I’m frowning as I sit down. “I wouldn’t rush to call it a pleasure, yet.”

  Now his brows are high, his forehead wrinkled. “What’s going on? Is everything okay?”

  I take a deep breath, then let it out slowly.

  “No. I’ve been lying to you,” I say. Ripping the band-aid off like that isn’t what I’d rehearsed, but there’s no going back now. I have Jack’s full attention. He’s set his drink down, and he’s sitting fully upright, tense, braced for whatever I’m going to throw at him next.

  “King and I have been … seeing each other,” I say, jumping in before he can explode. “But it’s over now. We’re done, and look—I’m fine. Neither one of us wanted to jeopardize our relationship with you. It was stupid to begin with, but you don’t have anything to worry about. I just needed to tell you.”

  Jack’s quiet for a long time. He gives me a hard, lingering look, then glances off toward the waterfall, his jaw tight.

  This isn’t the reaction I expected, and I don’t know how to handle it. Yelling, tossing things into the pool, questioning my judgment—those I was prepared for and ready to tackle.

  This quiet, seething disappointment? I don’t know what to do with that.

  “Did he cheat on you?” Jack asks, his voice low and even. Scary calm.

  “No. I told you—”

  “I know what you said, Piper, but I also know you just told me you’ve been lying to me, so I’m not in a very trusting mood.”

  “Do you think I wanted it to happen this way?”

  Jack throws up his hands. “I don’t know what you wanted, or what you expected. I told you King’s not—”

  “King didn’t do anything wrong,” I insist, raising my voice to make him listen.

  Surprisingly, it works. Jack sits back a little, some of the anger fading from his expression as he studies me, lips pressed tight together.

  “We both knew better, but it just happened, and then we didn’t want to stop. We tried; it was just … challenging.”

  “Jesus, Piper,” Jack hisses, shaking his head in disbelief. “You fell for him, didn’t you?”

  The waterfall is deafening in the silence. I don’t want to answer, but my hesitation is enough for Jack.

  “It started off as a stupid wish-fulfillment fantasy. I never expected it to keep going… Or to be as good as it was.”

  Jack isn’t buying it. He looks at me like I’m talking about the great new cult I’ve joined, and he’s plotting how he’s going to get me out of it.

  “It doesn’t sound over to me,” he says.

  “Well, it is. He wanted to tell you a long time ago. He was the one who wanted to be in a real relationship, and I was too scared to let it happen.”

  “My fearless sister, scared?”

  “Of getting destroyed again like with Alejandro? You bet your ass I am. But I think we’ve been selling King short. He’s always been a player, but he’s never been in a real relationship to actually cheat on anyone—”

  Jack scoffs, rolling his eyes. “Guys like him don’t change, Piper. They put on a good act for the women gullible enough to fall for it, and in private, they talk to their guy friends about how stupid she is while he’s fucking everything that walks.”

  “You changed when you met Ellie,” I remind him.

  He’s not fond of the reminder. “I was never as bad as King.”

  “You ever think a lot of that is just tabloid bullshit? He’s more real than I ever thought. Maybe you don’t know him as well as you think?” I offer, trying to mend the bridge.

  Jack’s not having it, though. He huffs again, still shaking his head. “And you do?”

  “Well enough to know I love him,” I say out loud. To the last person I expected to confess that to. The cat’s out of the bag now, though, and I don’t want to take it back.

  I just wish it mattered.

  Jack sighs. “I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”

  My head snaps up, waiting for him to crack a smile or deliver a punchline. But no. That’s it. Just a sincere consolation.

  My big brother really is going soft.

  “Me too.”

  “So the mystery guy you were dating…?”

  “King,” I confirm.

  His jaw’s tight again, anger brewing behind his eyes. “Did Ellie know?”

  “No! I wouldn’t do that to her. She doesn’t deserve to be in the middle of our sibling shit. You need to stop sending her to do your dirty work, by the way. If you want to talk to me about something, come see me yourself. Don’t send your sweet little girlfriend to tiptoe around the subject.”

  Jack nods. “Okay, that’s fair.”

  “And if you actually start planning a wedding, you better tell me,” I add.

  He blanches, eyes wide. “We don’t… I haven’t…” He trails off, guilty like I caught him with his hand in the cookie jar. Then he sighs, shoulders slumping. “Actually, I could use some help picking out a ring when you have a free day.”

  “I’d love to.” Maybe this isn’t the disaster I expected. “Are we okay, then?”

  Jack sighs, then nods. “We’re good. You’re a grown woman, and I can’t protect you from every bad decision. I just don’t want to see you hurt again like before. That was hard,” he says, clearing his throat after his voice cracks.

  “Yeah, I know, but I also can’t spend the rest of my life too afraid to take a c
hance. If I want what you and Ellie have, I’m going to have to take a risk at some point.”

  He nods, then reaches for his drink which has been sweating on the table.

  “You’re not going to go start a fight with King, are you?” I ask, one last worry plaguing the back of my mind.

  Jack looks like he’s considering it for a moment, but finally shakes his head. “I probably should, but no. Our friend group has been through enough shake-ups lately.”

  “How’s Asher?”

  Jack chuckles. “Already trying to leave the hospital to go back to work. Feeling good enough to be stir-crazy.”

  “Well, that’s something at least. He really scared the shit out of me,” I admit.

  Jack nods. “I think he scared the shit out of all of us. Puts some stuff in perspective, though, doesn’t it?”

  Is that why he’s not angrier about me and King? Because of his new perspective? The night certainly had a profound effect on both me and King, but also very different effects.

  I have to stop thinking about it and let it go. It was nice while it lasted, but it’s over now, and it’s time to go back to real life.

  “It does. Like how I should be getting back to work. Someone needs to run this place while you’re lounging by the pool drinking cocktails.”

  He laughs and lifts his glass to me. “That’s why I pay you the big bucks.”

  I leave Jack’s outdoor office feeling lighter, without the heavy weight of secrets pressing down on me, but now I’m angrier at myself than ever. If I’d just had this conversation with Jack a week or two ago, would things have worked out differently with me and King?

  It’s a lesson for next time, to be brave and forge ahead like I do in every other aspect of my life.

  That thought’s the opposite of encouraging. I don’t want there to be a next time. I just want to be with King.

  Chapter 19

  King

  When everything is going wrong and I feel lost and hopeless, there’s only one place I want to be.

  “Well, isn’t this a lovely surprise!” Grandma says, wrapping her arms around me in a fierce hug. She doesn’t let go for the longest time, and I’m not pulling away.

  “I wasn’t expecting you until Wednesday,” she says, finally stepping back to take a good look at me. It’s not long before she’s frowning. “What’s wrong?” she asks.

  Instantly, there’s a lump in my throat. If anyone else in the world asked that question, I could lie and play it cool, say nothing’s wrong and I’m fine. But when my grandma asks me that question, I’m instantly a little boy again, and I just want to cry on her shoulder while she strokes my hair.

  “Girl trouble?” she guesses, dragging me into her apartment. She’s quick to pour us both a glass of Macallan, still watching me with those shrewd eyes that seem to have x-ray powers.

  “Honestly, I don’t even know what’s wrong,” I say with a heavy sigh, sinking into her floral-patterned couch, ice clinking in my glass. “I tried to convince her we should be together, and when she finally agreed … I couldn’t do it.”

  Grandma frowns, her brows furrowed tight. “What do you mean?”

  I sigh. If there’s anyone I can say this to, it’s my grandma.

  “I’m not worth it. The worry, the heartbreak—any of it. She shouldn’t go through that for me. She deserves better.”

  “What makes you think you’re going to break her heart?” she asks, pulling a jar of cookies out of the cupboard.

  I typically don’t like to eat with a whiskey this nice, but I can never resist her cinnamon cookies.

  “What other choice is there? Even the best relationships have to end. Just look at you and Grandpa.” I never got the chance to meet my grandfather, but Grandma talked about him all the time when I was growing up. She always said how much I looked like him, how well we’d get along, how he was musical too. From all the stories I’d heard through the years and pictures I looked at in old photo albums, sometimes it’s hard to remember I never knew him in person.

  “I would’ve loved to have more time with your grandfather. Goodness knows losing him did a number on your poor mother, but do you think that makes me regret being with him? Do you think if someone came to me on my wedding day and said ‘you’re only going to get twenty years with the love of your life’ that I would’ve walked away from the altar? I wouldn’t change a single moment of the time we spent together, and no amount of heartbreak could change that.”

  “But what if it’s not even twenty years? A friend of mine just got back from his honeymoon and almost died in an accident, and—”

  “I see,” Grandma says, nodding sagely. I’m not sure she does, though, so I keep going.

  “It just made me think—what if that was me? What if Piper was stuck in some hospital waiting room, crying her eyes out over me? What if I’m not as lucky as Asher, and she’s stuck burying me a month after our wedding?”

  “What if she is?”

  I swallow the lump in my throat, pushing tears back. “I don’t want to think about it.”

  “So flip it around. She could die tomorrow—today, even. Any of us could; that’s life, honey.”

  Now she sounds like Ace. That has to be the weirdest crossover of my life so far. I never thought Ace could be a source of actual wisdom.

  “Does it make you love her less?” she prods.

  “Of course not, but that’s not—”

  “That girl you brought here is sharp, independent, and probably smarter than both of us put together. Don’t you think you should let her decide if it’s a risk worth taking? Why are you standing in your own way?”

  She has a point. Why am I? It can’t be the reason I’ve been obsessing over; I know better than to make that kind of choice for Piper.

  “I don’t trust myself,” I admit. “I promised her there’d never be another woman, but I’m terrified I’ll do something stupid one day and ruin everything.”

  “Baby, I’ve been around a long time, and let me tell you something: the men who do that sort of thing don’t spend time worrying about how it effects other people. They don’t feel guilty; it’s a game to see how much they can get away with. I know that’s not you.” There’s an unspoken current of I raised you better than that, and I can’t argue there.

  She did.

  I am better than that.

  And I’d never do that to Piper. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to be interested in another woman anyway, whether she’ll have me or not. She’s ruined me. In more ways than one.

  I stare down into the bottom of my empty glass, my eyes brimming with tears again.

  “Did I screw everything up?”

  She moves faster than a woman in her nineties has any right to, rushing over to put her arm around my back, pulling me against her like she used to when I was a kid.

  “You didn’t,” she says, petting the back of my head. “We all make mistakes. You just have to own up to it and make it right.”

  I swallow, my resolve starting to solidify.

  When she says it like that, it doesn’t sound so hard.

  First, I’ll come clean with Jack, tell him everything and make him understand how important Piper is to me.

  Then I have to make it up to her somehow. I don’t know how I’m going to do that, but I’ll figure it out.

  One step at a time.

  I give my grandma a big, tight hug, squeezing until my fingertips start to get pins and needles. “Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

  “Keep going, I hope,” she says, patting my back with a fond smile. “And I hope you’ll bring that girl back here once you’ve sorted this all out. I like her.”

  I grin. “Me too. I will.”

  I nearly call Jack on my way out, but this is a conversation we need to have face to face.

  I really hope he doesn’t punch me.

  I deserve it if he does—that and a whole lot more—but I’m not looking forward to my manager having to explain to the press
how I wound up with a broken nose and a black eye. Especially since it doesn’t seem like Vince is getting out of rehab anytime soon and Piper’s still technically my acting manager.

  Jack’s new secretary is no match for me. She tries, she really does, but I march right past her.

  “I don’t care who he’s on a call with; this is important,” I say, shoving past her toward his glass-walled office.

  Jack nearly jumps out of his chair when I storm in, stuttering into the phone. “Uh, I’m going to have to call you back, okay?” The minute he hits the end call button, he’s glaring at me.

  “King, what the hell?”

  “I’m in love with Piper,” I blurt out. It’s not how I intended to start this discussion, but now it’s on the table. “I think she’s in love with me too. We’ve been fooling around ever since—well, before I got the gig here, and we’ve been keeping it from you.” Now that I’ve started spilling the beans, I can’t stop. I’ve been wanting to tell him about everything for so long that it seems like I’m not going to be able to stop until I’ve told him everything.

  “We snuck around because we knew you wouldn’t approve, but that’s not a good enough reason for me anymore. You’re my best friend, and if you can’t be happy that I’ve finally found someone I’m crazy about, I don’t know who will. I’m sorry, man, but I have to follow my heart, and my heart wants Piper.”

  Jack’s just sitting on the other side of his big desk, his hands folder together, pointer fingers extended, making an upside-down V in front of his chin. He doesn’t say anything. I can’t read his expression—he must’ve gotten some tips from Ace—and I have no idea what he’s thinking. Which makes me ramble even more.

  “I get why you’re worried about us. Worried about me. I know you don’t think I’m good enough for her, and I’m not really sure I am either. But I’m going to try my damnedest to be. I’m going to do every fucking thing possible to be a man worthy of Piper’s time. I’m not like I was before. I don’t know what happened or how she did it, but she changed me. Or maybe I always wanted this, and I was just playing the part I thought the world wanted me to. I don’t know. I love her more than anything, and I promise you this is something real to me.”