High Stakes (The Kingdom Book 2)

by Groom, Nikki

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgements

  High Stakes - The Kingdom 2

  By Nikki Groom

  Copyright@2014 Nikki Groom

  Cover design by Hang Le / byhangle.com

  Editing by Mandy Smith / rawbooksonline.com

  Proof reading by Claire Haiek / Freelance

  Formatting by Kassi Bland Cooper / Kassi’s Kandids Formatting

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission.

  The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorised, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owner.

  All rights reserved.

  For my sister and best friend, Lindsay.

  Luf you xx

  STUPID GIRL.

  I should have stayed away.

  Now the last eighteen months have all been for nothing. I have achieved absolutely zero by being away, other than a bigger mistrust, and a deeper cavern in my heart made by the fact that I actually had hope, and now it’s gone.

  He stands behind me, his index finger gently brushing my tousled hair from my bare back. The act makes me shiver. Not a shiver of pleasure like Denham gives me; no, a shiver of repulsion. A shiver that actually works its way down through my stomach and back up my spine. I think I’m going to throw up. I clamp my mouth shut tight and will the fear to go away.

  I will be strong. He will not break me again.

  But I know the power he has over me. The power to turn me to dust.

  “Did you really think I was going to let you go?” he says, his voice resonating a dangerous undertone. “Did you?” He moves closer still, but doesn’t touch me. “My stupid, beautiful girl …”

  His nose touches my shoulder and he draws it upwards along my neck, inhaling as he goes. It makes me want to retch. I feel my stomach turning.

  Overcome.

  Scared.

  “I can smell another man’s scent, Arianna.” He pauses and I hold my breath, bracing myself for what might come next. “Sex … It reeks.”

  It might have been eighteen months since I saw him in the flesh, but I can remember the expressions his face holds, and I can picture his curled lip and the wild look in his eyes. He grabs the hair on the back of my head roughly and I cry out. Every follicle screams as I feel his grip tighten.

  “How did you ever think I wouldn't find you? How did you ever think you would be free?” He almost sings the words, a torturous lullaby, barely a whisper, but loud enough to ring around my head. “Money talks, Arianna. And in your case, the talk was cheap.”

  The ringing in my head gets louder. Echoes further. My eyes lose focus. The pain pulling at my head takes over. “Please,” I manage to whimper. I hate how desperate I sound, but I don’t know another way out.

  “My. Stupid. Beautiful. Girl.” Every word is punctuated with an exhale of stale breath across my skin.

  He wraps an arm around my neck from behind and applies just enough pressure that my intake of breath is affected. I can feel myself react and start to panic, but my body stays paralyzed. I search my mind for ways to get out of this, ways to make it stop, when sharp pain hits the top of my leg, followed by a burning sensation. The mixture of his tightening grip and the realization that he just pushed a needle into me sends me into a spin.

  Oh god, not a needle.

  I’m terrified of needles.

  I’m terrified of what’s in this needle.

  Is he going to kill me? I pull every ounce of strength that I can from my body and claw at his hand with my nails. He drops his grip, letting me go with a snigger and I run. I run as fast and as far away from him as I can. I make it to the bedroom when the edges of my vision blur and start to tunnel. The adrenaline pushes the substance he has injected me with through my body at top speed. It acts fast and my legs lose strength and buckle underneath me.

  The ground seems to rise up toward me, and my head hits the ground with such force that it steals my vision and the world turns black. The last of my senses to leave me is my hearing. Everything echoes like I have my head underwater. I hear him approach, heavy footsteps stopping next to me. An evil laugh comes from deep within him, and I try to fight my body. I try to muster up any last piece of consciousness that I can, but it’s futile.

  “Still trying to run, Arianna. You’ll never learn.”

  My body is jerked to the side and my last conscious breath leaves my body forcefully as his boot hits my ribs. My muscles contort. Old injuries protest. I’m aware that it’s happening, but I don’t feel a thing.

  No vision.

  No feeling in my body, just sound eventually fading …

  “You’re mine. You’ll always be mine.”

  His voice is controlled. Calculated. His words fade with every second that passes.

  “You’ll come back to me. I own you. You’ll see.”

  Freedom.

  “Stupid.”

  Escape.

  “Beautiful.”

  Nothingness.

  “Girl …”

  I DON’T NEED THIS shit today.

  Every day this week there’s been a problem.

  Problems with the staff. Problems with the casino. And now, for the third time this week, problems with the CCTV system. You would think for the amount of money I pay Dom and his team, it should be running glitch free, but no.

  And, to top it all off, I have to leave my girl to deal with all this shit.

  My girl. The girl who left me at the elevator, with just a sheet wrapped around that soft, sexy body. The one who left me with a kiss loaded with promise, and a raging hard-on.

  So, I could really do without being here, sorting out crap that I pay people damn good money to do.

  “Jack!” I bellow from my office, not knowing if he’s within earshot, but so fucking what if he isn’t. I’ll just shout louder, “Jack!”

  He calmly pushes open the door, his face a picture of calm and says passively, “Yes, sir?”

  Fuck, now I feel like a dick. Jack is one of my longest standing employees, but he feels like a brother to me. In fact, he’s the closest friend I have. He always comes to family dinners and special occasions. And for me, it feels like that’s where he belongs. But I’m sure it’s different for him, I can see that he does it as part of his job.

  “The system is glitching again. Where the fuck is Dom?” I grate out irritably.

  “I’ll have him called, sir.”

  “I don’t want one of his fucking monkeys. I want him here in ten minutes. Any longer, he’s fi
red. Got it?”

  “Yes, sir.” Jack nods and leaves, closing the door calmly behind him. I don’t even get the chance to say thank you and it makes me feel like a jerk. I don’t mean to bellow at Jack. He really does put up with some shit from me, but he knows the score, he knows what’s at stake for me. He’s worked for The Kingdom for years, at least fifteen. He was my dad’s right hand man, and now he’s mine. I make a mental note to stop being such an asshole around him. I have nothing to prove to him, and I know he wouldn’t take advantage of me, like some of the other employees would.

  I sometimes wish I had a regular job punching numbers in an office or pouring shots in a club. All of them would be a damn sight easier than this. But it wouldn’t be worth anything if I didn’t keep this place running.

  Honor and pride have a lot to answer for.

  It’s really early to be dealing with shit, and far too early to have a drink, even if I do feel like reaching for one while I’m waiting for Dom to arrive. So I take my frustration out on my desktop and I smash my fingers down on the keys of the CCTV system, as if it will magically make it work. It doesn’t.

  For a minute, I thought the whole system was down. Right now it looks like it’s just the lobby, and the internal elevator and exits, all the way up.

  My cell rings as there is a timid knock at the door, and I flick the cell on silent without even looking at who it is.

  “Yes,” I bark.

  Dominic gingerly pushes open the door, taking a couple of reluctant steps forward, “You called for me, Mr. King?”

  “Yes, Dominic. Come in and sit for a minute.”

  I’ve taken a deep breath, restored inner calm for a minute, and thought about my girl. Yes, I would much rather be with her than dealing with this shit. But, she’s busy this morning and if I didn’t have something to occupy myself with, I would be whiling the hours away until she came back. So it’s not fun, not by a long shot, but at least it’s keeping me busy.

  Dominic sits in the chair in front of my desk with his legs pressed together and his hands clasped tightly, resting on his knees. He sits with slouched shoulders and there’s just something about him that makes me want to pick him up, shake him and tell him to man up.

  “Dominic … Do I, or do I not, pay you well?” I ask. It’s not a trick question.

  “Yes sir, you pay me very well.”

  I stand and walk slowly around the desk. He fidgets nervously as I perch on the edge to his right. “Then please, would you enlighten me as to why the system I pay you, and a team of four others, to run has had nothing but problems every day for the last week?”

  “We are working on it around the clock, Mr. King. There seems to be a bug in the system but so far we’ve been unable to trace it.”

  “So, would it be easier to buy and install a whole new system?” I ask impatiently.

  “Do you have any idea how much that would cost, sir?”

  “You’re answering my question with a question,” I grumble impatiently at his avoidance of my question. “Money isn’t the issue here. I want The Kingdom running like clockwork.”

  “Sir, I don’t think that’s the solution. We would need to shut the whole system down completely for quite a time before the new one was up and running. Isn’t it better that we have at least some coverage while we figure it out?”

  “Fine. Do you need more men?” I ask, surprising myself at the calm way with which I am now dealing with this situation.

  “No, sir.”

  “Then get your ass out of my office and get on it. You have two days to get it sorted. Or, I’ll get another team of experts to take your place, got it?”

  “Yes, sir,” he answers but still doesn’t move.

  “Well …”

  “Uh …”

  “Get out of here.”

  He scrambles to get out of his seat and scurries out of the door.

  Useless fucking idiot.

  If he wasn’t the best at what he does, he would have been fired long ago. But the simple fact is, if he can’t fix it, no one can. He just needs a kick in the ass every now and then.

  I go back to my desk and check my cell. Two missed calls from Beth.

  I connect to her number, and wait for her to answer.

  “King. Where the fuck are you?” she asks impatiently and I chuckle.

  “Good morning Beth. It’s lovely to hear your voice.” I sit back in my brown leather chair, stretching out with my legs crossed at the ankle.

  “Quit it, King. Where is your girl? She was due here a half hour ago, but she’s a no show. Does this have something to do with you? ‘Cause it’s not gonna wash with me if you’re making her late by keeping her in your bedroom …”

  I can actually feel the color drain from me as I stand abruptly and start to pace between my desk and the door.

  She’s not there? Where could she be? She was so excited about meeting Beth this morning.

  “Did you call her cell? Maybe she lost track of time along the strip, you know how easy that is to do …”

  “I called. Several times. That’s why I’m calling you. If you find her before I do, can you get her to call me? We have a lot to go over before she starts.”

  “Sure. I’ll go check the apartment. Maybe she’s still trying to find something suitable to wear to meet Las Vegas’s best dressed beauty,” I joke, although it doesn’t feel funny. This is why I gave her a cell. So that I, or anyone else for that matter, can get in touch with her whenever.

  “You’re smooth, King, but I’m not happy,” she grumbles.

  “I know.” I sigh, “I’ll sort it.”

  She hangs up without saying goodbye, and I mutter under my breath out of frustration. Beth is not one to tolerate lateness, and this would have really pissed her off. Arianna is gonna have to work hard to get over this false start.

  I head up to the penthouse, jabbing impatiently at the elevator buttons. I don’t know why it makes me so agitated that she hasn’t turned up for work. Maybe it’s because I know she was so excited about starting, that wild horses wouldn’t have stopped her. She wouldn’t have missed it, would she? Maybe I don’t know her all that well at all, and she’s a serial latecomer, but even that doesn’t explain her not answering her cell. Or, maybe it’s because I’m so goddamn whipped that I can’t bear the thought of not knowing where she is, and hating the fact that she’s not with me, under me, on top of me, every minute of the day.

  Yep, whipped.

  I barge into the elevator as soon as the door opens and in my haste, I nearly knock someone flying. He has a briefcase that drops to the floor with a thud.

  “Shit,” I curse “Sorry mate,” I offer, clapping the man on the back. I try to pick up his case but he’s there before me, and he grabs it up fast, clutching it to his chest protectively.

  “No harm done,” he replies. He seems twitchy, and his dark eyes dart all around, but this is Las Vegas and you never know who you’re going to bump into. If I weren’t in such a hurry, I’d have watched him out on the CCTV, just to be sure what he’s up to, but Arianna is the only thing on my mind right now, and the CCTV probably wouldn’t fucking work anyway.

  I head up to the penthouse, finding mine empty. When I cross the hall and look a little closer, the door to Arianna’s suite is open just a fraction. I push it open further and the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. Something doesn’t feel right.

  “Arianna,” I call. “Arianna,” I shout louder but still nothing.

  I stride through to the bedroom, and it’s like a wrecking ball hits me in the chest.

  Images of my father flash through my head, along with feelings of helplessness and confusion.

  My girl. My stunning girl.

  She’s on the floor. She’s naked. She’s … is she breathing?

  I run to her side, drop to the floor to lift her onto me, cradling her upper body and pushing the tangled mess of her curls away from her face.

  “Arianna? Stunner …” I speak to her softly while I inspect
her body, trying to work out what the hell has gone on in the short space of time I’ve been gone. She’s breathing, but it’s shallow, and the thought of losing her paralyzes me. I’ve not had her long enough to lose her.

  The lump swells in my throat, but I force it down and pull my cell out of my pocket.

  “Jack. I need you up here, now,” I bark. “In her apartment, there’s been …fuck, I don’t know what’s happened but she’s unconscious and …”

  “I’ll be right there, sir,” Jack answers, in that reassuring, calm voice of his.

  “It’s okay, Stunner … We’re going to take you to the ER, and it’ll all be fine,” I murmur to her, but I’m not sure if she can hear me. Maybe the words are to comfort myself.

  She looks so small, so helpless. There’s no resistance in her limbs. No strength in her body. No warm affection coming from her soul. Nothing.

  What the fuck has happened?

  “Fuck,” I hiss. There’s no way I’m having Jack see her like this. I don’t want anyone else seeing her body, no matter what the situation is.

  I place her gently back on the floor for just a minute before grabbing a pillow off the bed and placing it under her head. I rummage through her drawer and pull out a pair of those little shorts that make her ass look so damn cute, although there’s nothing remotely sexual about this moment. I slide them up her legs just as I hear the elevator arrive. With no time to cover her top half, I whip off my t-shirt and pull it over her head. By the time Jack has entered the room, she’s covered as best as I can manage.