Vegas, Baby: Volume 3

by Fiona Davenport

  Delia was sprawled face down on the couch in the den, and as we entered, she turned her head to glare at me. “I don’t think I thought this whole sibling thing through,” she grumbled as she sat up.

  I grinned and dropped into a chair, pulling Amelia down into my lap. “Too late now. This was your idea, sweetie. We’re already cooking you another one.”

  Amelia smacked my chest and glared at me. “We were supposed to tell her together.” Then she cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes to slits. “You haven’t told anyone else, right? Because it’s too soon.”

  I held up my hands in a surrender pose. “No one. I swear.”

  Delia drew our attention when she grumbled and climbed to her feet. “I’m going to bed,” she said as she trudged toward the door. “These siblings better be prepared to babysit and change diapers when I have kids.”

  Then she disappeared, leaving me choking and Amelia slapping me on the back while laughing hysterically.

  “You alright there, babe?”

  I swallowed hard and shook my head. “She’s joking, right? She can’t have kids if she doesn’t have sex.” My eyes met Amelia’s, and I silently pleaded for her to agree with me, but she just snorted again.

  “Don’t you want to be a grandpa someday?” she asked when she finally calmed down.

  “That will be Zack Jr’s job,” I informed her.

  Amelia raised an eyebrow and gave me an arch look. “Kind of a double standard, don’t you think?”

  I frowned and started to defend myself, then stopped because I knew whatever I said wouldn’t make a difference. I might as well be honest, so I shrugged. “I guess so.”

  “And how exactly do you expect to keep them from having sex?”

  “My little girls would never do anything like that,” I insisted, keeping my head firmly in the sand.

  Amelia chuckled and gave me a condescending pat on the shoulder. “Good luck with that.” I tried to hold on to her when she moved to get up, but she managed to dance away and skip to the door. Then she stopped and winked at me. “Didn’t you promise to do some distracting?”

  I perked up at her question...literally. “Absolutely,” I agreed and jumped to my feet.

  “Great! I’d like an ice cream sundae with chocolate and caramel on the side, lots of extra whip cream, and cherries.”

  Obviously, I’d been expecting a different type of distraction, but I would always be happy to do whatever made my wife smile. “Sure, beautiful.” I kissed her cheek as I walked past her and headed to the kitchen.

  “Thank you, babe,” she murmured. Her tone was mischievous, and I glanced back at her curiously. “You can bring it to me in bed and distract me by eating it off my body.”

  Extra Epilogue

  Amelia

  As I pulled into our driveway after dropping Julia, Zack Junior, and Lydia off at school, I was surprised to see Delia’s car parked in front of the house. Even though she and her husband finally moved back to Vegas a few months ago, we didn’t see as much of my stepdaughter as we’d like.

  Zack had been beside himself when she first brought Danny home toward the end of her senior year of college. Although he’d liked the boy, nobody would ever be good enough for his little girl—not even an honor student about to graduate summa cum laude and soon to be headed off to Harvard Law. Especially not when Delia chose that weekend to drop the bombshell on us that she was following him to Boston.

  With three small children, we didn’t get out to see them very often, but Delia and Danny spent a couple of their summers in Vegas. Luckily, Danny had fallen in love with the area and brought Delia back after getting a few years’ experience at a big firm under his belt.

  While I was parking, she hopped out and crossed the lawn, twisting her hands together as I climbed out of my car. She was practically glowing, but somehow also pale. When I reached for her hands, I noticed they were trembling. “Delia, sweetheart. What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

  “Okay doesn’t even begin to describe how I am,” she answered with a tremulous smile. “I have some amazing news to share.”

  “Oh!” I exclaimed, my eyes going wide as I realized what she’d probably come to tell me. “Your dad should be back soon. He...um...uh—”

  I was trying to come up with an excuse for why Zack was coming home after being in the office for only an hour because the real reason wasn’t something I wanted to share with his daughter. The last thing she wanted to hear about was our Monday morning quickie tradition. But she was smart enough to figure it out on her own. Wrinkling her nose, she cried, “Ew, stop. Please.”

  “Yup, totally stopping here.” My cheeks heated as I hooked my arm through hers and led her into the house.

  Delia headed straight to her favorite chair in the living room and sat down, pulling her feet up and wrapping her arms around her shins. Propping her chin on her knees, she grinned at me as I plopped down on the couch. “It’s a good thing you’re sitting down because my news is big. Like bake-me-a-cake big.”

  “If your news is what I think it is, I’ll make you anything you want,” I promised, bouncing in my seat with excitement.

  Her lips curved up in a huge grin as she announced, “I’m pregnant.”

  “Oh, my God! I’m so happy for you!” I jumped up and hugged her. “You’re going to be such a great Mommy.”

  “Only because Julia, Zack, and Lydia already broke me in.” She dropped her hand down to cover her still-flat belly. “There isn’t much this little peanut could do to surprise me after all the stuff they’ve pulled when I’ve been on babysitting duty.”

  “Your siblings are definitely a handful,” I agreed with a laugh. “But they’re going to be super excited to hear that they’re getting a niece or nephew.”

  She rubbed her hands together and grinned with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Soon enough, they’ll be the ones who’ll be babysitting for me.”

  “You’ve been waiting a long time for the tables to turn.” Not that I blamed her considering the trouble her siblings got into while she was watching them. “And you seem super excited to be pregnant. So why did you look so worried when I got here?”

  “Because I have a favor to ask, and it’s a doozy.” She bit her bottom lip.

  I patted her hand. “Whatever you need.”

  “I was hoping you’d tell my dad for me.” She sighed and rolled her eyes. “You know how he is when it comes to his daughters and sex. Even though he walked me down the aisle to Danny five years ago, he still likes to pretend that I’m a virgin.”

  I wished that I could say she was exaggerating, but Zack was irrational when it came to his daughters. “Your dad loves you. Don’t be afraid to tell him.”

  “What are you afraid to tell me?” the familiar voice of my husband asked from behind us. We’d been so focused on our conversation that neither of us had heard him come in. Delia let out a little yelp and turned pleading eyes toward me. I flashed her a reassuring smile before patting the cushion next to me. WhenZack dropped down onto it, I reached out to lace my fingers through his. “You two are starting to freak me out. What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong.” I squeezed his hand and beamed a smile his way. “Delia came over to share the very best news. You’re going to be a grandpa.”

  “A grandpa?” he echoed softly, his dark eyes widening. “You’re pregnant, Delia?”

  “Uh-huh,” she whispered.

  He jumped up and pulled his daughter to her feet, his arms going around her in a gentle embrace. “I can hardly believe it. My baby girl is going to be a mom soon.”

  “I am,” she sniffled against his chest.

  Tears filled my eyes as I watched my husband tilt his daughter’s head back with trembling hands. “I’m so happy for you and Danny.”

  I wasn’t surprised by how well Zack took the news. As much as he liked to keep his head in the sand about how grown up his adult daughter was, he was an amazing father. I had no doubt that he’d be an equally awesome
grandpa, too. But if the baby was a girl, he was going to be in overprotective mode for the rest of his life.

  Fight Me, Baby

  Angelique Butler didn’t want to prance around in front of a crowd in a bikini, but the situation her brother landed her in had left her no choice. Then the decision was taken out of her hands when Michael “Saint” St. John tossed her over his shoulder and carried her away.

  As a champion MMA fighter, Saint was used to taking hard hits, but nothing prepared him for his reaction to Angelique. The gorgeous blonde was meant for his eyes only, and he was more than willing to get the message across to her brother—in and out of the ring.

  1

  Saint

  “Well, well, well. If it isn’t Michael St. John,” Knox, the head of security for the Lennox Hotel and Casino, greeted me with a chin lift. I rolled my eyes, and he grinned. “You ready for tonight, princess?”

  I squinted at him in annoyance and grunted, “Fuck you. When have I ever been unprepared for a fight?”

  Knox smirked, and I considered giving him a tap on his face...with my fist. He was deliberately trying to get under my skin. We’d known each other for years, ever since we started competing in small-time fights in our twenties. He’d gone into security, only fighting for an outlet, whereas I’d gone pro and made a name for myself as a deadly MMA champion. Between my fight salary, sponsorships, and fight night bonuses, I was the highest paid MMA fighter in the UFC this year. I could have retired as a millionaire several years ago, had even decided that if I retired, it would be in Vegas, and bought a big ass house on a horse ranch nearby. But I enjoyed the sport, and nothing else interested me, so I’d keep fighting until I had damn good reason not to.

  Knox was frequently at my fights and loved to bust my chops. I gave as good as I got, but in the end, it was all just friendly bullshit. If either one of us ever needed something, the other would be right there to help. I knew I could count on Knox to bring the shovel and find a place where no one would ever find the body.

  Tonight was the finals, the match that would decide who fought in the championship. I’d won the belt three years running, and this year would be no different. I was looking forward to going up against my next opponent. I knew Sam a little, and I’d followed his season. He was going to make me work for it, so it would be a fun fight.

  “There something you need, Dawson?” I asked as I wrapped up one hand.

  “I wanted to give you a heads-up. There’s been a change on the roster for tonight.”

  My head snapped up, and I stopped what I was doing to stare at Knox. “Where’s Sam?”

  Knox folded his arms over his chest as his brow furrowed. “In the hospital with a broken leg, three cracked ribs, and seven broken fingers.” His expression turned dark and suspicious. “A couple of my men found him in the garage getting the shit kicked out of him by at least six guys. They jumped in to help and managed to do some damage before the fuckers ran off like pussies.”

  “Robbery?” I asked, unable to say much else because I was still reeling from the news. Sam was a big fucking guy and a straight arrow, so I assumed it had to be a robbery.

  Knox shook his head. “I don’t think so. It doesn’t make sense, though. One of my men said he recognized a few of them as thugs who worked for Jimmy Benton.”

  My eyebrows shot up. “The bookie?” My head automatically began to swivel from side to side, a denial rolling off my tongue. “No way. I’ve never met anyone more straitlaced than Sam.”

  “I agree. But I also trust my guys. Something isn’t right here, and I’m going to look into it.”

  An offer of help was on the tip of my tongue when we were joined by Drew Lennox, the co-owner of the arena, and he cut me off before I could speak. “We’ll take care of it, Saint. Focus on the fight.”

  I wanted to argue, but he was right. Especially now that I was going to be up against an unknown opponent. “Who’s the replacement?”

  “Vince Butler.”

  “What the fuck?” I shouted, making the spectators nearest my corner jump. I ignored them as I fumed, “How the fuck did that scrawny motherfucker end up competing in the finals?” This was Vince’s first year in the UFC, and nobody had expected him to make it past his first few opponents. He was a shit fighter, but the little asshole fought dirty. Though we couldn’t prove anything, we all suspected that he’d cheated his way to the top. I’d been happy to see him take a beating in the pre-qualifiers and lose the fight. But with Sam out of the competition, it seemed he’d scored high enough to be the wild card.

  Drew blew out an agitated breath and stuck his hands in his pockets. “I don’t usually put any stock in rumors, but the word is that Vince is in deep with the seedier side of town. In this instance, I’m inclined to believe it.”

  Knox glared at the Octagon as though the fucker was already in there. “Watch your back, Saint. If the talk is true, he’s probably desperate, and that can make him easy pickings or very dangerous.”

  The conversation was getting in my head and distracting me. Not fully concentrating on my opponent could cost me the fight or even get me injured. Knox knew that, which was probably why he took the opportunity to make another dig at me, particularly my reputation for stellar footwork. “Just be on your twinkle-toes, princess.”

  “You’re cruisin’ for a bruisin’, Dawson,” I growled.

  Just then, Zack Parker, the owner of The Artemis, the neighboring hotel and casino, walked up to our trio. He and Drew had partnered up to build the arena between their two establishments. “Saint,” he said in greeting. “From the look on your face, I assume they’ve told you about the switch up in opponents tonight.”

  I nodded and cracked my knuckles because the sound reminded me of broken bones, which Vince would have plenty of by the time I was done with him. I was about to respond when something caught my eye, and I spun around to fully face the ring.

  The world around me seemed to stop with one exception. Climbing into the ring from the opposite side was the most stunning woman I’d ever seen in my thirty-five years. She was tall and slender, almost a little too thin but with just enough curves to her hips that they would be perfect for holding while I fucked her. Her tits were on the small side, but they were perfect to me. Round and perky with hard little nipples that made my mouth water. She had shoulder-length blond hair, and when she stood and her eyes swept the area around her, I almost got lost in their turquoise depths. They were unique and amazing.

  As I drank in the sight of her, my mood began to plummet, and I felt my expression harden. The reason I was able to admire her so closely was because she was practically fucking naked. Her tiny black bikini top (if you could call two triangles and a piece of string a top) barely contained her tits, and the thin material made it very clear she was a little cold. The bottoms were tied at the sides, hanging low on her hips, and I was almost positive that if she moved the wrong way, the fabric would no longer cover her pussy.

  Possession slammed into me, and an inferno raged inside me. No one was allowed to see her like this but me. She walked over to the referee, and he handed her large white cards with numbers on them. She was a ring girl?

  “Oh, fuck no,” I snarled. I charged to the ring and swung myself up on the side before quickly climbing over the ropes. By the time I reached her, I’d pulled off my long, silver robe and threw it over her shoulders, covering what was for my eyes only.

  She gasped as I tied the robe tightly closed but didn’t have a chance to say anything because I lifted her over my shoulder in a fireman’s hold and marched back over to one side of the Octagon. I maneuvered us over the ropes and then jumped to the ground, easily landing on my feet. Keeping her firmly in my grasp, I stomped over to Knox and gently set her back on her feet. “Hold this for me,” I growled.

  2

  Angelique

  Hold this for me?! What in the heck just happened?

  Fisting my hands at my hips, I turned to glare at the guy who’d just carted me out of th
e ring and into a corner of the stadium. He was so darn tall, I had to tilt my head all the way back to meet his dark eyes. I gulped a little when I took in how gorgeous he was with chiseled features, lush lips, and thick, dark hair. But just because he was sexier than any guy I’d ever seen before didn’t mean I wasn’t going to give him a piece of my mind. He started to walk away, and I shouted, “Hey, wait! You can’t just pick me up, put me where you want me, and tell some strange guy”—I hitched my thumb in the direction of the man he’d given his ridiculous command to—“to hold me for you...while calling me a ‘this.’ I’m a woman, not a thing.”

  He pivoted back around, and his gaze swept down my body, which was now covered by the huge robe he’d thrown over me. When his eyes came back up again and met mine, they’d darkened a shade. “I’m well aware that you’re a woman. The scraps of material you’re wearing that are supposed to pass for a bikini made it more than clear. I could see just about every inch of your delectable body, including your pebbled nipples pressing against the top.”

  One of the guys behind me chuckled, and I turned to direct my glare at him as my cheeks filled with heat. He held his hands up in a gesture of surrender, and said, “I’m not laughing at you. I swear, it’s aimed one hundred percent at Saint.”

  Saint?! Oh, crap! No wonder he was so strong he could pick me up and carry me as though I weighed no more than a small child. He had to be the reigning MMA champ who my brother had somehow weaseled his way into fighting against. I swiveled my head back to Saint and asked, “You’re fighting Vince Butler tonight?”