My father drops his gaze. He lets out a heavy sigh and spins his full-grain leather chair to the window and the infinity pool beyond, where pine trees dot the landscape for a natural appearance. The deep blue of the lake and its sandy shore lie just past the pool. “You’ve always been loyal. I never realized how that might have held you back.”
For a moment, I’m struck mute.
My father doesn’t back down, let alone admit wrongdoing. His entire world revolves around Club Tahoe. I would have bet my life he wanted my world to revolve around it too. In fact, he stated as much when he insisted I work at Blue Casino to broaden my experience before returning to Club Tahoe full-time.
Is this some sort of trick? Is he testing my loyalty? “I’ve enjoyed the work I’ve done at the club.”
He doesn’t look away from the view. “Yes. Your brothers never did.”
Was that longing in his voice? What the hell?
It’s not like my father hates my brothers, but he hasn’t spoken to some of them in years. They never did what he wanted, and their presence tended to make his blood pressure rise and his face turn a mottled burnt red.
I strain my neck and look around, expecting someone to jump out and yell, “Gotcha.”
When I turn back, my father’s eyes are forlorn. I have the strangest urge to soothe him, which has never happened in my entire life. Ethan Cade isn’t soft. He doesn’t need comfort. He’s a damn self-possessed man. What’s gotten into him?
“My brothers took umbrage at your shoving the company down their throats,” I remind him.
There. That’s more like our typical conversations.
He looks me dead in the face. “That was my mistake. I should never have pushed so hard. Should have given you and your brothers more freedom to pursue other careers.”
Holy shit. Who is this man? To hear my father even suggest he’d be open to us working anywhere other than Club Tahoe sounds foreign. And why is he saying it now? “Dad: Levi, Wes, Bran, and even Hunt—they’ve made lives for themselves, regardless of the past. You don’t need to…to worry.”
He nods tightly. “You think they’ll visit?”
I chuckle without humor. “Since when did you want us to visit? Work here, sure, but—”
He looks at the family photo of the six of us taken a year after my mother’s death. In the picture, my father is standing behind us near the front gates of Club Tahoe. My brothers and I are wearing identical blue polo shirts and slacks we weren’t permitted to so much as touch with our fingers, let alone get dirty. What’s not revealed in the picture is that my brothers and I waited for over an hour for our father to show up. He’d been too busy with work to make the shoot on time. Which left four boys and an eighteen-month-old restless and confused.
“I’ve not been there for you,” he says, shocking me further. “I shouldn’t have put Club Tahoe first. I plan to change that.”
Something is wrong here, or this is a setup. He’s lost his damn mind. I’m twenty-seven; my brothers range in age from twenty-two to twenty-nine. We’re adults. Even if this weren’t a joke, it’s a little late. “Look, Dad. I don’t know where this is coming from or what you have planned, but don’t push the others. They’re happy.”
I nearly wince at the intensity behind the gaze my father sends me. “Are they?”
“Happy?” I ask, just to be sure I’m following. Because this entire conversation is surreal.
He nods.
I’d like to say, yes, of course they’re happy, but the truth is, I don’t know. Sometimes I suspect my brothers are as lost as I am.
I sit forward. “They’re grown men. They make their own choices.”
He studies me for a long moment before his gaze flickers away. “Congratulations. On the promotion. You like it there?” He looks over at this last question as if my answer is important, when my happiness has never been important to him. In my entire life, my father has never asked what I wanted.
“I enjoy the work.” Better to agree and get this uncomfortable conversation over with, but as soon as the words leave my mouth, I realize they’re true. Working at Blue has felt right from the beginning. Or at least, from the moment I set eyes on Hayden Tate.
Hayden is…different. She doesn’t cower. For some twisted reason, I like that. She’s refreshing in a lifestyle that grows stale. Or maybe it’s the way her curvy hips swish back and forth after I’ve pissed her off and she’s storming away from me—I haven’t decided. Either way, she’s made Blue bearable, and now I’ve been promoted. It can only get better from here.
From what I’ve heard, management bonuses, coupled with the increased income I’ll be receiving, will keep me in comfort. I won’t need my father’s money to stay flush. And I’d give anything to prove to my brothers that I can make it on my own.
I lost my brothers’ respect when I started cashing in on the trust fund payments our father dangled while they walked away to live their own lives. My brothers have my back, but they’ve never understood why I put up with our father’s crap.
I thought the job my father ordered me to take at Blue Casino was to ensure he still had me as his lackey, just more experienced. Some part of me still believes it. But if his words are true, and he’s open to me working somewhere else, I’d just as soon never work at Club Tahoe again. I’d like to become my own man, the way my brothers have. Which means I can’t screw up the opportunity Blue has given me.
I stand and reach across the desk, shaking my father’s hand with a firm grip, the way he taught me to when I was four years old. “I’d better get back. I’m meeting with friends to celebrate.”
“Don’t be a stranger, Adam.” He squeezes my palm, the look in his eyes sincere.
“No,” I stammer. “Of course not.” But I have no idea what he’s talking about. My brothers and I are all strangers to him. It just so happens I’m a closer stranger than the rest of them.
I exit his office and stop in the reception area, staring blindly at the opposite wall. Whatever is going on with him, it can’t be important, or I’d have heard about it in the local news. He’ll be back to his overbearing, ornery self in no time.
“Everything all right?” Esther is sitting at her desk, her eyebrows pinched in concern.
“Fine.” I grin and pull a butterscotch candy from my pocket, placing it in front of her. My brothers and I used to leave Esther her favorite candy whenever we visited. Now, I’m the only one who sets foot in this place.
I walk toward the exit, and Esther’s soft voice drifts toward me. “He’s proud of you, you know.”
My back stiffens and I freeze, a prickle of unease floating across my neck. The atmosphere in here is off. I’m not used to heart-to-hearts with my father. Or with Esther, as kind as she’s been over the years.
I thought I wanted my father’s pride in me. Now that I have it, I’m too disturbed by his behavior to feel anything but confusion.
I offer a confident smile that I don’t feel over my shoulder, and exit Club Tahoe.
Chapter Two
Hayden
The receptionist informs Blackwell that I’m here and receives verbal approval for me to enter, but my boss is an all-around scary man, and he’s never liked me.
I hesitate at the door, pray he’s in a good mood, then step inside. “Do you have a moment?”
He doesn’t look up from his computer. “Make it quick. I’m expecting a call.”
I close the door behind me and put on my best game face. “I wanted to talk to you about the hospitality manager position.”
“It’s been filled,” he says, clicking through a document on the screen.
“Yes…that’s why I’m here. You asked me to hire someone.”
Blackwell looks over, his beady brown eyes even smaller behind the wire-rimmed glasses he wears. “And? Do you have a problem with the person I selected?” His curt voice indicates I had better not have a problem. “Mary!” he calls. His receptionist scrambles in, and he hands her a file. “Deliver this. You
know where. Do it now.”
Scary. Ass. Boss.
“No, of course there’s no problem,” I say once his receptionist has left. “I just thought you’d want to consult with me about the candidates I’ve been interviewing before you made a decision. And announced it to the entire company.”
“Ahh.” He shifts so that he’s fully facing me. I have the urge to step back, but I don’t. “Is that the issue? That I didn’t ask for your opinion, Hayden?”
He hasn’t invited me to sit, so I stand near the door in my designer heels that give me a sense of confidence. Because I earned them through hard work, just like I earned the degrees that got me a job in a luxury casino like Blue. “I’m concerned about how the team perceives my position,” I say. “I worry that perhaps your disregard for the work I’ve done to fill the executive slot gives more ammunition to managers who have the wrong impression about my role here.”
“And what impression would that be?” His smile is menacingly saccharine.
I inadvertently step back. “That I am a figurehead for HR.”
Holy shit. Did I say that out loud?
“And here I thought we didn’t understand each other.” The receptionist comes over the intercom, telling him he has a call. He picks up the receiver on his desk. “Now, if you’ll excuse me?” He presses the red light that’s flashing. “Ed, thank you for waiting.” He turns away in his chair, effectively shutting me out.
Blackwell wants people to believe I’m a figurehead? It’s what I suspected, but I still thought he chose me because I’m capable. What is the point of my being here?
Right, for PR purposes. If Blue gets rid of me and hires someone else, it won’t look good. Blackwell couldn’t care less if I do my job, so long as I stay out of his way.
I reach for the door, and he calls my name. I slowly turn, my gaze unwavering. “Adam will be hiring several employees for a new venture.” His hand is over the base of the receiver, preventing whomever he’s talking to from hearing. “Stay out of his way and don’t question whom he hires. If you don’t, you won’t like the consequences. Do you understand?”
Oh my God. What did I get myself into when I took this job? I knew things were bad once I figured out Blue’s history of harassment, but it’s getting worse.
“Yes.” I exit his office before I throw up, nearly running into Eve in my rush out. Eve is one of two women I suspect brown-nose Blackwell so often she could diagram his colon.
“Pardon me, Hayden.” She shifts the files in her arms and overtly lowers her knit blouse. Blackwell glances at the open door with the phone to his ear. He waves Eve inside, and she gives me an insincere grin that barely flexes her lips, as she shimmies past me.
I walk down the hall, disgusted, and so damned angry at myself for not asking around before I jumped at the position at Blue. Unlike Adam, I was underqualified. Or at least, a borderline fit for the human resources director. I had the degrees, but not the length of experience when Blue hired me. The applicant list for my job had to have been long. I’d thought they’d seen something special in me…
The only thing they saw was an easy target.
Adam
I enter Farley’s and spot two guys I work with. I wouldn’t call Paul and William friends, but they’re close work associates. We shoot the shit in the break room, and they’ve made certain I’m comped the few times I’ve entered Blue’s nightclub.
Paul and William roll around Blue Casino like celebrities, and I can’t say I mind it. As a Cade, I’m accustomed to deference in Lake Tahoe.
“Congrats, man.” Paul grips my palm with a firm hand pump, his brown eyes sparkling. I watch as he gestures to the bartender and points to the Gran Patrón Platinum. Farley’s is a hole in the wall, but they keep the good stuff around for execs who drop by after work, looking to blow off steam.
The bartender places three shots in front of us, and Paul holds up his. “To the new venture.”
I pick up a glass and flick my wrist back, downing the clear liquid. The top-shelf tequila is about as smooth as it gets.
I slide the empty glass to the bartender, and it’s bussed and quickly replaced with a bottle of Corona. Almost as if Paul or William requested it beforehand. Farley’s is good, but they’re not that good.
I raise my eyebrow and glance at the guys. “I get that we’re celebrating, but what else is this get-together about? Does it have anything to do with the venture you’ve been working on but won’t discuss? Blackwell didn’t go into specifics this afternoon, but he mentioned that hospitality will handle the front face, and you two are to head up the back end.” Which is an odd way of putting it, but hey—Blackwell’s words, not mine.
Paul and William have remained tight-lipped about this new project, and I’m anxious as hell to know what all of the secrecy is about.
Paul takes a sip of his beer, his head dipped low as if he’s trying to hide his expression. He scratches the side of his brown hair. “In due time. Don’t worry, you’ll be filled in soon enough.”
I gulp my beer. This is ridiculous. I’ve kept my mouth shut, not asking questions when I was nothing but the lowly assistant to the hospitality manager, but now I’m running the department. It’s time someone filled me in.
I don’t respond, giving them my best Cade glare.
William clears his throat, shooting Paul a conspiratorial look. “Blackwell told us you’re hiring new people. Just make sure you hire the right people. The best you can find, and make sure they’re discreet. If you have something on them, even better.”
“Are you talking blackmail?”
William’s black winged eyebrows vee upward. He holds up his hands, a douchey grin on his face. “You said it, not me.”
I set down my beer. I understand the competitive nature of tourism, and casinos in particular. I’ve been surrounded by it my entire life, but Paul and William have my full attention now. “What else?”
William looks at Paul, who tucks his pointy chin, hiding a wide grin. “Hot chicks,” they say at the same time. “With low morals,” Paul adds.
I shove my hand in my pocket, my exterior cool, but inside I’m wondering what the fuck this venture is all about. Can’t be illegal. It wasn’t that long ago that Blue Casino was in the news for something an executive had done. Cost the casino a small fortune in PR to put out the fire, from what I’m told. Blackwell wouldn’t risk it.
Paul leans forward and places a hand on my shoulder. “Find the hottest chicks with the lowest morals who won’t say a thing.”
I pull back and narrow my eyes. To be honest, I never liked girls with low morals. It’s often coupled with low self-esteem, and that’s a turnoff. “If this venture is some new revenue builder, why not scrape a few employees off the top? Grab the best performers and move them up.”
“No, man.” William shakes his head. “Can’t be anyone from the inside. We tried that before and it backfired. Has to be new recruits who understand the discretion element.”
Who do they think they are, the CIA? “It would help if I understood the venture.”
“It’s basically right in your wheelhouse. Hospitality,” William says. “We’re being very hospitable to our patrons. The new employees will provide everything our customers could ever want in a luxury resort, with the focus on risk-taking and pleasure—exactly why they come to the casino.”
Paul taps his Blue sapphire signet ring on the side of his beer bottle. “Look at it this way—you can begin by hiring an assistant. Make sure she’s hot and not a prude. In fact, look for her in the strip clubs. Any of those chicks would pine for a job at Blue. Bump up the pay, and make sure she signs the confidentiality agreement we send you tomorrow. Blackwell has contacts for bodyguards. Guys he knows through his connections prior to running the casino. They’ll make sure everything runs smoothly.”
Suddenly, my quick promotion and the guys insisting we head out to Farley’s have my suspicions firing. “Tell me something.” I grab my beer and take a long drag. “Are we wor
king right now?”
“Business and pleasure.” The sides of Paul’s narrow chin pull in with his grin. “They go hand in hand. You play it right—find the right people, help us get these suites crowded with wealthy, pleasure-seeking patrons—and you’ll be seeing seven-figure bonuses before you know it.”
That’ll do. I study both of their faces to make sure I heard right.
Seven figures, along with my regular salary, and I’ll be sailing through without help from the Cade coffers. I could distance myself from the entire enterprise, and my brothers couldn’t say shit about my holding on to Daddy’s purse strings because I wouldn’t need them. I won’t cut off all contact with my father the way my brothers have. I’ve always been able to compartmentalize his bullshit, and because of that, we have something of a relationship, even if it’s mostly a working one. But with this new venture, I won’t need to be dependent on my father financially.
I order another round of shots. So this thing has shady elements—the strippers, to name one. Can’t be that bad, or they wouldn’t be able to get away with it. And I’m no saint. I don’t typically go for the low morals, easy lay, but I never said I haven’t. Who am I to judge? “Just tell me how many employees we need, and when, and I’ll take care of it.”
“Yeah!” William slaps me on the back. “We knew you were one of us.”
I grimace. I don’t mind working with William and Paul, but they’re not friends. I like to think I have better taste.
“Just make sure you keep that Hayden chick out of it,” Paul says, and my back stiffens. “Use her for access cards—that kind of bullshit—but tell her nothing. Matter of fact, probably best to keep the new employee files locked in your office.”
I don’t like hearing Hayden’s name come out of Paul’s mouth, let alone the disgruntled look on his face when he says it. I wonder how many times she’s turned him down to put that scowl there. “Nope, won’t involve her at all.” Because I fucking don’t want Hayden around these jackasses.
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