by Maris Black
Served him right.
“Do you know how adorable you look?” he asked, reaching over and running a hand over my abs the low-hanging band of my baggy shorts. “If I could possibly get it up right now, I’d be attacking you.”
I gave him a withering glare that was only half playful. “Stop trying to change the subject.”
He took a deep breath as if steeling himself. “Well, you know how I said I got mugged?”
“I knew it,” I said, knowing the triumphant gleam in my eyes was probably blinding.
“Well, it wasn’t a mugging, but I think maybe you know that already.”
“I had my suspicions,” I admitted. “But there wasn’t much I could do when you refused to be honest with me.”
“I know, and I’m sorry for that. It’s just that there are things going on that are so mind-boggling I didn’t know how to explain it to you. Not to mention there’s an element of danger involved. For you.”
“Me?” I squeaked, not so much shocked as dismayed. “It’s the Santori stuff, isn’t it? Someone found out about my part in it, and they’re blackmailing you.”
He wrinkled his brow in confusion. “How on earth did you come up with that?”
“Well, the note you found. The fact that you’re on edge all the time. And the way you’ve been treating me like I’m some heavy burden you’ve got to lug around.”
“No.” He ran a hand through his hair, looking guilty as hell. “Baby, I didn’t mean to treat you that way. I’m really sorry. It’s just—I’m going to have to start from the beginning, so bear with me, okay? I need you to understand.”
“The stage is all yours.” I held out a hand, my body buzzing with agitation. This conversation was bringing up all the feeling from the past weeks. Of being left in the dark, of being ignored.
He took another deep breath and leaned against the headboard. “When I took over the hotel, I started to get really worried. We both knew my uncle was a shady bastard, but knowing it and being a part of it are two very different things. So I set out to discover exactly what it was that I was a part of now. I got paranoid. If my business wasn’t on the up-and-up, then I was the one whose neck was on the line. I started thinking, what if something happens and I end up in prison? And what if I get into some legal trouble and someone finds out about—” He stopped talking and put a finger to his lips. Then he leaned into me and whispered, “You’re never to speak of that thing again. Not even here in our apartment. Do you understand?”
I nodded, suddenly assaulted by palpable memories of the spying we’d been subjected to by Santori. Was that a danger again? And if Santori was dead, who was left to spy on us?
“Anyway,” Kage continued. “I started asking around, and I discovered that there were other people involved in my uncle’s business. They treated me like an outsider when I confronted them. One of them, Theo Brown, was my uncle’s best friend. He runs the Scepter Hotel here in Vegas, which I own. I also own an art gallery and horse stables.”
Already, I was getting confused by the new details, but I nodded for him to continue.
“I paid Theo a visit and told him I was going to shut everything down and just focus on the Alcazar. Since he was such a close friend of Santori’s and had been with him from the beginning, I offered to give him a job here making the same salary.”
“Seems fair.”
“Does it?” Kage asked bitterly. “Because that offer is what earned me these bruises.”
I gasped. “Really? Why? If you were going to keep paying him the same thing—”
“He doesn’t just run a hotel, Jamie. He does a hell of a lot more than that.”
“Ohhh…” My eyes went wide as realization set in.
“Yeah,” Kage said in that same bitter tone. “So here’s the deal. You know I can’t sell anything for two years from the date of the inheritance, so I’m stuck with this situation. Theo is apparently part of my inheritance.”
“But what are you going to do? You can’t sell him after two years.”
“No, but I can sell the business to him. In the meantime, I need to get a handle on what’s going on so that I don’t make another mistake and get myself fucked up even worse.” He paused, presumably to let everything sink in. It didn’t work. I was still just as confused as I’d ever been, but at least he was sharing with me.
“So you’re going to…”
He studied the ceiling for a moment, as if either there was something really interesting up there or there was something he didn’t want to tell me. Finally, he said, “I’m going to work with Theo.”
“What?” I demanded. “Kage, that doesn’t even make any sense.”
“It does. I can’t have him wondering what I’m doing and if I’m going to compromise his livelihood, Jamie. He and I need to be on the same page while we have to work together.”
I shook my head. “But isn’t this just guaranteeing what you were originally afraid of happening? Now you’ll not only own the company, but you’ll be involved in illegal activities. If you got caught, you wouldn’t even be able to claim ignorance.”
“Jamie…” He was getting irritated now, but by God so was I.
“No, Kage. I can’t even wrap my head around the stupidity of what you’re saying.” I scanned his face for something and found only stubbornness. He had made up his mind about this, and there was going to be no changing it. “Fine. If you’re hell-bent on doing this, I need to be kept in the loop, too. We all need to be on the same page. Just promise me you’ll be done with it as soon as the two years is up, and that you won’t do anything you can’t take back.”
“Jamie—”
“Stop saying my fucking name. I’m not a child. We are a couple, and we’re living together, and I need to feel like I have some say in this. It’s my life, too.”
“Well, that’s the other thing,” he said sheepishly.
My stomach dropped. “Don’t say what I think you’re going to say. Don’t you say it, Kage. Don’t you fucking say it.”
“I need to keep you safe,” he whispered, staring at that damn ceiling again. “This is not a good place for you right now. If I fuck up, it could be you with bruises all over your body. Or worse. Please, Jamie. Listen to me. Theo doesn’t want you in the picture. He doesn’t trust you.”
“Well, I don’t give a good goddamn if he trusts me or not. What, you’re just going to let him dictate who you can have a relationship with now? Jesus, you fought Santori all the way, and now all of a sudden you’re going to let this guy you barely know control you? I don’t even know what to say. It’s ridiculous.”
I got up and started pacing the room, so close to exploding with rage it was ridiculous. I’d never felt quite so out of control.
“It’s not that simple,” he said, finally looking at me for a change. “I don’t know what to do, okay? He wants you out of the picture. He said it’s not negotiable.”
“And you’re just gonna lie down and take it. Why don’t you tell him it is negotiable? That I’m your man, and I’m staying. Why won’t you fight for me?” My voice trembled. “What do you expect me to do now? Go crawling back to Georgia? Hey, Mom and Dad. I need to move back in because Kage dumped me. Why? I don’t know. Something about turning to a life of crime. I mean what the fuck?”
“You’re getting too wound up,” Kage said. “You need to calm down and listen to reason.”
I shook my head. “You’re unbelievable. Reason? You think this is reason?”
“It’s as close to reason as I can get at the moment.”
“Well, that’s not good enough.” I approached the side of the bed where he still sat, unmoving. Tears sprang to my eyes, and I wiped angrily at them. “Do you love me, Kage? Or was that all just bullshit to keep me in line?”
“Of course I love you.” His eyes were beseeching. “I love you more than anything in this world, and I don’t want you to go.”
“Then I’m staying.” I crossed my arms over my chest and planted my feet, daring him t
o make me move.
“You can’t,” he said simply.
“Then there’s more to the story you’re not telling me. That stuff you told me about Theo is flimsy as hell. It doesn’t make any sense. And why do you keep acting like someone may be spying on us, yet you keep talking about it.”
He picked nervously at the covers. “I’m not saying anything to you that Theo isn’t aware of. He knows very well that I didn’t want to get involved in the more shadowy areas of the business, but he also knows that I want peace between us. I tried to change things, he had me beaten up, and then I went to him and asked him to be my mentor. I can’t be left out of my own business, Jamie, but I also can’t put you in harm’s way. Theo and I need to work together, and he says he won’t do it unless you go. End of story.”
“I can’t believe you would let him do this to you. To us. I thought you were stronger than that, but I guess I was wrong.”
I paced back over to the door, and I heard Kage getting off the bed. He came up close to me, his face inches from mine, and leaned in close. He whispered in my ear, presumably to avoid being heard by anyone who might be listening. “It’s only temporary, Jamie. This is something I have to do. Believe me, if there was another way—”
“Get off me,” I yelled, grabbing onto his broad shoulders and shoving him back as hard as I could. Every word and every sorry excuse out of his mouth pissed me off more than the last. “You know what’s really bad? You came in here tonight and had sex with me knowing you were going to blow me off afterward. That was fucking low.”
He physically winced away from my words, and I was glad. I had never wanted to hurt him before, but he was definitely hurt by my last comment. It was apparent in the subtle quiver of his lips and the way he suddenly looked defeated. It almost made me feel sorry for him, but not quite. I was hurting, too. So damn much. I wanted to fight to stay with him, but he seemed determined to get rid of me. Did he really plan on it being a temporary split, or was this all a complicated ruse to dump me without a fight? My head was spinning, and I couldn’t trust a word he said.
Neither of us spoke for a long time. We simply stood there and avoided looking anywhere but at each other. Was there anything left to say? After all of the words we’d hurled at each other, we were no closer to a solution. Well, no solution that satisfied me, anyway.
“We’ll talk about this when I get back from New York,” I said when I couldn’t take the awkwardness anymore.
“New York?”
“Yes, New York. I told you last week I’m going to the UFC fight. I need to get more experience at live events. Get out there and talk to people, take photos, do interviews. Blogs don’t write themselves, you know.”
“Sorry, I forgot about that. When do you leave?”
“Tomorrow afternoon. But don’t worry, I’ll make myself scarce in the morning until it’s time to go. And I won’t be back until Sunday afternoon. Do you mind if I sleep in here with you tonight?”
“Of course not.” He moved toward me, and I got the feeling he was going to put his arms around me, but he stopped short when I took a step back. His shoulders sagged even lower. “Well, I’m tired. I’m gonna do my thing in the bathroom before I hit the sack.”
“Fine. I’ll go after you.”
When we finally got settled into bed and the lights were out, the discomfort was so thick I was tempted to call Steve and see if I could stay at his place. It was a miracle I ever fell asleep. When my alarm went off and I dragged myself out of bed to pack for my trip, I decided I was more exhausted than when I’d gone to bed.
CHAPTER 8
KAGE
True to his word, Jamie made himself scarce the next morning. He was gone when I got up. I thought about stopping by his office on my way out to meet Theo, but I changed my mind at the last second. His feelings were still raw, and he had said we would talk when he got back. Maybe in the meantime I could talk Theo into easing up. His insistence that I cut Jamie loose made no sense anyway. I figured he was just carrying out my uncle’s wishes, which I was sure he had made known to everyone in his inner circle.
Theo was in his office when I arrived at the Scepter. He welcomed me in from behind his monstrosity of a desk, and I took my customary seat across from him. There was no Macallan this time—just an icy chill emanating from the man I now called mentor.
Well, I called him that to his face. In my mind, he was the bastard I was going to take down.
“So what’s on the agenda for today?” I finally asked. I didn’t want to push too hard or come off as too eager. If I had my way, Theo would spontaneously blurt out all of the secrets Aaron coveted, and I would be out of here. But that was far more than wishful thinking; it was high fantasy. Things like that didn’t happen in the real world.
In reality, Theo would keep his secrets hidden, and I would work to discover them for years. Jamie would move on and marry Cameron or someone else more deserving of him than me, and I would die alone like my uncle had. The other likely scenario was that I would get a bullet in my back while I was rifling through Theo’s drawers in search of some phantom list of clients that would have set me free.
“I’ll just be giving you a tour of the hotel today,” Theo said. “You are interested in seeing your own properties, right?”
What I wanted to say was, No, I don’t give a damn about my properties. Just tell me who you’re doing business with. Instead, I said, “Of course. I can’t wait to see it.”
So Theo gave me a mind-numbing tour of the Scepter, which was much less impressive than the Alcazar. It was in disrepair, with the entire top floor being completely closed off for renovations. Theo didn’t show me that floor, and he didn’t take me to the floor marked B for basement on the elevator keypad. That was fine by me. The dark basement of an old hotel was the last place I wanted to be alone with Theo Brown.
He explained that they didn’t do nearly the business the Alcazar did. They housed the odd straggler who stumbled upon the place by mistake while looking for somewhere to stay that wasn’t right in the middle of the fray. “Most people think we’ll be cheaper here, but we don’t want to encourage the budget crowd.”
His comment sounded blatantly elitist, but I could read the subtext: We’re not really a hotel. We’re a front for darker business. I was fine with that. I just wanted his client list.
He finished showing me around and informed me that he had a meeting to get to. I took that to mean he was done with me for the day, but I needed more than a tour of the supply closet and an introduction to the bored desk clerk.
“Would you mind if I tagged along to your meeting?” I smiled, hoping he wouldn’t sense the eagerness that was making me want to crawl out of my skin. “I don’t have anything better to do today.”
He regarded me with narrowed eyes. “I don’t think we’re there yet. I believe in baby steps.”
Baby steps. Great.
“Besides,” he continued. “I’m sure I’m keeping you from all of the fancy things you’re doing at the Alcazar. Didn’t you have a spa to finish or something?”
“I’ve got a great staff over there. They’ve really taken the ball and run with it. I hardly do anything besides check in with them every now and then.”
“Oh, yes. I forgot you’re just a beginner at all of this. I should warn you that letting your employees run the show is not a good thing and that you need to keep a close eye on every facet of your business, but you’ll learn that for yourself soon enough. If you’re letting someone else handle the decisions on this project, you’re going to spend at least twice as much. People aren’t nearly as conscientious about spending when it isn’t coming out of their own pockets.”
“I’ve been very hands-on with it up until now. It’s in the final stages, so I’m not too worried. It’s just a waiting game now.”
“How are your injuries?” he asked.
Oh, God. I was not about to let him get another look at my body. I could still feel his hands on me as if I’d been molested. I s
uppose in some weird pain-fetish way, I had been.
“They’re healing really fast, and I woke up with much less pain today than yesterday.”
Theo nodded but said nothing. I supposed he was disappointed that I wasn’t writhing in pain.
The truth was, I was still sore as hell, and the crazy sex with Jamie the night before hadn’t helped. But I wasn’t feeling quite as stiff, and that was a big plus. Hobbling around like an old man had been the worst. Hopefully, I would be fully recovered by the time I had to fight Anthony Rodriguez, who was a talented enough fighter to make me nervous. Not on a good day, though. If I were in the kind of shape I’d been a year before, I would have wiped the Octagon with him like I’d done everyone else, but I’d been shirking my training, and the weight cut already had me sweating bullets. I didn’t need to be injured on top of it.
Theo nodded and tapped his index finger deliberately on the desk. My eye was drawn to it, and I marveled not for the first time at how shiny his nails were, and I wondered if they had polished as well as buffed. He was obviously a vain man, with that perfectly waving mane of lion hair, immaculate suit, and a thick gold watch glittering at his wrist. My uncle had been very much the same, though without the flowing blond hair.
Suddenly I realized Theo’s finger was still tapping, and that it was a signal for me to stop wasting his precious time. Probably Morse code for Get the hell out of my office. Boy, when this man was done with you, he was done. No more chit-chat and no friendly smiles. Not that he was much of a smiler anyway.
I stood up and stretched, playing it off like it was my idea to leave. “You know, you’re probably right about the spa. I really should get back and see what they’re doing over there. I’m letting one of my employees handle the decorating, and he’s pretty flamboyant. If I’m not paying attention, he’ll probably have glitter paint on the walls.”
