The Marriage Mistake_A Billionaire Hangover Romance

by Natalie Knight

I turn towards him and catch his eyes, anger vibrating within me. "Leo, you don't know the first thing about what I need or who I am. Not anymore. I'm a different person now and I don't owe you anything. This may be happening in your casino, but that's the extent of your involvement."

  My words are biting but true. He hurt me in the past. I really don't owe him a damn thing.

  He lets me go abruptly.

  "Now, I've had a long night and I'm going to bed," I say, ready to just get away from him and the storm of emotions he dredges up.

  I walk away, head held high, and don't look back, but I know his eyes are following me. I can feel it, just like earlier.

  Once inside the elevator, I slump against the wall and try to catch my breath.

  It took everything in me to stand up to Leo Asher like that. He's gorgeous. Even more than before because he’s all man now.

  I'm not interested in him breaking my heat again. I have to keep my distance from him. No matter what my body says, my mind knows better.

  I pull off my wig and let my blonde waves fall loosely around my shoulders as the glass elevator takes me up to my room.

  How am I going to do this every single night? My only hope is that Leo won’t be around as much as he was tonight, staring me down while I flirt with other men.

  Otherwise…this is going to be harder than I anticipated.

  I look down as the elevator rises higher, and there he is.

  Leo's just standing where I left him, watching me even in here.

  Our eyes meet for a second, and then I'm gone, too high for him to see.

  I'm grateful for the escape because the nervous energy that races through me overwhelms. I'm happy to be away from him because I can breathe again.

  At least that’s what I keep telling myself hours later as I lie awake in my bed, thinking about what the next night will bring.

  Leo

  Golden eyes float above me, equally golden hair cascading down around my face as my girl hovers over me, her mouth open in ecstasy as she sinks down onto my throbbing cock.

  Fuck.

  Not again.

  I slam my hand down on my desk trying to rid myself of the images.

  I'm in my office going over some detailed paperwork. My executive assistant has cleared my schedule for the afternoon because she knows that it's urgent business. My head should be in the game but all I can think about is...her.

  I never expected to see Sienna again. Last night was the shock of my life. Now that I’ve seen her, heard her, felt her, she permeates all of my thoughts.

  As much as I try to put her out of my head and focus, fantasies like this keep invading my mind. I’ve been rock hard all day, and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it.

  Just as I’m about to try for the eighty-seventh time to get this paperwork wrapped up, my phone buzzes.

  "Mr. Asher, I have Mr. Jax Reid waiting for you," my assistant, Carly, says.

  I stare at my phone in shock. You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.

  Not only did Sienna walk back into my life last night and throw me into a tailspin, but now the last person I thought I’d ever see again is here to further shake up my world.

  Carly knows not to bother me unless the person is really important, and considering Jax's face has been all over the news as he's up for reelection, she must have deemed him important enough to disturb me.

  Little does she know that he's the last person on earth I want coming into my office. With our history, things are strained. And that’s putting it mildly.

  "Hello there, Leo." Jax strides right in before I can even tell Carly it’s okay to send him back.

  "Jax. Still a presumptuous asshole, I see. What the fuck are you doing here?" I say, barely looking up from my paperwork. He doesn't deserve the time of day from me.

  "Still grouchy about the past, I see.” His cocky attitude hasn’t changed, that much is clear.

  This infuriates me, and I lift my head to meet his gaze now. "I think you’re the one to blame for that, if I remember correctly."

  "Me?" he scoffs. "Excuse me, but you slept with my sister. You tricked her, stole her virginity and then ran away."

  This enrages me further. It takes superhuman effort to keep myself from jumping over the desk and grabbing him by the throat.

  I practically bark, "I did that for you, and you damn well know it. I stayed away because you wanted me to. I would never have abandoned Sienna."

  It doesn’t take much for our history to come up from the depths in which I’ve buried it. Memories flash through my head as I stare at the man my old friend has become.

  Yeah, we were friends, the best of friends, but when Sienna and I slept together ten years ago it made Jax crazy and we got into a huge argument over it. The things he said were unforgivable. It destroyed a friendship that had felt more like a brotherhood.

  Ten years, and I haven't seen either of them. Until she walked back into my life last night. Upending everything.

  When I saw that Sienna’s working as an escort, I took it upon myself to text her brother and tell him.

  It doesn't matter how many years of animosity we have between us. Someone needs to protect her from herself. If she refuses to listen to me, which obviously she is, I don’t have a choice.

  Jax needed to know.

  Though the last thing I expected was for him to show up at my office.

  "I know why you're here," I say calmly, deciding to avoid a rehashing of the conversations we've had in the past. It would be futile. "But I don't know what you think I can do about it."

  He takes a seat, though I don't offer it. Bastard.

  "I think there is something you can do, Leo. And at the very least you owe me this favor considering you were the one to steal her innocence, which probably led us to this point."

  Unbelievable. He just has to make one more dig. I get up and walk to the floor-to-ceiling windows of my office that overlook the Vegas Strip. It's nice to have money and literally be at the top, but I guess it doesn't spare you from drama.

  I almost want to laugh at the absurdity of it. Jax wants to make Sienna’s choice my fault because I took her virginity ten years ago?

  Shaking my head, I turn towards him. "What is it Jax, huh? What do you want from me?"

  Staring at my old friend, I see how distant we've become. It's weird to look on his face again, this man that I used to trust as a brother. He's come far in life, and so have I, yet we've each done it alone. We had plans, aspirations. We were going to take on the world together. Now I can't imagine trusting him the way I once did.

  "I have a proposition that I think you'll like, considering the feelings you have for my sister." He sneers.

  It infuriates me further with the emphasis he puts on feelings, like they weren’t fucking real. There’s nothing more goddamn real than the way that I felt for Sienna and that’s why it has been torturing me all day.

  If I couldn’t focus then, him dredging up the lingering frustrations is making it all that much worse.

  How can I maintain control when Sienna is always the key to me stopping everything and thinking about nothing but her soft body?

  I slam my fists down on the desk and say, "I don't feel that way anymore. God, man, it's been ten years. But fuck you for minimizing what it was."

  He looks at me suspiciously like he doesn't believe a word I'm saying.

  I am over her. We slept together once, and then Jax swooped in like the foreboding older brother and kept me away.

  Sienna’s fucking gorgeous and that distracted me. This isn’t anything more that I’m hung up on and Jax doesn’t get to make goddamn judgements about any of it now.

  We’re not friends now and I can barely fucking stand him. He shouldn’t have come here.

  Now he's asking for my help? He can't be serious.

  "Fine, whatever you say, Leo. You loved her once.” He waves his hand dismissively. “But it's good if you're over her because my position on the two of you still stands. And wh
at I’m about to propose doesn’t change a thing."

  "Wow," I say sarcastically. "You're really good at buttering someone up to get your favors done. Aren’t politicians supposed to be better at that shit?"

  He ignores my statement. "Now that I know Sienna's working as an escort, I need to handle it. I'm up for reelection and I can't have this news getting out about my sister."

  Of course this is about him. Why would I think he was here because of what was best for Sienna? Nothing’s changed there.

  "Yeah, so what's that got to do with me?"

  "I want you to hire her permanently as your own personal escort. Then she'll still get paid for her sham of a job, but it will also remain a secret."

  I stare at him in disbelief. His request actually forces me to sit down in the oversized leather chair.

  I don 't want him to know it, but the thought of being so intimately connected with Sienna again makes my body burn with desire. My cock is instantly rock hard, when Jax’s intrusion today was the one thing that kept me from remaining hard while I tried to trudge through paperwork.

  I try to remind myself that I'm over her, it could never be. Our chance has passed. But here’s her brother offering her up to me on a silver platter.

  "I can't do that," I say, despite my overwhelming desire to say yes. "It's like opening Pandora's box. The past is the past, and it should stay there."

  Jax’s face grows increasingly anxious, and I can see that he really needs me to do this for him.

  I don't owe him a damn thing.

  He cut me out of his life a long time ago and now he comes crawling back asking a favor?

  I don't think so. I'm not somebody you can just jerk around and manipulate like his voters. I’m not a pawn in his game.

  I’m another player in this fucking game…but the play he wants me to make is so damn tempting.

  "I couldn’t agree more,” Jax says. “But this won’t be a repeat of the past. Unless you’re lying and you think you still have feelings.” Again with the sarcastic emphasis.

  Jesus Christ, I want to slam my fist into his face just as much as I did ten years ago.

  I ignore that jab because there’s enough rage running through my veins already. "Why don't you just tell her to stop?"

  That's what I would do in this predicament. Luckily, I don't have a sister to worry about and keep tabs on.

  He looks at me like I'm crazy. "Do you remember anything at all about Sienna? You can't tell her to do anything. In fact, she'll probably do the opposite of what you tell her."

  Ah, Sienna. The memory of her feisty nature isn’t hard to find. I saw it in full force last night. It's one of the things that I loved about her, and while it drives me crazy, I'm also glad to hear she hasn’t lost that, even all these years later. And with everything she’s been through.

  But I stand my ground. "Well, I can't help you. Sorry, Jax."

  I'm not sorry. This fool doesn't deserve any of my time and he's already been here too long. "Carly, my assistant, will show you out."

  I'm about to press the call button for her, but Jax pleads with me one more time.

  "Please Leo. Come on, you know I wouldn't be here unless it was important."

  I do know that. And I mull over in my mind all the reasons this is such a terrible idea.

  For starters, Sienna brings out things in me that are best left buried. It took me a long time to cover those emotions with a steely, impenetrable exterior, and I have no intention of taking that down now.

  Secondly, my sexual nature has become a bit too depraved for her.

  We've both grown up since I took her virginity.

  Now my tastes are much harder to fulfill. I require a lot from a woman, and that's why I go through them so quickly. No one can keep up with my demands.

  Besides, escort or not, Sienna will always be an innocent girl in my mind. I've already corrupted her once. No need to make it worse.

  I want to protect her from who I’ve become…and that won’t fucking work if I’m supposed to have her at my personal, sexual beck and call. How do you keep from indulging every filthy fantasy you have when you have a personal slut on your payroll?

  I know she doesn’t have to sleep with her clients.

  She’s an escort.

  I wouldn’t just be some client. Not with our history. Not with our chemistry. I couldn’t hold back.

  Still, I don’t let these thoughts read on my face. Let Jax think I won’t take his fucking deal.

  Jax stands up and he's almost to the point of begging. "Please man. You're the one that made me aware of what she's up to. And you’re in the perfect position to help fix it. As long as she's getting paid, she won't care who's in charge of her. It's the only way to navigate her ridiculous plan."

  In charge of her…

  Fuck, the notion of owning Sienna and of having her under my thrall whether she wants to be or not is appealing. I can think of several depraved things I’d do to her just to get her acquainted with my style. This idea of being her...master shall we call it? Well, it's overwhelmingly tempting.

  Ultimately, I have to say no.

  I have a business empire to run and I don't have time for any unforeseen complications.

  Especially the kind I know Sienna would bring.

  "I can’t help you, Jax. I have too much going on to keep track of your black sheep little sister. I hope you find a solution. I really do."

  He turns on his heel and leaves without saying one more word. I can tell he's angry about my refusal, but that’s his problem.

  I can’t worry about Sienna. I did my part by telling Jax. If he wants to do something about her, it’s his responsibility.

  I know I made the right choice, but it doesn’t make it any easier to get her off my mind.

  Sienna

  Night number two as part of Roger’s Inner Sanctum and I've been hired by another high roller who’s just in Vegas for the night. While he's old, lecherous, and kind of creepy, business is business, I guess.

  I don't know what I thought being an escort would look like, but I must have been hoping it would be a lot more glamorous.

  You know, getting to spend time with rich, hot men...not gross, ancient ones.

  Reality is crashing down on me as I realize the life of being an escort may not be as fantastic as I thought.

  I'm trying to be strong, though, and pull through and not back out of my commitment before it even begins. I need this money.

  I force myself to breathe in and out steadily. I grip the sides of the sink in the casino powder room as I try to compose myself to play the girlfriend of this nauseating man, Robert, for the next few hours. My stomach turns at the way he looks at me.

  You can do this. Come on. Get it together.

  I give myself the pep talk as I reapply the deep red lipstick that matches my frilly little red dress.

  I look like the perfect mix of sexy and sophisticated. I have a fresh spray tan and my hair is expertly highlighted by my stylist so that the combination makes me look perfectly desirable.

  I decided to forget about the wig now that Leo’s recognized me. He’s why I chose to wear it...and he knows I’m here. Knows what I’m doing. There’s no point in disguising myself now.

  I take a sip of water and prepare to make my entrance. Walking through the casino to the Inner Sanctum, I see that all eyes are on me. I'm used to the attention and I take it as a compliment.

  Maybe I'll at least make a worthwhile profit tonight.

  I hear my date for the evening wheeze before I see him.

  "Hi, are you my honey for tonight?" Robert says.

  I spin around and see the eighty-seven-year-old man dressed in a crinkled brown suit and mismatched socks. No one would think this guy had any money, but by the sizable check he hands me straightaway, I know he’s definitely loaded.

  "Well, thank you, sir. So nice to see you. I can’t wait to spend tonight with you." Fake it ‘til you make it. "How shall we begin our evening?"

&
nbsp; "Well, I want to show you off so let's go to the cocktail lounge first. I want everybody to see my new lady." His laugh devolves into a fit of coughs, and I just smile as I awkwardly reach out to pat him on the back.

  What have I gotten myself into?

  "Okay," I say when he finally stops coughing, grimacing at the thought of him calling me his lady.

  We enter the lounge and sit at the glitzy bar on plush velvet seats, and I catch my reflection in the glass behind the many bottles that line the bar.

  I see another young woman with a very old man. It seems like that’s the way things work here.

  I sip my bourbon and let the warm feel add to my melancholy at my predicament, thinking that there's no saving this night. That’s confirmed as Robert places his bony hand way too high on my thigh.

  Is he serious? I’m debating pushing it away when we’re interrupted.

  “Good evening.” The smooth, deep voice slides right under my skin and warms me up far better than the bourbon ever could.

  After last night, I never thought I'd be so glad to see that face.

  "Leo! What are you doing here?" I swivel in my seat, and Robert’s hand falls from my thigh.

  Leo closes in on me and there’s virtually no space between our bodies. He's at my side and the old man is on the other. It's like he's trying to claim me, even though I'm technically on a date.

  I draw in a sharp breath, filling my nose with the masculine scent emanating from Leo. It masks Robert’s mothball stench.

  He ignores my question but says to my date, "I'm Leo. I own this casino. Please let me know if there's anything you need."

  The man chuckles and says, "Finally, some top of the line service here."

  Robert obviously thinks that Leo’s here to be at his beck and call, but I know he's here for another reason.

  Leo is checking in on me. At least that's the way it seems. Why else would he be lurking where he doesn't belong?

  Leo’s also giving Robert a death glare. I almost feel bad for the old guy, even though less than a minute ago I couldn’t think of anything I wanted more than to get away from him.

  Leo’s just taken the number one spot on that list, though.

  I’m a strong, independent woman and I can take care of myself, as evidenced by the last ten years. I didn't need him then and I don't need him now.