by Vi Lily
But that doesn’t explain why I’m meeting said guy at a very expensive hotel at one in the morning.
I consider telling the driver to take me to my apartment and just bailing on this whole thing. But I know that wouldn’t be right. Again, the money is my only driving force here. Plus, it would piss Rutger off and I still need the job.
The driver pulls up in front of the hotel and I try to tip him, but he tells me it’s already been taken care of. Another surprise. But then, I guess if someone has fifty thousand dollars to drop on a charity, he has enough money to tip a taxi service.
I tug at my short skirt as I enter the hotel. I know what I look like, especially with all the makeup I’m wearing after my performances. Since I don’t know who or what I’m meeting, I put my Cher wig back on. I need some anonymity.
A big sandwich board out front welcomes the attendees of some convention, which would explain the fact that the parking lot is packed.
The lobby is fairly empty as I walk in, which isn’t surprising considering the time of night. Or morning, I guess. There are a few drunks stumbling out of the hotel bar dressed in old school gangster costumes, and I hide behind a pillar until they pass. The last thing I need is to get hit on by two intoxicated conventioneers.
I peek out from behind the pillar and look around the room. I have no idea who it is I’m supposed to meet and I really don’t want to walk up to the front desk to get judged by the clerks. They’ll take one look at my outfit and call security, I’m sure. I chew on my bottom lip while I think, not caring that I’m getting red lipstick all over my teeth.
Maybe if I look like I’ve been sucking blood, this guy will think twice before messing with me.
I pull my phone out to text Rutger to ask him what the guy looks like, but before I can hit send, a voice startles me from behind.
“Miss Kane?” Okay, now that ticks me off. Rutger shouldn’t have given my real name out. That’s just poor strip club management, if you ask me.
I turn as I hold my breath, waiting to see what kind of weirdo I’m going to have to spend the next however many hours with, but I release it when I see it’s a hotel employee.
“Yes?” I start to smile, but then remember my red teeth, so I just raise an eyebrow and hope I don’t look as freaked out as I feel.
“I’m Jack Lind, the hotel’s night concierge. Please follow me,” he says as he turns to lead me toward a hallway that runs toward the back of the hotel. I figure he’s taking me to some sort of holding room until the police get here to arrest me for prostitution.
“I’m not a hooker,” I blurt. He just laughs.
“Whether you are or not isn’t for me to judge. The hotel’s VIP guest has asked that you be brought to a private room. He didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable by being asked to join him in his suite.”
Um, okay. That’s a good sign, I guess. The buyer seems to be considerate, at least. And I really should quit thinking of him as a “buyer,” because I’m not for sale.
Jack leads me to a room that looks somewhat like a small conference room, but there is a comfy looking sofa along one wall with a wet bar.
“Please help yourself to whatever you’d like,” Jack tells me as he points to the bar. “There are snacks behind the bar and sodas, tea and juice in the refrigerator. Make yourself at home.”
And with that, he closes the door behind him and leaves.
Since he mentioned snacks, I realize I’m starving. I normally get a plate of food from the club’s buffet when I’m working the floor, but since it was a “shower of savages” tonight, I didn’t get a chance to. And dancing, whether exotic, ballet, hip-hop, or just in a nightclub, works up a hella appetite.
I’m shoving my second pastry in my mouth when the door opens. My back is to the room, and whether he’s a weirdo or not, I don’t want to meet the buy — uh, guy, with a mouthful of éclair. I take a big swallow of the tea I opened to wash my bite down and get ready to turn around, but before I can, I hear a voice that makes my knees buckle.
“Hey baby.”
Alex knew the moment Ari recognized his voice. Her back stiffened and she almost dropped the bottle of tea she was holding. He waited while she seemed to come to her senses, and then she slowly turned.
Her face was pale and her moss green eyes were wide as she stared at him. “Alex,” she breathed. He was afraid she was going to faint, so he took a step toward her, but she held up a hand.
“What—” she stopped, swallowed hard, then continued. “What are you doing here? Did you see me in the lobby or something? Recognize the uniform? Cuz I’m supposed to be meeting someone and you can’t be here.”
Alex took another step toward her, slowly, like he was approaching a skittish deer. Ari did look like she was about to bolt.
“You’re supposed to be meeting me. I’m your, uh, date,” he explained.
Her eyes narrowed, which Alex took as a good sign. Anger was better than shock. “You mean, you paid fifty freaking thousand dollars for a date with me?” The last bit was so loud, he wondered if security was going to come check to see what the commotion was.
“Yeah, but you’re worth a hundred thousand times that much. A million.”
Ari smirked at him a gave him a look that said she didn’t believe him. Alex expected a sarcastic response, so he was unprepared for the teary-sounding question.
“Then why did you want to get rid of me, if I’m worth so much?”
His heart hurt at that, even though he knew that’s what she thought. Vato had told him as much. But hearing it directly from her—
“Baby, I never wanted you to leave,” he said softly as he took another step closer. “When you didn’t come home that day, I searched everywhere for you. When you didn’t come home the next day, I went insane. You’ve been gone two hundred thirty-three days and not a single one of those days went by when I wasn’t looking for you. Wishing for you to come back to me.”
Some of the skepticism left her eyes, but she still looked wary. “My mom helped me look, too. We ran ads on radio stations in three different states. We put up a fifty-thousand-dollar reward for any information—”
“Wait… you mean, you used the money for the reward to buy me — um, to buy a date with me?”
Alex shook his head. “No. The reward money came from my mom. The fifty tonight was mine.”
Her eyes widened once again. “Yours? But, that’s like half of the money you had! Are you crazy?”
Alex shook his head and dared another step closer. He slowly reached up and put his hand on her cheek and he almost cheered when she didn’t jerk away from his touch.
“Crazy in love, maybe,” he whispered and watched as her eyes nearly bugged out of her head. He hurried on before she could argue.
“Vato told me what you thought you heard that day at the house, when my mom was there. I’ve gone over and over it in my mind, and the only thing I can think is you overhead my mom telling me that she had to get rid of Harry, her boyfriend. He was a big cokehead and was starting to become a real pain.” He shrugged.
“I don’t know if that’s what it was, or what, but you gotta believe me there ain’t no way I ever wanted you to leave. My mom either. Hell, she hadn’t even met you yet, and already she was in love with you, just cuz of the way you loved her boys.”
Ari’s eyes filled with tears, but she looked away so that he wouldn’t see them. Alex reached up and started to unbutton his shirt then, drawing her eyes back to him.
“What are you—” she stopped when he opened his shirt to reveal his chest. Her eyes seriously widened then and she stepped forward and ran her hand over his pecs. Alex closed his eyes as he shivered.
“Oh my,” she breathed as she ran her finger over the outline of his tattoo.
“I got it when I was with my mom in Hawaii, getting her situated after I threw Harry out.” He knew it was kind of cheesy, but he didn’t care. If the permanent ink on his body didn’t prove to her that he loved her, he didn’t know what woul
d.
“Property of Ariel,” she whispered and her teary eyes looked back up, staring at him in wonder. Alex smiled at her.
“Yeah,” he said, but he noticed the look of shock on her face. “What?” he asked, concerned at the sudden change.
“You… you… smiled!” Ari exclaimed. Alex felt his face heat.
“Only for you,” he said as he ran a finger down her cheek. Ari smiled back at him.
“I have something else I got in Hawaii for you,” he told her as he reached into his pants pocket and pulled out the little box. He opened it, then took her left hand in his and slipped it on ring finger.
Ari stared down at the ring, the three-carat center diamond glistening under the conference room lights. It was surrounded by green stones that matched her eyes.
She ran her finger over them. “What are these?” she asked softly. “They’re beautiful.”
“Russian garnets,” Alex told her. “Had to search three islands to find a gem that matched your eyes and I almost gave up when I came across these.”
Ari looked up at him, tears running mascara streams down her cheeks. “Does this—I mean, are you asking—”
“I wanna spend the rest of my life with you, but I know we’re just teenagers. I don’t wanna put that kinda pressure on you, or nothin’—” Alex cringed at the thickening of his accent.
Ari noticed too. “Your Texan is showing,” she laughed, then wiped at her eyes.
He smiled again, noticing the way she stared at him as he did. “I just wanted to give you this, no strings attached. But if you’re ever ready to take that step with me, I’m ready, willing and able.” He laughed then, and her eyes widened further. Alex made a mental note to smile and laugh with her as much as possible.
“I’m a multimillionaire now. My father died and I got all the inheritance.”
“What? Oh no, I’m so sorry.”
Alex shook his head. “Don’t be. You know what kind of a loser he was. The world is better off without him. I’m just sorry Tom thought he needed to go along with my dad.” He shook his head.
“That’s a story for another time. Right now, I just wanna hear three little words from you, please. Even if you have to—”
“Take my virginity.”
It was Alex’s turn to have bugging eyes. First, that was not at all the three words he’d expected; and second, she’s still a virgin?
And third… “You mean, you wanna, uh…”
Ari laughed. “Yes. I think it’s kinda dumb for a stripper to still be a virgin, don’t you? But I didn’t want to give that to just anyone, only to the guy I’m head over heels in love with.”
Alex didn’t argue… or waste any time dragging her upstairs to his room.
SIX YEARS LATER
“Hurry up! We’re gonna be late!”
Alex grumbled. “I am hurrying, woman. Dang, you’re bossy.” He finished tying his tie and grabbed his jacket, heading to the door where his wife stood waiting. He couldn’t help but smile at her, she looked so adorable with her baby bump that was just barely starting to show.
Ari turned and walked out of the door of their ranch house fifty miles outside of Dallas. They’d bought it after she graduated from Oklahoma City University with a degree in dance. Alex had then enrolled in Universal Technical Institute to get a degree in automotive mechanics. He’d always loved working on cars and had taken a lot of pride in his old Charger, so Ari had encouraged him to pursue it for a career.
After he helped her climb into the Escalade, he ran around to his side and hopped in. He put the key in the ignition and looked at her.
“What?” she asked. “Hurry up and go! You don’t wanna be late to your own graduation.”
Alex laughed. “I was just thinking — what’s dumber; a stripper who’s a virgin, or a mechanic who’s a millionaire?”
Ari laughed with him, then rubbed their son, tucked safely in her body. “Well, considering I’m neither a virgin nor a stripper any longer, I guess that makes the millionaire mechanic the dumbest.”
Alex laughed again, then leaned over and grabbed her gently by the back of the neck, pulling her in for a kiss.
“I love you, Mrs. Johansen,” he whispered against her lips.
“I love you more, Mr. Johansen. Now get your ass in gear, boy! You need that diploma, cuz I ain’t gonna be married to a lazy, good fer nuthin’, no-account millionaire!”
Alex roared at that, so much so that he had to wipe tears from his eyes.
“Wife, your Texan is showing.”
Betrayed, Book 3 in the Athole Academy series, will be available in November 2019! Follow me on Amazon for updates!
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