by Cat Miller
“Oh, he’s definitely gone, my dear. Mr. Christianson doesn’t tolerate harassment. He’ll be banned from the property after today.” Dr. Russell went about packing his things back into his old-fashioned doctor bag. “I’ll leave some ibuprofen on the counter in case you have any aches or pains.” He gave her a comforting smile and went to deposit a bottle of pills on the kitchen counter. “Just call down to the clinic if you have any problems or if you change your mind about talking to a counselor.”
The door closed behind the doctor, and Everly stared after him. She was afraid to look at Mills. She didn’t want to see condemnation or worse, disappointment, in his eyes.
“Get your things, Everly. We’re leaving. Now,” he growled from behind the sofa.
That wasn’t disgust in his voice. That was rage. Everly slowly turned to look her brother in the eye. He was furious. His face was an unnatural shade of red, and his nostrils flared with every breath he took.
“I can’t just leave . . .” she tried to argue.
“You can, and you will, Everly Parker!” he shouted at her. Everly flinched. “I would have dragged you out of here earlier if I hadn’t been worried about your wellbeing.”
“Mills, I have to . . .”
“I said get your things!” He seemed to grow angrier with every word.
Everly got to her feet. She was not a child to be ordered around. “I will not leave now. Not yet. I can’t,” she told him calmly.
“I didn’t want to believe when Dad told me what you were up to . . . what you were sacrificing for all of us.” Mills’ angry eyes filled with tears.
Goddamn her father for running his mouth! He’d promised not to tell Mills. Shame washed over Everly. She wasn’t ashamed of doing what she had to do to protect her family. But she never wanted her brother or sister to know she’d traded her body for their security.
She opened her mouth to deny it, but she knew it was useless. Her brother was no idiot. It was time for the truth. “I can’t leave Mills. If I do it’s all over. We lose everything.”
“I don’t give a fuck! You are my sister! Mine to protect! This wasn’t your battle! It was mine! And I let you down.” His face crumpled, and tears tracked down his handsome cheeks.
Everly hurried around the sofa and wrapped her arms around her much larger, much stronger, older brother. Shouting was so much easier to deal with than tears. She’d only seen her brother cry once in her life. He hadn’t cried when he was thrown from a horse and broke his arm as a teenager. Everly remembered thinking her brother was the toughest guy in the world that day and so many days after that. Her brother was a rock, but he’d sobbed at the news of their mother’s death. Days later after the shock had passed but the pain lingered to torment them all, Mills had wept silent tears at the graveside service when they lowered their mother’s mortal remains into the ground. To see him crying now, over her, was unacceptable.
He was the head of the family. He was a man who gave everything to his family. She understood how he would feel like he’d let her down. If it were Kennedy in this position, Everly would feel the same way. But Mills hadn’t let her down. Not once. Never. This was Everly’s burden to bear. It was her choice and her wager that had put her here.
“Mills, this isn’t your fault.” He held her so tightly she could barely breathe. “Can’t you see that if I leave now it was all for nothing?”
He cupped her head and kissed her forehead. “I’ll never forgive myself. I should have ousted Dad from the company long ago. I should have done something. Anything. I could have prevented this.”
Mills was blaming himself, and she couldn’t allow it. He had to know the whole truth, minus any unnecessary details that would only embarrass them both. He had to understand that she had taken this chance of her own free will. She had made the choice. Even if it disgusted him and he never looked at her the same way again. She couldn’t let her honorable brother live with the guilt of her choices. She sat him down and told him the story of her reckless wager. She also told him what she’d learned about Luc and his not so obvious good deeds in an effort to dispel the notion that Luc was a demon out to hurt everyone in his path. The more she learned about Luc, the more she understood how truly good he could be.
Her brother left an hour later without her. She refused to renege on her deal with Luc. What’s done was done. He was still angry, and she doubted her father would escape Mills’ wrath when he got back to the ranch. He needed someone to blame, and at the moment, that someone was their father.
The elevator door closed on her brother and Everly returned to her rooms. She wanted to get out of her uniform and into a nice hot bath. She’d just dropped the little red skirt and top in the laundry when she heard her front door bang open. Heavy footfalls pounded down the hall. She grabbed her hotel provided fluffy white robe and quickly covered herself.
She expected to see her brother invading her privacy to have one last try at talking her around to going home. But it wasn’t Mills standing like a raging bull in her huge bathroom. It was Luc’s angry visage that stared back at her. The look on his face was so frightening that she actually backed up a few steps.
“Who the fuck was that?” he asked in a low voice that was far more threatening than any shout could ever have been.
TEN
Luc had a lunch meeting with a rather demanding investor. He sighed tiredly and straightened his tie on the way to the lobby. Usually he would have a car brought around, but today, he felt like walking. He was feeling restless and he didn’t know why. That was a lie. He did know why. He just didn’t understand it. His head was so full of thoughts of fucking the sweet little redhead he couldn’t focus on anything else. The memory of her lusciously round ass turning pink under his hand had his cock hard, again. He was going to go blind if he didn’t stop jerking off twice a day. It had only been two nights ago that he’d had Everly under him, moaning and shouting his name. Why was he so damn hungry for her again?
He stepped off of the private elevator and was nearly trampled by Rourke and another security staffer. This was the public casino level. Rourke never got involved in issues on the floor. His staff was very capable of handling any drunken patrons or minor scuffles without involving the head of security. Unless a Fury showed up and started shouting about illegal clubs and underground prostitution rings. He had to smile at that. The woman was a force of nature.
A scary thought dawned on Luc. It had been a couple of days since Everly had made waves and he had a gut feeling she was involved in whatever trouble had brought security running. He quickly followed Rourke into the private employee area. A knot of waitresses stood gaping. Dolce stepped out of the mix and disappeared down a hall. Rourke shouted for Dolce to stand back and wait for him, but she ignored the order. Rourke turned the corner after Dolce. The loitering waitstaff scattered when they saw Luc coming.
A man in boots and jeans had someone cornered in the little hallway when Luc arrived on the scene. And what a scene it was. Dolce was bent over an unconscious man who appeared to be security. She snatched off his security badge. Rourke was looking over Dolce. He took the badge she’d removed from the prone man who was disheveled and bloody. Obviously, the cowboy in the corner was the cause of the drama. Luc wasn’t sure why he hadn’t been cuffed and removed.
“Is that the son of a bitch you’ve been working for, Everly?” the cowboy demanded.
Everly. He’d known it. Felt it in his gut. She was the root of all evil these days. Everly was trembling under the big man’s stare. The need to protect what was his flared in his gut. No one was going to intimidate Everly. No one but him that is.
“No, that son of a bitch would be me,” Luc said from the entry.
Everly’s face poked out from behind the cowboy to look at Luc. She was clearly frightened. He couldn’t have that. Luc stared down the cowboy and prepared to strike. He didn’t need any help from security. This motherfucker must be Everly’s boyfriend. The idea of her belonging to someone else made Luc’s
blood boil. Of course she had a man. The woman was like a wet fucking dream. Did this cowhand think he would stroll into Luc’s world and snatch Everly away from him? Fuck no. Luc would take him apart first.
Everly was looking back and forth between Luc and Farmer Bill, when the man wrapped a possessive arm around her and pulled her to his side. She didn’t fight him. No, she seemed to melt into the man’s side. Luc’s gut clinched. She had chosen sides it seemed.
“I think we should have Everly examined by Dr. Russell. She’s been assaulted on the job. Our waitresses shouldn’t have to worry about being accosted by the very security meant to protect them,” Luc heard Dolce tell him.
Yes, she should go see the doc. He desperately wanted Everly out of the way, so he could kick some cowboy ass. He should probably invite Farmer Bill to meet him in the alley so his staff didn’t see him get medieval. Dolce’s words sank in then.
“Waitress?” Luc looked to Dolce for an explanation. She tilted her head slightly toward Everly. Then the scene really began to sink in. Everly was wearing the little red uniform worn by the Inferno waitresses. She was untidy. Her ponytail was askew and she was still shaking. Luc looked at the bloody security guard. The cowboy wasn’t the aggressor. He’d somehow rescued Everly.
“Yes, of course you’re correct Dolce. Have the doc visit Ms. Parker in her suite.”
“Damn straight she needs a fucking doctor. What kind of business are you running here?” the cowboy demanded. He obviously knew Luc had a claim on Everly in spite of Dolce’s insistence that she was merely a waitress.
“I’m fine, really.” Everly gave all of her attention to the cowboy now.
Luc looked her over from head to toe. She didn’t look seriously injured. But she did seem to be where she wanted to be, with the cowboy. It stung his pride a bit, but why should he care? She was nothing to him. “I hope you’re well, Ms. Parker. Take the rest of the day off.”
The newly unemployed guard moaned and rolled to his side. It was best that he be gone sooner rather than later or Luc would finish the job Everly’s cowboy started. He was Everly’s cowboy. Something in Luc’s chest tightened. He looked at his watch. He’d be late for his meeting. It was time to get going.
“Take out the trash Rourke, and make sure he understands he’s never to return,” Luc said to his chief of security and closest friend. He’d get the whole story from Dolce later. For the moment he needed to walk away.
* * *
Impatience rode Luc. He struggled to pay attention to Devon, the owner of another casino in town who wanted to partner with Luc in a second location for Hell. Devon was a shrewd businessman and a member of Luc’s private club. The idea of expanding membership to a slightly less infamous crowd and adding another level to Hell was intriguing. Devon had a solid business plan and a large list of affluent people to extend the offer of membership to. This wasn’t how Luc did business. The patrons came to him through other members. He never offered membership to anyone. Devon’s plan was to offer a fee-based annual membership. There wouldn’t be the level of illegal activities in Devon’s version of Hell. It was something he needed to consider closely, as soon as he got his head out of his ass.
Luc paid the cabby and hopped out a block from The Inferno. Traffic was a mess and he was in a hurry. The sight of Everly tucked against that big fucking cowboy played over and over and in his mind. He hadn’t been able to eat lunch with the thought of Everly and that big fucker alone in Everly’s suite. Luc was seeing red by the time he reached the main entrance, and there that fucker was hailing a cab.
“The Venetian,” he directed the cabby as he climbed into the vehicle. So he hadn’t stayed with Everly, but he wasn’t going home either.
Luc entered the lobby and intended to go to his office and get back to work. His obsession with the redhead was getting ridiculous. It was easier to think of her as “the redhead.” It put her in a category he was familiar with. Just another one of several redheaded women he’d fucked and forgotten. So why wasn’t he forgetting?
The private elevator door opened. Dolce was about to step out. “Stay. We need to talk.”
She scowled at him but obeyed the boss. The elevator glided up toward the penthouse. He’d intended to go to his office but his hand had somehow overridden his mind and sent him straight toward the redhead he was trying to forget.
“What happened earlier?” He needed to know.
“Riggs, the security prick, assaulted Everly. He decided she was into him and tried to drag her off into a broom closet,” she explained. “Everly wasn’t in agreement with his plan. I was on my way to Dante’s for lunch when one of the other waitresses yelled for help.”
“And the cowboy?” Everly’s cowboy. That fucker who’d been comforting her. Who the fuck was he?
“I don’t know.” She gave him a blank stare. She knew. Oh, Dolce fucking knew. She just didn’t want to be the one to tell him. She was always trying to protect him. To make him better. They’d fucking grown up together. She should know he didn’t need fixing and he didn’t need another mom. He needed information. His thoughts must have shown on his face because she continued.
“I really don’t know, Luc. I was there to pull Riggs off of Everly. It was obvious they knew each other when . . .” She trailed off.
“When what?”
“When she took him to her rooms. Dr. Russell ensured me she was being well cared for by her . . . companion,” she finished.
Luc saw red again. He was going to kill that big fucking cowboy. The elevator doors slid open and he rushed off.
“Luc, please remember she had a traumatic experience today!” Dolce shouted after him. If he’d bothered to turn around, he would have seen the grin on her face.
Luc stalked up to Everly’s door. He should knock. He knew he should knock, but he didn’t. He used the universal key card to open the door to her suite. That rational voice in the back of his mind that usually prevented him from acting on unwise thoughts was shouting at him to stop. Slow down. Think. But he couldn’t listen, and he couldn’t be the mature, sophisticated man his grandmother had raised him to be when it came to Everly.
Her door flew open with the force of his forward motion and crashed into the wall. Luc slammed the door shut and scanned the living and dining area for that little redheaded witch. Not seeing her, he stormed down the hall toward her bedroom. She better be dressed. Because Luc had had enough. He was done with this shit. She was getting her things and getting out of his hotel. Now. She could go join that big prick at The Venetian.
Luc couldn’t tolerate this disturbance to his life. He was jealous, and that was unacceptable. He didn’t like it. He wouldn’t let it continue. She had to go. Now. Forever. As soon as he figured out who the cowboy was so he could have the motherfucker killed. It would look like an accident. He could fall from a horse or be run over by a herd of cows who would grind his handsome face and tight fucking jeans into the mud in a field where no one would ever find him. Ever.
Luc found Everly clutching a robe to her chest in the master bathroom. Her hair was down around her shoulders. Water was running in the jacuzzi tub. Her eyes widened when she saw him. It was clear she’d been expecting someone else. Luc would need to visit the ophthalmologist. It wasn’t natural for everything in his vision to run to red every time he thought of the woman.
Everly took a few steps back away from him. He was scaring her. Fuck! He wasn’t this guy. He wasn’t a jealous fucking boyfriend. But damn it! He was jealous! Him!
Luc took two seconds to calm himself before he exploded. And then he asked her.
“Who the fuck was that?”
She blinked and took another step away from him. She looked over his shoulder like maybe the person in question might appear to save her. “Who?” she asked.
“The fucking cowboy, Everly? Was that your boyfriend come to carry you back to the prairie?” He was strangely calm now. He had a plan. That’s how it should be. He planned and he executed those plans. She would
tell him the name of her lover. The word was sour in his mouth. Her lover.
Everly blinked dumbly a few times. Then slowly, like the sun rising over the desert, a smile spread across her beatific face. And then she laughed out loud, in his fucking face. She laughed so hard she was holding her sides. With some effort she managed to turn off the water in the tub.
Luc didn’t know how to react. Not once had anyone ever completely disregarded his clear displeasure. He wanted to remain furious, but her mirth was infectious. He fought a smile. Moments ago he was sure flames were shooting from his eyes. Now he was struggling to not laugh along with the wench.
Everly glided past him into the hall. He followed her back toward the living room. She was still holding the bathrobe to her chest, so he had a perfect view of that heart-shaped backside and tucked in waist as she walked ahead of him, giggling the whole way.
She stopped by the front door and flung it open. She pointed to the hall and the laughter died. “Get out.”
He wasn’t smiling anymore. “Everly, I want to know who he is.” He slammed the door shut.
“I didn’t sleep with him.” She struggled not to laugh again. Luc was no longer amused. “That’s all you need to know. He’s none of your fucking business, Luc. I agreed to be with you alone. I did not agree not to speak to other people. I can talk to whomever I choose. Now get out. I’ve had a really bad day. I want a bath. So leave.” She pointed at the door.
Luc stalked her across the room. She backed away, clutching her robe.
“I want to know who that cowboy is, Everly.”
“You already said it. He’s a man who came to ‘drag me back to the prairie,’ but I’m still here.”
“Yes, you are, and you’ll be staying here.” Luc tugged the robe from her hands and tossed it away. “Because you’re mine to command. I say you stay.” So much for sending her home. Luc wouldn’t let her go until he was good and satisfied. He was going to fuck her out of his system.
