Rule You (Vegas Knights Book 3)

by Bella Love-Wins

  My mother wasn’t cruel. She’d been the very opposite: warm, loving… I’d grown up spoiled rotten and with very few rules. But she’d also had a… very free, open sex life before I came along and my presence wasn’t going to change anything for her.

  When I was nine, Mom told me about the birds, the bees, and the orgasm.

  When I was thirteen, she bought me a vibrator.

  I’d been a freshman the first time a guy asked me to a dance and to celebrate, she had bought me a box of condoms.

  It was one thing to have an open, trusting relationship with one’s mother, I thought.

  It was another to have a mom who just didn’t seem to realize their kid was still a kid.

  Sex and sexuality wasn’t something I was comfortable with, but some people wore their sensuality like armor. I recognized it from a mile away by this point in my life.

  That behavior both repelled and fascinated me.

  No wonder I found my eyes slipping toward him.

  But when I found him looking at me, I wasn’t happy.

  I didn’t want men like him noticing me.

  Hell, after what had happened to me recently, I didn’t want men noticing me at all.

  I’d dedicated too much of my life to trying to blend in, determined not to feed into whatever twisted needs my mother might have passed on to me.

  It was why I was still a virgin at the ripe old age of twenty-five.

  It was why I’d probably still be one at the age of fifty-five.

  It wasn’t that I never wanted to have sex, really. I did. Part of me craved it, probably as bad as Angel was craving those salted pretzels she kept talking about. Or worse.

  But when you grow up in a house where sex is treated like an easy, throwaway pleasure, like a candy bar or a bag of chips, you either learn to gorge on it…or you learn discipline.

  When I finally had sex with someone, it was going to matter.

  The fucked-up thing was, I hadn’t found a guy who mattered enough.

  Lately, I hadn’t even found a guy who was hot enough to make me want to bother.

  Although Sylvester O’Malley could’ve changed that.

  Except he was a jerk.

  For fuck’s sake! The echo of his aggravating voice was an icepick in my ears and I had to fight the urge to go over to him and cover his mouth with mine to shut him up. Just thinking like this made me realize he was different from all the guys I’d considered handing over my V-card to. Why was I even entertaining that thought at all? It was as though my lust took over my mind and wanted me to do something stupid, something carnal with that arrogant prick.

  At least we were surrounded by people. Each one of them was another reason not to act on these instincts. He was standing next to Mac. The two of them seemed to be having a serious conversation.

  “We have to tell Mac,” Angel said softly.

  “I know.” Blowing out a breath, I met her eyes. “You still want me to help out with the baby?”

  She flashed me a smile. “You’re not getting out of it that easily, Emmy.”

  “Okay.” I didn’t let the gratitude I felt show in my voice, although I wanted to hug her neck and kiss her in sloppy appreciation. This would’ve been the last chance I got before I seriously considered going home for a little while.

  When things get bad, home is where you go, and all that jazz, but home had never been a place of comfort for me. And truth be told, all home would’ve given me was a roof over my head.

  Safety…that was another matter.

  “He won’t be able to hurt you here,” Angel said, reaching out to touch my shoulder.

  Giving her a tight smile, I nodded. “I know. With luck, they’ll track him down soon and the ass will go back to prison where he belongs.” I bit my lip and reached out to touch her belly. “But if he isn’t picked up by the time Bump makes her appearance, Angel…”

  She caught my wrist, squeezed.

  “Don’t even think about taking off.” She gave me a fiery look. “I’ll hire a bodyguard and put him on your ass twenty-four seven if I have to, Emmy—and you know I’ll do it.”

  “Yeah.” I managed a weak smile and wondered, not for the first time, if maybe I shouldn’t have come here. But really, I hadn’t had much of anywhere else to go. Mom would’ve been another liability and I was enough of that myself right now. Fear gripped me and I reached out, grabbing Angel’s hand. She was one of the most capable people I’d ever met, but I still worried. “Are you sure I should be here?”

  “If it was me, where would you suggest for me to be?”

  I blew out a shaky breath. “Well, we need to tell your guy. He’s got to be okay with this.”

  Mac slumped in the chair across from me, sipping whiskey and listening.

  When I finally finished, I gave him a nervous smile. He was so big, quiet, and brooding, it was hard to know what to make of him. But he looked at Angel like she was the center of his world. I’d fallen a little bit in love with him on the basis of that alone the second after I met him.

  “If you don’t want me here—”

  He looked up then and the pale green beauty of his eyes caught me off-guard, even though I’d seen them several times over by now. He didn’t say anything right away. Instead, he got up and came around the table where the remains of our dinner still sat. As I watched him, he crouched down next to me and again, his sheer size was enough to catch me unawares.

  “When Angel told me she wanted to ask you to help out with the little one and be the nanny, I wanted to know why,” he said, his voice low and deep, like quiet thunder off in the night. “I know she wants to get back to teaching once Bump’s a year old and I’m good with that…that’s what she’s meant to do. But she seemed fixed on having you and I asked her why. She said the two of you were like sisters and if she could figure out a way to get you here, then she was doing it. Now you’re sitting there telling me that you’ll go?” He crooked a grin at me and it changed his face from ruggedly handsome to something almost beautiful. “What do you want, Emmy…me sleeping on the couch for the rest of my natural born life?”

  It startled a laugh out of me, even as I felt the clutch of tears gripping my throat. Such easy, welcome acceptance. No questions asked. I hadn’t ever felt that with anyone except for Angel and her parents.

  “No, I definitely don’t want that,” I said, still smiling.

  He straightened, then bent over me, pressing his lips to my forehead. “You’ll stay. You’re her family; that makes you mine too. We’ll help you take care of this.”

  3

  Sly

  I hated dreams. They were almost always insubstantial bits of nothing, laced with fear like a bad acid trip and leaving me filled with uneasiness that twisted in my belly.

  It was bad enough that I had to live with that kind of shit in me anyway, but at least when I was aware, I could shove it down somewhere and lock it away—the locks I had in me, nothing could escape.

  But when I was asleep? The dreams broke through the chains then and attacked and all but overwhelmed me at times.

  That’s some dirty shit there.

  He’s been dead for more than twenty years, but the fucker still haunts me. Him, the shit he’d done, the bruises he left on me…the look in my mother’s eyes when she walked in that day.

  And the look in her eyes when I found her the next day, lying dead in the bathtub, her blood a red stream on the floor.

  After that, it was me, alone with him…and her.

  At least the dreams weren’t about her this time, her and those pitiful cries.

  Blood washed across my vision as awareness slowly came back on me, the dregs of the dream clinging like old, slime-covered chains, dragging me down into the darkness.

  He’d kicked me.

  It had been his favorite thing to do if I was in the mood to fight him, and sometimes I was. The older I got, the more I fought him; the harder I fought, the dirtier I fought.

  He’d wanted to hurt me again and I’d
tried to run so he’d grabbed me and thrown me down and kicked me.

  “Let it go, Sly,” I told myself, trying to shove the fading echo further away. It was just a dream and I knew it.

  Darkness spread like a blanket around me and I lay there, forcing myself to accept it, forcing myself to tolerate it. I wanted the lights on but I didn't get up to throw back the curtains and I didn't hit the lamp on the table next to my bed. Not until I counted out a full five minutes in my mind.

  Here I am, twenty-nine years old, world famous magician, the infamous O'Malley, and I'm afraid of the fucking dark.

  Just one more scar left over from a childhood so fucked up, I couldn’t even bring myself to think about it; not if I want to stay remotely sane.

  Once the five minutes was up, I sat, well aware that my heart was still racing but it wasn’t going to pass until there was some light on. I hit the switch for the lamp on the table and blew out a slow, controlled breath.

  Golden light fell on the floor, a small pool of it that was so welcome, I felt like a baby just sitting there and staring at it.

  The relief I felt at having light was so welcome, I almost made myself turn it off. But I didn't. It was okay to find comfort in simple things. Okay to find respite now. Hell, I'd taken a lot of respite over the past few years, all but gorged on some of the finest shit money could buy. The suite I’d chosen for myself in the hotel was a salute to the almighty dollar and a reminder to myself that I wasn’t the scared little boy who used to get thrown outside the trailer if that old bastard thought I was being too loud.

  Left alone, out in the dark, hearing coyotes howl and wondering if I’d be their next meal.

  I still hated that fucking sound.

  I stared at the light for a few more seconds, then slowly clenched all the muscles in my body, held them tight before letting the tension drain away. With it, the rest of the dream fell away and finally looked out the window.

  It was early yet, dawn not quite a kiss on the horizon.

  Since I’d performed last night, it had been late when I got in and I’d been too wired to sleep. I probably hadn’t shut down until three. And the clock told me it was just a little after six in the morning.

  Three fucking hours of sleep.

  The text from LeVan had me rolling my eyes.

  Mac’s running late. He’s held up at the baby doctor. Nothing serious so don’t panic.

  I’d forgotten there was one of those appointments today and almost texted back asking why there was another one—hadn’t she just been like two weeks ago?

  But the memory of Angel’s basketball belly rose up in my mind and I decided maybe women went to the baby doctor more often as they got closer. Made sense, I guessed. I wasn’t about to ask. I was scared to death of all this stuff anyway and doing my best to hide it.

  My phone chimed again as I stepped inside the elevator, eyes gritty. I was so tired, my lids kept drifting down and lingering for longer periods each time. I was going to have to get some sleep tonight if it was the last thing I did.

  The message from LeVan had me scowling, and I hurriedly hit the button that would take me to Mac’s floor. I’d almost missed it.

  Stop by Mac’s apartment and see if you can find his notes for the new act he’s thinking about. He mentioned he wanted to run it by us. Said the notes were on his desk, but I’m already down here.

  Two more minutes and I would’ve been down in the lobby, but LeVan was already in the practice area, which meant even if I was in the lobby, I was still closer to Mac’s than he was.

  Sighing, I dug into my wallet for the keycard that would let me into his place.

  Music blasted over me the second I stepped inside.

  Loud, in your face music.

  Frowning, I looked around, but couldn’t see much of anything past the plywood and plastic obscuring the entryway. That sure as hell wasn’t Mac’s kind of music. I had no idea what Angel listened to, but for some reason, I hadn’t pictured her being into the bump and grind beat I heard coming from Mac’s excellent sound system.

  Taking one slow step after another, I eased deeper into the apartment. I couldn’t see Angel just leaving the music blasting like this—Mac, maybe, if he was really…

  “Son of a bitch,” I muttered.

  Reaching up, I rubbed at my eyes, certain that what I saw in front of me wasn’t really there.

  But when I lowered my hands, sure enough, the naked woman locked in some sort of weird yoga pose was still there…yoga-ing.

  Naked.

  Completely naked.

  Her seriously tight ass was thrust up in the air at me and tired as I was, confused as I was by the entire thing playing out in front of me, my dick stood up and took notice. I could see the folds of her pussy and dark blonde hair.

  I was about two seconds away from having to adjust myself when she straightened in a slow, fluid movement and thrust her arms high overhead, her slim back arching.

  She had pale blonde hair, thick streaks of pink and blue—

  Shit.

  The hot little not-caterer I’d seen at Angel’s baby shower almost two weeks ago.

  Just as recognition hit, she shifted her pose again, turning.

  Our eyes locked, my green with her blue-green, and her mouth dropped open.

  The music deafened me to anything she might say, but I didn’t need to hear her to know what she’d just said.

  Her mouth—a very perfect mouth—formed the words What the fuck?

  Me, I’ve never been one to show much shame for anything and she was the one doing yoga naked in my best friend’s apartment. I lowered my gaze to her tits and stared.

  They were damn near perfect tits, too. Apple-sized, topped with dark, pert nipples that made me want to bite them. Under my gaze, those nipples stiffened, although I didn’t immediately assume it was because she was feeling the same punch of heat I felt.

  No, all sorts of things caused that reaction and judging by the way she snapped to rigid attention, her small fists falling to her sides as she straightened, anger was behind that telltale reaction.

  Idly, I decided it was a good thing that men didn’t get hard-ons when they got pissed, the way a woman’s body might cause her nipples to tighten like this pretty lady’s were doing. I’d end up spending half my life fighting down an erection if that were the case.

  She glared at me as she strode over to the couch and grabbed something. Sadly, it was a shirt. As she jerked it on over her head, I got another look at the curls between her thighs—a front view this time—and I had no doubt that pale blonde hair on her head was natural.

  A split-second after I decided that, the music cut out and I looked up to see her holding a remote in her hand.

  “Thanks for that,” I said. “I was about ready to drill a hole in my head to make it stop.”

  She pursed her lips, a prissy, uptight look that was entirely too appealing. But hell, I’d just seen her naked. She could tell me to kiss her ass and I’d be intrigued.

  “You frequently go around ogling strangers?” she demanded.

  “Nah, only when they’re naked and doing yoga in my best friend’s home.” I paused, then added, “I assume Mac knows you’re naked and doing yoga in his home.”

  She didn’t strike me as crazy, but one never knew.

  She sniffed, that prissy look settling back on her face. “Considering the fact that I’m currently staying here, I don’t think he minds if I’m doing yoga.”

  “Naked yoga?” I fired back. She was staying here? Who the fuck was she to be staying with Mac? “You a friend of Angel’s?”

  “No. I’m her cousin.” She fluffed her hair and I noticed that the pink still hadn’t faded from her cheeks.

  Well, shit.

  My dick slowly started to deflate.

  I had few rules when it came to sex, but I didn’t fuck women who were connected to my friends.

  “I need to get something from Mac’s office,” I said, turning away and heading in the opposite di
rection. “Some advice… If you don’t want people ogling you? Naked yoga might not be the best form of exercise unless you know one hundred percent you’ll be alone the entire time you’re doing it.”

  4

  Emmy

  “What an ass!”

  I was still fuming about him thirty minutes later as I stood under the multiple jets of the guest shower I’d been given to use while my suite was finished. The hot water sluiced over me and I waited for it to wash away the temper as well. Normally, a good yoga session and a good hot shower worked wonders on me.

  Sadly, my yoga session had been interrupted half way through and I’d had to finish in my room.

  It wasn’t like I’d planned on someone walking in on me.

  I’d known Angel and Mac wouldn’t be there for a while yet because she’d texted me only ten minutes before I’d started and told me they were running behind schedule.

  How was I to know that one of Mac’s magic show buddies would saunter in like he owned the place?

  Maybe we should set some rules about that.

  I chewed on my lip as I grabbed the shampoo, debating, then decided I’d ask Angel if the redhead frequently popped in unannounced. I’d definitely have to give up naked yoga anyway, but I’d figured since I had the time and the privacy today, why give it up today?

  And it wasn’t like I’d have to give it up forever. Just until I got my own place.

  And of course, we had no idea when that would be—

  My phone rang.

  Blood running cold, I eased the shower door open and stared at the small electronic device that had been the source of so much terror for me over the past few months.

  We still didn’t know how he’d gotten my phone number.

  The cops speculated that someone at my last job might have given it to him, or maybe he had hacked into the records there. It wasn’t like the club had top-notch security—physical or cyber. Right around now, I wished I’d gotten rid of my phone and changed my number so no one could’ve tracked me down.