"I look good in this."
"You look good in anything, Ad."
I feel a blush creep over my cheeks. He looks good in anything too, especially the navy blue three-piece suit he's wearing. "I did come straight from work. I wanted to see the kids, but they're having dinner with Nolan's folks."
He looks around the dining room. "I don't see a dozen red roses anywhere. Your purse must be huge."
I'm taken aback by his admission. I know he follows the Premier Pet Care social media feeds. I didn't realize he followed them that closely. "You're talking about the roses Trey sent me."
"I sure am, Hale's Babe."
There's a hint of sarcasm in his tone or is it jealousy?
It can't be that. He reminds me often enough that I'm his best friend.
"I left them at work." I shrug. "That way I can fall in love with them all over again tomorrow morning."
His finger taps the edge of the wooden table. "Be careful, Ad. He tried to pick up my friend, Sophia, in the club right after it opened. He's a player, in more ways than one."
"What's that old saying about the pot calling the kettle black?"
A provocative smile covers his mouth. "You're on fire tonight, HB."
HB. Hale's babe.
Crew has to know how much I hate that.
"You're both welcome to stay for dinner." Ellie walks back into the dining room with a coconut cookie in her hand. "I'm making a veggie spaghetti dish. You'll love it."
"'I'll pass." Crew pushes up from the table. "I need to pack."
"Where are you going?" Ellie gets the question out before I have a chance.
"I'm heading west in the morning." He eyes me. "Back to the place it all began for the four of us."
"Vegas?" I lift a brow. "Why are you going to Vegas?"
I know he has a club there, Veil West, and there's a Matiz store there too. He has business there. I had no reason to ask him why the sudden trip to Vegas, but I want to know.
"I'm going to check in on a few things." He nudges Ellie with his shoulder. "Maybe look for a gift for a certain mom-to-be, and I'll take a day or two to hang with an old friend."
I don't bother asking who because I can guess within three tries. It's the woman he met the same night Ellie met Nolan. Lucia Turin, the co-owner of this club there. He bought controlling interest from her and re-branded the place with great success.
A few months after the deal closed, I overheard him telling Nolan on the phone how he had christened the club with Lucia. They'd fucked in one of the private rooms of the club on the night of the re-opening.
I scratch the back of my neck, suddenly feeling the need for a long soak in my tub.
"You deserve it." Ellie pats his chest. "Nolan says you've been hauling ass at Matiz lately and I know the club sucks up a lot of your time."
"I need the break." His eyes drift over my face. "I feel like I'm suffocating in New York. A week in Vegas will give me the perspective I need."
It's cryptic. I can't tell if it's directed at me or not.
"Take care of this one, Ad." He kisses the top of Ellie's head. "That's my godson she's hauling around."
Mine too.
"I always do," I say softly. "Take care of yourself."
"That's the plan." He holds my gaze for a beat before he leaves the room to talk to Nolan.
I've never missed him when he's left on any of the countless trips he's taken before. I can still hear his voice in the kitchen, so why does it feel like he's already a million miles away?
Chapter 8
Crew
There are three things I can count on when I'm in Las Vegas. I'll win at the poker table. I owe that to my mom and two brothers. We spent every Saturday night when I was a kid around our kitchen table playing Texas Hold'em for a pot of nickels and dimes.
I have no doubt when I'm here that I'll eat well. That's because I own a stake in one of the best restaurants in Nevada. It's located in the most exclusive resort on the strip. I'm a silent partner, but when I sit down to indulge in a delicious dinner, I'm anything but quiet. I love a good meal, and I let the server, the chef and anyone within earshot know it.
The last sure thing is a good time with Lucia Turin. An exotic, brown-haired beauty with a mind for business; she's a constant during my visits to Sin City. I met her two years ago when she was standing outside her club.
We talked, had a drink and an hour-and-a-half later, I was between her legs, balls deep inside of her and ready to negotiate a deal that would give me controlling interest in that club.
She held out on the club, not the sex. She never holds out on the sex.
That is as true tonight as it was the first time I laid eyes on her. It was the same night I met Adley, but she blurred into the background back then. She stood on the sidelines as I hammered out a deal with Ellie outside the club. I wanted her to move to New York to take on the job as head security officer at our flagship store on Fifth Avenue. She was working as a casino security guard at the time, and I watched her take down a man twice her size with ease. I knew I needed Ellie on the Matiz team. I had no idea back then that she'd end up marrying Nolan.
Ad stood in the shadows that night, watching me negotiating with her best friend. I caught her eye once, but I was oblivious to what was right in front of me. I wanted the same thing I always did and that was a tall woman with a mane of dark hair and a thin frame.
"You're still dressed." Lucia enters the main living area of the massive hotel suite I call home when I'm here. I can see her reflection in the floor-to-ceiling windows now that night has settled over the city and the lights of the strip guide the way to a multitude of sins.
I don't need to leave my suite for that. Lucia is already naked.
We'd shared a meal in my restaurant and then two hours in our club. It felt familiar, comfortable and when she suggested we come up to my suite, I didn't see a reason not to.
I do now.
While she was freshening in the washroom, I sent Adley a text message.
I've been here for four days and I've held out reaching out until now. I needed room to breathe and clear my head.
I couldn't shake the vision of Hale's hand on her bare shoulder at the burger place. Eventually, that morphed into mental images of the two of them in his bed.
I couldn't be close when that happens. I had to bolt. I thought if I got out of the city I could handle the envy. I was dead wrong. I doubt like hell that a trip to the moon would ease what keeps rolling through my gut. Jealousy is a miserable beast, especially when you envy a man who has something that's been within your reach for years.
I pull my gaze from Lucia's nude body to look down at my phone again.
I miss you.
Those were the three words in the text message I sent to Adley in haste.
I miss you too.
Those were the four words she sent back that felt like I'd been given a gift.
They don't hold the promise of anything. They're simple words between two close friends, but I've been craving them for days, even if I didn't realize it until now.
"I've been dying to suck your cock since dinner." Lucia approaches, her hands trailing over her tits. "Take off your trousers, Crew."
It's an offer I shouldn't be able to refuse. Lucia knows what I like. She'll drop to her knees right here and blow me. She'll crawl into my bed and we'll spend the rest of my time in Vegas the way we always do when we're together. Little sleep, countless condoms, and an understanding that when I head back to New York, she's as free to do whoever the hell she wants as I am.
"Not tonight." I shake off her hand as she reaches for the front of my gray pants. "Get dressed."
"Not tonight?" she parrots back with a sneer." Exactly what does that mean?"
I turn to look at her, keeping my eyes focused on her face because what's below her neck doesn't interest me anymore. "It means I don't want to fuck you, Lucia. I want you to leave."
"Slow down, lover." Her hands move to caress my biceps
through the white button down shirt I'm wearing. "You held me at bay for four days and now that I'm here, you're telling me to fuck off?"
I have kept her at arm's length since I landed earlier this week. I had work to do and I know from experience, that once Lucia gets her claws in me, business takes a back seat.
I promised her that we'd spend the next three days together.
"I'm not telling you to fuck off." I reach for my suit jacket. I'd tossed it onto the back of the plush sofa when we arrived. "Put this on."
"Why?" She pushes it away with both hands. "You suddenly don't like my body? I've never heard a complaint from you before."
She's right. I've only ever offered compliments. She's a beautiful woman who is skilled in the sack. Her business acumen makes her the perfect fit for me, yet we've never taken things between us beyond our shared interest in Veil West and a satisfying fuck whenever I'm in town.
"You won't hear one now." I turn back to the window and the lights that promise an experience unlike any other. Vegas comes with a rich treasure of hope mixed with every wicked pleasure imaginable. That's the reason it's one of my favorite places on this earth. "It's not about you."
She parts her feet and plants her hands on her hips. "You need to fuck, Crew. Whatever is on your mind will cease to exist once your cock hits the back of my throat."
My dick doesn't even twitch with those words. "I'm not in the mood."
"You're always in the mood." She cocks her head to the side.
"Not tonight." I bark back to her reflection. Her hand darts between her thighs. The temptation bait she's casting in my direction is a waste of her time.
She throws her head back and moans. I look down at my phone again. I want to call Adley. I want to ask how her week has been. I want to tell her that I've been thinking about her constantly, but I can't. Nothing has changed between us since I left. We're still just friends and she's still hanging out with Hale judging by an image that was posted to a random woman's Instagram account six hours ago and tagged with the halesbabe hashtag.
It was a picture of Ad and Hale at a café. The fingers of her left hand were touching the front of her neck. It's a sure sign that she was uncomfortable in the moment. Hale's not the guy for her even if twenty-thousand people liked the picture and more than five hundred commented on what a perfect couple they are.
Idiots. They don't know her.
"I'm going to come," Lucia cries from where she's still standing, her hand moving in a frantic pace to get herself off.
I turn and walk past her, leaving her alone to enjoy the climax she needs, and I want no part of.
Chapter 9
Adley
"Crew will be back in three days," Ellie tells May as we stand at the corner of Broadway and Eighty-First. "You can explain to him what happened to the kite then."
May shields her eyes from the bright mid-day sun with her hand as she looks up at her mom. "Why can't we just call him? He told me that if I need him that I should call."
He's told me the same thing countless times. I was tempted to reach out to him yesterday, but visions of him in bed with Lucia kept me from making the call. He did send me a text message shortly after two this morning when I was up getting a glass of water. It said that he missed me.
I sent him a response almost immediately telling him that I missed him too, and then I waited for more. Nothing came and now it's almost twelve hours later and I haven't heard another word from him. I won't until he's back in Manhattan.
"What happened to the kite?" I step onto the street once the light changes. "Did you get it caught in a tree?"
"No." May reaches forward to grab my hand. "I gave it to a friend."
I squeeze her hand in mine. She's so much like Ellie that it's hard to believe that they're not related by blood. Ellie was homeless when we met and yet she would have given the few possessions she did have to anyone who needed them. Her good heart has rubbed off on her daughter.
May and I skip up onto the curb once we've crossed the street. Ellie does the same with Jonas by her side.
"Your friend didn't have a kite?" I look down at May. She's wearing a pair of blue shorts and a blue T-shirt. Our outfits are almost identical right down to our flat-heeled sandals. Mine are nude, hers a sparkly pink.
"He doesn't have many toys." She pushes a pebble on the sidewalk with her foot. "Mom took me to fly the kite yesterday and he was there with his little brother. I gave them the kite because I knew Captain Crew would have done the same thing."
She's right.
"He's going to be proud of you." I start walking up Broadway holding tight to her hand with Ellie and Jonas trailing behind us. "You did the right thing by thinking of your friend first."
"That's what I thought too." She looks up at me, her brown eyes widening. "Captain says you and dad are his best friends. Your best friend is a boy and mine is too."
"Your best friend is the boy you gave the kite to?"
"Zane," she says as her cheeks blush. "He's cute."
"I bet he thinks the same thing about you." I squeeze her hand again as we walk toward her favorite bistro for lunch. "He sounds like a pretty special best friend to me. It was kind of you to give that kite to Zane. Crew will think so too."
"I can't wait until he gets back from his trip." She skips faster and I up my pace to keep up with her. "I hope he's not having so much fun that he stays there forever."
He might. Lucia is perfect for him. It's only a matter of time before he realizes that.
***
"Is that blood on your shirt?" Sydney leans in to get a closer look. "That is blood, Adley. Do you know how unsanitary that is?"
"I had to draw blood from a Dalmatian today. Obviously he wasn't cooperative."
I should have known it wouldn't be an easy shift when I was called in on my day off. I'd just finished sharing an ice cream covered dessert brownie with May when Tilly called to ask me to cover the rest of her shift because she felt sick. I couldn't decline. She's done the same for me on more than one occasion.
"You have to change out of your scrubs before the party starts." Sydney runs her hands over her short white dress. "I'm wearing this but you can wear anything but what you have on right now."
A party? Seriously?
I have to work again tomorrow. I can't party until I drop tonight. I'm close to dropping now I'm so exhausted.
"You're having a party? How many people are coming?"
"It's more a pizza and beer hangout to watch the game." She bites her bottom lip. "How many would be too many?"
One. That's what I want to say, but I don't.
I was looking forward to taking a bath tonight and then watching a movie. Obviously, that's not happening now.
"How many, Syd?" I rest my hip against the counter.
"Twenty," she replies quickly. "Two."
I take a deep breath and then let it out; using the minute it affords me to calm down enough that I don't offend her. "You know that sometimes I work odd hours. It would help me a lot, in the future, if we talked about having that many people over before the invites were sent out."
Her bottom lip trembles slightly. "I messed up, didn't I? I'm sorry, Ad. I thought we could both use some fun. I've seen how hard you've been working lately."
I'm not angry. It's hard to be mad at someone who bounced into my life and has become such a good friend in a short period of time. "Normally, I'd be all over the idea of a party but I'm wiped tonight."
"I can cancel it." She reaches forward to grab her phone from the counter. As she slides it toward her, she knocks my keys to the hardwood floor. "Shit. I'm going to get my ass thrown out of here before the night is over."
I bend down to pick up my keys, jingling them in my hand. My eyes catch on the key that I've never used. It opens the door to Crew's apartment.
When he handed it to me he told me that the doormen had a standing order to let me in the building if I ever showed up. He also made it crystal clear that if I ever needed a
place to crash, I should consider myself welcome in his guest room.
I stayed the night there twice before. Once when my power was out because of a breaker issue and the second time was when the city came to a standstill because of a snowstorm. I didn't want to deal with the hassle of trying to find a ride back to my place, so I slept in the plush bed reserved for guests. Both nights, I slept like a baby.
"I don't want you to cancel and you're not getting thrown out." I smile. "I love having you as a roommate."
"So you'll change and get ready for the party? Trey Hale's not in the line-up tonight. Do you think he'd want to come over? My friends would freak."
Trey would love to but he's sitting in the dugout tonight watching his teammates take on the team ranked second in their division. He called me right before I left work today. I didn't answer so he left a message asking me if I wanted to watch the game from the team owner's skybox. I texted him on my way home telling him that I had to take a rain check.
Our relationship hasn't progressed beyond meeting for dinner or coffee yet. He did kiss me goodbye after we met at a café yesterday, but there wasn't even a spark. It was a close-mouthed, uninspired meeting of lips and nothing more.
"Trey's at the game tonight." I dip my chin down. "I think I'm going to take off. You can have the place all to yourself. I won't be back until tomorrow after my shift."
"Someone has a hot date with a smoking hot baseball player after the game."
"That someone isn't me," I say simply. "I'm going to go hang out at a friend's place."
Her gaze narrows. "Why do I feel like I'm chasing you out of your own home?"
"You're not." I shake my head to reinforce the point. "I want you to have a good time with your friends. This is as much your home as it is mine."
"Does that mean we can use your bedroom for any extracurricular activities?" Her eyebrows dance. "I mean I only have that one queen size bed in my room."
"I'm locking my bedroom door before I leave." I smile as I jingle my keys in my hand.
Troublemaker Page 4
