Get it together, woman, I finally scolded myself after I’d realized I’d been standing in the middle of the hotel lobby daydreaming for at least a minute.
Fingering my room key I made my way to the row of elevators, where one was down in the lobby, ready to whisk me up to the top floor of the building.
There were only four apartments on the entire penthouse level, and I found mine pretty easily. The door clicked open as soon as I slipped the key card into the slot, and my jaw dropped open. If Kiegan hadn’t gone up before me, I would have definitely gone down and told him that Leanne had swapped our keys by accident. But no, that meant this had to be my room.
From where I was standing, I looked out into a living room easily three times the size of my old apartment in Seattle. Floor to ceiling windows gave me a perfect view of the strip. A huge fireplace lined one of the walls, with an eighty inch plasma TV mounted to the wall above it. A giant L-shaped couch, made of black leather and easily big enough to hold ten people was the centrepiece of the living room, with a large glass-topped coffee table in front of it.
I made my way slowly through the room, unconsciously going as quietly as I could, like I didn’t belong here and if I made any noise I’d be caught and kicked out, sent back to a normal queen room like I was used to.
Past the living room were a set of French doors that led to a bedroom fit for a king. Like, seriously, the bed was a four poster, king size, in the middle of a room that could have easily fit four of those beds. It looked like I was going to have to get a running start to jump onto the bed at night, it was piled that high with pillows and mattresses.
The décor was definitely ultra-modern. Three of the walls were pure white, with one scarlet red. The bedspread was red and white as well, and the cabinets were all white with red cupboards.
I was almost scared to see what the bathroom looked like.
When I finally opened the door to the ensuite, I gasped. First of all, there was a real, actual powder room. It had been a few years since I’d seen one of those at all, and I’d never had one in a hotel room of my own. To one side was a room with the toilet and a sink, separate from the rest, but still large enough for a decorative table that held incense sticks in a vase. The calming aroma of lavender came floating out of the room. I closed the door and went into the main bathroom, where a round Jacuzzi tub, built in to the centre of the room, was immediately what my eye was drawn to.
“Oh my God, I wish I could live here,” I muttered to myself as I walked around in awe, pressing buttons to see what lights they turned on. Everything was marble, and against the far wall was a double sink with a mirror, and on the other side a luxurious rainwater shower. For when I don’t have time for a Jacuzzi bath but don’t want to slum it in a normal shower, I guess, I thought to myself as I looked around. It was all so much, I was almost starting to feel dizzy.
That was when I remembered what Kiegan had said about getting some rest. I wasn’t sure I could; I didn’t want to spend any of the time that I had in this amazing hotel room sleeping.
Still, I went over to the couch, set my phone alarm to noon, turned on the TV, found an old Law and Order: SVU rerun and closed my eyes. I could have a quick nap, get up, have a bite to eat and still be back in time to meet Kiegan and the others at one.
Unfortunately, because it wasn’t even eleven in the morning, I wasn’t able to go to sleep at all. Instead I kept my eyes closed and listened as Detectives Benson and Stabler hunted down yet another rapist. When my alarm finally went off, I got up and stretched, then decided to wander down to the lobby to get some food. I’d seen a full service restaurant when we had come in, and also a little café-style place that I thought might do a good lunchtime sandwich or something.
Sure enough, the little café had a great BLT wrap that I ate with a bag of chips and an iced tea, watching the people moving in and out of the lobby. I people-watched, played the tourist-or-businessman game, then looked at my watch and saw it was time to meet up with the others.
* * *
Kiegan had not been kidding when he said it was going to be a busy afternoon. First he sent Josh off to deal with the company organizing the boxing match, to make sure there weren’t going to be any problems with anything they were going to film to help promo the TV show. Then Leanne told Kiegan she had to be on a conference call with the other heads of the VC firm; Kiegan told her that was fine.
“Now, first thing I need you to do, Tina, is to go find me some clothes for tonight. I’m a men’s medium, 34 inch inseam, 30 inch waist. You’ve seen what I wear, find me something that fits that style, but is just a tad classier for tonight.”
Really? I’m being paid to go shopping for my stepbrother? Well, if that’s all it is I think I can handle that.
“What size shoes do you wear?”
“Ten. Good. You passed my test by asking. Though I was looking forward to making you go back out at the last minute when you forgot the shoes.”
I glared at him. What kind of psychopath would do that instead of just telling me his shoe size? I began to understand why he wasn’t able to keep a PA for long.
“Oh, and I need this to be done in forty minutes. Then you have to be back here.”
“What? Only forty minutes? Why?”
“Because I said so, that’s why. I need the clothes then. Better get started, the clock’s ticking. Oh, here’s some cash for the taxi and clothes,” Kiegan remembered as I glowered at him. He handed me a pile of hundreds. Five hundred dollars. I stared at the money for a second, then realized time was ticking away.
Luckily, Vegas being Vegas, I was able to get a cab almost immediately outside the hotel.
“Take me to the closest store that sells Ralph Lauren type stuff,” I told the driver.
“Ok,” he replied. It took fifteen minutes before we got to the mall, and I told him to wait there and keep the meter running. I really, really hoped he would, otherwise with a fifteen minute time frame for the return trip, I was never going to make it in time.
I darted into the store. Ralph Lauren was probably too fancy for what Kiegan wanted, but I didn’t care. I grabbed a stylishly faded t-shirt in his size that I hoped looked rebellious and yet fancy enough, and a pair of dark blue jeans, and some black shoes to go with them. I also grabbed him a trenchcoat, after all it was getting cold out, and I figured Kiegan was the kind of guy who could pull off the trenchcoat-and-jeans look without looking like a total jerk. And if he did, well, whatever, he was a total jerk, so what did I care? At the counter I saw some black socks for sale and quickly threw those in as well, not wanting to end up scolded for forgetting the socks.
I flew back out of the store and breathed a huge sigh of relief when the cabbie was still there. I had taken almost exactly ten minutes in the store, I was going to make it back in time!
With two minutes to spare, I ran triumphantly into the lobby. I had done it! I had made it! I stopped, put down the bag and put my hands on my knees to catch my breath as I looked around for Kiegan. My eyes scanned the room, but that delicious blonde hair was nowhere to be seen.
I began to panic. Had I checked the time wrong? Was I late? There was no way I was early. Where the hell was he?
I looked around again, in case I’d missed him the first time, but no, I definitely hadn’t. Kiegan wasn’t here. I had no idea how to contact him.
Collapsing into one of the chairs, it suddenly came to me. I pulled out the new phone and checked the contacts list. ‘Kiegan – cell’ was one of three numbers pre-programmed by Leanne into the phone. I pressed his name and Kiegan picked up on the third ring.
“Where are you?” I asked.
“I’m the boss, I’m wherever I want to be. Did you get the clothes?”
“Yes! I’m here, I have them, where do you want me to bring them?”
“Just hang tight at the hotel, I’ll be done here in a couple hours and I’ll come and get them then.”
“What? But then why did you say I had to take forty minutes?”
“You know… just to put the pressure on a bit. I really didn’t need them in forty minutes.”
“You’re impossible. Fine. I’ll be in my room, waiting for you.”
“Thank you, sis,” he replied in a sing song voice, and I pressed “end call” without replying.
It had all been a prank. And the worst part was, I knew he would do it again, and I knew I would stress out and panic again. Because this was my job, and as much as I hated my brother, I wanted to keep it.
God, how I hated him.
Chapter Eleven
Going back up to my room and seeing the total opulence I got to live in helped me soothe my anger. If I was going to be teased and tormented all the time, well at least I was getting to do it in style. I had to give him that much. When Kiegan knocked on my door two hours later, I’d mostly cooled down, but I still practically threw the clothes at him.
“Awesome, I have to be downstairs five minutes ago,” he told me, looking at my choices. “Ralph Lauren is a bit uptight for my tastes, but you did ok with this,” he told me as he stood in the living room of my hotel room and began unzipping his pants.
“Wait, what are you doing?” I asked as he let the slacks he was wearing fall to the floor. I tried, I really tried not to look, but I couldn’t help but take a peek. It wasn’t the sculpted quads or the calf muscles that I noticed, but instead a different bulge, covered by his black briefs. I quickly turned away as a blush began to crawl up my face, and the rest of my body began to feel hot. I couldn’t let him catch me looking at him. After all, he was my brother!
“I need to be downstairs like, now. The car to take me to the boxing match is waiting.” He ripped the tags off the jeans and slipped them on, Then slipped off his shirt. While he had his shirt over his head I glanced at his body. Those were chiselled abs; I don’t think I’d ever seen a six pack in person before. His whole body was just so lean and toned, I wouldn’t have been surprised if he got a modelling contract based on his body alone.
I quickly pretended I was looking elsewhere as Kiegan pulled the shirt down over his head.
“Are you coming to the match?”
“Am I invited?”
“Sure, why not?”
“Well… is there space for me?”
Kiegan smiled at me, that same smug look he always gave me. “I’m Kiegan Hunt, if I say you want to watch with me, you’re going to be let in.”
God, he’s arrogant. I was still a bit pissed off about the arbitrary forty minute deadline, but decided I actually did want to watch the boxing match more. Besides, maybe this was an olive branch Kiegan was extending.
Yeah, right. Guys like Kiegan don’t do olive branches, I reminded myself. Once an ass, always an ass.
“Ok, I’ll come,” I replied.
“Good. Find something to wear and get ready, we’re leaving basically now.”
“Actually now this time?”
“Actually now.”
Five minutes later I’d hastily changed into something a bit more casual, and put my hair up to hide the fact that I hadn’t actually really done anything with it, and joined Kiegan in the lobby.
His ‘entourage’ in the lobby, a group of about fifteen people, of whom I forgot everyone’s name basically immediately, all piled into giant SUVs and we drove off down the strip towards the hotel where the boxing match was taking place.
Everything was an absolute zoo as soon as we got out of the car. People were screaming, dancing, all dressed up, not dressed up at all, everything and anything you could possibly imagine was happening.
I kept making sure I knew where Kiegan was. After all, if I lost him in this crowd, I knew there was no chance I’d see him again. I spotted him out of the corner of my eye, signing autographs and posing for selfies with a bunch of girls. That familiar pang of jealousy ran through me, and I forced it aside. It was stupid. Why was I being so jealous about this?
I had to admit though, the boxing match was pretty damn good. This job had a few perks that I was definitely going to enjoy.
Chapter Twelve
The next few weeks went by in a blur. Kiegan’s reality TV show completely and totally took off. It was like overnight he went from being the heir to one of America’s most famous families to a celebrity in his own right. He went on Fallon, he was on The Daily Show, he was on Conan; he even appeared as a guest star in an episode of Arrow, which I was especially proud of myself for having managed to organize.
Meanwhile, my life was going better than I expected. Leanne turned out to be a lot of fun, and we quickly became friends, which was good since we had to co-ordinate with each other quite a bit. She was serious, but we were kindred spirits deep down, both loving an organized folder and preferring a trip to the aquarium rather than the pub.
I watched my bank account balance grow and grow, and every time Kiegan decided to be an asshole for no reason, or put me down in front of groups of people, I turned to my phone and opened my bank account to look at my new balance. It was all going to be worth it.
Or so I told myself. Deep down I could feel the anger growing, like a smouldering fire that hasn’t quite gone out yet, that grows a little every time a small breeze stokes it. I tried to quell the flames, but I couldn’t do it completely. I knew one day it was going to become an inferno, as much as I tried to stop it from happening.
That day came on my birthday. December 7th. Of course I hadn’t expected Kiegan to remember it was my birthday. I wasn’t sure if he had ever known when my birthday was. But it came, and I was no longer a teenager. I was a woman in my 20s.
I woke up in a suite in one of the ritziest hotels in Miami. Man, I’m never going to be able to go back to that apartment, I thought to myself as I turned off my alarm and stretched in the giant king bed. My 20s are going to be awesome.
I got up and ordered room service, left a tip on the table, then went into the bathroom to have a shower. When I got back a streaming tray with pancakes, scrambled eggs and sourdough toast was waiting for me, along with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, and a jar of pure maple syrup.
Glancing at the clock, I knew I had a little over an hour before I had to meet Kiegan and the crew to head out to where the next episode of Kiegan Versus the World was being filmed. I knew this was going to be a big episode. Usually when Kiegan was filming I stayed at the hotel and organized his things, doing my job. But today, I decided I wanted to watch. This stunt sounded amazing. Kiegan and some guy who played college football were going to fly up in a helicopter over the water, with a cargo net set up under the helicopters, going from one side of the doors to the other. The goal was to cross under the helicopter via the cargo nets without falling off and falling over 100 feet into the water below.
I had to give it to Kiegan, he didn’t seem to have any fears at all. That much was true.
Taking my breakfast out onto the balcony, I soaked in the sun and the gorgeous view of the ocean. Even though it was December, it was still over sixty five degrees out, and I was definitely going to take full advantage of being warm on my birthday for once in my life.
“Happy birthday to me,” I mumbled to myself, toasting myself with my orange juice, and wondering what the year to come was going to bring. Little did I know.
* * *
Two hours later we were at the helipad. I watched as groups of people came and went in the hustle and bustle that came with filming a show. Josh was in his element, ordering people around, double checking the views from cameras, making sure that the GoPros used to film a bunch of the stunts were all in place and working. The man was a pro. Kiegan was being interviewed about the upcoming stunt, standing in front of the Bell helicopter with a grin on his face and his hands on his hips, wearing only a Miami Dolphins t-shirt and a pair of American Flag board shorts. Despite the gorgeous sunny day, floodlights and reflectors were still pointed in his direction.
The college football player, Antoine King, was about fifteen feet away, also being interviewed. I had to admit, if I w
ere a betting person, I would probably put my money on Antoine. His dark, muscular arms had to be at least twice the size of Kiegan’s, and it wasn’t like Kiegan was small. The football player was at least 6 foot 6, and built like a tank. Surely he had the strength to get across a cargo net hanging over water. Surely. Suddenly, Josh clapped his hands and yelled out that it was time for takeoff, and if I thought things were chaotic before, it was nothing compared to now.
I tried to stand out of everyone’s way as they began filming Antoine and Kiegan getting into their separate helicopters, the pilots coming in from the building a few feet away, the helicopters’s rotors beginning to spin, and finally the takeoff.
Two more helicopters took off behind the ones carrying Kiegan and Antoine, each filled with an extra camera crew that would be filming the whole thing.
I had expected the helicopters to just fly a few hundred feet from the docking station and do the stunt there, but they quickly flew off far away from the coastline, hundreds of feet out into the open ocean.
So that I could still see what was going on, I made my way to a cluster of computers set up on a table, which showed a live stream of all the different cameras set up to film the stunt.
The show’s host was about to start the countdown. I looked into the screen showing Kiegan’s face. He was determined, focused. So was Antoine. A second later both men were on the edge of the helicopter. I never would have guessed that I could have been that nervous about this stunt. After all, it was possible that things could go horribly wrong. I knew there were a couple of boats with scuba divers ready to go get either one of the men if they got into trouble if they fell in the water, but at the same time, it seemed so unlikely. Kiegan especially had this fire about him, he seemed invincible. Still, as I watched him begin to climb down the cargo net, making sure to get his ankles securely wrapped in the netting before moving on with his arms, my heart began to pound in my chest.
BOSS: A Stepbrother Billionaire Romance Page 7
