“You’re fucking unbelievable!”
I smiled at Hunter as he stormed into my office. “I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it.” He slammed a pile of papers on top of my desk.
“What’s that?” I asked with a smirk.
“The performance report for the hotel in Albuquerque. Apparently, they need help with the books, so I’m being sent there for the next month.” He scowled. “Kind of convenient, don’t you think? With Dad leaving tomorrow, you’ll be totally unsupervised.”
Yes, I planted the seed in my father’s head about sending Hunter away, and it was completely justified with the way he’d been harassing Gia. I stood and leaned forward on my desk. His arrogance and condescending tone, paired with the way he treated Gia, pushed me over the edge. “Listen, you entitled little fuck, you need to start minding your own goddamn business. Wherever Dad decides to put you, is your issue. You want to think you’re better than everyone else around here? Then start proving your worth and quit whining like a prissy little bitch every time something doesn’t go your way. You’ve disrespected Gia one too many fucking times. When you come back, you better do it with a new fucking attitude because I’ve taken more crap from you than I should have. FYI… I’m the heir to this company, built by both sets of MY grandparents. I don’t need, nor want, your supervision. My name was already on the door before you were born. Unless you want to be working in Albuquerque permanently, I’d suggest you heed my warning.”
“Are you threatening me?” he asked with a sneer.
“No more than you’ve threatened me. The difference is I have the power to make it happen. Now, if I were you, I’d go pack my bags. Ticktock or you’ll miss your flight.” I had Tom book him on the seven o’clock tonight. The sooner he was gone the better. A temporary fix was better than no fix at all.
Hunter slammed his fist on my desk. “This isn’t over! You fuck up and I’ll know about it. I promise you that.”
He’d tap danced on my last nerve. “Get out! I’m not discussing this any further.” I waved my fingers at him. “Buh-bye. Have a nice trip.”
My brother left, but not before flipping me off. I rolled my shoulders and shook out my arms, irritated with myself for letting him wind me up like that. He brought out the worst in me. Always had.
Gia peeked her head in my office. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?” I snapped harsher than intended.
She stepped inside and gently shut the door behind her. “I heard you yelling all the way from my office. I’m pretty sure everyone else did too.”
I ran a hand down my face. “Fuck.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
With Hunter gone, I could finally relax. “I am now. You won’t have to worry about my jerkoff brother bothering you for a while.”
“Oh?”
“I had my father send him to our hotel in New Mexico.”
“Seriously? You had him exiled?”
“Temporarily. Unfortunately, he’ll be back in a few weeks.” Her lips turned down and she bit her lip. “I thought you’d be happier.”
“I am happy. It’s… I’m afraid this is going to make things worse. He’s going to want revenge when he gets back.”
“Has anybody ever told you that you worry too much?”
“I can’t help it. There’s a lot going on in here,” she said, tapping her temple.
“Come here.” I held my hand out to her. She walked tentatively toward me and took my outreached hand in hers. “I want to show you something.” I walked her over to the tinted window overlooking the casino. “See all those people down there?”
Like before, she pressed her face to the window in awe.
“They came to Vegas to try their luck. Some of them will win and some of them will lose. They took a gamble, same as you. The difference is you’re not depending on the spin of a wheel or a roll of the dice. You’re making your own luck. You came here with a purpose, and you haven’t let anything deter you from working toward your dream, not even me. If you can handle all the shit I’ve piled on you, then you sure as hell can handle Hunter. Don’t let him ruin the experience.”
“I have a confession,” she said, looking more vulnerable than I’d ever seen her. “No one has ever believed in me. My family, my friends, even my ex-husband, they all thought I was reaching beyond my station in life. They couldn’t understand why I wasn’t happy. My grandpa worked in the factory. My dad works in the factory. My uncles all work in the factory. I watched them work their asses off for a paycheck that barely covered the bills. My mom works in a gift shop selling trinkets to tourists that think Waukegan is cute. I’m not putting them down. There’s nothing wrong with that life, but I want more. I was the first one in my family to go to college and I promised myself I wouldn’t waste it. I didn’t want to be the woman who cooks and cleans with a baby on her hip. Living where a big night out is watching the ballgame at the corner bar while drinking a beer.” She tugged on the ends of her red hair and motioned to the dress she was wearing. “This is who I wanted to be. So, when you said fake it ’til you make it, that’s all I’ve been doing. Nobody expects me to succeed. They’re waiting for me to come home with my tail between my legs. And deep down, I’m afraid they’re going to be right.”
I’d seen that simple girl the other night when I returned her shoes, and she intrigued me as much as the woman standing in front of me. I cupped her face in my palms and turned her bright-blue eyes toward mine. This woman, who was so fierce on the outside, was a nervous mess on the inside. “You can be whoever you want to be.”
“Pfft. That’s easy to say when you have money and a family who backs you. I’ve just got me.”
“It’s two sides of the same coin. Everyone expects me to take over this company one day. They expect me to be like my father and have all my shit together. But the reality is I’ve made mistakes and I’m probably going to make more. I will take over this business eventually, but it’s going to be on my terms.”
“I hadn’t thought of it that way.”
“And you don’t just have yourself, you have me too.” I leaned down and pressed my lips against hers. She was frozen at first, but eventually her lips moved with mine and it was a thousand times better than I remembered. Her arms wrapped around my neck, and she let out a little moan that had my dick standing at attention.
Gia reluctantly pulled away. “We shouldn’t be doing this.”
I captured her lips again. “We definitely shouldn’t, but I can’t resist you.”
“We could lose our jobs,” she whispered.
“I won’t let that happen. Let me take you out Friday after the show. No expectations. Just us getting to know each other. Let’s see where this takes us.” There I was, proposing going slow when all I’d ever done was jump into bed with woman after woman.
“Okay, but I don’t want it to make things weird between us.”
I laughed. “Weirder than it already is? I doubt that’s possible.” I pecked her on the lips again. “We’ll be totally professional.”
“We’re not having sex.”
“Absolutely not.”
Resisting her was going to be a challenge, but when she gave in it would be worth the wait.
