I felt like a twelve-year-old child again, summoned to my father’s office for some unknown offense I’d committed. As I sat across from his desk, I wondered what the hell I did this time.
“As you know, I had to hire a new event coordinator after your fling with Suzette. Finding someone to replace her on such short notice wasn’t an easy task.”
So that’s what this was about. Again. Suzette with the firm, round ass and voluptuous tits. It wasn’t my fault she got attached. She was mediocre at her job, so it wasn’t that big of a loss if you asked me.
“She’s the third employee you’ve run off in a year, Trent, and it’s wearing on me. If you sleep with one more woman in this office, you won’t like the consequences.”
I rolled my eyes. I’d heard that threat before, and that’s all it was… a threat. “Point made. I’ll assume by your need to throw my indiscretions in my face that our new event coordinator is a woman.”
My father steepled his fingers. “She is, and Ms. Romano came highly recommended from one of our other hotels.”
“Where is she from?”
“Waukegan.”
I shook my head. Surely, I couldn’t have heard correctly. Las Vegas wasn’t for the faint of heart. I expected him to say Miami, LA, or even New York. Certainly not some place I could barely pronounce. “I’m sorry. Where?”
“Waukegan. It’s north of Chicago. She worked at the Onyx.”
“Chicago is great and all. It’s a cool place to hang out, but it’s not Vegas. What makes you think she’s qualified? I’m fairly certain event planning in Waukegan isn’t to the same standards.”
I was pushing my father’s patience and his lips pressed together in a fine line. “Her job was at one of our hotels. I have faith in my decision. I’ve been running this business since before you were born. Surely, you’re not questioning my judgment.”
I knew when to back off. “Of course not. You’re the boss.”
“You’d be best to remember that. I expect you to help Ms. Romano get assimilated. As COO and Head of PR and Marketing, her success ultimately falls on your shoulders. If you want to take over this empire someday, you’ll keep your dick in your pants. It’s always been the plan for you to run this company, but I don’t have a problem handing over the reins to Hunter if you’re a liability.”
I cringed. There was no way I was letting my little brother snatch this company from me. He was a wiz with numbers, but it took more than a finance degree to run a prestigious hotel conglomerate. “Message received.”
He stood and buttoned his suit coat. “I hope so. I’m serious, Trent. Don’t fuck her.”
I stood and faced him, buttoning my coat as well. “I won’t.” There was no way I was screwing up my future and certainly not with some Midwest, corn-fed wannabe.
“Good. I’ll expect you to be on your best behavior.” He walked to the door, and I followed behind. “Meeting in the conference room in five.”
I headed back to my office and barked at my PA. “Tom, coffee. Immediately!”
“Sure thing, Mr. Dorsey.” He scurried away to the break room.
The conversation with my father pissed me off. He was going to fire me because I loved women? Please! I hired Tom six months ago. I thought that would help, and it did. I had no desire to fuck him every time he walked into my office. He was also surprisingly good at his job. Efficient and discreet.
Suzette… not so much. We had a fling. That was true. Nothing more than a down-and-dirty fuck to get her out of my system, but it wasn’t enough for her. When she showed up in my office wearing only thigh highs and a pearl necklace, it was time for her to go.
I grabbed my portfolio from my desk as Tom rushed into my office with the coffee. “Thank you, Tom.”
“Of course. Anything else, sir?”
I sighed. The only place I enjoyed being called sir was in the bedroom. “We’ve been over this before. It’s Mr. Dorsey or Trent. Not sir. And yes, there’s one more thing. Find out everything you can about our new event coordinator, Ms. Romano. I wanna know where she lived, her evaluations at the Onyx in Chicago, and any other little interesting tidbits you can dig up.” The best defense was always a good offense. Information was power.
“I’ll get on it.”
“And Tom…”
“Yes?”
“Let’s keep this between you and me.”
He nodded. “Always.”
I made my way to the conference room that overlooked the Strip. It was a glorious sight during the day, but at night it was spectacular. That’s when the real magic happened. Any filthy fantasy your mind could conjure up was possible.
Like last Friday night.
The memory of the redhead on her knees in front of Brett and me flashed through my mind. And when we were both deep inside her… pure perfection.
My lips curled into a smile, and I quickly straightened my face. It wasn’t the time or place to be reminiscing, especially when my father was up my ass and obviously annoyed.
Business.
I had to prove to him my head was in the game.
Ignoring the rest of the room, I took my seat at the end of the table across from my brother, Hunter. He smirked at me like the cat that ate the canary. “Better pull it together.”
“I’ve got my shit pulled together. Worry about yourself.” The last thing I needed was two people up my ass.
He lifted one eyebrow. “We’ll see.”
My father walked in, commanding everyone’s attention, and walked to the head of the table. He threw the pile of papers in his hand onto the polished surface. “I just got the latest numbers. They’re good, but they could be better. We’re still getting killed by Bellagio, Caesars Palace, and MGM. When people think of Las Vegas, I want Mystique at the top of their list. We need to up our game. We don’t need good, we need great.”
That was the thing about the hotel industry, especially in Vegas. There was no such thing as status quo. Everyone wanted a bigger piece of the pie. You either kept upping the ante or dropped out of the game. The latter wasn’t an option for us.
“I need each department to brainstorm,” my father continued his rant. “Everything is on the table from housekeeping to the shopping to the casino to dining and entertainment. Find out what our competition is doing and come up with something better. No idea is off-limits.”
I let out a measured breath. Nothing like starting a Monday in a pressure cooker.
My father gathered his papers from the table. “We’ll meet back on Friday, but before we go…” He motioned to the other end of the table. “Please welcome our new event coordinator, Ms. Gianna Romano.”
My head swiveled that way and her stunning blue eyes locked with mine. The redhead lifted her hand in a dainty wave. “It’s Gia. And thank you for having me. I’m excited to be part of this team.”
Everyone around the table said their hellos and welcomed her.
My jaw turned to stone. There was no fucking way. God must have really hated me.
Hunter gave me a swift kick under the table as everyone got up to leave. “Good luck.”
I scowled at him and pulled out my phone to text Brett.
We have a fucking problem.
