Vegas Baby! (Sin City Omegas #2)

Chapter 1

T he neon lights of the Vegas strip glowed outside our window. It was pitch black, making the city look like a glimmering jewel in the night sky. My alpha boyfriend, Andrew, leaned against my back as I stood by the window, his hands wandering until he hit a ticklish spot, causing me to laugh and push away from him.

“No feeling me up where the whole city can see.”

“If I turned off the light, no one would be able to see in here.”

I tapped his nose with my finger. “No.”

He sighed and pulled me close, devouring my mouth and nudging me back until the cool glass pressed against me. “Come on, Ava. Live a little.”

I chuckled and pushed him away again, patting my six-month bump with the other hand. “The last time you told me that, this happened.”

“Can’t get more pregnant than you already are,” he pointed out.

“I’ll think about it after you take me to dinner.”

“Fine. You’re sure you don’t want room service?”

“I’ve never been here before. I want the whole experience. You promised.”

He didn’t look happy about that fact, but he nodded. Most of the time when we met up for his conferences we didn’t even leave the hotel room, or at least I didn’t. I wanted this time to be different since we were using it as a babymoon instead of just a regular convention weekend. It wouldn’t be very celebratory if I did nothing but hang out inside. Plus, it was a bit of a belated celebration for Andrew’s forty-fifth since he had been busy on his actual birthday.

I put on the purple dress I’d bought for the occasion. It was snug on my breasts with a sparkly brooch between them, and flowed smoothly over my bump. Andrew tried to distract me multiple times while I got dressed, his hands wandering while he helped me with my garter belt and stockings, and my shoes. I wasn’t going to be dissuaded, though. Andrew didn’t make me many promises so I was determined to hold him to this one.

He walked around like he had a thundercloud hanging over his head. I was going to have to enjoy Vegas enough for both of us.

“Ava, please. I don’t feel like going out,” he said while we waited for the rideshare to pick us up.

“We have a reservation,” I reminded him. “Are you sick?”

“No. I wanted to stay in with you like we always do. It’s tradition.”

I chewed my lip, feeling guilty. “If you desperately don’t want to go, I guess we can pay the cancelation fee.”

He looked instantly relieved.

“But if we’re not going to dinner, I would at least like to walk by the fountains. Is that a fair compromise?”

“I guess,” he grumbled.

“You’re not usually such a grumpy Gus. What’s wrong?”

“You’re not usually such a tourist.”

I couldn’t figure out what he was upset about. We would still be together at a dinner or seeing the sights. It wasn’t like I had offered to go to dinner myself and he’d go back to the room.

“Think of it this way,” I said, trying to lift his mood, “soon I’ll be in New York with you and we can create new traditions. We can have all the quiet dinners at home with the baby that you want.”

“You’re not going to want to be a tourist in New York?”

“Well, eventually. But I can hold tight for a while. I’m not going to go wandering around the city when I’m about to burst, or with a newborn.”

“Okay. Let’s do the fountains. I don’t think they’re anything special, but they only take a few minutes.”

We were staying at a hotel off the Strip because Andrew needed to be close to the Convention Center, which meant we needed to drive. I soaked up the energy of the city as the rideshare carried us through the glitz and dropped us off next to the Bellagio. We were so close to the Paris hotel where our reservations were. I’d thought Andrew might finally get the hint and propose because of my restaurant choice. Maybe that was why he didn’t want to go. I didn’t think it would be much of a stretch to get engaged when I was pregnant, but I was less and less sure what was going on in his head since I’d given him the news.

“I’m glad we came early.” The convention didn’t start officially until tomorrow and we’d come the day before so we could have extra time together.

“Me too,” he said quietly.

Standing with Andrew at the Bellagio fountains was a dream come true. Everything was perfect even if he was a bit grumpy today. Our baby would arrive in a few short months, he’d bought an apartment in New York for me to move into with him since I quit my job in San Jose to be with him, and now we got to enjoy this little babymoon, however short-lived it was.

The lights of the hotels illuminated every glossy strand of hair on him, teasing out the golds and browns. I sighed and snuggled against his arm. He was just as beautiful as the day we ran into each other on my eighteenth birthday at a club in downtown San Jose. How quickly four and a half years had passed.

We had been long distance for our entire relationship, and as much as it had sucked, it made sense. My job kept me in California and his kept him in New York. I had never pushed to move to the East Coast, knowing how expensive rent could be in the city, but now that he was doing better in his career and the baby was coming, we were finally taking that step.

I would miss the California cliffs, but I was ready for this new adventure.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go back to the hotel?”

It was sweet, romantic that he could never seem to get enough of me each time we were reunited.

“I’m sure.”

Andrew grumbled a sigh, but acquiesced. “I’m hungry. I want to order room service.”

I bit my tongue, not telling him that we could be ordering our dinner right now across the street if he’d stop insisting on the hotel. We weren’t even at one of the fun ones where I could walk from one to another or check out the themed displays.

“Soon.”

“Fifteen more minutes. The fountains should be done by then. We can go back after that?”

“You bet.” I beamed up at him and he crowded me against the fountain banister for a kiss I felt down to my toes. We weren’t scent matches, but I had loved him all of my adult life. He was more than enough.

“Lawson!”

The name had Andrew jolting and I looked curiously at him.

“Shit. Don’t move.” Andrew spun around, putting himself between me and the source of the voice, greeting them. “Carlton,” Andrew said with a nod of his head.

“I didn’t know you brought Charlotte with you.”

Charlotte?

A handsome face dipped around Andrew with a smile. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Mrs. Lawson. I’m Bryce Carlton, one of Andrew’s coworkers. He’s told us all about you. How are the kids doing? Missing you both this weekend?” He gestured to my belly. “He didn’t say you guys were expecting a third.”

Andrew was white as a sheet and I glanced between the two men, confused as hell. The fountains started to play music, the water leaping into the air, but I couldn’t bring myself to turn and look.

“What are you talking about? I feel like you have us confused with someone else. Andrew’s last name is Lane, and I’m not Charlotte. I’m Ava.”

Confusion flickered over Bryce’s face for a moment before it contorted with rage. “Lawson, are you fucking kidding me?”

“It’s not what it looks like.”

“Oh, it’s not? I didn’t see you kissing this woman who is apparently not your wife?”

“Wife?” I squeaked, a wave of dizziness washing over me. I stumbled back against the fountain banister and curled my fingers against the stone to steady myself.

Andrew spun toward me. “He’s lying.”

“You’re married ?” All at once, my confusion faded into fury. “You’ve been lying to me for over four years? What the hell is the matter with you? Why are we having a baby if you’re married?”

My anger had always been quick to flare, and disappeared just as fast. All the pieces of this reality slotted into place, and the world fell out from beneath my feet.

I felt so numb I could barely breathe. Ice flowed through me as my entire life collapsed in front of me.

Bryce looked at me curiously, his eyes wide, and his nostrils flaring. I was probably putting out so much distress scent, and he was an alpha, or at least I thought he was. I couldn’t catch his scent over the cloud of my own right now.

“Carlton, this is a personal matter. Can you please get the hell out of here?”

“You know, I don’t think I will. Ava, do you want to stay with him?”

I shook my head. Part of me did want to, because Andrew was the only thing I had known for so long, and I was carrying his child, but how could we ever work through something like this? Did his wife know about me? I could only assume she didn’t.

What the hell was I going to do? I had never considered that I would be doing this as a single parent. Andrew had assured me a hundred times that he would be there to take care of me during this process and that we would raise the baby together in New York.

All of it was lies.

“Ava, please,” Andrew begged. “I can explain.”

“I’m sure you can. But I don’t want to hear it right now.”

“Ava.” His voice was firm, filled with so much command it almost made me sink to the ground. “Talk to me.”

“No.” I’d spent our entire relationship deferring to him, and this was one time I simply couldn’t. I needed time to figure out what I was going to do and whether I would ever be able to look at him again.

Andrew sighed, heaving his shoulders. “Fine. I’ll be at the hotel when you’re ready to talk to me.”