Chapter 12 #2
My fingers thread with Georgia’s, and I take us on the escalator and up to the entrance of High Roller, always keeping her behind me even as we approach the line and the woman up front, where I relay the message about belonging to Paulo.
“This way, please.” She unclips a chain and brings us up to the front, holding the line back. I tug Georgia in front of me, keeping my back to the crowd waiting behind us, and when the next car stops, she waves us on. “All for you.”
I push Georgia over to one of the benches until she’s seated, and the doors start to slide closed. I continue to stand, obscuring any view of her through the glass.
“It feels crazy having this whole booth to ourselves.” Georgia’s hands pan around the vast pod. “It looks like it could accommodate a few more dozen people.”
“You asked for privacy. In Las Vegas, this is probably the closest you’ll get.” Even if it’s far from private.
“Truth.”
The car starts to move, slowly carrying us up and over Las Vegas. The sun shines brightly through the glass as the screens overhead flash with ads for various Vegas attractions, and a voice comes through a loudspeaker telling us about the rules, including that we’re not allowed to smoke.
“Dammit, I guess I can’t light my blunt in here.”
I smirk and take the bench seat opposite her. “Have you ever smoked weed?”
“Once,” she tells me. “I was sixteen at a Hollywood party, and people were passing joints around. I took a few hits, hacked out a lung, and that was that. ”
“Such a naughty thing for such a good girl to do.”
She rolls her eyes at me.
“They have other things now. Edibles.”
Her eyebrows bounce. “Do you do them often?”
I shrug. “No. But if it’s been too long since I’ve slept, sometimes I’ll eat one to get myself over the hurdle.”
“Such a pristine thing for such a bad boy to do,” she mocks. “You slept last night.”
I don’t bother responding.
“Are we going to talk about this morning?” she asks.
I wait her out, curious if she’ll mention my reaction.
I don’t normally physically react to situations.
I don’t have to. My size intimidates, and my quietness makes people uneasy and uncertain.
But when she said he got handsy with her and she wasn’t sure if he was going to hurt her or not, I snapped.
And if she hadn’t brought me to the ground and climbed on top of me, I would have found him and showed him exactly what happens when people touch things that don’t belong to them.
“Not here.”
She plows past my warning and gives me a warning of her own. “They’re not done with us. For everything you’re doing, they’re trying to do it back.”
I fold my arms and extend my legs out into the open space between us.
She has no real semblance of who I am or what I’m capable of.
She views me as a hacker, someone who can break into a system or a phone and play around.
Her notions of that are anecdotal—as in what she’s read in books or magazines or seen in Hollywood films and television.
I didn’t get into computers or even hacking when I was a teenager or going to college the way most do.
I also don’t need to live in an empty apartment, wear all black with a permanent hoodie over my head, cover my face with a mask, or walk around with either no ID or six fake ones.
There’s a reason behind that.
But this isn’t the place for that reassurance.
“I’m sorry,” she says again, her gaze scrolling over me. “You’re dragged into the middle of this. ”
She’s tried to warn me about this a few times, but that’s simply because Georgia worries I’m going to run the first chance I get or fire at her that I had no clue what I was getting into with this.
But the truth is, she’s distrustful of me with good reason.
I walked away from her in the past and have no perceptible skin in this game other than my guilt over being a shitty friend and breaking her heart six years ago.
She doesn’t need to know the other reason why I’m here. It won’t help either of us.
I simply stare at her. “We’re married, baby. It’s all going to be fine.”
She shakes her head at my partially mocking tone, her teeth working her bottom lip in a way that makes me jealous of her teeth.
“I don’t know what comes next,” she states, an air of defeat and uncertainty in her voice.
“I was hoping this would be the end, but it somehow feels like I’m back at the beginning again. ”
Vegas and the mountains in the distance bloom around us, and she rises from her seat, walks over to the glass, and peers out at the obscurity and contradiction that is Las Vegas.
Flashing lights against sprawling nature.
I don’t answer her. Not only is she not interested in a response, but my phone rings, cutting off any need for one.
I slip my phone out and glance up and around the booth. Then I answer. “We’re stealing a moment together on the High Roller.”
Zax clears his throat. “You’re with Georgia? I tried calling her, and she didn’t answer.”
“I am. I’ll put you on speaker, but remember what I said.” Meaning there are cameras and possibly audio that could be accessed by anyone, and it’s far from secure.
I set the phone down on the seat beside me, and Zax’s aggravated growl comes through. “Your phone is off, Georgia.”
Her eyes snap wide and she digs through her purse. “Right. Sorry. I shut it off after the press bombarded us.” She holds the button on her phone. “Back on now. Happy?”
“Georgia!” Aurelia’s screech comes through the phone, making Georgia laugh. “Zax was worried, but I’m planning. When do you both come to Boston next?”
Georgia crosses the pod and takes the seat on the other side of my phone. “I don’t know,” she says, her voice changing its tone. “It was supposed to be Tuesday, but… I don’t want to stay here anymore, and I don’t see why I need to.”
“Fabulous. Zax is sending the Monroe plane to bring you both home.” I watch as Georgia tenses at the word plane. “We don’t want you flying commercial after this morning. Your pretty faces are all over the internet.”
Georgia shakes her head in annoyed aggravation but doesn’t say anything about the plane. “I’m supposed to stay here for the rest of the conference. I’m already ditching out this morning.”
“I think this is more important, and while I know Monroe Securities is very important to you, what are you actually missing there? I think it’s better if you’re back here with us right now, given everything we’re starting to learn.”
She sighs. She knows Zax has a point. One I’m inclined to agree with. Georgia isn’t a quitter. She is loyal beyond words, but right now, it’s just not safe for her to be around Ezra, or likely even Alfie, with how he’s coming down on her.
“Fine,” she relents. “We’ll fly home.”
“Excellent!” Aurelia chirps. “Then we’re planning your wedding party.”
I groan but release an indulgent smirk all the same. I should have anticipated this. It is Aurelia, after all.
“Our wedding party?” Georgia parrots, her attention drawing up to me.
“It’ll just be family, as in our family, but I think it’s important to celebrate this together. Don’t you?”
Oh, Aurelia. So clever. I trust four people in this world without question, but their women are next tier on that scale.
“Yes. I agree,” I say. “I think there’s a lot to celebrate right now. When does the plane arrive?”
“Three hours. It’s already en route,” Zax answers, and I can tell by his tone, he’s not happy.
I mean, he’s rarely happy—that’s just Zax—but he’s overwrought with this situation.
He’s the protective big brother, but right now he’s forced to take a back seat and let me lead.
Which hits me with a fresh wave of guilt over last night .
I broke my promise to him. And I’m breaking another by keeping it a secret.
Georgia is blinking at me, her brow furrowed ever so slightly as she starts to pick up on the tone and sub-context of the conversation.
I shoot my gaze up toward the cameras in the corner, and when she realizes her blunder, her eyes close and her breath stalls.
When she reopens her eyes, they’re bright and dazzling—a happy princess, a perfect actress.
“Great!” she exalts, leaning forward and kissing my cheek. “I know we did this on a whim, but the idea of actually celebrating with you is just everything.”
“Fabulous,” Aurelia exclaims. “I’m on it. I have the perfect dress for you. I can’t wait. We’ll see you soon.”
“See you soon.”
I disconnect the call, and without thinking, drag Georgia onto my lap, holding her body firmly against me.
My intent is to whisper in her ear while appearing as a couple in love to the cameras.
Only my body doesn’t catch up fast enough that this is meant to be fake.
It’s in full-on Georgia is in our lap mode.
I shove it down and whisper, “Wrap your arms around me.”
She does immediately.
“I am going to dig into all things Earnhart,” I whisper. “I will take care of them. I promise. You are not to worry about them anymore, but if or when they reach out to you, remember, you have to tell me or show me everything.”
She nods against me. Even gives a small shudder as my breath fans against her ear and neck. Again, I shove that down or I’ll be hard beneath her sweet ass in a second, and I can’t do that. Last night is over and will stay in Vegas, where it belongs.
“I will have trouble not worrying about this,” she says quietly.
“Do you trust me, Georgie?”
She nods even as I get a pinch to the flank for the Georgie comment. I smirk against her, breathing her in because I have to breathe her in. “Then trust me that I’ll take care of this and them for you.”
She twists her head and drops a kiss on my neck. “Okay. I’ll trust that you’ve got this for me. Thank you. I’m not good at relying on others, but I will rely on you now.”
“What do you need me to do to get you on that plane? Because I agree, we’re done here in Vegas.”
I want her back in Boston. I want to go through everything on Alfie and Ezra. I want her away from them, especially while I do it, and I want her back in the safety of her cousins, where I can’t fucking touch her like this. I’m not sure I could make it through another night in the suite with her.
“I’m not sure.”
“Medication, meditation, biting…” I trail off on that last one, making her laugh, which merely feeds my addiction.
She breathes out a long, hot exhale and pulls away, meeting my eyes from inches away.
And with her sitting sideways on my lap like this, with the whole of Las Vegas and the beautiful sprawl of mountains beyond, I realize I’m a man in great danger.
In danger of not just falling for good—but of losing my heart along with it.
I’m going to fall in love with Georgia Monroe.
And it will be for forever. I’ll never learn how to fully exist without her again.
And I have no idea how to stop it or what to do about it.
I’ve spent the last six years of my life rebuilding myself to be a man who deserves her, all the while knowing I’d never have her.
But with her in my arms, I’m starting to feel that want again.
And it’s stronger than it ever was.
“Honestly?” she asks, her long, dark lashes fanning over her cheeks as she blinks.
“Anything,” I find myself saying.
“I will likely take something this time, but…” She bites nervously into her lip.
“Just say it. It’s yours.”
“It sounds so dumb in my head.”
I grasp her chin and force her gaze, compelling her to tell me.
“I might want you to hold my hand.”
I cough out a laugh. “Easy. Done.”
“And if I require you to bite me?” she challenges, and I can feel my gaze growing dark, volcanic, dangerous .
“Then you know I won’t bite you gently. I’ll make it hurt until all you can think about are my teeth on you.”
She pushes me back, her hands on my shoulders as she adjusts herself until she’s straddling my waist. Her warm pussy is directly over my aching cock that didn’t get the message about not getting hard. Four brutal layers are all that separate us. That’s it.
She leans in, pressing her tits against my chest and bringing her mouth by my ear, forcing her neck by my nose, so I have no choice but to breathe her fragrance in again.
“Do you know what I used to love most about your pain?”
Fuck. I can’t speak. Like, this time, I actually can’t speak.
“The way you’d save it all for me,” she continues without waiting on me.
“The look in your eyes as you finally succumbed and let me have every piece of you—something I knew you gave no one else. You don’t scare me, Lenox.
You never did. I loved nothing more than turning your pain into our pleasure and watching your demons evaporate in my bed.
So bite me, husband. Make me feel it. Distract me from my panic.
But this time, I promise not to fall in love with you in the process. ”
If only I could make the same promise for myself.