Packed Up In Vegas (Sin City Omegas #1)

Chapter 1

I was startled awake by the slam of the hotel door, sitting bolt upright to see my fiancé standing there, looking like he’d rolled through a gutter. “Hey, babe. Are

you just getting back?”

Jerry stomped past me and into the bathroom, turning on the shower. His usually clean, mild beta scent was tainted with sweat, alcohol, and a herby lemon fragrance that made my nose wrinkle. Scent blockers drowned out my omega scent—Jerry’s preference, he said it was overwhelming—and usually muted my response to others’, but some were unpleasant enough to override the blockers.

I tiptoed out of bed to peek in on him. “Were you out all night? Are you okay?”

“Jesus, I’m fucking fine .” He shoved a hand through his sandy blond hair, making it stick up in every direction. “I was at the casino. I don’t need you grilling me over nothing.”

I chewed my lip. “Okay, sorry. Why don’t we have a rest day today? Chill by the pool instead of going to see the Hoover Dam.”

“ Callie . For god’s sake. Stop bothering me and let me shower and sleep.”

“Fine. I’ll be down at the pool after you’ve rested.” I certainly didn’t want to stay up here if he was going to be an asshole. I changed into my swimsuit; wrapped a sarong around my hips; put on my flip-flops; grabbed my tote with my sunscreen, hat, and book; and abandoned the hotel room.

It was hot as balls outside. We’d come in July at Jerry’s insistence that it was off-season and cheaper. I didn’t bother arguing that it was off-season because it was miserable that time of year. I didn’t win many arguments in our household and I’d honestly stopped trying at this point. I ordered myself an iced coffee and some breakfast after taking up a spot on a lounge chair in the shade. The good thing about being chased out of the room this early was that almost no one else was at the pool yet, which meant I had my pick of spots. I braided my dark hair to keep it off my skin and tucked it under my hat before liberally applying sunscreen so I didn’t burst into flames from the sun reflecting off the water.

I was halfway through my book by the time I finished the last of my drink and had consumed every bite. Jerry still hadn’t made his way down, but I reasoned if he had been out all night I probably wouldn’t see him for a few more hours. He was going to be pissy after fucking up his sleep schedule like this, but I’d rather deal with him rested than hungover.

The day got progressively hotter and I ordered myself a slushy drink a little after noon, sitting on the edge of the pool under a shade with my feet in the water.

“Ma’am.” One of the servers approached me with a frown.

I lifted my sunglasses to see him better. “Yeah?”

“I’m afraid we weren’t able to put the drink on your room tab.”

“Oh, that’s weird. It was working fine earlier.” I pulled out my phone to call Jerry to ask if he could look into the issue, but it went straight to voicemail. With a sigh, I focused on the server. “I left my purse up in my room and I don’t have cash or card down here with me. Can I go up, get it, and come right back?”

“Do you have anything you can leave to ensure you’ll return?”

I passed over my phone. “Does this work?”

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll watch for you to come back.” His tone was unnecessarily judgy, but it probably wasn’t the first time he’d encountered a non-paying customer, though it was definitely my first time being one.

Annoyed, I made my way back into the hotel and upstairs. I didn’t want to see Jerry when he was in a mood, and I’d been intending to stay out of his way until he was ready to see me, but that couldn’t be avoided now. When I stepped off the elevator and turned down the hall toward our room, I saw all my things in the hallway.

What the fuck?

The cleaning staff were coming up the hall from the opposite direction, looking at me curiously. I swiped my keycard and the light blinked red. “Come on.”

I swiped it again, and it remained resolutely red.

One of the staff approached me. “Miss, do you need help?”

“Please. My card won’t work. I don’t know why my luggage is out here when we’re not supposed to check out for a couple more days.”

Jerry was probably having a hissy fit, which I didn’t want to broadcast to them. It wasn’t the first time he’d tossed something of mine out a door or window when he couldn’t handle his emotions.

They opened up the room for me, but Jerry wasn’t inside, nor were any of his things. I stood in the entryway, trying to figure out what had happened. I couldn’t call him again with my phone back with the pool staff, but surely he hadn’t gone far. Maybe he was down at one of the restaurants? But then why were all of his things gone?

Okay, Callie, just breathe. What was I supposed to do now?

First, I needed my purse. I opened up my suitcase, the contents spilling out. My purse was among the chaos, and I took a few moments to repack everything properly and change into regular clothes before I thanked the staff and went to reclaim my phone and pay for my drink with some cash in my wallet.

I tried phoning Jerry again and it went to voicemail once more.

Fuck.

Where the hell was he?

I wheeled my suitcase down to the front desk and waited in line until the check-in staff could see me.

The woman at the desk beamed at me. “Hi there! Ready to check in?”

“Actually, I’m already staying here, but my keycard isn’t working, and I wasn’t able to charge my last purchase to the room even though it was fine earlier in the day.”

“Oh dear, let me look into it. What’s your room number?”

I gave her the info and she tapped away. “Hmm, it looks like Mr. McIntosh checked out a couple of hours ago and canceled the remainder of your stay with us.”

The world dropped out from under me. “Excuse me? What do you mean he checked out ?”

“I’m so sorry, ma’am. That’s what the computer says.”

Okay. Don’t panic. I just needed to go over the facts. 1) My fiancé wasn’t answering calls. 2) He’d left my luggage in the hall. 3) He’d apparently checked out even though we had two more days booked.

“Is my car still in the hotel lot?”

“I’m not sure. Let me call the valet.”

I gave her the info on it, and, sure enough, it was gone too. Jerry had done a lot of stupid things in the eight years we’d been together, but stealing my car and abandoning me in Vegas was a new low.

I sank onto one of the many chairs in the lobby, trying to sort out what my next step should be. I could report my car stolen, but that would lead to a massive fight, and by the time anyone looked into anything, it would probably be back at the apartment. Plenty of buses went between LA and Vegas, so it wouldn’t be too difficult to get home, at the very least. I checked ticket prices and then went to the banking app on my phone to see if I could afford it. Student loans had been up my ass and we had budgeted so carefully for this vacation.

Zero dollars remaining.

I stared at the number incomprehensibly and refreshed the app, but the amount of money in my account remained a big fat goose egg. How was that possible? All our rent, all the money we had put aside for the vacation. Gone.

I dialed Jerry again, half-surprised when he actually answered. “Hey, Cal.”

“Hey yourself. Where the fuck are you?”

“Um, coming up on Barstow?”

“What the sweet fuck are you doing in California? Did you seriously leave me in Nevada? What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Listen…I’ve been rethinking some things in my life.”

“Oh, have you now?”

“Yeah, so, I’m married.”

“What the fuck do you mean you’re married ? We’re engaged .”

“Yeah, I know. But Katrina ate my ass in a back alley and you’re not that fun, babe.”

I stared off into the middle distance, tinnitus blaring in my ears, my skin hotter and pricklier than even the weather demanded. “You abandoned your fiancée in another state because some woman ate your ass?”

“I mean, I did also blow all of our money gambling, and those casino people are not nice about it when you can’t pay.”

“You lost all our money and got married? Who the hell even is this woman?”

“I met her at the blackjack tables when you refused to come down and wanted to sleep. Katrina and I got super drunk last night, we ended up at the chapel, and then I kind of panicked this morning. Sorry about all this, but you’ll figure it out.”

“You’re sorry ?! Jerry!”

“Later, Cal.”

He hung up on me and I dropped my face into my hands, letting out a scream that turned my throat raw and drew every eye in the lobby.

Over.

My life was over.

How the hell was anyone supposed to come back from something like this?

We’d already been living paycheck to paycheck since Jerry had lost his job, and I was barely keeping us afloat between the exorbitant rent in LA, my student loans, and debt repayment from before he’d told me he’d lost his job. How could he have gambled everything away when we were barely surviving as it was?

Maybe his wife— ugh, the word nauseated me—had money and it was all some elaborate ploy to get her money and then come back to me… No, that was stupid. Fuck! How was I supposed to get home? My only credit card was back at home in the freezer to keep me from spending over our means. That didn’t do me a lick of good when I was over four hours away with a cleaned-out account.

I didn’t want to call my family in Seattle. They already hated Jerry and I would have a full-on breakdown if I had to hear an “I told you so” right now. I didn’t have many friends in LA after moving there for Jerry, and the contacts I did have were my video editing clients. There was no way in hell I was going to ask any of them to bail me out. I could figure this out. Somehow…

Everyone was looking at me, staring really. The hotel graciously agreed to watch my suitcase for me and I wandered to a nearby coffee shop, away from all the eyes who had watched me freak out on the phone.

I stood in line, dissociating to cope, and wanting an iced chai to push back the impending doom, but of course when I tried to pay, declined flashed across the terminal. I’d half forgotten everything was gone, even though it loomed over me like a specter of the end. I tried with my card for my personal account, hoping I’d somehow left at least a few dollars behind when I’d transferred over the money for our vacation.

Declined.

“Let me see if I’ve got enough change.” I dug through my purse, finding only a few coins. My eyes burned, tears sneaking up on me as the line behind me grew, and my fingers found nothing else. I hiccuped, a little sob breaking free. I was so fucked.