Chapter 8
Elliot
Iwasn’t going to go out tonight.
Since I’m flying out to Silicon Valley in the morning, I was going to have a nice night in, maybe grab a singular drink from the mini bar, and call it a night early. I didn’t want to roll into a potential meeting hungover.
But of course, I forgot how much I detest hotel rooms, so I decided to see what I could get into.
I ended up going to Caesar’s, to the high roller room, and after winning a good fifty grand, I decided to get a drink at one of the bars. I should have gone back to my room hours ago, but I stuck up a conversation with a rookie NFL player who recognized me.
He was picking my brain, and I picked his. It was a good conversation until I looked at my watch and saw it was close to two in the morning.
As soon as I saw the time, I cringed. I didn’t drink enough to warrant a hangover, but it was late enough that I knew I was going to have bags under my eyes when I stepped on the plane in a few hours.
Nobody is going to care, or probably even notice, but I’ll know, and it will throw me off whatever game I need to be in while in California.
Because of that, I decided it was time to say good night to my rookie friend and head back to the hotel.
That was the plan, at least, before I heard a familiar voice.
Given the time, the casino floor wasn’t as packed, so I’m not surprised I heard it.
Aria.
I caught her eyes before I even registered it was Santos sitting next to her and his voice I heard.
Like the other night, she was a magnet, drawing me to her. For those few seconds, I wanted nothing more than to close the distance between us and ravish her. In those seconds, it was just her and me and nobody else.
But then I looked up, saw how close she was to Santos, and the want transformed into something else. I still wanted her, don’t get me wrong, but I also wanted to rip the bastard apart.
For a split second, my body roared with jealousy, and I wanted nothing more than to let it bleed from every one of my pores. I wanted to hone in on it and close the small distance separating me from Santos and Aria and get her away from him.
Not because I know he’s a dangerous cartel solider, but because he was near her, encroaching on something that was mine.
I had to pause for a second.
What the actual fuck was happening to me?
I’ve never been the possessive type with significant others, never wanted to claim a woman as mine like this.
Yet, here she was, a woman I’ve known for thirty minutes at most, and all I want is to bind her to me until the end of time.
If I didn’t need therapy before, I definitely needed it now.
I tried to bring down the jealousy and closed the distance between us.
And now that I’m a few feet from them, I can’t help but be a little proud I haven’t bitten Santos’ head off, even though I want to more and more.
It doesn’t go unnoticed that the closer I get, the more Aria tries to push Santos away, her eyes locked on me.
She looks nervous, but her eyes still sparkle with a hint of lust.
Maybe the jealousy I’m feeling isn’t warranted.
Maybe there is a chance the individuals in front of me are just two people who happen to know each other, not fucking or a couple or some shit like that.
Last I heard, Santos was in a relationship with Leo’s sister, something even Leo didn’t know about. How did I? I have my ways.
I think my mind is trying to come up with every possible scenario to justify Aria not being with Santos in a sexual way. I may have three younger siblings, but I’m horrible at sharing.
Since I don’t know what I’m walking in on, I forcefully move my eyes from Aria and give Santos a nod.
“Santos.”
He throws a nod back my way. “Elliot.”
Aria’s eyes bounce between the two of us, as if she is trying to figure something out. She does it for about thirty seconds before she says something.
“Wait.” Her heads turns back and forth. “You two know each other?” Her voice goes up an octave, and I find it adorable.
Yup. I need to make an appointment with my therapist. I wonder what he will say if I were to call him right now and offer to fly him to Vegas for an in-person session before my flight tomorrow.
He’d say I’m crazy, that’s what.
Putting thoughts of my therapist out of my head, I answer Aria’s question.
“We do,” I say with a curt nod. “Went to high school together.”
“Seriously?” Her eyes bounce again between us.
Both of us nod. Well, I nod. Santos, man of very few words and gestures, just grunts.
She looks at the both of us, a little shell-shocked, her pouty mouth opening and then closing, as if she’s trying to figure out what to say.
“I guess it’s true what people say about it being a small world.” She sounds almost bewildered.
“How do you two know each other?” I ask, my curiosity very much getting the best of me. I need to know how Aria knows this specific cartel member—or even knows a cartel member at all. Does she know who he is?
“He’s my companion for the weekend,” Aria states, as if that clears everything up.
It doesn’t.
“I thought you said this was a girls’ weekend,” I find myself saying, looking over at Santos for a quick second before turning back to the woman I want to fall to my knees in front of.
Control yourself, Elliot.
“Oh, it is,” Aria answers, putting more distance between her and her ‘companion’.
“It’s just that my best friend ditched me for his best friend, so we’ve been keeping each other company while they do their thing.
And by company, I mean out in public, getting food together, and walking back to the hotel.
Nothing behind closed doors, right, Santos? ”
She’s a rambler. Cute.
Santos looks over at her with a concerned, questioning look on his face before he finally gives her a response.
“Yeah. Right.” He pauses before he moves his eyes over to me. “How do you two know each other?”
I look over at Aria, who happens to be covered in a sweet blush I so desperately want to kiss. My eyes don’t move away from her as I answer Santos. “We met last night.”
A smirk finds my friend’s face. “Did you now?”
Aria shoves at his shoulder and narrows her eyes. “We met getting pizza, and he paid for my food. That’s it. Nothing happened.”
Santos chuckles and shakes his head at her before getting up from his seat. “Given the shit you were saying earlier, you definitely wanted something to happen.”
Aria’s face not only turns beet red, but her gaze becomes murderous. She looks both terrifying and gorgeous at the same time. I would continue to marvel at her, but what Santos just said sticks to my brain like glue.
Shit she said earlier?
What did she say?
And what exactly did she want to happen, and how do I find out?
I’m seconds away from asking when Aria speaks.
“If my feet didn’t hurt so bad, I would kick you right now. All weekend, I’ve been trying to get you to talk, and now you choose to do so. I think I’m going to revoke your best friend for the weekend title.”
Santos lets out another snort. “Fine by me,” he says, taking a step back before looking at me, who’s trying to make sense of their puzzling interaction. “Can you make sure she gets back to her room?”
Aria gasps slightly, and it takes me a second to piece together what he just said.
The thought of taking Aria back to any room has my dick twitching.
I take a second to clear my head of the visuals threatening to run rampant in my mind before responding. “Yes. I’ll make sure she gets back okay.”
He throws a nod in my direction, knowing Aria is in good hands, before taking another step back.
“You can’t seriously leave me with a literal stranger. For all you know, he could kill people for a living. People can change from high school, you know.”
Now I’m the one who snorts. If anyone kills people for a living, it’s the cartel member she’s been hanging out with all weekend.
I may not want the cartel to know my deepest secrets, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know a few of theirs.
I’ve heard more than a few stories of a cement basement and torture.
Santos rolls his eyes before looking at her straight on with every ounce of seriousness he has.
“He won’t kill you. Want to know how I know?
” He doesn’t let her answer. “Because if he does, I’ll go after him, tie him to a chair, and cut him into tiny pieces while he screams for mercy. If I don’t do it, Leo for sure will.”
The look on Aria’s face tells me she thinks this is all a joke, but it’s far from it.
If I even think about touching Aria without her full consent, there is no doubt in my fucking mind he would follow through with his promise. I inwardly cringe at the thought and vow to never get on this fucker’s bad side.
If he can be this protective over someone he has known for two days, how the fuck is he with someone he’s known his whole life?
A sweet chuckle leaves her mouth. “That’s a bit dramatic, but I appreciate you having my back.”
Santos doesn’t respond; he just throws both Aria and me a nod.
“It was nice spending time with you both,” Santos lets out as he retreats, his voice laced with sarcasm.
“But if you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting in a few hours, and I’d rather not miss it.
Good luck.” He looks to me. “She wanted me to carry her back to the hotel.”
Without another word, he walks off.
While Aria watches Santos as he heads into the belly of the casino, leaving the two of us alone, I watch her.
I thought I had taken in everything about her last night, that I had, at the very least, memorized her face, but as my eyes roam her, I realize I didn’t.
My eyes travel every inch of her face as if it’s one I’ve never seen before. I take in the slope of her nose and every last freckle lining her cheeks.
Lunares.
That’s what Mom used to say instead of freckles or moles. Lunar or lunares. When my sister was just a baby, she would gently glide her finger along her face as if she were connecting them. Then, when she was done, she would sit me on her knee and do the same.
“Aqui tienes uno y aqui tienes otro.” You have one here, and you have another here, she would say in a sing-song voice right before she would lean in and kiss each one.
Thinking about my mother isn’t something I should be doing right now. What I should be doing is giving Aria my undivided attention.
Santos handed me a gift I desperately wanted, and I’m going to try my hardest not to let it go. I’m not sure how long I’ll have it, so I’m going to make the most of it for as long as I can.
“How do you feel about getting a drink? Maybe it will help you with your feet.” My eyes travel to the floor, her bright pink toes wiggling next to her heels. Those things look deadly, but without a doubt in my mind, sexy on Aria. “Then I can carry you back to your hotel.”
A sweet giggle leaves her sweet, plump lips, and I about fall to my knees in front of her. I’m honestly surprised I haven’t already. Something about this woman has me wanting to worship everything about her. I felt it last night, and I’m feeling it now.
I need to get my shit together.
No way do I need to be showing all my cards this early.
Why would you be showing her at all? It’s not like you are going to be seeing her whatsoever after this weekend. You live in Chicago and she lives…
The thought of getting Drake to look into her springs into my mind, but it’s only there for a second before Aria speaks.
“I was mostly kidding.” Her beautiful eyes meet mine. “No way am I letting you carry me back to the hotel.”
“But what if I want to?”
The question doesn’t register until it leaves my mouth.
Great.
She’s going to think I’m a fucking creep.
Instead of cowering, I act as if I meant it and take in the blush that continues to coat her face.
It takes her a second to compose herself, and after clearing her throat, she is able to find her voice.
“If you truly want to, maybe I would let you. My feet do hurt, after all.” A sexy as fuck smirk plays on her lips.
I let out a chuckle so I don’t lean in and kiss her. “Then how about I buy you that drink to help with the pain? After that, we can talk more about the carrying thing.”
She looks up at me, her eyes filled with curiosity but also kindness and joy.
From what I can tell, she truly wants to be here. If she didn’t, Santos wouldn’t have left or she would have gone with him.
This is her world, and we are just living in it.
The smile she graces with me is exactly what I needed tonight.
“I think a drink sounds absolutely perfect—for the pain, of course.” The blush spreads down to her chest.
A chuckle escapes me again. “Of course.”
I hold out a hand, and for a second or two, I think she isn’t going to take it, but she proves me wrong as she slides her hand against mine.
“Lead the way, and I will follow.”
I wonder if I should tell her that in this very moment, if she were to lead me somewhere, I would follow her without any hesitation.
Fuck. I think I would follow her anywhere.