Chapter 5 Kade
KADE
Gavin's nasty comments about Lainey really got in my head.
I pinched the bridge of my nose as I walked toward the hotel room and tried not to think about what I was going to do when I told my father I got hitched without a prenup.
We used to joke about something this stupid happening, but Gavin was always there watching my back. Just not last night.
If I stayed calm and explained things rationally to her, hopefully she would understand how silly it was for two adults to make such a thoughtless choice.
Maybe not, but a man could hope. I stalked toward the door with her coffee tucked in my arm and mine in my hand, but as I approached, I saw the door standing open.
My gut turned as I pushed it open, my eyes immediately shooting to the bed. It was empty. The covers had been tossed and Lainey was gone, not a trace of her.
"Crap," I grunted, looking up the hallway, as if somehow I had passed her or she might appear magically where I'd just come from.
I couldn't believe she'd just run off like that, and for what? Didn't she realize we had to talk about this at some point? I wasn't going to stay married to her indefinitely, and so long as she had my name on that marriage license, she had access to my parents' money. This wasn't good.
My temper flared hotter than normal and I chucked the coffee I bought for her at the wall.
The paper cup popped open, sloshing hot coffee over the wall and puddling on the carpet.
I couldn't believe the nightmare I’d gotten myself into, all because I wanted to be a kind person and listen to someone’s story.
I sure picked a horrible time to be a stand-up guy.
Now I had to search for her and hunt her down just to make sure she didn't ruin my reputation.
Marching back up the hallway, I checked my phone.
No response from the lawyer, but at least my parents had stopped hounding me when I told them I wouldn't be coming.
I had no intention of spending any time with them until this was resolved if I could help it, though who knew how long that would take.
I didn't know where Lainey Rowan lived, let alone how to contact her.
We were both so wasted I hadn't paid attention to her scribbles on the marriage license.
Hopefully Mr. Price would be able to track her down using chapel records or something.
I chugged the scalding coffee on the way downstairs and when I got off the elevator tossed the cup into the trash.
I was on my way through the casino to my car when Mark Alvarez popped out of the service hallway and locked eyes with me.
He strutted with that angry swagger he always had, but his glare was focused on me, not something else, and he carried a surveillance tablet in his hand.
My father’s head of security rarely left his office, and when he did it meant something wasn't good. The fact that he was headed right at me made me feel defensive before he even opened his mouth.
"Kade, we need to speak." His lips pursed as he stopped walking, standing with his tablet cradled against his chest and his bicep flexed.
"What now, man? I'm sort of having a rough morning." I ran a hand through my hair and glowered at him.
"We got this recording of you." His forehead drew together in the middle and he turned the tablet around to face me. It was like he’d followed my movements this morning, and when he saw me coming down the elevator he moved precisely then to cut me off, just to show me he had a video of me and Lainey making out in the elevator.
"Yeah, so?" I pushed past him, heading toward the exit. He called my name.
"Kade, stop it. This is serious." Judging by his tone I knew he was freaking out. And given past experiences, I knew if I didn't nip this in the bud, the next action he took would be to call my dad.
"Yeah, fine, so I took a girl to my room, no big deal. I've done that a hundred times." This was so annoying. Since when was Mark the Narc my boss?
"I'm here to ask you if we should be prepared for police to show up with questions?" He narrowed his eyes and ducked his head slightly so he was looking down his nose at me.
"What the heck are you talking about?" If I hadn't woken up confused and frustrated by my own stupidity I would laugh at him. Police? For what? Lainey and I were both consenting adults and we’d gotten married, for Christ's sake.
"The woman was clearly inebriated and—"
"You mean drunk?" I hissed, cutting him off. "Wasted, plastered, pissed…. There are a hundred things you can call it. Dude, you're not that much older than me. Don’t say inebriated. You sound like a boomer." Annoyed as I was, I stood still and listened to his rant.
"It doesn’t matter what I call it, Kade. What matters is what she feels this morning. Did you talk to her? Is she okay with the activities you participated in?" His eyebrows rose and he pursed his lips again. "If your father finds out you got married—"
"Stop. Just stop right there." My temper flared again. I jammed my hands into my pants’ pockets and puffed my chest out. Lainey wouldn't file rape charges—or at least I didn't think she would—and I hadn’t done anything wrong anyway. "Did you show my father that?"
"No, but—"
"Then don't. I can handle this on my own. I've already called Price and he'll help me sort it." If Lainey did target me and do something as foolish as file a suit against me, we were married. Any judge in Vegas would see right through that.
"I'm just saying, this is something your father’s money could make vanish." Was he actually serious right now?
I balled my hands into fists, thankful they were in my pockets. He was twice my size, but my temper didn't care. I was ready to slug him.
"Keep my father out of this. Got it?" My finger shot to his chest and I didn't even stop it.
He would learn his place in the hierarchy around here, and if he didn't I'd have him fired.
"No one sees that but me. Send me a copy too.
I need my lawyer to look at it." Pretending this never happened wasn't an option, but cluing my dad in wasn’t going to happen either.
I'd get a kick out of watching them flip out normally, but I'd have to live through those lectures, which had become increasingly more frequent since I turned thirty-six.
"Yeah, okay," he grumbled. "I was just saying..."
"Send them now, Mark."
Turning, I marched off toward the parking lot.
The entire walk I was seething. I hated that every move I made, made men like Mark Alvarez thought they could track my movements.
They didn't do that to other casino guests, just me.
All because my dad owned the joint. Well he would learn not to mess with me eventually.
One day I'd run this place and I'd can him faster than he could blink.
My phone chimed as I sat down and started my Lamborghini.
I plugged the phone in to charge as I opened the email from Mark and started watching the footage.
The first video I opened showed me and Lainey sharing drinks at the bar, so I skipped it, moving straight to the third video.
It showed us pinned against the wall with my fingers inching her skirt up her thighs in the elevator.
My dick started to get hard just watching her.
It was so hot. The fire between us was unquenchable, so scorching I could feel it the next day just watching a snippet of how it all started.
It was no wonder I was so stupid for her, running off to get married like it was as simple as getting dinner.
Lainey Rowan was a stone-cold fox and I was nothing but putty in her hands.
But it couldn't be a thing.
She was a nobody. My parents expected me to marry up—or at least at my level—and Dad would never list me as heir in his will if I sank to hers. Not that I felt Lainey was beneath me, but I knew Mom's standards. They'd cut me off immediately if they found out.
No, this had to be resolved fast, and before either one of my parents found out. It was bad enough that I was still mooching off of them and their money at thirty-six. This would shame their reputations and make them so mad they'd be forced to take drastic measures.
And I was afraid of what that'd mean for my life.