36. Vivian
thirty-six
Vivian
A flight attendant unintentionally interrupts Cade’s story about an ostrich chase through the Texas desert when she arrives by our plush leather seats with a tray of crystal flutes.
“Yes, please!” Cade says before accepting the proffered glass of champagne.
I’m glad I invited Cade to join us on this trip, because not only is she a literal ball of light but Cade keeps saying everything we’re all thinking.
It’d been Brynn’s idea to expand our trip to Vegas to include our newly acquired friends since Finn changed my simple long weekend away into an exorbitant affair.
When Finn told me at the ball, over a month ago, that his sister would shortly be inheriting her billions and giving him half, I thought I’d been caught in one of my imagination’s elaborate fantasies. But nope, I’d pinched the underside of my arm until it turned pink and never woke up.
“It doesn’t have to change anything, just make things easier.
When you let that much money pollute your life, it corrupts you.
” Finn’s flirty grin loses some of its light before his gaze meets mine and softens.
“I still want to live in my rental. I want to walk to work as this library’s manager.
I want to shop at Dotty’s like nothing happened tonight, but… ” He sucks in a slow breath.
“There are a few things I’d let that money change.
I’d love to buy you whatever fabric your heart desires.
I am absolutely going to replace that glitchy button machine before it permanently damages your fingers.
” He brings my fingertips to his lips for a soft kiss.
“And it would make me immensely happy to cover everything for your trip to see Raven Sacaria. Can you let me do that?”
Other than the library receiving a donation amount that Dave Prescott couldn’t match in three lifetimes, the last month of being a billionaire’s girlfriend has felt just like normal life.
So much so that I’d been completely unprepared for the luxury of the chauffeured SUV picking me, my sister, Geneva, and Cade up from Seabreeze Beans earlier today.
Summer is speaking at a pediatric conference in Florida and keeps texting how she’s kicking herself for not getting out of it.
“This is the best bubbly I’ve ever tasted.” Cade arches her light eyebrows at Felicia, who’s been taking excellent care of us during our cross-country flight. “Though, it’s not bubbly, is it?”
Due to Cade’s outgoing nature, we’ve learned that Felicia and her pilot husband have been flying Cordelia to various locales for most of her life. We’ve also learned that the co-pilot is their twenty-eight-year-old very single son.
“No, miss.” The breathtakingly beautiful middle-aged woman barely restrains a smile. “This is a 1999 Salon Blanc de Blancs.”
I don’t even have the slightest clue what that means, but I’m sure, like everything about this trip, it’s expensive.
My phone lights with a video call from Finn, and I excuse myself from the table and four seats facing each other to one of the single seats toward the back of the plane.
The disorienting goodbye kiss he gave me this morning is still on my lips, more decadent than that champagne I just tasted.
“Hey, gorgeous.” He leans back in his office chair, running his fingers through his loose hair. “How’s the flight so far? Are you keeping your promise to me?”
After kissing me into oblivion, Finn made me promise to let go and enjoy this experience.
“Yes,” I tell him. “I’m squeezing every ounce of joy out of each moment.”
The corner of my ridiculously hot boyfriend’s mouth quirks. “And everyone else?”
“Cade would be happy at the bottom of a paper bag, so she’s elated.
Her stories keep making us all laugh. Geneva is completely comfortable, acting as if she belongs in this opulent world…
” I make a mental note to investigate why later.
“And Brynn has finally realized that she doesn’t have to be in charge, making sure everyone is taken care of, since you’ve already done it.
I haven’t seen her this relaxed in years, and I can’t thank you enough, Finn.
This has been so incredible, and we’re not even at the concert yet. ”
“I’m so glad to hear that. You all deserve a break, but…” A coil tightens in my core when Finn’s smile turns devious. “I’m actually calling because I’ve got another surprise for you. I’ve been working on it for weeks but just got confirmation.”
I suck in a scattered breath. “What is it?”
“You not only have front row seats and backstage passes, but you’ll be meeting Raven before the concert.”
A bark of disbelief leaves my mouth. “I’ll what?”
“You can’t go all the way there and not say hi to your favorite musician.” His eyes twinkle. “It’s only for five minutes before she does her final show prep, but—”
“Finn, that’s amazing!”
Even though it’s probably inappropriate on this posh plane, I stand, squealing and jumping. Finn’s laughter over the phone makes my heart three thousand times lighter. The rest of our group asks what’s going on, cheering when I tell them about Finn’s secret plans for us.
“Miss?” Felicia says. “Sorry to interrupt, but we’re beginning our descent. If you wouldn’t mind ending your call and fastening your seatbelt.”
I rush back to the seat next to my sister, buckling quickly. “I love you. I can’t even—” Happy tears flood my vision, blurring the phone screen. “I’m supposed to hang up, but I don’t want to.”
Finn’s gaze softens, his playful expression dropping. “I love you too. Call me after the concert tonight when you’re back in the room. No matter the time. I want to hear about everything.”
As I hang up, I can’t help kicking my feet like a thrilled three-year-old. Around me, my sister and new friends share my joy, excitedly talking over each other. My cheeks already sting from smiling, and we’ve only just begun.
“My throat hurts,” I say, my voice little more than a scrape from scream-singing along all night.
My destroyed mascara is giving hungover-racoon vibes, my face in opposition to my beautiful midnight-blue, sequined fit-and-flare.
I’m so glad that we met Raven before the concert when we were all glittering from prepping for the night in the sumptuous penthouse suite.
The whole thing is larger than any of our homes or businesses with a full dining room, en suite bedrooms for each of us, and a grand piano and a fountain in the main living space.
I’m also glad I didn’t completely burst into tears when Raven hugged me earlier.
Hearing her soulful voice as she kindly answered questions is one of the highlights of my life.
She was so nice as we all took pictures and gushed over her influential career, her signing whatever we put in front of her.
Our trip coordinator, Mateo, who’d been spoiling us since we landed on the private airfield, handed me a picture frame Finn sent for Raven to sign.
That way, I could put the photo of the two of us in it with her signature across the bottom.
“I know we talked about ordering a pizza and chilling in the hot tub on our terrace after the show, but I’m getting a second wind,” Brynn tells us as we climb into the hotel golf cart waiting to take us back to our room.
“I’m game,” Cade says, beaming.
“Wherever you ladies go, I go.” Geneva tugs down the skirt of her tight black dress as she sits.
“I could arrange for a VIP table at any nightclub,” Mateo offers from the front seat beside the driver. “I can give you a rundown of each establishment’s merits to help you decide.”
Everyone looks to me, waiting. I’m a little emotionally exhausted from such an incredible evening, but the buzzing energy resonating down my forearms doesn’t make me want to turn in yet. Regardless, a nightclub sounds like a lot. But if everyone else wants to go, I’m not about to ruin the fun.
“Why don’t we save the night club for tomorrow,” Brynn answers, her eyes clocking my twisting pinky ring. “How about we explore the casino tonight. Maybe get some dessert?”
She says it as a question, her dark eyes simultaneously nurturing and assessing as they fix on mine. A wide grin splits my face. Though I used to get frustrated when Brynn would answer for me, this time, my sister has suggested the perfect solution before my tired brain could think of it.
I cross my sparkly ballet flats at the ankle, leaning back in the leather seat. “That sounds like a perfect end to our evening… after we stop by a bathroom so I can fix this.”
My friends chuckle as I wave my hand over my face.
After Mateo coordinates a dessert-tasting table with a stop-by from the celebrity chef for whom the restaurant is named, we wander the casino floor, trying our luck at slot machines.
Brynn is determined to win her twenty dollars back, not understanding that as much as she hates losing, her tenacity might not help her here.
Geneva wanders toward a small circular bar amid the noisy floor where a boxing match is on two of the six screens behind the bartenders’ heads.
Cade and I follow, both wincing when the redheaded man takes a hard punch to the jaw.
“Left hook,” Geneva barks at the screen. “Simmons is weak to defend on that side.”
A man at the bar, hunched over a fruit-topped hurricane glass, says nearly the same thing at the same time.
When he looks over his shoulder, an unmistakable zip of electricity laces his gaze as it crashes with Geneva’s.
A slight shiver racks her athletic frame before Geneva snaps her focus back to the two boxers on the screen.
“Did you see that?” Cade clutches my arm, giddy.
“I did .”
“He looks familiar. Isn’t he the one that was dancing and singing behind us the whole concert?”
A noisy inhale fills my lungs. “Yes! With the Southern accent. He’s got quite a voice.”