Chapter 7 Tashi #2
“Daniel is Wilder’s son.”
“Yes,” I huffed.
“And your ex ?”
“Ex-fiancé. He wanted to postpone the wedding—again. So, I took this job. He never imagined I would leave. It put him in a terrible position with his mother.” My voice cracked. “And for revenge, the asshole sent me a photo of him with another woman. Explicit. Like he was proud of it.”
“Show me.”
“What?”
“The photo. Show me.”
With shaking hands, I pulled up my phone and found the message I’d kept as evidence—the photo Daniel had sent to hurt me. I turned the screen toward Orion.
His jaw clenched so hard I heard his teeth grind.
“He sent you this,” Orion said quietly. Dangerously. “Then he told his father you were the unstable one?”
“Apparently.”
“And now Kurt Wilder is using his position to come after you professionally.” Orion’s hands tightened on my shoulders. “That ends now.”
“How? He’s on the Gaming Control Board. He can make our lives hell.”
“Let me worry about that.” Orion pulled me closer, and suddenly I was against his chest, his arms around me, solid and safe. “You focus on being brilliant. I’ll handle Kurt Wilder.”
I shouldn’t have leaned into him. Shouldn’t have let myself feel protected and valued and cared for. But I did anyway, breathing in his cologne and letting his steadiness anchor me.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“Don’t thank me yet.” He pulled back enough to meet my eyes. “This isn’t over. Wilder will push back. Daniel will escalate. We need to be prepared.”
“I know.”
“But first.” His thumb brushed across my cheekbone, the touch sending electricity down my spine. “I want to show you something. Consider it a distraction.”
“What kind of distraction?”
“The kind that reminds you why you came to Vegas.” His smile was pure temptation. “Get changed into something nice but not formal. Meet me in the lobby in one hour.”
“Orion—”
“Trust me.”
He left before I could argue, and I stood alone in the security center surrounded by monitors showing every angle of the hotel, processing everything that had just happened.
Kurt Wilder knew I was here. Daniel had poisoned his father against me. My professional reputation was under attack from someone with actual power to damage it.
And Orion Kolykos had just wrapped me in his arms and promised to protect me.
I was so screwed.
I returned to my suite on autopilot, my mind racing with thoughts of Kurt Wilder’s threats, Orion’s intensity, and the overall chaos that had engulfed my life.
I needed to talk to someone outside this Vegas bubble. Someone who’d tell me if I was losing my mind.
I called Marta.
She answered on the second ring. “Please tell me you’re calling because you need bail money. I’ve always wanted to bail someone out of Vegas jail.”
“Not yet,” I said, collapsing onto my bed. “But the day’s not over.”
“That’s the spirit. What’s happening?”
Where did I even start? “Remember Daniel?”
“Your cheating ex-fiancé who I always said had weak-chin energy? That Daniel?”
“His father just showed up at my hotel. He’s on the Nevada Gaming Control Board. And he’s threatening to destroy my career because Daniel told him I’m unstable and vindictive.”
Silence. Then: “I’m sorry, what?”
I filled her in on Kurt Wilder’s visit, the accusations, and Orion’s protective fury. Marta listened without interrupting, which was how I knew she took my complaints seriously.
“Okay,” she said when I finished. “First, Daniel can choke. Second, his father can also choke. Third, this Orion guy sounds like he handled it perfectly.”
“He did.”
“So, what’s the problem?”
“The problem is I’m in over my head, Marta. I, um, had a make-out session with his brother Leo.”
“Make-out session?”
“I may be understating the encounter. And the other brother, Ares, is intense in ways that terrify and attract me simultaneously. Orion just held me in his arms in the security center and I wanted to climb him like a tree. My ex’s father is actively trying to ruin my career.
And I nearly died in a fire three days ago. ”
“Okay, let’s unpack that. You slept with Leo?”
“No, not exactly slept. More like, oh God, very heavy petting.”
“Was it good?”
“Marta—”
“I’m just saying, if you’re going to complicate your life with workplace romance, it should at least be worth it.”
Despite everything, I laughed. “It was worth it.”
“Good. And these other two? Ares and Orion?”
“Complicated.”
“Babe, you’ve got three billionaire triplets on the hook, and you’re worried about your loser ex? Let them handle Kurt. You focus on not catching anything else on fire.”
“That’s your advice?”
“My advice is you’re overthinking this. Yeah, it’s complicated. Yeah, Daniel’s being an ass. But you’re in Vegas, you’ve got a job you’re apparently amazing at based on what you just described, and you’ve got three hot guys who want to protect you. That’s not a crisis. That’s winning.”
“I don’t feel like I’m winning.”
“Because you’re still letting Daniel live rent-free in your head. Stop it. He put you off, then sent you a cruel photo. He set his daddy on you. He’s garbage. You’re better off without him, and you know it.”
She was right. I did know it.
“Also,” Marta continued, “I’m coming to visit.”
“What?”
“Someone needs to make sure you’re not completely losing your mind in Sin City. Plus, I want to see this hotel everyone’s talking about. And meet these triplets who have you all twisted up.”
“Marta—”
“Already looking at flights. I’ll text you dates. Grab me a room. Love you, bitch. Try not to burn anything else down.”
She hung up before I could protest.
I sat there holding my phone, feeling simultaneously better and more overwhelmed. Marta was coming to Vegas. Kurt Wilder was threatening my career. Orion wanted to show me something in an hour.
And I still had no idea what I was doing with any of this.
My phone buzzed with a text from Orion: Wear something that makes you feel powerful. You’ll need it.
What the hell did that mean?
I opened my closet—still mostly gift shop clothes the brothers had bought me after the fire, plus a few things I’d ordered online. My eyes caught on a deep red dress I’d bought on impulse. Form-fitting and sophisticated, it whispered, “I know exactly what I’m doing,” even when I absolutely didn’t.
Powerful. Right.
I could do powerful.
I just hoped Orion knew what he was getting into.
Because after today—Kurt Wilder’s threats, the facility tour that proved my worth, the security center moment that proved my attraction to all three brothers wasn’t going away—I was done pretending this was simple.
Nothing about Vegas was simple.
But maybe that was the point.