4. Michael
Michael
We were never a thing. No labels. No promises. But every second with her had weight. Every second without her—burned.
Krystal? She came with perks. Power. Connection. She was beautiful, dangerous, and born into a legacy that could secure my empire. But Kate? Kate was the fucking fire.
So when she kissed me outside, I didn’t care who was watching. When she whispered, “Just one night,” I knew there’d be no going back.
She wanted to forget. I wanted to claim.
I carried her into the SUV, kissed her until we were breathless.
The windows fogged up to the point I could write our initial on the glass.
She tasted like defiance and champagne and the memory of everything I’d tried to bury.
Time moved. I don’t know how much since I was lost in tasting her again.
Having her in my arms again. This time she would not escape like smoke.
“Stop. This is insane,” she said.
“You make me insane,” I muttered, dragging my mouth down her throat. Her fingers were in my hair, mine on her thighs, pushing boundaries that had been waiting months to break.
My phone buzzed again and again, but I didn’t stop.
She pulled back. “Not until you tell her it’s over. Krystal. I’m not doing this until you end it. I won’t make you a cheater.”
I stared straight into her eyes and tapped my phone. Krystal answered on the second ring screeched out my name hysterically.
“Michael?”
“It’s over.”
She gasped.
I meant it.
She was stunned, blinking, trying to process it. “Just like that?”
“Just like that. You’re out. She’s in.” Then I hung up, kissed Kate again, harder.
Her body melted under my hands, and I knew—this could never only be one night.
I tapped on the privacy glass, ordered my driver to take me home.
The ride was hot. I wanted to fuck her so bad but not here. Not like this.
The SUV pulled up to the casino. She hesitated.
“I’m not going up there,” she whispered. “Not into a bed you shared with her.”
I grinned. “Fine. I’ll fuck you right here, then. I can’t wait any longer, baby.”
Her hand flattened on my chest. “I’m half drunk, Michael. I want to remember this. I want it to matter.”
That made me stop.
I rested my forehead against hers, breathing hard. “You’ll remember. Trust me.”
Then my phone buzzed again. This time—it was Luca.
Emergency. Penthouse. Now.
Damn it. I straightened, pulling Kate with me.
“We’re going in. I’ve got something to handle. You’re staying with Vito.”
Inside the casino, heads turned. We didn’t blend in.
Not tonight. I owned this place, and she was now walking beside me like she belonged.
Like she always had. Her lips were swollen from my kisses her hair wild around her shoulders from my hands dragging through it.
She was my every fantasy. Dream come true. And I was keeping her.
I stopped by the security hallway. “Vito. Keep her here. Get her water. Food. Do not let her out of your sight.”
“I’m not a pet.”
I just smirked, “Baby. Sober up. I’m coming back for you.”
Then I left her and headed upstairs.
The second I stepped inside, I knew Krystal had lost it.
Glass crunched beneath my boots. Throw pillows everywhere. Two lamps smashed. A trail of broken perfume bottles led to my bedroom.
She was standing on the bed, wild-eyed, holding my framed picture of the original casino blueprint—the one my father left me—as if she planned to bash it next.
“Krystal,” I said evenly. “Get off the bed.”
She launched the frame at the wall.
It shattered.
“You humiliated me!” she screamed. “In public. You made me look like a joke!”
“You made yourself look like a joke when you came at Kate like a psycho.”
“Oh, her name now?” she hissed, pointing a perfectly manicured finger. “You’ve known her for five minutes.”
“I’ve wanted her for months and you knew there was someone else.”
I crossed the room calmly hoping to calm her down. “I did try. You are a very beautiful woman, Krystal. Do you want to go back to Monaco? you can stay in the villa? Or go shopping to Milan? I can send you over on the jet?”
“Don’t placate me, Michael. I wanted you not the lifestyle.”
“Don’t lie. You want both. I’m not in love with you and never pretended to be.”
She looked like she might implode. “You’re done, Michael. My family will destroy your lease deal. You’ll never touch tribal land again.”
“Maybe,” I said calmly. “But that’s not my concern tonight.”
She picked up a champagne bottle and launched it at the floor. “You’ll regret this!”
“I already do.”
I walked to the bar, poured myself two fingers of whiskey, and downed it.
Krystal continued to lose her shit, cursing while grabbing clothes from the closet and flinging it around.
I’d stop her, but getting close enough to touch her wan’t a priority.
Getting her out and back to Kate was. I looked at my watch, I’d let her vent another five minutes than have security escort her out.
Vito’s call came in just as I was about to toss Krystal out.
Vito: “Boss...we’ve got a problem.”
Me: “What now?”
Vito: “Kate’s gone.”
My heart stalled.
“What the fuck do you mean she’s gone?”
Vito: “I gave her water and food, just like you said. She said she needed to freshen up. Next thing I know, she’s slipped through the service hallway—out the janitor’s door near the back of the casino.”
I was already moving.
“You had one job, Vito.”
“I know, I know, boss. I thought she was just?—”
“She’s not just anything!”
I tore back down the private elevator and hit the floor like a storm.
“Lock it down,” I ordered. “Full internal sweep. Every entrance, every exit. Check the docks. Check the lot. Check the fucking restrooms.”
Kate thought she could ghost me again?
Not this time.
Not after everything.
Not when she was this close.
She wanted one night. I want much more.
And I always get what I want.