Chapter 5 Carmen
CARMEN
Millionaire and creep?
I shouldn’t be surprised. Men who have money tend to spend it on female company.
But I don’t know why Carter Trescott needs to be here when he has a face as insane as his. Women were throwing themselves at him the night we met. One even offered him money, I’m pretty sure.
So, why is he paying for something he can get for free?
Carter composes himself after the slap and leads us away. He brought friends to the auction. Two equally good-looking men who I’d probably let into my panties if the circumstances were different.
Their names are Vex and Skipper, and they wear the same ridiculous clothes as Carter.
We head away from the auditorium and file into the elevator when it arrives.
I scoot as far away from Carter Trescott as possible. I don’t care how divine he smells. He’s still an asshole. An even fucking bigger one than before.
I can’t stop myself from asking, “Are we going to continue standing in silence, or are you going to tell me why you’re attending a misogynistic auction that has been designed to degrade the female race?”
Carter looks down at me with hard eyes. I’m sure this is all very difficult for him. “I could ask you the same thing. Why are you here?”
This man doesn’t need to know that I have a son.
He also doesn’t need to know that I’m here because of said son.
“That isn’t your business.”
Vex elbows Carter in the rib cage. He uses a quiet voice, but I can still hear every word. “She’s hot. Why did you let her go?”
“I told you we’ll talk about this later,” Carter mutters back.
I snort. “Carter isn’t good at goodbyes, are you, buddy?”
His hard gaze is back on mine again, and suddenly I’m flashing back to our encounter three years ago. I was sitting on his lap and his big blue eyes were dazzling in the light.
His eyes, although still the same rich color, are now smaller. It makes me wonder if somebody has finally brought him back down to planet earth.
It was a long time coming.
I lean back against the elevator wall, suddenly aware that I’m still half-naked, dressed in sparkling lingerie and eight-inch stilettos. Appearance-wise, nothing has changed about me at all, except I’ve put on a few pounds.
“What happened to the suits?” I ask.
The hard look intensifies. “I grew out of them.”
That’s one way to say it. Even through the leather, I can see defined muscle in his shoulders that definitely wasn’t there before.
The man was all face; now he’s all face and body.
And somebody finally succeeded in ripping that smug look off his face, and I salute them. He looks much better without it. But that doesn’t mean I hate his guts any less.
The man was still attending an illegal auction tonight.
“What happened to you?” I open up that question to the floor. “What happened to all of you? Why are you dressed for a bounty hunt?”
Vex and Skipper give each other the eye.
I’m still struggling to decide which one makes my heart flutter the most. It’s a tight competition. All of them are so different, but still equal amounts of delicious.
Vex is the one on Carter’s left. He has silver hair like the others, but is the most intimidating to look at.
If Carter is a gorilla, Vex is Bigfoot. He’s a giant.
The most built out of all of them. His eyes, like the hair and beard, are also silver.
I’m having a hard time deciding if I’m more turned on, or more petrified.
Skipper stands on the other side of Carter with long, silver hair that falls to his shoulders.
This kind of hairstyle has never caught my attention on a man before…
until now. His ultra-tanned skin suggests that he’s spent most of his life out in the elements.
Even though his face has signs of aging, it doesn’t take away from how handsome he is.
UV only damages so much. I know for a fact that his amazing bone structure isn’t going anywhere.
While I’m marveling at my three suitors for tonight, it looks like they’re doing the same. Or are they sizing me up?
Before I can repeat myself and question their choice of outfits for tonight, the elevator dings and the sliding doors open.
Finally, the real world is back. I step out into the casino, but it’s not time to celebrate my freedom yet.
As we weave through the crowds, I toy with the idea of chancing an escape.
At the moment, I’m on the fence about it. I’ve all of a sudden been reunited with Carter fucking Trescott, but it’s not all bad. Actually, the sizable number he wrote on that blackboard is quite the opposite of bad.
It wouldn’t hurt to entertain them.
I could really use the cash.
“Where are we going?” I ask.
“Out,” Carter says, leading us out into the great outdoors also known as the Vegas Strip, a place I unfortunately know better than the back of my hand.
“You’re gonna have to be more specific.”
The men remains ambiguous as ever, walking down the busy street. Carter Trescott might’ve had a makeover, but people still treat him like royalty, parting around him like he’s a biblical figure.
Vex and Skipper receive the same treatment.
Girls gawk at all three of them as they walk past, and I’m glad. It means that I’m not going insane. It means that these men are all objectively attractive.
Could I be in trouble?
Shit. Maybe going with Conrad would’ve been better.
Eventually, they turn away from the Strip and guide me away down a darkened alley.
Fabulous.
“Get on,” Carter says.
“What?”
Skipper extends his hand, and that’s when I see it—the Harley.
“What is this? An episode of Sons of Anarchy?”
“No,” Vex says. “It’s a deal. A very expensive deal. And we need to get our money’s worth. Hop on and hold on tight. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.”
I don’t “hop” onto any man’s motorcycle, regardless of how good-looking he is.
“I know I agreed to attend an underground auction, but that doesn’t automatically mean I don’t give a shit about my life.”
“What are you talking about?” Vex says. Unironically, he has a vexed look about him. “You know the rules, sweetheart. The highest bidder gets to take you home for the night.”
“And where is home?”
Carter intervenes and turns away from me to chat with his friends. “I don’t think this is a good idea, guys.”
“Rules are rules,” Vex says. “We also wouldn’t be in this situation if it wasn’t for you.”
“Yeah, I know. I acted out of impulse. I had to do something.”
“You didn’t have to do anything,” Skipper says. “Writing that number down on the blackboard was your choice.”
“Conrad’s a shady fuck,” Carter protests.
“Why do you care?”
Vex is really starting to make me despise men even more.
“I don’t. I just had to—”
“Yeah, we get it.” Skipper rolls his eyes.
Carter growls. “I didn’t even want to come here in the fucking first place. It was Vex’s idea.”
Explains a lot.
Carter sighs. “We have to get away from this. Let’s forget the money and forget Carmen.”
“Carmen?” Skipper says incredulously. “You know her name? When did the two of you meet?”
I’m just as surprised as Skipper. Carter’s body count is probably well into the thousands. For him to remember my name, I must’ve done something memorable.
“It doesn’t matter when we met,” Carter replies. “All I’m saying is that we should part ways and pretend this never happened.”
“I thought men like you are supposed to keep their word.” I step forward and join their conversation. “You want to pretend like this never happened? Are you serious?”
“Very,” Vex says.
“What about the money?”
Carter turns around to face me. “Why do you care about the money?”
Because we’re not all made of bucks.
I keep my answer short and to the point. “Your bid was a lot of money. I think we can all agree on that. With a check like that, I could vacation in Bora Bora until I’m like, sixty.”
“You’re a long way off sixty,” Vex says.
I keep my mouth shut. Best not to mention that this sort of money saves lives. “Anyway, this isn’t just about the money. It’s about principle.”
“Principle?” Carter stares at me curiously. “What do you know about principle?”
“I know Conrad O’Neill runs a tight ship, and he won’t be very happy to hear that you three have broken his rules.”
“Might be too late for that,” interjects Skipper. “He didn’t look too happy when the auctioneer was handing you over to us.”
Carter bypasses that comment. “You should be thanking me. At the end of the day, I saved your life.”
Sure.
Sold from one asshole to another.
I’m indebted.
I take a step back and let the men fight it out. As much as I hate Carter Trescott, I do have a lot to thank him for. He handed down his genetics to the son he doesn’t know about, and he’s also the reason I’m seeing the light of day again.
And by the light of day, I’m talking about the giant Vegas billboards that illuminate the sky.
Carter goes on looking at me with his hard stare, like he’s trying to get access to my soul. Good luck with that one, buddy.
“Fine.” He steps aside and invites me to hop onto his Harley. “Climb aboard.”
I’m still in two minds about all of this. The bikers still haven’t told me where “home” is. But I trust Carter, even though we’re practically strangers. If he saved me from Conrad, he must have semi-good intentions.
I don’t sit on the handsome man’s motorbike because he’s attractive.
I sit for money.
A fucking crazy amount of money.
Begrudgingly, I wrap my hands around Carter’s waist as he starts up the engine. In an ideal world, I wouldn’t touch him. But I’d also prefer not to fall to my death and leave Otis without a mother.
We fly through the city.
And I wish I was exaggerating.
It feels like we’re about to take off.
With no other option, I hug Carter’s waist and trust that we won’t get in trouble with the cops for exceeding the speed limit.
I didn’t really know what to expect from tonight, but reuniting with my last one-night stand was not on the bingo card.