“Ummm…”
“Are you in a hotel?” he asks sharply.
I rub my temple. Now my head is really starting to pound. “No, it was just the TV,” I lie and pray I don’t go to hell.
“Daisy, that was not the TV. Where are you?”
The woman looks at me apologetically, like she knows I’ve been busted in a lie. As if I’m some fifteen-year-old girl caught skipping school or sneaking out the bedroom window in the middle of the night. “Sorry,” she mouths and backs out of the room.
I sit up straighter. I’mnota fifteen-year-old girl. I’m an adult. One that shouldn’t have to hide from my father. But I didn’t call to let him know where I was and that I’d be missing church. And I should have. In my defence, I thought I’d be back home by now. Where is Kade anyway? I don’t hear the shower running. Maybe he’s in the living room.
“I’m in Las Vegas.”
“Nevada?” he asks incredulously.
“Yes, in Nevada.”
He lets out a heavy sigh. “I don’t have the time to discuss why you’re there right now. I have a service to attend to. I’m disappointed you didn’t bother to tell me you weren’t attending and thenlyingabout it. We’ll discuss this when you get home.” He doesn’t have to tell me he’s disappointed. I can hear it in the tone of his voice. Something I’ve never heard before. Because all my life, I’ve tried so hard to make him happy.
“I’m sorry, Dad. It won’t happen again,” I apologize again, feeling like a naughty teenager.
After he hangs up, I get out of bed, wrap myself in a fluffy robe, and head to the bathroom to look for Kade. He’s not in there. I check the rest of the hotel suite. He’s not here.Where is he?I make my way back to the bedroom, where the breakfast is set up. The table is decorated with pretty pink and white flowers, a silver tea set and cloche. The table is only set for one person. When I spot a note propped up on a glass, my stomach sinks. I have a strong sense of foreboding. He’s gone and left me here.
Picking up the note, I open it and read:
Daisy
You’re going back to LA without me.
I’ve arranged a driver to meet you at the suite at 10.30. He’ll take you to the airport where the plane is waiting.
Chains
That’s it? That’s all he has to say? And he signed it Chains, not Kade. I flip the note over in case there’s more written on the back. There’s nothing. It’s so impersonal. Like we’re strangers and didn’t have the most amazing night together.
Tossing it on the table, I drop down onto a nearby chair. After the night we had, this is what he does? Sneaks out while I’m sleeping. I tie the belt around my waist tighter. I know we said it wasn’t going to mean anything, but he could have at least said goodbye in person.
I don’t have the appetite for breakfast and take a shower, trying not to think of the way he had his hands all over me in here only a few hours ago. The sooner I get out of this hotel, the sooner I can stop thinking about him.
I change into last night’s dress and heels—there are pants and ballet flats he provided for me that would’ve been more comfortable, but I choose not to wear them. I don’t want anything more from him.
When the driver arrives, I do the walk of shame down the corridor to the elevator. This is a first for me. And last. I’ve never felt so humiliated.
Soon, I’m back on a private plane. This time, Kade, Lincoln, and Asher are nowhere to be seen.
During the past few hours, I’ve experienced things so far out of my normal life. Spontaneous trips with a man to Las Vegas and sex without some kind of attachment.
I take a seat and buckle up. If it weren’t for the marks on my body and the ache between my thighs, I’d believe it was all a dream.
twenty-five
CHAINS
“Youspentthewholenight with Daisy? Doing touristy stuff for hours and not just fucking? And you fucked her more than once?” Lincoln scratches his head. “Do you think there’s something wrong with him?” He aims the question at Asher.
“I’ve always thought there was something wrong with Chains.” He smirks over the rim of his glass. “But yes, spending time with a woman is not like him at all. If I didn’t know Chains so well, I’d say he was catching feelings.”
I grimace. “Catching feelings? Who the fuck says shit like that?” I signal to the server for another shot of whiskey. After the meeting I ran out of last night, I met up with the boys to go over it in the bar attached to the private gambling room.
