Page 2 of All Fall Down

“You think I’m throwing it away?” Her head whips around so she can glare directly at me. “Do you know what Vegas is? A place for dreamers. It’s easy to lose your way here. Ask your daddy.”

“Ask yours,” I counter coldly.

She flinches but shrugs it off with a hollow laugh. Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she goes on. “You can either lose yourself or you can make yourself.”

I’m pretty certain that Monroe West already has it made, but I keep the thought to myself. If I keep provoking her, I’ll never get my answer.

“My father made himself into a mogul. Everyone expects me to spend the rest of my life in the spa or shopping. I don’t have to work.” Her eyes flicker over to check if I’m listening. I nod for her to continue. “But I don’t want to be another parasitic heiress. God knows the world has enough of those.”

“You want to be a hooker instead?” The question slips out, and I clamp my mouth shut. When you operate at my level of sarcasm, it’s hard to contain it.

“I’m not a hooker,” she says with a withering look.

“Escort,” I correct myself, tacking on a “sorry.”

“My father made his fortune on gamblers. He made money on money. Jameson gets to take over that empire. No work. No hardship. It’s just his.”

“I doubt he sees it that way.” Defensiveness flares in my chest at the mention of my boyfriend.

“Of course not. He, like most men, has the luxury of being able to complain about his circumstances while still taking advantage of them.” She wags her finger at the space between us. “We don’t.”

Now I’m in the same class as Monroe? Will wonders never cease? Although, I don’t expect that our two-girl Breakfast Club is going to meet again after we leave this room.

“There’s plenty of money in Vegas. It’s almost an insult to make money on money.”

“So you’re going to make money off sex?” I guess.

“I’m going to build my empire on sex,” she corrects me. “The youngest madam in Vegas history. I’ve learned the trade from some of the best, and let’s face it, I’m well-educated.”

I thought back to English class. I suppose you don’t need a spectacular grasp of the classics to run an escort agency.

“I won’t have any competition.” She leaves the last statement lingering in the air as bait.

I bite. “And why is that?”

“Because they’ll all be terrified that I’ll reveal that they employed me while I was underage. Instead I get to play the part of business savant,” she concludes.

She already has the part of idiot down, I think.

Monroe studies me for a moment. No doubt wondering what I think of her now. “If things don’t work out with Jameson, I might have a job for you.”

“I don’t think we should be in business together,” I say dryly. Having Monroe as my high school enemy and my pimp is a bit much to swallow.

“You know where to find me,” she says, unfazed. “If you’ll excuse me, I have better things to do with my day and you must have…something to do with yours.”

Like your brother.

When she leaves, I settle onto the bed and stare at the ceiling above. Various shapes emerge from the spackle like pieces of a mysterious puzzle. There was one question I didn’t think to ask Monroe: why would The Dealer want to out her? I’m beginning to question if my eyes were playing tricks on me before. I check my phone for a response but there is none. When I open Instagram, the photo is gone.

It looks like The Dealer got my message and made a move after all. It should be a victory but instead it feels like I’ve painted a big target on my back.

My sandals clickacross the marble floor of the West Resort lobby. Slot machines ring out in the distance and even here I can taste the stale cigarette smoke from the casino floor. It’s the same as every hotel and casino in this town. Arguably a little nicer than most. So why is it the current epicenter for crime in a city that’s no stranger to vice?

This is where the mystery began for me. Is this where it started for a murderer as well? It’s hard to believe that months have passed since the deadly party that dragged me into this world. I hadn’t even wanted to go, but my best friend, Josie, who desperately wants to be in with the cool crowd, shanghaied me into attending Monroe West’s end-of-the-year party. It was supposed to be a celebration of the last day of our junior year—one that I wasn’t invited to attend.

We crashed, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the look on Monroe’s face when she caught me. The two of us had never gotten along, especially after Monroe screwed my boyfriend in front of half of our freshman class. It had been war between the two of us ever since, and trespassing on her party was a declaration of battle. I’d wanted to leave after the confrontation, but instead of tracking down Josie, I met someone. He was a stranger, but something about him put me at ease. We’d spent the night together. Not in the Biblical sense but pretty damn close. The next morning, he was gone.

As if waking up alone in my best enemy’s house wasn’t bad enough, I’d been forced to hitch a ride with my ex-boyfriend, Jonas, and his smarmy best friend, Hugo. I thought that was the end to a night I’d rather forget—until news broke out that Nathaniel West had been murdered.