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I headed into the shower and closed my eyes, letting the warm water rush over my skin. I had a whole lot of work to take care of when I was out of here but nobody to go home to. Nobody to welcome me in, ask me about my day or share what they had been up to.
"You have to pick the right person to build your legacy with, son," My father had told me more times than I could count. "Not many women can handle this line of work, but the ones that can—they're like gold dust, and they should be treated accordingly."
That was part of the reason I had never settled down with anyone. How could I be sure they were suitable for this if I didn’t share my work with them? And, once I had, there would be no taking it back if they turned out unable to handle it. It felt like a catch-22, or maybe that was just the excuse I had given myself so I didn’t have to spend time getting distracted by dating.
Thea knew. Thea knew, and she hadn’t tried to sabotage the meeting between Mark and me, so she couldn’t have had too much of an issue with it—willing to look the other way, at least. And the thought of coming out of this gym, going home to her, made something in me feel warm and comfortable as though it’s what I wanted—as though it’s where she belonged.
Probably just wishful thinking on my part. No doubt she would have laughed me out of the place if I had told her what had actually been going through my mind. We’d spent one night together, practically anonymous, and if it hadn’t been for my business with her brother, it was unlikely we would ever have seen each other again—not exactly the basis for a long-lasting and healthy relationship, right?
I got dressed after my shower and made my way back down to the car, slipping into the plush leather seat. Maybe it was time I thought about settling down, building a legacy of my own. Now that my father was gone, I had nobody to rely on but myself and I wanted to pass down what he had worked so hard to create to someone else one day.
Damn, I was getting sentimental—not exactly a great trait for someone in my line of work. I shook my head, turned up the radio, and pulled out of the parking lot to head back to my apartment. I didn’t know what had gotten into me.
Or perhaps I just didn’t want to admit that it was her.
Chapter Seven Thea
"I’m not sure about this," I protested to Shelby, for about the dozenth time since she had twisted my arm into going out tonight.
"Thea, it’s the grand opening of your brother’s casino," she reminded me. "I’ve never been to a grand opening before! If you think I’m going to just back off and let this happen without me, well, no friggin’ way!"
"I know, I know," I grumbled, and I looked at myself in the mirror. Shelby had lent me a dress for the evening, and I still wasn’t sure if I actually looked good, or if I had just convinced myself I did so I didn’t go back to my closet and find something else to change into.
I knew Scott was going to be there, which threw me off the most. I didn’t know how I was going to feel, seeing him once more, and I had been doing all I could to get him out of my mind, put him to the back of my head for as long as it took for him to vanish completely.
But he was still there, and I would have to see him tonight—another good reason why I had tried to worm my way out of this event, though Shelby had made it impossible for me to pull that off. She would never miss out on a party, and I hadn’t told her why I was so freaked about the thought of going there tonight. If I’d come clean that I’d slept with Scott and that was why I wanted to hide out here for as long as possible, she probably would have been understanding, but as it stood, she was just picking out her shoes for the evening with no idea I felt like I was about to walk into the middle of a viper’s nest.
It wasn’t going to be that bad. I mean, there were going to be loads of people there tonight, weren’t there? So many I doubted I would even notice Scott, not really. Maybe a glimpse from across the room, but nothing more than that...
Though maybe that would be enough.
"You look great, stop worrying about it," Shelby told me as she caught me looking at myself in the mirror again, mistaking my worry about the state of my outfit. I grimaced. Maybe I should just tell her...
No, if I told her, then I was going to have to come clean about how I felt, and I wasn’t ready for that yet. I had already felt the tingling attraction to Scott when I’d popped into Mark’s office earlier, and he had been there, and I knew discussing that night with Shelby would have just stirred up all those emotions again. Better to leave it in the past, where it belonged, and hope I could just get through tonight without too much of an issue.
I was wearing an emerald green dress that hugged my waist and flared out below the knee. I also had on a pair of killer high heels that I hoped would give me the confidence to get through the night—if I didn’t fall over and break my ankle first. I had let my hair loose, and Shelby had insisted on doing my makeup, so I was wearing a deep berry-red lipstick that I normally would never have dared to try out.
I had to admit, I looked good—but there was still a part of me that just wanted to take it all off and crawl back into bed. We were in my hotel room now, the place I had been staying while I searched for an apartment, and I could already hear the buzz downstairs as people started arriving for the party.
Mark had told me it wasn’t going to be a big deal. Just a couple of hundred people. The drinks were on the house, and I had no idea how he could afford that, but I had a horrible suspicion. Scott was probably the one funding all of this, and I didn’t even want to think about how he’d come into the money to do it.
"Free drinks, right?” Shelby reminded me as she slipped her arm through mine and guided me down to the door. "Come on, what are we waiting for?"
I stuck by her side as we made our way down to the lobby, and I couldn’t help but gasp when I saw how many people were there. I had never imagined a new casino opening would attract this many guests, especially in a place like Las Vegas that was swimming with much more significant and grand venues. Still, there had to be two hundred people milling around already. We arrived at the bottom of the stairs just as Mark was about to cut the ribbon for the casino entrance. He was in the middle of his long-winded speech I had heard him practicing in his office mirror this past week.
"...so without further ado, let me introduce you to Las Vegas’s newest casino, the SIMPSON STAR!”
He snipped the glossy red ribbon, and it fell away to a burst of applause from the crowd. Mark led the way as people made their way inside the casino, and Shelby and I followed behind.
My eyebrows shot up when I stepped inside. I hadn’t seen much more than an empty, concrete-floored auditorium with only the bare basics of the place, but it had been transformed into something glamorous with deep red carpets, gold Roman columns, soaring indoor trees, and even a fake waterfall. The staff was impeccably dressed in uniforms that could challenge the most expensive hotels on the strip. These people looked nothing like the humble employees of the functional hotel attached.
"Holy shit!” Shelby laughed as she looked around. "This place is amazing!”
"Yeah, it really is," I murmured, furrowing my brow as I took it all in. I couldn’t help but start crunching the numbers inside my head as I tried to work out how much it must have cost, and how much Scott must have poured into this place to fund it, and I tried my best to push those thoughts down. I couldn’t let that get to me, no matter how easy it would have been to focus on exactly what Mark had done to allow this place to be built. It was here now, and I just had to pretend like I was as excited as everyone else to see it there. Simple as that.
"Champagne, ladies?" A waiter asked us, a silver tray of bubbling drinks balanced on his splayed hand.
"Yes, please!" Shelby replied for us, and she grabbed our drinks and handed me one. She touched her glass to mine and took a sip as she stared around again, wide-eyed.
