Chapter Six
LEO STARED AT HIS COUSINS and wondered if he’d heard wrong.
“You want to hook me up with an escort service? When I can walk into any club and get laid on my own terms and not pay?”
Rem gave a groan and rubbed his head. “I said the same thing when Rafe approached me, but I’m telling you, dude, it works. I found the love of my life again through the Fanta-C agency. It’s not what you think.”
“Wanna know what I think?” He leaned over and nailed each of his four cousins with a stare. He’d been in a piss poor mood lately and their ridiculous claims of fairy-tale, happy-ever-afters only made it worse. “I think you’re all fucking crazy.”
They sat in the Study—a quieter lounge to grab a drink, tucked in the back of the supper club in the Cosmopolitan Hotel. With comfortable leather chairs, dark wood, and bookshelves lining the walls, the lounge gave patrons the chance to take a breath, enjoy a well-crafted cocktail, and share a deeper conversation. The low strains of classic vinyl played on the speakers rather than the usual DJ or club music.
Rome laughed, hooking his ankle comfortably over his knee and tilted back his beer bottle. “We know how it sounds. But I called the number and now I’m with Sloane. It’s worked for each of us.” His premature grey pegged him as a George Clooney look-a-like and the oldest of the crew. But it was Rick who was the true leader of the Steele clan. His wife, Tara, affectionately called him Thor because of his long blonde hair and blue eyes. Of course, she was the only one he allowed to get away with it. Leo remembered when they were kids, he and Rafe were teasing Rick, calling his dick a limp hammer with no magical power.
Leo got a black eye, Rafe ran away, and Rick never got called Thor again.
Rick regarded him across the table with his narrowed gaze that saw too much. He was the quietest out of all of them, but had a laser like intensity and the ability to spot a lie, making him a perfect Dom. Of course, he was officially off the market and had never seemed happier.
Had Rick become one of these dudes who needed everyone else to be married because he was now content? Fuck. Now that he thought about it, all of his cousins were blissfully hooked up. Did they really believe an escort agency was responsible?
“You’ve been here three months and you haven’t moved on from that masquerade party,” Rick said. “You need to let it go.”
Leo stiffened. “Maybe Jonathan and Cruz will get Hartley to tell me where she is.”
Rafe, the last in the bunch, rolled his eyes. “She doesn’t want to be found,” he threw out with his usual starkness. Rafe’s military background was evident in his cropped hair, deadly stillness, and the occasional shadows in his eyes. He’d had a rough time in Afghanistan, but he seemed softer now that he’d found his fiancée, Summer. He tipped back his shot glass of Jack Daniels. “You have to respect her wishes.”
Familiar pain lurched in his gut. What was wrong with him? How had a woman he’d known for only a few hours gotten so deep under his skin? Sometimes, he’d catch the scent of citrus, and stop in his tracks. Last week, he could’ve sworn he saw a woman with long dark curls spilling down her back and launched through the casino to surprise a stranger. He was acting like a lovesick, schoolboy desperate for any contact. But Scarlett was long gone. When he’d asked his friends to track her down, they’d been sympathetic but firm. They weren’t about to share her identity without her consent. Discarding her mask on the nightstand and disappearing before morning told Leo she didn’t want to be found. Just like Rafe said.
Leo drained his whiskey. God, he was pathetic. Vegas suited him. From the moment he arrived, he embraced every gaudy, over-the-top detail that the strip offered. His security work at the casino challenged him, and he liked his team. Already, he’d made a bust and filled in some gaps that had previously urged card counters and cheaters to swarm in on the weekends. He loved the dry, strangling heat; the merge of day into night as time paused; and the pumping nightlife of the clubs and bars after hours. The city was alive, buzzing with potential and life. He realized being back with his cousins filled an empty place inside of him. They’d always been close growing up, and eventually all of them moved to Vegas to be card dealers. Since his mother had passed, he hadn’t seen his father, and as an only child he craved being part of something bigger—the simple bond of blood and family. Was he going to spend the rest of his days grieving over something he’d never even had? There may have been the possibility of something there, but Scarlett made her own choice to leave him. For her, he’d only been a one-night stand. It was time to move on.
With resignation, he lifted his palm. Rem grinned and pressed a black and gold card into his hand. The word FANTA-C was scrawled across in embossed gold. On the back, a phone number was listed. “What do I do?”
“Call the number and use my name as your referral. Fill out your paperwork and if they find you a match, they’ll set everything up,” Rem said.
Rome cut in. “It’s not guaranteed you’ll get a match, and it’s not always about sex. Just tell them what you really want. You have nothing to lose, dude.”
They were right. He tucked the card in his pocket. His cousins shared a pointed glance, and Rem cleared his throat. “Umm, after you make the call you need to burn the card.”
Leo lifted a brow. “You kidding me?”
Even Rick looked uncomfortable. “Just do it. Part of the rules.”
“Then how’d you get your card?” he asked Rem.
“If they find you a match, they give you one card as your referral. You’re mine.”
This time, he couldn’t help it. He burst into laughter, shaking his head. “I can’t fucking believe it. You’ve all been bamboozled. You really think if you don’t do these things something bad will happen?”
Rafe glared. “Don’t give us any shit. It worked for all of us. We’re trying to help your sorry ass. You’ve been moping around Vegas way too long about the girl who got away.”
“She was a hell of a girl,” he said quietly.
Rafe’s face softened. “Not if she didn’t think you were special.”
All gazes swiveled to stare at Rafe. “That was poetic, bro,” Rome said.
Rafe stuck up his middle finger and they all laughed.
Leo sipped his drink, falling into easy conversation about work and wondering why the card seemed to be burning a hole in his pocket.
Whatever. He had nothing more to lose. He’d make the call and put Scarlett Rose behind him as a beautiful memory.
***
Scarlett shook her sweaty palms in the air to dry them. Gross. Her heels clicked on the gleaming floor as she paced, staring at the door every few seconds. The hotel suite was luxurious and held a sensual vibe, but she didn’t spot any special equipment or chains hanging from the ceiling. What if her date didn’t show? What if this whole thing was just some lame joke? She hadn’t been this nervous in a while, not since the night of the masquerade ball.
The memory stirred, along with her body. How many times had she woken up with his name on her lips? How often had she replayed their precious hours together while she brought herself to orgasm? When Hartley called and said Leo was desperate to track her down, she’d been overjoyed. Scarlett opened her mouth to tell her friend to give him her number, but when she pondered the consequences, she remained silent. It was better to keep her anonymity.
Her divorce chased her like a shadowed ghost, always a few steps behind. Her decision to leave Baltimore and move to Vegas was key in rebuilding her new life. For the first time, she stood on her own, and the power was a heady pill she greedily swallowed. When she thought of seeing Leo again, aching need mixed with a sinking fear she couldn’t battle.
After only one night, she already felt attached. Connected. Her entire purpose was to free herself completely for the new adventure before her—not fall hard for another man. When he asked to see her again, she’d been desperate to say yes. But Leonardo Sinclair was a powerful man. His natural dominance and aching tenderness stirred something to life deep inside again, something she’d been missing for way too long. He’d shattered her completely and put her back together in a few short hours. How could she risk being involved in a new relationship so soon?
She just wasn’t strong enough. Not yet.
So, she’d left her mask and Leo behind.
These past four months had shown her how much she’d grown. Her job as a statistician for the casino was challenging work, and she loved her new co-workers. Sure, she was spending most of her time at the job, but working with numbers and sorting through scenarios of how each fit into the real world defined an important part of who she was. Still, there was an emptiness inside that hadn’t been filled since Leo. It was time to take another leap in her personal life and try to move forward. Calling the number on the business card her new friend had handed her seemed the perfect way to begin.
A soft knock vibrated on the door.
She dragged in a breath and smoothed down her form fitting skirt. Her date’s requirements were exact. Black lycra tank top with a pencil skirt. Hair loose. Bare feet.
Red lipstick. No bra. No panties. Bare pussy.
She was ready.
Scarlett opened the door.
And came face to face with the man she couldn’t forget.