12
ZANDER
THE SUN WAS SETTING low over the desert, the tall buildings of Sin City blocking out its last attempt to light the way. With my wrist resting on the steering wheel, I let my eyes wander over the people walking The Strip while I sat a red light and waited for it to turn green.
That was when I saw them.
The bar back from Empire and Eden.
They were walking beside each other, both with a few bags in hand, and she was laughing at something he was saying. Attached to her side was a stuffed panda bear with a Circus Circus tank top on.
Circus Circus.
Were they on a date?
And then she laughed again, her face lighting up.
Her smile.
It was like the sun changed its mind about setting and came back out.
The area around her seemed brighter than everywhere else.
I noticed they were standing in front of Kennedy’s complex. My eyes moved over their surroundings to see if Kennedy was close by, but they were alone.
Then he leaned in and kissed her cheek, and a fiery shot of jealousy ripped down my spine.
The urge to get out of my car and rip his face off was real, but instead, I pressed down hard on the gas once the light turned green, letting my tires squeal as I sped past them.
Jealousy wasn’t my thing.
No one had what I wanted anyway.
But I knew I had to amp it up if I wanted Eden to quit, and I knew my new ideas were going to be just the thing to get the job done.
“NEW UNIFORMS,” I said, going into Kade’s office as he packed for his trip to New York.
His flight was leaving in two hours, so I knew I had to catch him before he went to the airport.
“What?” he asked, looking up from his desk.
“You wanted something new. Why don’t we switch up the girls’ outfits starting the night before fight night?”
“Okay. What did you have in mind?”
“Do you trust me?” I asked, feeling the intensity in my gaze.
“You know I do.”
“Then leave it up to me.”
“Run with it.” He closed his briefcase and then eyed me suspiciously. “This sudden uniform change wouldn’t have anything to do with Blondie, would it?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. We said we wanted to do something new.”
“Yes, we did.” He shook his head and chuckled to himself. “Word of advice: don’t let Kennedy catch on to what you’re doing.”
“I’m not scared of Kennedy.”
Kade smirked. “Right.” He moved around his desk. “Are you going to be okay while I’m gone?”
“Of course, I am.”
Kade and I took turns flying to New York while we were in the process of opening our new hotel there, but this was the first time one of us would be gone longer than two weeks.
“Your car’s here,” Cole interrupted, stepping into Kade’s office with his announcement.
Kade eyed me a bit longer, the side of his mouth lifting in a knowing grin. “You’re sure you have this under control?”
Crossing my arms, I lifted a brow at his question.
I was the king of control.
Everyone knew that.
At my expression, he laughed. “Okay then. See you in a couple of weeks. Be good while I’m gone, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
I snorted sarcastically at his choice of words.
“There’s nothing you wouldn’t do.”
“Exactly. Have fun.”
With that, he walked toward the door, allowing Cole to take his bags. And then he was gone, leaving me to wonder if I really had things under control.
I would never admit it to anyone, but I had never felt more out of control in all my life. I was hanging on when it came to my sex addiction and Eden, but if I were honest with myself, I would admit that I was barely hanging on by a tiny thread.
I spent the rest of the day taking care of business. I had three conference calls and even managed to deal with the contractors taking care of our new security, the additions to the pool area outside, and a new men’s locker room since the flooding had ruined some of the fixtures.
It was almost time for me to wrap up and go to dinner when Kennedy tapped on my office door and let herself in.
“Are you busy?” she asked, closing the heavy door quietly behind her.
“I was just getting ready to go to dinner. Is everything okay?”
She nodded. “Yes. I just wanted to get your signature on a few things before you left. I know you’ll be back tonight to walk the floors as usual, but I’m leaving early, and I didn’t want to miss you.”
I nodded, waving her over to take the seat in front of my desk.
I didn’t give her time to hand over any documents for my signature or to even say another word before I put different, less critical information on the table.
“We’re switching up the girls’ uniforms,” I said before she could even sit in the chair across from my desk.
She instantly frowned, but my expression didn’t waver. I’d expected a fight, and I had prepared myself beforehand.
“What? Why? There’s nothing wrong with the uniforms. They're demur and classy and—”
I interrupted her. “Kade and I think it’s time to change things up. So we’re going to introduce the new uniforms the night before fight night.”
She stared back at me, her brow lifting the way it usually did before she flew over the edge.
“Do I at least get to see these new uniforms?” Her tone was harsh, and I could feel the anger slowly bubbling beneath her skin.
“Of course.” I grabbed the paper the designer had used to draw the uniforms on and slid it toward her.
She uncrossed her legs and leaned forward, grabbing the sketch with a bit of an attitude. She didn’t look at it more than a few seconds before she dropped her hand and stared me down.
“You’re serious with this?”
“Very much so.”
“Again, there’s nothing wrong with the uniforms we’ve been using for the past few years. If you and Kade want to change things up, why don’t you hire the kind of girls who get paid to wear this stuff?”
She tossed the paper onto my desk, and it floated down and almost over the side.
“Why do you have to question everything I say, Kennedy?” I asked, pinching the bridge of my nose.
Already, I was feeling a migraine forming behind my eyes. The past few weeks had been hell with Eden around. I could have easily tossed her out without reason, and honestly, I had considered it several times.
The only reason I hadn’t was because of Kennedy, yet she argued with me at every turn as if she had built the Empire on her own back.
“I don’t. I’m just saying—”
“Just put in the order,” I snapped.
Her face tightened, and I had a feeling she was about to lose her shit on me, but that didn’t happen. Instead, she stood, snatched the paper from my desk, and slipped the sketch into her planner.
“Whatever you say, sir.” She snapped her planner closed.
She was being a smartass.
Kennedy never called anyone sir.
“Thank you. Pay whatever you have to pay so we have these in time for fight night.”
She nodded her understanding with pinched lips. “Anything else?”
“This is Vegas, Kennedy. No one’s going to be offended by the uniforms.”
“You mean none of the men will be offended.”
“That’s not true. I’m sure some women won’t be offended.”
“Whatever you say, Zander.”
I knew she didn’t mean that, and when she walked out of my office twenty minutes later with a slam of the door, I knew she was cursing me inside her head.
I wasn’t exactly proud of my actions, but I was getting desperate, and I needed to take drastic measures.
There was no way the angel called Eden would ever be willing to wear something so skimpy. She would quit on the spot once it was handed to her and she was told to put it on.
I would win the war Eden had no idea she was a part of. Even if I had to fight dirty.
Zander: one.
Eden: zero.