As we arrive at the Hilton resort in Lake Las Vegas, Hector takes our luggage up to the room, to do a security sweep, Dex stays within a ten-foot radius of Cash and me. After freshening up in the restroom just off the hotel lobby, Cash and I set off to join his colleagues at the corporate luncheon being held in the Florentine Gardens.

Lush green shrubs are formed into precise ornamental shapes around the circular plaza, which looks very much like the courtyard of a luxurious Tuscan villa. Only, this villa is a four-star resort, which bridges a sparkling lake in the middle of a desert. The entire scene is a true testament to the level of excess Cash is accustomed to, which I am very uncomfortable with.

“You washed your face, right?” I ask as he holds out his arm for me to grab onto. “You can’t kiss your mom with my…all over my mouth.”

He laughs. “Yes, I washed my face like a good boy.”

I tut as I grab the crook of his arm. “You may think it’s funny, but I really don’t want to make that kind of impression on your parents.”

“I really hope you don’t want to make that kind of impression on anyone, other than your fiancé, of course.”

I shake my head. “Technically, we’re not really engaged, so…”

He stops walking, glancing around to make sure no one is within earshot as he fixes me with a deadly glare. “We may be pretending to be engaged, but that doesn’t mean this…” He’s silent for a moment as he seems to be having trouble getting the next words out. “Whatever this is between us is real,” he declares fiercely. “You’re mine and no one gets to taste you but me. Understood?”

I stare right back at him for a moment before I break into a girlish grin. “You’re a great actor. You almost had me going there.”

His brow furrows as his face contorts with confused anger. “I’m not acting,” he says, grabbing my hand and tugging me behind a nine-foot-tall bulbous topiary. “Listen to me. We may not be engaged, but when we leave this resort tomorrow, we’re leaving together. No matter what happens here, I want you with me. I… I…”

“You what?” I ask, my heart pounding wildly as I anticipate whatever it is he’s having trouble saying.

His gaze is locked on mine, but he seems hesitant. “I’m yours and you’re mine,” he replies simply.

That’s the second time I could almost swear he wanted to tell me he loves me. And once again, I was wrong. I really need to get a grip on my emotions.

“Do I have any say in this? Or are you going to club me over the head and drag me to your cave by my hair?” I ask with a sly grin.

He shakes his head. “You’d better believe I’m going full-caveman on you tonight,” he says, then he places a very un-caveman-like tender kiss on my forehead. “But for now, my gorgeous fiancée, let’s go mingle with the sharks.”

“I hope the sharks aren’t too hungry, because I definitely feel like fresh meat today,” I remark as we head back to the circular courtyard.

In center of the space, two cooks in full chef garb are roasting meat and vegetables over a round fire pit. Like a well-oiled machine, one of the cooks mans the pit, while the other transfers the gently charred food into heated buffet trays at a nearby banquet table. The smoky aroma of grilled meats is intoxicating in a primal sense.

A waitress with a tray of filled champagne glasses offers us a drink, and we gladly partake.

“You haven’t taken any pain meds for your leg, have you?” Cash asks, unable to mask the note of worry in his voice. “You can’t mix alcohol with benzos.”

I want to hug and comfort him as I realize he learned this lesson the hard way with Vanessa. Instead, I give his arm a light squeeze. “I’m drug-free today.”

The first person to approach us is a waif with dark hair and icy-blue eyes. She appears to be in her fifties, though she could definitely be older if she has a good plastic surgeon, which I’m assuming she does.

“Good afternoon, Celia,” Cash greets her.

“Oh, Cash,” she remarks with a glance in my direction. “Always a new girl on your arm. Now, who is this fine young woman? This isn’t the one who overdosed in your apartment recently, is it?”

Cash smiles as he shakes his head. “Oh, Celia. You haven’t changed a bit since I last saw you. For your information, this is my fiancée, Kara.” He pulls his arm out of my grasp as he turns to me. “Kara, this is Celia Grant. She’s the oldest member on our board of directors. I believe she’s seventy-two years old. Right, Celia? Seventy-two years old and still gossiping about who I sleep with. Why, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you might have a thing for me. Eh, Celia?”

The woman rolls her eyes and walks away without another word.

When I’m certain she’s out of earshot, I whisper to Cash, “Is she really seventy-two years old? If she is, I want whatever she’s having.”

“No, you don’t. Celia manages to look young by subsisting on nothing but the heads she bites off of live puppies.”

I shake my head as I grab onto his arm again. “She definitely didn’t like me.”

“She didn’t even speak to you,” he replies fiercely. “Don’t let these losers under your skin.”

“Easy for you to say. And easy for you to call them losers, because you’re probably richer than her and she’s almost three times your age. Why do you think she hates you? You’ve flouted that in these people’s faces for years, and they’re just supposed to believe you’re suddenly ready to settle down?”

He stares at me with a look I can’t decipher. Is it confusion or anger? Or both?

I shake my head and turn away. “Don’t do that. When you stare at me like that it makes me think I did something wrong?”

He steps closer until he’s right behind me, grabbing my hips as he leans in to whisper in my ear. “If they watch you verbally decimate me and still fail to believe we’re together, then they’re idiots. You just dialed up your acting to a ten,” he murmurs, his lips brushing my earlobe. “I’m going to have to reward you for that later.”

As difficult as it is to stop him, I pull his hands off my hips and turn to face him. “I’m not acting,” I whisper, glancing around to make sure no one is close enough to hear us. “You don’t just have to convince them you’re engaged. You have to convince them you’re going to stay engaged. And after that, you’re going to stay married.”

The hunger in his eyes dims and his features soften. “How do you know these people better than I do?”

I let out a soft sigh as I lower my gaze to his chest. “Because I know what it’s like to live with an addict. After a while, you stop believing any promises they make…to save yourself the inevitable disappointment.”

He pinches my chin softly and tilts my head up to look me in the eye. “Do you think I’m lying to you when I promise you’ll be taken care of?”

I draw in a slow breath and shrug.

His gaze falls and he lets go of my chin as he steps back. He seems to be having some sort of realization. I want to ask him what he’s thinking, but I’m afraid to interrupt his train of thought. Finally, he blinks a few times and steps forward, placing a kiss on my forehead as he folds me into his muscular arms.

He doesn’t attempt to explain his thoughts. As I wrap my arms around his waist, he tightens his hold on me, practically crushing me with his embrace.

He exhales a loud breath through his nose as he kisses the top of my head and whispers, “Thank you.”

I don’t know if he’s thanking me for admitting my distrust in his promises or for making him realize how untrustworthy he’s been to the people in his life, including the board of directors. Either way, I’ll see this as a victory. It possible I didn’t get through to my father until it was too late. But I don’t think it’s too late for Cash.

God, I hope it’s not too late for him. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost the two most important men in my life.

The rest of the luncheon goes about as well as our chat with Celia. Cash’s mother calls him to apologize that they’re running late, so I won’t get to meet them before the “Casino Night” gala in the ballroom tonight. None of the board members seem particularly impressed with Cash’s attempt to settle down. Most are polite with their skepticism, but a couple are as cynical as I’d expect, after everything Cash has put the company through.

When we arrive at our suite around three p.m., Dex and Hector post themselves outside our door. I head straight for the veranda, which boasts an outdoor bed similar to the one on the roof of Cash’s penthouse, where Cash and I had sex the night we met at the Billionaire Club. The view of the lake from up here is stunning. Surrounded by shimmering water and sand on one side and tiled roofs on the other, it’s a true oasis.

I glance over my shoulder as I hear footsteps behind me. Cash and I have three and a half hours to get ready for tonight’s dinner and gala. But judging by the feral look in his eyes as he unknots his tie, I don’t expect we’ll utilize all that primping time.

He slides the silky fabric out from under his collar and loops it over my head, wrapping it around the small of my back to pull my body against his. I grab the lapels of his blazer as he kisses me hungrily, nipping my lips as he tosses his behind him and reaches for the zipper on the back of my dress.

I pull my head back and slowly unbutton his shirt as he lets his hands fall to his sides. Without uttering a single word, he knows what I want.

Undoing his belt and unfastening his slacks, I slide my hand inside to feel his rock solid erection. He sucks in a sharp breath through his teeth as I move my hand farther down, and down, until I find the head. For some reason, it’s seems bigger than I anticipated. He really is more majestic in the light of day.

I tug my dress off and fold it neatly as he pulls his shirt out of his pants. Placing the folded dress in front of his feet, I kneel down on top of it and look up into his eyes as I tug his slacks down. As I reach for the waistband on his boxer briefs, I place a soft kiss on the trail of hair below his navel. Pulling them down slowly, I gasp and my pussy throbs as the size of his cock is revealed to me.

He runs his fingers through my hair, gently moving it back and away from my face so he can watch.

Curling my fingers around the head, I slide my hand down to the base to gently stretch the skin taut. I look up and into his eyes as I trace my tongue around the tip of his cock, moaning with pleasure as I taste the slightly salty pre-cum. My other hand slides over his ass and down the back of his leg, and I smile as his erection gets even harder with just this brief touch.

I break eye contact as I enthusiastically lick along his shaft as if it were a tasty, dripping popsicle. My free hand gently cradles his balls as I look up at him again, pumping my fist over his erection a couple times until my grip is nice and tight around the base. Then, I dribble a good amount of saliva onto the head and cover my teeth with my lips before I take him into my mouth.

“Fuck,” he hisses, his head falling back in ecstasy.

I bob my head and fist slowly at first as my other hand caresses his sac and the tender flesh behind it. His grip on my hair tightens every time his body twitches, but I maintain a slow, steady pace as I rev him up for the finale. Wrapping both my hands around the base of his cock, there’s still a few inches exposed at the top. I pump my fists up and down a few times before I take him all the way into my throat.

I slide him out quickly, my eyes streaming tears as I fight my gag reflex. Looking up into his eyes, I grab onto his ass cheeks and take him all the way in again. He yanks my hair to pull my head back as I start to gag. Tears running down my face, I smile and he shakes his head as I do it over and over again, all the way in until he yanks my hair back. He can only endure this a few times before he explodes in my mouth. My body trembles with a surge of adrenaline as I caress his ass and lick up every last drop around his twitching cock.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” he hisses as I push his hand away when he attempts to pull me up.

I don’t stop licking until every bit of cum is swallowed and his cock begins to stiffen again. As I rise to my feet, I step out of my heels and remove my bra while Cash tosses aside his blazer and shirt and sits on the edge of the outdoor bed to remove his socks. When he’s finished, I straddle his lap and wrap my arms around him, burying my face in the crook of his neck, gasping as his cock burrows inside me. But I don’t move my hips up and down. I want to savor the sensation of being one with him for as long as possible.

He doesn’t move his hips either. He gently caresses my back as he holds me. “I know this isn’t the right time to say this,” he says, placing a tender kiss on my shoulder. “But I don’t want to regret not saying it. Look at me, Kara.”

I loosen my hold on him and sit up straight to look him in the eye.

He reaches up and brushes my hair out of my face. “I… I fucking love you,” he says, shaking his head as if he can’t believe he’s saying this. “I don’t know how this is possible. I’ve been really trying to pretend this isn’t happening, but I don’t want to pretend anymore. Not with you. I love you. I love the fuck out of you.”

I chuckle as he kisses the tip of my nose. “I love you, too. And, yes, this is really fucking crazy. And stupid. But I don’t care.”

He kisses me greedily, wrapping a thick arm around my waist as he flips me onto my back. Lifting my good leg, he places my calf on his shoulder and braces his fists against the mattress as he digs deeper inside me than any man has ever been. Grunting as he pounds my cervix with the head of his cock, my high-pitched moans come out like rhythmic whimpers. Sliding my hand between my legs, I massage my clit as he hammers me, like a true caveman. Finally, I let out a guttural wail as I come hard, my pussy clenching around his hot cock. Within a couple minutes, he comes again and collapses on top of me.

His face is buried in my hair as he growls in my ear, “What the fuck have you done to me?”

I laugh as I coil my good leg around his ass so he can’t pull out. “I could ask you the same thing.”

But the longer we lay like this, the more my euphoria fades as I realize I have to be honest with Cash. I can’t tell him I love him without telling him the truth about my father’s gambling debts. By the time I’m done explaining my situation, his face has morphed from sheer ecstasy to pure rage.

He shakes his head as he sits on the edge of the bed. “You let me leave you in that hospital room without a bodyguard after you were attacked? You could have been killed.”

“But I wasn’t.”

“And your father and—and his caregiver—

“Jacie.”

“Jacie. They’re home alone right now. What if something happens to them?”

I shake my head as I move to sit next to him. “I have sixty days to come up with the money. They wouldn’t…” I’m about to say they wouldn’t do anything before the sixty days is up, but they did throw a brick through my window. “Oh, God. What if something happens to them?”

“I’ll send Hector to check on them,” he says, heading inside the suite and straight for the door without attempting to put any clothes on first.

I can only imagine that Hector and Dex are not at all surprised to see Cash’s nakedness as he orders Hector to check on my dad. As he closes the door, he stands there for a moment, thinking with his hand on the door handle. Finally, he turns around and heads straight for the veranda, his eyes locked on me.

He kneels down in front of me and spreads my legs as he wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me toward him.

Pressing his cheek to my chest, he holds me fiercely. “You’d better tell me everything from now on, because there’s no fucking way I’m going to lose you.”

I kiss the top of his head and caress his back as I hold him. “I’m not going anywhere.”

When we finally manage to start getting ready, Cash lets me shower first while he makes a call to Knox Security to request a special team, though he won’t tell me what this special team is for. I assume he’s devising some crazy plan to scare off Benny and his goons, but I hope he knows what he’s doing. Though my father has never admitted it, I suspect Benny already got away with taking one parent from me. I believe he’s fully capable of making my father’s — or Cash’s — death look like an accident.

As I step out of the shower and begin towel-drying my body, I hear muffled voices outside the bathroom. One voice is definitely Cash, but the other voice sounds like an older version of him. I tiptoe closer to the door to better hear them.

“So you lied when you said you were engaged?”

“Yes, but I didn’t lie about settling down. I’m going to propose to her tonight. I want everyone to know this isn’t an act. I’m… I’ve never been this serious about anyone, Dad. She’s changed me.”

My heart thuds loudly in my ears as I clutch the towel against my chest.

“Well, you certainly look and sound different. I look forward to meeting her.”

“Her name is Kara.”

“I look forward to meeting Kara. Your mother was very pleased when you asked for your grandmother’s ring. Take care of it, son. Don’t let her down.”

“I will take care of it, and I promise I won’t let either of you down.”

I grab onto the edge of the marble vanity top and attempt to breathe. Cash is going to propose to me tonight? I look up at my reflection and realize I have a goofy grin on my face.

Why am I happy about this? I barely know him.

Do I?

He claims I’m the only person, other than his father and the first responders, who know what happened with Vanessa on that beach. He’s the only person other than my father who knows about Benny and my father’s debts. I haven’t even told Suzie about my dad’s bookie. Not to mention, Cash and I just minutes ago confessed our love to each other.

I grip the countertop harder as my knees get weak. Oh, my God. Cash is going to propose, and I’m totally going to say yes.