CHAPTER 49
Theo
I’d been pacing my hotel room for so long I wouldn’t have been surprised if my feet had made permanent tracks in the suite’s premium carpet. I hated the feeling that had been slinking around my chest all day. I’d only been trying to do the right thing, to protect Lex, to remove the only thing standing between her and her dream—me. Yet it felt as though I’d done everything wrong.
I hadn’t been able to sleep since we arrived. Not with thoughts of Lex running wildly through my mind. I hated being in a strange city and unable to call her, see her, or even know where the fuck she was or what she was doing. But what I hated most was the fact that I’d be trapped in this form of hell for the next six and a half months.
And then what? Who was I kidding? After the way I treated her today, as if she were some side piece along the way to wherever I was going, she might never speak to me again. She wouldn’t give a shit about me in six months. She’d move on. We were in Vegas, for Christ’s sakes. Sin city. Every male with a dick and a brain would take one look at Lex and realize what I already knew. She was a fucking goddess. And she was single.
Fuck that.
Fuck Winter.
Fuck Vegas.
I didn’t need any of it.
But Lex did.
And if I quit, Lex would be out, according to Winter. And if I spoke a word about Winter’s involvement, Lex would be fired. My only option was to let her go and make her believe it was what I wanted, when it wasn’t. Not even a little.
A knock at my door made my heart rate spike, and I practically sprinted to answer it. I swung the door open without checking the peephole first, half expecting to see Lex’s beautiful, smiling face on the other side. But it wasn’t her. It was the devil herself.
“You ready?” Winter wore a skintight sleeveless white dress and some painful looking heels. Alison stood behind her, sporting something similar, only her dress was green. Winter’s bodyguards flanked them both, suited and ready for the mandatory night ahead.
There were so many excuses I could have made to avoid the private dinner for the crew, and I should have used any one of them to avoid being in the same space as Winter and Lex. But the urge to see Lex, even from across the room, was too strong.
“You have everything?” Winter’s tone was already dripping with impatience.
Do I have everything? It certainly felt as if something were missing, but when I took a deep breath against my heavy chest, I knew that something was Lex.
I slipped my phone into my pocket and checked behind me to make sure I wasn’t forgetting anything. “Yeah. Ready.”
We took the elevators to the first floor to meet hotel security, who escorted us outside to a private SUV. The distance between Hard Rock and Rio wasn’t far, but since we had to cross the strip traffic, I had to listen to Winter whine about Taylor Swift’s new single that was stealing her limelight. I practically sighed with relief when we reached the private entrance of Rio’s parking garage.
We were escorted to the fiftieth floor, home of VooDoo Steakhouse, and as soon as the elevator doors closed, I hung back from the group and searched the room for Lex. I didn’t notice Alison until I accidentally glanced at her, catching her in a stare.
“So.” She started the sentence, and I already knew what she was about to say. “You and Lex, huh?”
I looked at her, only to receive a sympathetic smile. “She told you?” Winter usually told Alison everything, but I was under the impression my relationship with Lex had stayed between us.
“Does it really surprise you that I know? Winter and I are practically the same person. Except”—she twisted her face—“her paychecks are much larger than mine.”
Despite my shitty mood, I chuckled. “You should talk to your boss about giving you a raise.”
“Ha,” she barked. “I do. Daily. She only agrees when she’s wasted. Funny enough, she never seems to remember it in the morning.”
I pinched my lips together to keep from laughing. Alison was beautiful, intelligent, and exceptionally talented at her job. Not just answering to Winter’s beck and call. Far more went on behind the scenes that Winter trusted her with but would never give her credit for. Lucky for Winter, Alison was loyal.
“I don’t know how to respond to that, to be honest.” It was nice to confess to someone, I just wished it were under different circumstances. “There was something but not anymore.”
“Winter told you to end it?”
“She reminded me that it never should have started.”
“And how do you feel about that?”
I searched for Lex in the crowd again, failing to see past Winter’s entourage. I sighed and turned back to Alison. “It wasn’t supposed to be anything. I’ve only ever been good at the casual stuff. But with Lex—” I stopped myself and shook my head. What the fuck am I saying? “I shouldn’t be talking about this with you.”
Alison’s eyes went soft, and they held something I felt deep in my chest. Hope. Though it was just a glimmer. “You can trust me.”
“Does it really matter how I feel, Alison? I’ve never exactly been dating material.” I groaned inwardly at my own admission. “Lex deserves someone great. Someone who’s available in every sense of the word.”
The look that Alison threw my way only made my chest ache more. “You’re a good guy, Theo. Hardworking, talented beyond belief, and loyal to a fault. Believe it or not, those are qualities women look for in a man. Don’t sell yourself short.”
“If it would have worked with anyone, it would have worked with Lex.” The conviction in my tone shocked even me.
Alison squeezed my arm. “Maybe it still can.”
Perhaps Alison didn’t know how clear Winter had made things. Or maybe she was insinuating that I challenge Winter. But I was certain about one thing—after my jerkish behavior, Lex wouldn’t be waiting for me to figure it out.
As we stood there, I noticed that not a single crew member had stepped forward to greet Winter. The room was filled to capacity at 250 people, all crew. Everyone from the AV guys to the roadies to Winter’s personal staff were there, taking full advantage of the open bar and endless appetizers. This was supposed to be her night, and her grand entrance was already ruined.
Alison must have had the same thought because she shot forward, took Winter’s arm, and started to navigate her through the crowd.
I continued to search for Lex. When I spotted Reggie, tall and boisterous, on the other side of the room, I knew Lex wouldn’t be far away. One glance to my right confirmed it. She was standing between Reggie and Amie, a wide smile on her face as she spoke animatedly with Brenda. And like a punch to the gut, I knew I’d made the biggest fucking mistake of my life. I just didn’t know how to fix it.
I’d never seen Lex look so radiant. With glowing eyes, a sparkling smile, and infectious laughter, she looked more in her element than I’d ever seen her.
My eyes dropped, and I swallowed as I took in her outfit. She wore a fitted black top with a low V that left little to the imagination. Hooked over her shoulders were tiny straps that I could easily shred with my teeth. A thin black necklace dropped between her breasts, dipping into the lowest point of her shirt, near her belly button. Her pink skirt was shiny, flowy, and short, wrapped tightly around her waist and tied in a long bow at the front. She was sensational. And apparently, I wasn’t the only one who noticed.
Reggie’s arm slipped around her shoulders, and he leaned in and said something in her ear. My fists balled, and my entire body grew hot. As soon as his gaze dropped to her breasts, I started to move across the room, too livid to think about what I was doing or what I would say.
My heart led the way as I edged through the crowd until I was a few feet behind her.
Fuck me. Her back.
Her shirt was cut so low it reached into her shiny ruffle skirt, held together with a thin string bow in the back.
“Theo,” Amie called when she spotted me. “You’ll never guess who hit the jackpot.”
My heart thumped, wondering if she saw the way I was just eye fucking her friend’s spine. I had no clue who she was talking about but narrowed my eyes and pointed at her. “You?” I mostly mouthed.
She shook her head and pointed at the vixen in the two-piece dress. “Lex.”
Lex caught the exchange and turned to me, our eyes meeting for the first time since they were shaded on the plane. Her entire face grew shadows at the sight of me. I could have died, right then and there.
I had two options. Either embrace the pain as my insides withered away or throw her over my shoulder and carry her as far away from Reggie, Winter, and Vegas as we could get.
In a perfect world, all of that bullshit with the contract wouldn’t matter. In a perfect world, I would have her back in my bed, beneath my hips, where I could stare at the sapphire eyes that had captured me from Day One.
When her eyes flickered away from mine and she lost her smile, I died a second death. The images of us escaping Vegas faded fast. Still, I considered pulling her away from the crowd to get her alone, to explain my behavior earlier. But a figure in white flashed before my eyes, halting me.
My heart sank. I looked up. Standing a mere five feet away was Winter, watching, just waiting for me to fuck up. I was almost thankful when Reggie’s boisterous laughter ripped through the air, distracting Winter’s gaze.
I didn’t even notice Reggie’s eyes land on me. “Hey, Theo.” His lip curled as he tugged Lex to his body. “Can you believe this? I leave my girls for five minutes, and Lexie over here is cashing in on five K.”
My girls? Lexie? Since when did he give Lex a new name? And why the fuck was he grabbing her like that?
Fire raged inside me as I took the few steps needed to get to Winter, my eyes blazing on her as she cowered. I didn’t care that everything about me frightened her in that moment. I leaned down. “I want new terms. Starting now.”
Her face wrinkled. “You don’t get to set the terms, Theo.”
I glowered, my jaw practically shaking with anger. “New terms. Or I quit.”
Winter let out an uncomfortable laugh but shook her head. “If you quit, then—”
“No more threats,” I growled low to her ear, so no one else could hear me. I wasn’t taking no for an answer. “Keep your boy Reggie off her. I don’t trust him. Talk to him, Winter. Or I walk and take Lex with me. You think I won’t find her another gig? I’ll find her a better one and expose you for your threats.” I took a shaky, rage-filled breath. “Are we clear?”
Winter’s eyes were pointed over my shoulder at Reggie, and I couldn’t help noticing something I couldn’t believe I had missed before—jealousy.
Winter’s eyes flashed back to mine, her nose flaring. “Fine. You have a deal.”
“And one more thing.” I had her. I might have even had the upper hand. “What Lex and I do behind closed doors is none of your damn business.”
“I can’t agree to that,” she hissed.
I shook my head, ready to drive my point home. “You don’t have to agree to it. You won’t know about it. Got it?”
She turned her cheek in response.
And then I grinned, because it was time to fix something I hoped like hell wasn’t already broken.