Chapter 18
Beth
I’m leaving to head back to Vegas tonight after being home for an entire week, cleaning up what Tyson tried to accomplish while I was gone as well as to help him finish the proposal he wanted done for an upcoming campaign to blend the next line with some sort of new way to market. Some of it would normally fall into Jacob’s area of the business but since he’s otherwise distracted, Tyson has taken lead on some of the projects.
We talked every night via FaceTime and pretty much expanded our knowledge of what the other likes in a little show and tell. It was a different way of doing things, but I feel that we are even closer. He seems stressed when we first get on the line together, but by the end of the call, he’s a lot more relaxed and it’s not just due to him getting off.
I’ve run around the office for the better part of an hour when I catch a glimpse of someone who looks familiar walk past my office towards the elevators. I rush to the doorway and slowly slink out of my office, hugging the wall as I inch forward to get a view of him to confirm the identity. I act as if I need something from the receptionist by the elevators and turn to get a better look at him. The elevator doors open and he enters then slowly turns around. The look on his face is solemn as our eyes meet. He barely nods, but he but acknowledges that we’ve seen one another. Unsure if I should wave, smile or anything, I fail to respond before it’s too late. The doors to the elevator closed.
What the hell!
I turn on my heel and storm to Tyson’s door and, even though it was closed, I open it and walk inside. Though all I wanted to do was slam the door, I see he is on the phone, so I carefully close the door behind me. He puts up his finger in the universal ‘one moment’ gesture and I slump down into the recliner in front of his huge mahogany desk. He’s intently listening to the person on the line with a look of determination and frustration on his usually handsome face. He clears his throat and ends the call.
“What the fuck!” I say loudly as soon as the receiver hits the cradle.
“Did you see Brad?” Tyson asks me, feigning no emotion.
“What does he have to say for himself?” I ask.
Tyson sighs. “We didn’t even talk about it. That’s what we’re supposed to do, lawyers’ orders and all.”
“Did he have any explanation for where he’s been the past month?”
“Not really, but he never had to explain his whereabouts in the past. I asked, nonchalantly of course, where he’s been and what he’s been up to and all he said was he’s been traveling. I checked some of his travel references and he was working a deal for us in Paris. He mentioned Vegas briefly, but I just don’t know how to read him anymore.
“Do you have to sign off on his travel arrangements?” My hands go to my hair as I pull slightly in frustration.
“He owns a third, so he’s not required to confirm everything with me. We had a deal with a Paris-based distributor in the works several months ago, so that trip was part of that plan. Unfortunately, him popping in here was just a standard that he used to do. He isn’t doing too much different than before.”
“This is bullshit,” I mutter.
“I agree.” Tyson runs his hands down his face. “He acted the same as he always acts. He even asked where Jacob was.”
“What an asshole!” I seethe.
“He apologized for not answering all my phone calls, but then explained that he didn’t take his phone with him because of it not being satellite or something, which is ridiculous.”
“So now what?”
“We go on with our days. You head back to Vegas and continue to keep Jacob in line, I go back to working and fucking my hot fiancée.” Tyson crosses his arms and smiles proudly.
“TMI, Ty.” I shake my head, happy for Tyson that he has someone after so long of being a real playboy.
“Sorry, needed to not think about this bullshit for a minute. What time is your flight?” he asks.
“Seven; want to swing me by SFO on your way home?” I ask, since it’s only a mile or two off his usual route.
He nods and then his phone rings again. I stand and wave as he answers his line and I walk back to my office. I only have a few more hours until I need to be at the airport. Before I leave I want to create a guide for Tyson on how to do a few things, trying to anticipate what he will need for the next week and preempt some drama. Since the trial starts on Monday, I know that I will be busy until it’s over and likely won’t have as much free time to help him.
***
I opted to take a standard commercial flight rather than use the company plane for the flight back to Las Vegas. Since there were a few set backs on my return flight, I didn’t want to waste anyone else’s time and just booked my own flight, to Jacob’s dismay. However, when I checked in at the airport, I learned that my ticket was upgraded to first class. The view of Las Vegas from the plane window looks like any other city at night, except there’s one heavily illuminated area that is overly bright and shiny compared to the rest. When I see the lights, my heart begins pounding in anticipation of seeing Jacob after an entire week. It would still be quite a few minutes until I saw him, but my palms were getting sweaty and I felt as I was going to pass out from the anticipation. When the plane finally touched its wheels on the ground and began taxiing to the gate, my knee began bouncing. As soon as the “Fasten Seatbelt” sign dinged off, I’m out of my seat and into the aisle to leave this machine and get into the arms of the man that I love.
Love. Yes, I could admit that to myself. Would I be able to say that out loud to Jacob?
I move quickly through the airport to the baggage claim. I look around for Jacob and see him off to the side pacing a small space with his hands in his pockets. As if he senses me watching him, he stops and slowly turns his head. His face at first has a scowl and then when our eyes latch onto one another, his face lights up and he smiles. He pushes through several people to get to me. He stops a foot away from me and I close the gap between us.
“I fucking missed you!” he whispers against my hair.
Jacob
My brother called me a few hours ago and told me that Brad was in the office and that he had his PI tailing Brad to keep an eye on him. Brad boarded a flight, flying under an alias back to Las Vegas, and he arrived at the airport twenty minutes before Beth did. I kept my distance as I was told, but I came to the airport and saw him walk out the doors into a cab as if he didn’t have a care in the world. The PI was on the same flight and trailing close behind, not looking too out of the ordinary as he followed the cab in his own. It took everything I had in me not to rush him and start punching him in the face. I’m not normally a violent person, but he sure is making it hard for me to keep my calm. I know the PI saw me as he lightly shook his head when he noticed me from behind a pillar. So I paced the small area for however long it was before I felt Beth entered the same space. Call it connected, call it a sixth sense, I knew as soon as she was near because I began to feel lighter and less tense. I turn my head to see her and immediately feel at ease. She’s dressed simply and comfortably. That’s another one of my favorite things about her, that she’s comfortable wearing anything from fancy to relaxed. And she looks damn good in all of it, but especially naked. She’s wearing a cardigan with a pair of form fitting jeans and a lace camisole. Being in the fashion industry, I’m not ashamed to admit I know the difference between a camisole and a tank top.
She is back. My girl is back. How did I go from being a completely independent male, willing to fuck any chick, to desperate to be around her and wanting to only fuck her? One would think that I am pussy whipped and, if I’m completely honest, I am. The conversation with my buddy Nathan came to mind. One single pussy, all the holes.
I know the smile on my face is ridiculous, but I don’t give a shit. I fully turn and push my way past several others awaiting their loved ones and stop only inches away from her, and then she closes the gap and throws her arms around my neck. I bury my face in her hair, breathing in her scent and smile.
I hold her tightly to me and whisper into her hair. “I fucking missed you.”
“I missed you too.” she says, pulling back and looking up at me.
“Let’s get your bags and get the hell out of here.” I say, grabbing her hand, interlacing our fingers and pulling her to the baggage carousel.
I thought ahead and ordered the Bellagio limo. As soon as I close the door behind us, my hands were all over her. My mouth savagely took hers. I lifted her and placed her on my lap, making sure that her pussy rubbed on my dick. I groaned into her mouth as I felt the heat coming from her. She kissed me with abandon and then her hand clutched my dress shirt as she pushed herself away breathlessly.
“While I want to do nothing but fuck you in the back of this really nice car, I want to be back in our room where I can be as loud as I want.” she says, looking around the small space and noticing the driver adjust the rear-view mirror.
I smiled at her bashfulness as my hand traveled the length of her spine resting just above her ass. “Baby, you can be as loud as you want back here, the privacy screen offers us complete privacy. And there’s enough traffic between here and the hotel, so we’ve got a lot of time. But if you would prefer to have a meaningful conversation on—”
I didn’t get a chance to complete my sentence of bullshit because she smashes her lips against mine. Meeting her tongue stroke for stroke, I grab her hips and start pulling her against my erection again earning a mewl from her.
Her hands came between us and started to unbuckle my belt. She scrambled off my lap with a firm grasp on my dick as she sunk to her knees on the floor of the limo. She leans down and blows on the tip and then licks the pre-cum that has formed, sending goosebumps across my body and shivers down my spine. She opens her mouth and covers the tip of my dick and sucks lightly, then repositions and takes more of my shaft into her mouth, sucking as her head pulls back up. She grabs my dick at the base, as her mouth pulls back up with her cheeks hollowing, while her hand twists and moves up, chasing her mouth. She’s moving faster now, as she sucks my dick like she wants to drain me of everything that I could give her.
My hand goes to her hair and I gather up a handful in one hand and apply a little pressure as she goes back down the length of my dick and lingers. I can feel the back of her throat. She squeezes my dick with her hand as she sucks me off and soon I’m feeling the tingle at the base of my spine. My thighs tighten and I groan in intense pleasure.
“Fuck! I’m gonna come.” I warn her.
She nods and continues her assault. I tap her shoulder signaling that I’m about to come. She doesn’t let up, but keeps at it as I shoot my load into her mouth and down her throat. She swallows everything that I give her. She strokes a few more times and then, with a pop, pulls my dick out of her mouth and licks her lips.
Just as I stuff my dick back in my pants, I notice that we are approaching the hotel. I smile at her as she resituates herself beside me.
“I’ll be taking care of you later.” I say, with my finger under her chin, guiding her lips back to mine and pecking at her lips as we come to a stop. I can taste myself on her. Moments later my door is opening and I exit the vehicle. I stand and button my jacket and reach in for Beth. As she grasps my hand, I notice a few people with their cell phones aiming at us. I don’t make direct eye contact and then, as she comes to stand beside me, I whisper in her ear to do the same. Hand in hand, we enter the Bellagio and head to the elevators.
Once in our room, she shrugs off her cardigan and sheds her shoes. She grabs water off the counter and sits on the sectional as she unscrews the top. I go to sit beside her and simply stare at her. Watching her neck as she swallows her water, seeing the muscles move with every moment. I adjusted my sitting position to accommodate the growing erection and face her.
“So, tell me what I’ve missed.” she says, setting the bottle down on the coffee table.
“Well, we tried to nix the whole “going to court” thing and reach a settlement, but Candy is refusing all offers. Even though you and I are romantically involved, you will still be called as a witness. Also my brother and, unfortunately, my mother will be called too. They will likely bring up the trips that I’ve made here, and there will be photos of security footage which shows me…” I cough and feel like utter shit that I have to finish this sentence. “With several different women during my stays at a few of the hotels here. But none of them are Candy. I’m sorry you’ll have to see and hear that.”
She smiles with her hand on my thigh, silently accepting my apology.
“They pulled footage from her club, and not once do they show me there for the past year, except apparently the night we got married. The security guard will be up on the stand to discuss that. They do have Brad on their footage quite often though, and I’m saying quite often.”
“What kind of footage?” she asks.
“Just the main entrance and the back door and some of the common areas.”
She starts to laugh, a few snorts coming out as she laughs uncontrollably. I have no idea what triggered her. And then I pause and rewind the conversation in my head, face palm and shake my head.
“Your mind is in the gutter!” I laugh.
“I’m sorry, my mind just automatically went there.” She laughs covering her mouth.
Shaking my head, I continue. “And then there was some interesting stuff happening with Brad that I’ve learned about from the past several months. And I saw him about twenty minutes before you came off your flight.”
She perks up and faces me. “What kinda stuff?”
“You sure you wanna talk about this crap? You just got back? Aren’t you tired of it?” I ask.
“I yelled at your brother today for not doing anything when he was at the office. I’m just as invested in this as you are.” she says, and I feel a swell of love for her. The willingness she she’s had to disrupt her everyday routine for me and all this drama that has happened. Granted, it’s unintentional drama, but drama nonetheless, and I had hoped when we decided to make a go of this relationship that it would be easy. But it’s been everything but.
“Okay then. Brad’s been living here in Vegas. He drives out or flies to the Bay Area on an almost weekly basis as far as we can tell. He’s been flying under a different last name. Want to guess what that would be?”
“You’re shitting me.” She gasps.
“He’s got an ID and everything.”
“Does this mean that … they’re married too? Wait, can you do that?”
“Legally, no you cannot. You have to be single in order to get married to someone, but that doesn’t mean that you cannot legally change your name.” I explain. “He isn’t in the process of legally changing his name, as far as we can tell, but he somehow got an official ID from Nevada. The PI says that he is living with Candy at least three to four days a week. The rest of the time, he goes back to the city to put in an appearance at work. On a few separate occasions, he’s booked a hotel room. When the footage was checked for his movements, he checked in but, from the looks of it, he never went to his room.”
“So, he’s has been around, just no one has seen him?” she asks.
“Not sure about what he’s been doing with that. It’s hard to track his whereabouts when he drove, but for the past year he’s been living two lives. He’s been Bradford Maddox in the city, good friend and cousin, and then he’s Brad Waters here in Nevada, roommate, relative or husband of stripper Candy Waters.”
“We’re not sure about the relationship between Candy and Brad?” she asks in a whisper.
“Why are you whispering?” I lean towards her and lower my voice as well, just to tease her.
“Sorry, it just seemed like an appropriate way to ask a question right now.” She laughs.
“What we’ve gathered since assigning the PI on Brad’s tail is that they rarely leave the apartment together. They aren’t seen together in public very much, but they have been seen together. And he’s frequented the club she works at quite a bit. We have photographic evidence of that.”
“Making it rain?” she mimics the motion of what’s commonly seen in music videos by rappers, lightening the mood.
“You’re ridiculous sometimes!” I laugh.