Arranged love

I allow her to pull me around town for most of the day. She takes me to a salon for a spray tan, then I had my hair washed and fixed to perfection. Got my nails and toes done. It was the works. I’ve been nervous most of the day. Even the two margaritas I had before we left the salon haven’t helped me much. I kept wondering how I was going to pay for everything, but when I reached for my purse, she refused to let me help. She said it was on her since she signed us up for this. I hated that I couldn’t pay for it but was thankful for her kindness. I plan on paying her back for my half as soon as I get paid for whatever the fuck we’re doing tonight.

My knees start to bounce when I see Kingdom ahead of us.

Please don’t let me see him.

“You are literally sweating,” she observes in the driver’s seat with a laugh.

“This is not funny,” I snap and lean forward to move the vents, so the cool air hits my face in her Aston Martin DB11. Placing my hands on the dash, I allow it to also hit my underarms. Fuck, can you actually sweat to death?

She smiles. “You’re gonna run into Bones sooner or later.”

“I just don’t want it to be today.” She doesn’t know that I saw Titan last night. I’m pretty sure she slept with him back in college. Hell, maybe she still does. I’ve been gone for a long time. And I don’t plan on staying in Las Vegas long. There’s only one thing for me here, and it won’t be here much longer. I would have already jumped on a plane and gone back to Chicago if not for my mother, since my apartment hasn’t sold yet. But I can’t abandon her now.

She pulls off the Strip and up to Kingdom. I look up at the buildings in awe. “Wow,” I say, taking in the scene before me.

“Yeah.” She chuckles.

Kingdom has been here for years. Their fathers started it back in the late eighties; they were known as the Three Wisemen. But it’s had some major upgrades since I saw it last, which was before the Kings took it over.

Four black, glass-tinted buildings tower before us-side by side. It reads Kingdom across the top in the middle with gold letters.

She pulls under the carport-like structure, changing my view from the towers to bright lights that light up the four lanes. Cars are lined up, and a few limos. Tourists stand on the steps and by the curb with their luggage in tow. Others are getting out of their cars, just arriving for the weekend. She brings her car to a stop at the valet stand.

Two men open our doors, and I thank them as I get out. She all but runs up the stairs, but I take them slowly, gripping the handrail, just taking it all in. Cars honk in the distance on the Strip and in line waiting for their turn to enter the hotel and casino.Text © 2024 NôvelDrama.Org.

“Come on, slowpoke,” she calls out, holding open one of the glass doors for me.

I enter the hotel and look down at the white marble floor. A golden K sits inside a black circle. People walk around, talking to one another. Black columns are placed throughout the lobby, with lights wrapped around them. A massive rectangular rug runs along the entrance over to the front desk, lined in white stitching. We entered on the hotel side. To the left of the front door, the marble flooring changes to carpet, and you can see slot machines lined up one after another. You can hear the ringing from the machines. People cheering at the poker tables and waitresses walking around with full trays in their hands.

She grips my hand and pulls me over to the far right where there is an inclinator. She steps onto the moving sidewalk. Mirrors on both sides are lit up with round bulbs, and I stare at my reflection. My dark hair is down and in big curls. My makeup is caked on-more than how I usually wear it-and my eyes are lined with black eyeliner. My lashes have three extra coats, making them heavy, and my lips are covered in a nude gloss. I feel like we’re in college all over again, and I’ve allowed her to talk me into sneaking out to go barhopping.

The walkway comes to an end a couple of times where you have to walk the small distance to get on another. When the last one ends, she takes my hand and leads me down a long hallway. “What exactly are we doing?” I ask.

“You’ll see.” She practically bounces up and down before pressing a door open. We enter a room that resembles a locker room. It has a couple of showers, lockers, and sinks. She goes to a locker labeled twenty-five and opens it. Reaching in, she grabs a set of clothes and hands them to me.

I unfold them and hold the small scrap of material up. My eyes go to hers. “You have got to be kidding me.”

She just smiles.

TITAN

I sit in my office at Kingdom when I feel my phone vibrate in the pocket of my jeans. Pulling it out, I realize it’s Emilee’s.

Motherfucker: Where are you?

It has to be a guy with that saved as a name. Probably an ex of some sort. No woman saves a guy under motherfucker that she wants to see or talk to. I scroll up to see their previous messages, but there are none.

I type back a reply.

Me: Where are you?

He reads it and replies immediately.

Motherfucker: At home. Where you’re supposed to be.

I don’t know much about her, but I don’t think she’s married. I didn’t see a ring on her finger last night. I looked. And I didn’t see a man there with her.

Me: And where is that?

I ask.

Motherfucker: Quit fucking around, Emilee. We have a deal, and you’re not keeping your end of it!

I run a hand down my face. I look up when the door to the office flies open, and Bones enters like he always does.

“So how did the talk go?” he asks, getting down to it.

I turn her phone off and place it in my pocket. “Well, about as good as it could have gone.”

He runs a hand through his hair.

“Hey, let’s go out. Get some drinks.” I offer, walking into Grave’s office.

He’s lying back in his seat with his hands behind his head and his black boots on his desk. Some Netflix shit is playing on his flat screen that hangs on the wall. His blue eye slide to mine slowly. “You wanna go out?”

“Yeah. Why do you sound so surprised?”

“Because you don’t go out.”

I shrug. “I feel like having some drinks.” He’s right. I used to get fucked up. But that was back before I helped run a multi-billion-dollar company. My only responsibility was to wake up, drag myself to class, and hit some balls out on the field. Things are different now.

“Sure.” He sighs and sits up. “Just let me turn my computer off and I’m ready.”

The car ride is awkward. Grave and I don’t spend much time alone. He pretty much spends all of his time partying with Cross while Bones and I pick up their slack at Kingdom. “So … how are things going?” I ask.

He sighs. “I knew it.”

“What?” I feign innocence.

“Bones set this up.” He scoffs, looking out my passenger window. “What does he want you to talk to me about?”

I sigh. “He’s just worried about you.”

“No, he’s worried about the image I’m giving Kingdom.” He looks over at me. “Anyone ever tell you you’re a shitty liar?”

I chuckle at that. “Can you blame him?”

He doesn’t answer.

“It’s not all about Kingdom,” I start. “He’s worried about you.”

“Well, you can tell him that I’m fine. And you didn’t need to pretend to go have drinks with me for that information. You could have done that in my office.” He adds.

“How are things with you and Lucy?” I change the subject. He’s been seeing her for a while now.

“The same.”

“Which is?” I ask digging deeper. I don’t know what the fuck him and her are. So the same doesn’t mean shit to me.

“We fuck.” He looks over at me. “That’s all we do.” He pulls his cell out of his pocket. “That’s all I ever plan on doing with her. She’s not the kind of girl you settle down with.”

“And you’re that kind of guy?” I ask.

“No,” he answers. “That’s why what we’re doing works so well.”

And that was that. I got nothing out of him. We had pulled into the bar, and then we ran into Emilee. We weren’t even there for ten minutes before we beat some guys’ asses and then left. I dropped him back off at Kingdom where he got in his car and went to meet up with Lucy, and I went home to bed.

“Like I said, Bones, Grave is an adult. I can’t force him to do something and neither can you,” I tell him.

He sighs. “Maybe prison would be the best place for him.”

Grave is going to either end up dead or get a life sentence. There’s no doubt about it. But that’s just who he is. That’s who we all are.

“Aren’t you being a hypocrite?” I ask.

He lets out a growl. “No. I’m very careful with what I do and how I do it. Plus, drugs don’t run my life.”

True. That’s never been our thing. But that doesn’t mean we don’t live a life of sin. You can’t play God and expect to be forgiven when you are questioned about what you had to do in order to achieve that title.

“So what do you want to do?” I ask, leaning back in my seat.

“There’s no controlling him.” He sighs.

“But?”