Collared (Vegas Nights Book 1) (15 page)

BOOK: Collared (Vegas Nights Book 1)
7.59Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Jason’s eyes bugged, his gaze darting to the closed office door. She could tell he was afraid to leave his post at the door, but he also did not want to be stuck out here alone with a crying half naked showgirl.

Luckily, Pax came out then, and handed her phone to her. He took in the situation and chuckled. “Good guy, Jase. Di trying to make a run for it?”

Jase relaxed his stance, and nodded.

“Pax, I need my things! I have nothing up here! I need my toothbrush and clean clothes and my computer, and my makeup, and all of my things! I need to go be in my own space!”

“I’m sorry, you can’t. We can get your things. I can send Jase and one of the girls up there later, but, you aren’t leaving this suite. Consider yourself grounded until further notice.”

“What!” she all but shrieked, indignantly. “That’s insane! That’s preposterous! I can’t be grounded, I’m a grown ass woman! And beyond that, I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Pax looked for a moment like it killed him to do so, but he put on his dom face and sprang into action. Figuratively speaking, because really he remained in the same spot, and only took action with his words. “Okay, sweetheart, listen up. No matter how upset you get, or how unfair life seems at the moment, you are still my submissive, and you need to speak to me with respect. We know you did nothing wrong. We know this isn’t your fault. If anything it’s mine, but as Jase has already pointed out to me several times, I can’t focus on that right now. Grounded is just a term—and I get that it’s a sucky one—but it is what it is. I cannot have you roaming the halls right now. God only knows how many crazed paparazzi are inside the casino. This suite is the only place I truly know you’re safe. This is a locked floor. Nobody gets up here without a key, and the only people with keys are a few trusted staff members, Jase, and myself. And Jase and I have to be on top of this. We need to get to work ASAP. Which means you’re going to be up here alone, and I need to count on you to stay up here. And if the only way to do that is to ground you and threaten you with the spanking of a lifetime if you leave, that’s what I am going to do, understand?”

Diamond sighed, resigned to her fate. When he put it that way, there really wasn’t much she could say to argue. Pax truly did have her safety and best interests at heart. “Yes, sir. I understand.”

Chapter Fourteen

Pax and Jason exited the elevators on the casino floor completely in sync, a force to be reckoned with. Both men wore their usual black cargo pants, black Rojo tees, and combat boots. Their cells phones and hotel pagers were strapped to their belt loops, and they had their ass kicking faces on. When they teamed up like this, people moved and shit got done—but neither of them could have been prepared for the scene they found as they stepped out of the elevator.

The casino was packed, standing room only. “Holy shit, you’d think Diamond was the damn Queen of England or something,” Jase whispered

Pax could only nod his agreement. He had never seen it like this, and if half of these people were actually spending money, he’d have been thrilled, but the majority of them appeared to be just standing around waiting for something to happen.

“We need a new plan.” Jase was in charge, less emotionally invested in the situation. It was easier for him to step outside his head and see what needed to be done. “We need to get to the check in desk. You have this guy’s real name?”

“Mitchell Fitzpatrick.”

“Okay, that’s the first thing we do. Find out if he is indeed registered here, and go from there. Secondly, who’s your favorite most trusted staff, present company excluded of course?”

“Of course.” That at least coaxed a smile from Pax, as they waded through the crowd towards the lobby. “Um, the college kid, with the red hair, Will. I trust him.”

“Okay, we get Will on the radio, and have him call your cell. Once you have a secure connection with him, you make it clear that his only job today is to be your yes man. Anything we need, and he is the only staff member allowed anywhere near your suite for the time being.”

“Okay, that sounds good. What else?”

“Um....” Jason looked around, finally at a loss. “I’m going to get the lawyers in here. We might need to make a statement or something.”

“Fine. What about Diamond’s stuff?”

“Is there a woman on staff who you trust? Preferably one Diamond knows?”

Pax nodded.

“Good, tell Will who it is. Have him find her, escort her to Di’s suite and get several days’ worth of stuff. I can call up and ask for a list. And, Pax?”

“Yeah?”

“Something tells me were starting to look conspicuous together. Either that, or you’ve been recognized as the mystery guy.”

Pax looked up, and realized he was completely surrounded. The vultures had formed a circle around him, and several were already snapping pictures. He was frozen in shock. It was Jase whose arm came up, covering Pax’s face from the camera lens. It was Jase who called security on the radio, and it was Jase who gave the instructions to throw out the offending photographers. When they were free, it was also Jase who pulled him into an employee lounge and locked the door behind them, hanging a “closed for maintenance” sign on the door just to be safe.

They were both winded when they finally broke away from the crowd and for a few minutes, they just stood there, eyes wide, chests heaving, hands on knees and stared at each other.

It was Pax who spoke first. “Thank you, man. I don’t think I would make it through this day without you.”

“To be honest,” Jase wheezed. “I don’t think you will either. We need a new plan.”

“Ya think?”

“You go back upstairs. Do what you can from up there. I will handle things on the floor, and you and I will be in constant contact. When the lawyers come by, we’ll meet in your office. Don’t worry, bro, I’ve got this. I won’t leave you hanging.”

“What about Aubergine? They’re there, too.”

“Yes, but they know she’s not. Aubergine is just a side interest. They’re digging for details and interviews. I’ve already briefed my staff on what to say and who’s allowed to say it.”

“You’re amazing. Truly. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now, stop being a sap. You can thank me later. We’ve got bigger fish to fry. Like getting you back upstairs without that happening again.”

* * *

When Crystal and Will came up later with Diamond’s things, Pax pulled Will into his office, giving the two girls time to talk.

Diamond couldn’t believe her dumb luck as she stared at the only friend she had made her so far. Incidentally, the same friend who had seen her in a very compromising position late last night. Her face burned just thinking of it. Not only had she been publicly chastised in a very peculiar way, she had been found out as the boss’s sub by a co-worker. And now that same co-worker had been deemed by Pax as the only female employee he trusted enough to enter Diamond’s suite and dig through her personal things? Of course. It was still Monday after all.

“Thanks for getting my stuff,” Diamond said, stupidly. “I was afraid I’d have to wear this dress all week.”

“It’s no problem. Truly. And I’ve been wanting to talk to you anyway, since last night.”

Diamond groaned. “Do we have to? Can’t we just act like it never happened?”

“Well,” Crystal joked. “I suppose I could, but I’d take bets that your ass wouldn’t be able to. I’ve been on the receiving end of Pax’s paddle before, and he ain’t no joke. And girl, he was swinging hard last night! I don’t think I’ve ever seen him swing that hard!”

Torn between laughing and being mortified at her friend’s sense of humor, Diamond just nodded.

“Well, I’m trying anyway. This whole mess has certainly been a good distraction.”

“I bet.” Crystal pursed her lips together looking thoughtful, as if she was unsure that she should say anything. But in a fashion all her own, she threw caution to the wind and plowed ahead. “Listen, if I could have said anything last night, it wouldn’t have been what you are probably thinking. What I would have said, to you and Pax both, is that I’m happy for you guys. Truly. Especially for Pax. Rojo has been his life for way too long. And he always puts the needs of the casino, and the customers, and the employees, before his own. He’s happy to do it. But it’s made him too rigid. It’s made him forget how to take a chance, to chase after what he wants, to put his own needs and wants first. He’s a great boss. But for the last year or so, something has been lacking. Rojo wasn’t enough to fill his needs anymore, but he wasn’t willing to admit it.”

Crystal paused and took a breath, smiling at Diamond encouragingly before continuing.  “And then, you came along. I wish you could have seen the two of you on stage that first night. It was truly one of the hottest, most insane things that has ever graced that stage, and its seen its fair share of hotness, I’ll tell you what. But that, was in a league all its own. The connection between you two was evident to everyone watching. You could have heard a pin drop in there. Everyone was on the edge of their seats. And I kid you not, I thought to myself, if only Pax would pull his head out of his ass, and break the rules, and take a chance on love, I think he might have something special. You’re probably worried about your reputation, and being seen as a cliché, the whole dating the boss thing. I get it. But you know what? The staff here loves Pax, and they want him to be happy. And if I’m wrong, and someone doesn’t feel that way? Fuck ’em.”

“Wow, thank you.” Diamond was impressed and grateful for Crystal’s impassioned speech “That… wasn’t what I thought you’d say.”

“I figured not. That’s why I had to say it. Besides that,” she added. “It’s all true. Anyways, I better get back to work. It’s kind of a madhouse down there. You’d think they just found out the missing daughter of Elizabeth Barrett was working here secretly, and dating the boss, or something!”

Diamond groaned, throwing herself back on the bed dramatically. “Don’t remind me. Pax says I’m not allowed to leave the suite until this all calms down, whenever that is. I’m going to lose my mind after the first day.”

“Yeah, probably. I’ll talk to him on my way up. See if I can pop in and visit every once in a while. Maybe sneak in something not from room service?”

“That would be amazing.” Diamond grinned, grateful that she had been lucky enough to find a friend like Crystal in her short time here. She was going to need it.

Crystal left, shutting the door to Pax’s bedroom behind her, leaving Diamond alone with her thoughts, and thankfully, her stuff. She happily dug through the bags, relieved to see that Crystal had gotten everything important and then some. She grabbed her toiletries, makeup and a change of clothes and headed for the shower. Maybe standing under the hot water would help massage some of her stress away.

* * *

“Talk to me.” Pax answered his cell, relieved that Jason was finally calling. He had been going out of his mind up here waiting for updates. He was supposed to be helping keep Diamond calm, but he wasn’t sure that was within his abilities at the moment. He wasn’t keeping calm himself. She was doing a much better job of it, truth be told. She had more experience.

“Fitch has been located, and escorted off the premises. I’ve spoken with Diamond’s father, and if he sees Fitch again, he’ll be serving him with a restraining order.”

“Do you think he’ll try to sneak back in?”

“I actually don’t. Diamond’s father’s assessment of him seems pretty spot on, and security gave him the full treatment. He won’t be coming back if he knows what’s good for him.”

“Okay, good. What about the others?”

Jason hesitated on the other line, stalling for so long, Pax thought he had lost him. “That’s trickier. Technically, until they do something wrong, we can’t ask them to leave. They have as much right to be here as anyone else, and it would be impossible to pick them all out anyway. I spoke with the legal team, and they said we have two options. We can either hold an informal press conference, and confirm that Diamond is working here, and that the two of you are, in fact, dating, or we can use you as bait.”

“Explain.”

“Well, earlier, when those idiots with cameras nearly assaulted you trying to get their precious photos, we were able to have security haul them away, get their names and ask them to leave. So basically, we could just do that over, and over, and over again, until we got rid of them all.”

“That could take days.”

“Yes. The only upside to that method is we wouldn’t have to tell them anything.”

Pax shook his head, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he tried to decide between the lesser of the two evils. “Get the legal team up here, ASAP. I’ll need their help preparing a statement.”

“You got it, boss.”

Pax hung up the phone and headed into the bedroom.

“Di, we need to order lunch. Do you know what you want?”

“Not hungry!” she called out from behind the bathroom door.

He wasn’t either, but he needed to be alert and keep up his strength. Not to mention his rigid schedule was about the only reliable thing in his life at the moment.

The pounding of the water against tile alerted him to the fact that Diamond had jumped under the shower spray and was no longer listening. He’s just order for her, and if she didn’t like what he ordered, she would have to deal.

Lunch was delivered thirty minutes later by Will, of course, and Diamond was still in the bathroom. Pax wasn’t about to wait, so he ate alone, a burger patty, topped with avocado and grilled onions wrapped in a lettuce leaf. He was dying for carbs, but it could wait. Tonight was Monday, and he would have his cheat day even if he had to eat in. Marzetta’s downstairs would deliver. They didn’t have a choice. It was one of the perks of being the boss.

Jason and the legal team arrived shortly thereafter. Diamond still hadn’t made an appearance.

The lawyers, Sid Colburn and Michael Jamison, had been with Pax since he opened the place, and with Jason before that. They were also patrons of Rojo occasionally, even though, to Pax’s knowledge, neither man had a kinky bone in his body.

They greeted him briefly and sat down, pulling out pens and briefcases and legal pads. All business.

“Give us the rundown.” It was Sid who spoke first—it was always Sid. Michael was the quiet, meek one of the two—until you got him in the courtroom. Then he was a piranha.

Jason took over, briefing them on the main points while Pax jumped in occasionally adding a detail or correcting Jase when necessary.  Pax was much like Michael that way. Besides that, Jason had much more experience with legal matters, because he liked to toe the line whenever possible.

It took no time at all before they had a brief statement prepared. “How do you want to do this? Do you want to keep it wholly informal—just go out there on a whim, and whoever happens to catch it catches it—or do you want to set a time and notify some of the local stations?”

Sid looked out the window. “I think they are all out there anyway, but you can never be sure.”

“Let’s do it formally,” Jase jumped in before Pax had time to make a decision. “It helps to develop a false sense of trust between you and the press. That way, they start to think if there is anything more that needs to be said, you’ll tell them. I think we should set it up for late evening. We need time to assemble a good security detail and a safe line of escape afterwards. Pax needs to be able to get in, say what he needs to say, and get out.”

“Agreed,” Michael and Sid spoke as one.

The three of them seemed to know what they were doing much more than Pax did, so he was content to let them handle it. He didn’t want to bother with the stress of setting up the details. He would do the speaking, and that was it.

BOOK: Collared (Vegas Nights Book 1)
7.59Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

Kismet by Tanya Moore
A Love So Deep by Suzetta Perkins
Eco: Foucalt's Pendulum by eco umberto foucault
Wanted: A Blood Courtesans Novel by Kristen Strassel, Michelle Fox
Bond of Darkness by Diane Whiteside
Nightwalker by Connie Hall
The Magic of Murder by Susan Lynn Solomon
Bag of Bones by Stephen King
Bullet Work by Steve O'Brien