His Kingdom (Owning Vegas Book 1)

The sound of the door opening has me pausing mid-swipe of the hairbrush. Sammie only left a few minutes ago. There’s no way he’s back already. Before he left, he said: Under no circumstances are you to leave this room. I gave him my sweetest smile when I replied with: Bless your heart.

I have a feeling he knew exactly what I meant too.

I walk out of the bathroom and pause, watching as Louie enters the bedroom. His eyes rake up and down my body. I’m wearing a shimmery black dress that hugs every single one of my curves. I picked it up today and I love it. Judging by the bulge forming in his pants—one he’s doing nothing to hide—Louie likes it too.

Although the fire in his eyes when he finally looks up at me isn’t just lust. There’s something else there. I just can’t put a pin in it.

“Charlotte.” He stalks towards me. “You look fucking gorgeous. But don’t you think you’re a little overdressed for lounging in bed all night?”

“Oh, I have no plans of lounging in bed all night. I want to go out. I want to see what this city has to offer me.” I smile at him.

“All this city has to offer is corruption, drugs, human trafficking, and a one-way ticket to hell. You don’t need any of that,” he tells me.

“That’s not true. It has you and you’re not bad.” I shrug.

A look of uncertainty passes over his face. It’s gone within seconds, but I’m sure it was there. “I’m a lot of things. But you are more. And I can’t go out with you tonight. I have a meeting with an important client. Which means I really need you to stay put. Better yet, stay put at my place.”

“Louie, I need to go out. I’ve been held back my entire life. I’m finally free. I need to feel alive, to dance, to be around people that have no idea who I am. Who aren’t judging me for the whole runaway-bride thing,” I try to explain.

Louie steps closer, his expression softening as he reaches for my hand. “I understand that, but it’s dangerous out there, especially for a beautiful woman alone. I just want to keep you safe.”

He sounds sincere, like he really is worried about me. That’s… odd. But also sweet. I still want to go out, though. I appreciate his concern. I just think he’s overreacting.

“What if I go and get this meeting done, and when I get back, I’ll take you out? We’ll dance. We’ll get lost in the crowd. Whatever you want,” he offers.

I look up at him. “Okay, but you promise you’ll come back and go out with me?”

“Promise. Just wait for me. At my place, though. Come on.”

I let Louie take my hand as he guides me out of the room and next door to his apartment. “Can I get room service to bring wine up?” I ask him. “Also, just so we’re clear on something, this is a onetime thing. I’m not going to just give up my freedom because you have some kind of hangup about me going out alone.”

“You can have room service bring up whatever you want,” he says, leaning in and kissing my forehead before he adds, “Thank you. I promise I’ll be back as soon as I can. Keep the dress on. I can’t wait to tear it off you later.”

My thighs shake. I don’t know if my body can handle another night of Louie’s attention. I’m sore. Everywhere. But the thought of what I know he can do…? Yeah, that has me forgetting all about the pain I’m currently in. It also has me wanting to drag the man into the bedroom right now. His meeting can wait a few minutes or hours, right?

“Fuck me, you make it hard to walk away,” Louie groans. He presses his lips against mine. “I’ll be back. Stay inside the room.”

“Have a good meeting,” I tell him

Have a good meeting? Really, Charlotte, that’s the best you could come up with? God, I’m so stupid.

An hour and three glasses of wine later, I’m sitting in Louie’s living room, bored out of my mind. I decide to call the girls. I need to talk to someone.

“You’re alive.” Evie is the first to answer my video call.

“I am.”

“You’re dressed up. You going out?” she asks.

“Soon. Hopefully. What’s going on back home? How bad is the town gossip about me?” I wince, not sure if I want to know.

“It’s not that bad. Where you going?” Evie’s change of topic and non-answer tell me the gossip is bad.

“Out dancing. I’m waiting for Louie to finish his meeting.”

“Why?”

“Ah, because he wanted to take me out but had a meeting,” I tell her.

“Okay, who has meetings this late at night? What does this Louie guy do?” Evie presses.

“He owns a few businesses here,” I explain, while leaving out the part that he owns three whole casinos. I’m not entirely sure, but I don’t want them to judge him before they meet him. Even if they aren’t likely to meet him.

This fling will live out its time, and I’ll go back home. It’s not that serious.

“Why do you look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders?” Rachel asks, her face appearing on the screen.

“She’s going out with Louie when he finishes his nighttime meeting. Oh, and we learned that Louie owns businesses in Vegas. But Charlotte is being sketchy about the details of what those businesses actually are,” Evie fills Rachel in.

“I’m not being sketchy. It’s just not that serious. I don’t care what he does anyway. He’s nice to me. Like really nice. I don’t think I remember ever being treated the way he treats me, and he barely knows me,” I admit.

“So, he’s good at sex then,” Rachel says.

“The best I’ve had.” I laugh. “It’s next level, like things I’ve never ever thought of doing before.”

“What sort of things?” Evie questions.

“Yeah, I’m not talking about that.” I can feel my face heating up. “So, what are y’all up to? I miss you.”

“I was getting ready to jump into bed. I’ve got an early start tomorrow,” Rachel says around a yawn. She’s a pediatric surgeon in her first year of residency. She works really long hours.

“What about you? Where are you going?”

“I don’t know. Just out. Dancing,” I tell her.

“Why aren’t you out exploring the town while you wait for this Louie guy?” Rachel asks.

“He didn’t want me going out alone.” I shrug.

“And you agreed? Charlotte, you just got out of a long-term relationship with someone who was suffocating you. Do not let someone else do the same thing,” Evie says.

“You’re right. I’m not going to. I don’t know the guy. Why am I doing what he wants? Just because he can give mind-blowing orgasms? Well, guess what? So can my vibrator,” I rant.

“You go, girl!” Rachel whoops.

“I’m going out,” I tell my friends as I grab my things and walk out the door. “I’ll call you both later. Love you.”

“Love you. Go get ʼem.” Evie laughs before I disconnect the call.

I don’t know why I so easily fall into the habit of doing what other people want me to do. I need to remember that I’m an adult. I can do whatever I want. I don’t need to answer to anyone.

This is the internal pep talk I give myself as I walk through the casino before stepping out into the muggy night air. I look up at the sky. You can’t see stars here. I miss looking at the stars. Just as I take another step forward, someone grabs on to my arm, yanking me back.

“Where the fuck have you been?” a familiar voice hisses in my ear.

“Ouch, Owen, you’re hurting me.” I try to free my arm but his grip only tightens as he pulls me away from the entrance towards a darker spot on the street. There are people all around us, but no one is looking our way.

“Hurting you? How the hell do you think I felt standing in a fucking church waiting for you? What the hell, Charlotte?” he seethes.

“Yeah? And how do you think I felt walking in to find you fucking my sister?” I push at his chest, and shock has him loosening his grip on me.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says.

“Really? So this…” I pull out my phone and open the video. “…isn’t you and Melanie?” I shove the screen into his face.noveldrama

“Charlotte, baby, this is a misunderstanding. It didn’t mean anything. I love you. We can fix this.”

“You don’t love me. You never did.” I shove one more time, and he finally lets go of my arm entirely. “Lose my number and go home, Owen. I don’t ever want to see you again,” I tell him before running back inside the hotel.

Tears slide over my cheeks as I make my way towards the elevators. I don’t know why I’m crying. I’m annoyed that I’ve let him reduce me to tears again. My hands angrily swipe at my face.

When I get back to Louie’s penthouse, I realize I don’t actually have a way to get in. So I go to my room and swipe my entrance card. Where I kick off my shoes as soon as I push through the door. The dress comes next. I leave it on the floor in the living room and walk to the bed in nothing but a pair of panties.

So much for my night of freedom, my night of fun. I should have listened to Louie and just waited for him. He’s right. This city is full of no-good assholes. My ex being one of them.