His Kingdom (Owning Vegas Book 1)

What on earth is happening right now? He just walked out. Louie just walked out of here with a gun. I don’t know what to do. I should warn Owen, right? Tell him to get out of town if he hasn’t already.

But Louie isn’t going to actually kill him. He wouldn’t actually kill someone. He looked really worked up, but I don’t think he’d do that.

Shit, what if he does? What if he ends up in jail because of me?

Reality crashes into me. I’m more concerned about what’s going to happen to Louie, a man I’ve just met, than I am about Owen, a man I spent the last few years beside. Something is wrong with me.

Where is my phone?

I look around the room and find my cell plugged into a charger on top of the bedside table. Louie must have grabbed it again. I swipe it up and call Evie. I know she’ll still be awake—she suffers from severe insomnia—and I don’t want to bother Rachel when she said she was going to bed.

“Charlotte, what’s happening?” Evie answers right away.

“I messed up,” I tell her.

“Okay, but did you do that with clothes on or did that happen afterwards?” she asks me.

I look down at myself. “Shit! Sorry.” I forgot I didn’t have a top on. Pointing the phone towards the ceiling, I walk into Louie’s closet and grab a shirt from the shelf. Ignoring the safe he left wide open. The safe that’s filled to the brim with weapons.

Why does one person need so many weapons?

“It’s fine. What happened?” Evie presses.

“I went out. I was going to just go out by myself after I spoke to you and Rachel,” I tell her.

“Yep, and then what?” She urges me to keep going.

“The moment I stepped outside the casino, Owen was there. He grabbed me and dragged me to the side,” I explain.

“He what? Are you okay?” Evie starts pacing around her bedroom.

“I’m fine. I told him to go home. That I knew what he and Melanie did. And then I returned to my room and just went to sleep.”

“Okay, so how did you mess up?” Evie asks.

“Louie came home. Saw I was there and brought me back to his place, but then he saw the bruise,” I tell her.

“What bruise?”

Turning the screen towards my arm, I lift my sleeve to show her the bruise.

“What the hell, Charlotte? Owen did that?” she yells, and I nod.

“Yeah, when he grabbed me. But I’m fine.”

“I’m going to kill him,” Evie seethes.

“I think Louie might beat you to it,” I whisper.

“Good. I hope he does.”

“No, Evie, I’m serious. He lost his mind. As soon as he saw my arm, he kept asking me who did it and I told him and then he got dressed and he…” I stop.

Should I be saying all this over the phone?

“He what?”

“He has guns, Evie. He opened a safe in his closet. He took guns. Told me to go to bed and that he’d be back,” I whisper.

“Okay, calm down. It’s going to be okay,” she says. “Wait… Are we even worried about Owen? I mean, he kinda deserves whatever he gets.”

“Evie!” I gasp. “We don’t want anyone dead.”

“Right. You’re right.” She nods in agreement before adding, “But… if anyone has to die, Owen is a good choice.”

“Evie? Why would someone have a safe full of guns?” I ask her.

“Ah… I’m not sure, but I have an idea. What did you say Louie’s last name was?”

I didn’t. I purposely didn’t tell them. I didn’t want them to know that he owns casinos. I don’t want them to judge him for being some rich asshole. Especially because he’s not an asshole. Well, not towards me anyway. “Louie Giuliani,” I tell her.

I hear Evie typing the name into her keyboard. “Holy shit, I mean, I knew he was hot after that quick peek. But, Sweet Mother Mary, this man is fine, Charlotte.” She whistles.

“He really is.” I sigh.

“Ah… Charlotte?” Evie pauses.

“What?”

“Have you looked him up, like at all?” she asks me.

“No. Why?” I tell her.

“He owns casinos, as in multiple. On the Vegas strip.”

“I know,” I admit.

“There… ah… there are also some articles that suggest he’s involved in the criminal underworld,” she whispers.

“What? That’s ridiculous. Why would he be involved in the criminal underworld?” I ask.

“Why wouldn’t he be?” Evie counters. “He’s a casino owner. In Vegas. He has a safe full of guns, and he’s gone after a cop because the guy hurt you.”

“Well, when you put it like that, it doesn’t sound good. But… he’s not a bad person, Evie.”

“You don’t know him,” she reminds me.

“But I know that he’s good. He’s… I don’t know how I know. I just know that he’s not bad,” I try to explain.

“I think you should come home. I don’t like the idea of you being out there by yourself,” Evie says. “You’re in bed with a mobster.”

“Actually, I’m in bed alone right now,” I say, attempting to lighten the mood as I fall onto Louie’s mattress. “And it’s the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept on.”

“Probably ʼcause it’s paid for in blood money.” Evie laughs. “Look, I’m just worried about you. But I’m also excited for you. It’s been a long time since you’ve done anything for yourself.”

“I know.” I sigh.

“And if it’s a mobster you want to do, then just… maybe learn how to shoot a gun or something. You might need it.”

“Funny,” I retort.

“I really am booking a flight. I’m coming to see for myself that you’re safe.”

“What about the store? You can’t just leave,” I tell her. Evie owns and runs a small boutique in town.

“It’ll be fine. I’m coming,” she says. “I’ll be there tomorrow… or I mean today.”

“Don’t book a room. You can stay with me.”

“With the mobster you’re shacking up with?” She laughs.

“No, smart-ass, I have my own room here. It’s more like an apartment really. It’s huge.”

“Are you sure? I can book a room,” Evie says.

“No, don’t waste the money,” I tell her.

“Are you going to be okay? Until I get there?”

“Of course. I don’t know what Louie is doing, but I don’t feel like he’d hurt me, Evie.” I pause. “Is it wrong that my first thought is what will happen to him and not Owen?”

“No. Owen’s an ass who doesn’t deserve to be anywhere in your thoughts.”noveldrama

“I spent years with him, Evie. I should still care.”

“You didn’t love him. I believe you did, at one point, but we could tell your heart wasn’t really in it, especially the closer we got to the wedding.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“We did. Rachel and I both asked you multiple times if you really wanted to get married and you kept insisting you did,” she says.

“You’re right. I thought that things would change after the wedding. I just thought it was jitters. And then I knew I couldn’t go through with it. I was going to tell him the night before.”

“I know. But let’s focus on the future. You can literally do anything you want now,” Evie says.

“Yeah,” I agree with a smile. “I’ve never felt more free.”

“Even if you are shacked up with a mobster.” She laughs.

“He is not a mobster,” I huff. “I love you, Evie.”

“Go to sleep. I’ll be there soon,” she says. “Love you too.” Then the camera cuts off and she’s gone.

Is my friend right? Is Louie a mobster? It seems so strange to think that he is. Then again, the question I should be asking myself is: What do I do if it’s true? Leave? Stay?