TESS DIDN’T HAVE a chance to apologize to Hugo after returning from the burger place. He wasn’t in any of the public rooms and seeking him out in his bedroom was a line she didn’t want to cross. For her sake, not his. In truth, she wasn’t disappointed not to see him.
The tense ride back in the truck had just added to the exhaustion of the evening. She’d left the Olympus duo in the driveway without saying goodnight. By the time she’d figured out that Hugo wasn’t around, bed was the only thing on her mind.
The following morning, running down the stairs, bikini on, towel in hand, she was determined to have a better day. The more she cared, the more emotion she expended. Hanging around Hugo was so much easier than being around Harry and Daire. Especially Daire. That man could do things to her insides that she’d only read about in novels. Unlike her Danny, Daire could also aggravate her so much she wanted to tear out his hair.
At the bottom of the stairs, she swung herself around to go toward the front of the house. Except as she passed the kitchen, someone called out: Hugo.
“You stood me up,” he said, the tease of a smile in his tone.
Rather than go to the pool, she went to the bar at the front of the kitchen. “I know, I’m sorry,” she said because an apology was warranted. “I wasn’t thinking. Harry asked if I wanted to go out and we haven’t had any time together.”
“I know,” Hugo said, slipping something out of the pan onto a plate. “If it was for anyone other than your father, I might be jealous.”
He came over to put the plate on the bar. Pancakes.
“What’s this?” she asked, laying her towel on a stool.
“A little birdie told me you like pancakes in the morning.”
Oh, awkward. She tried to smile, but it wasn’t real. “Which little birdie?”
Like she didn’t know.
He tapped the side of his nose as he backed off. “I’ll never reveal my sources.”
Only one person knew of her love for pancakes. Unless, of course, Daire had been regaling the Olympus guys with tales of how he’d conned her. Then it would be common knowledge.
“Is this for me?”
“Yeah,” Hugo said, gesturing with a spatula. “Dive in. I have a surprise for you later. I need an hour or two to do some paperwork, reading and signing stuff, nothing exciting, and then I’m whisking you away.”
“Whisking me where?”
As she cut a piece of pancake with the side of the fork, mental images of maple syrup spirals and the furrow in Daire’s brow joined her.
“Somewhere you’ll like,” Hugo said, wiping his hands. “If I leave you alone for a while, will you still be here when I come back?”
Chewing on her pancake, she nodded. He pointed at her and raised his brows.
She swallowed. “Maybe not in this exact spot, but I will still be in the house, I promise.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” he called out as he slipped away.
The pancake was dry and there was nothing around to go with it. She could snoop but wasn’t that hungry anyway. Leaving most of the food on the counter, she decided it would be a better plan to swim and then eat.
The warmth of the early sun was heating the patio when she went out and dropped her towel on a bed. Diving into the water, she convinced herself that it would cleanse her woes.
It must have done something. She lost track of time and her number of lengths. Her muscles were buzzing and her skin alive when she pushed out of the water. Ignoring the fixed beds in the shallows at the edge of the pool, she chose one by the window where she’d dumped her towel. Running her fingers through her hair, thinking that it would need to be washed, she lay down to enjoy the early sun first.
After closing her eyes, her mind grew heavy, and her body relaxed. Mellow. Just be mellow. Chilled. Calm.
A shadow blocked the warmth of the sun. Great. There went the neighborhood.
If Daire wanted something, he’d have to open his mouth and ask for it. And, yes, she did know it was him. Until he used his voice, she chose to ignore him.
It wasn’t like she was counting the seconds, but he had to have been standing there for more than half a minute before the bed moved, betraying he’d sat down next to her. That was a step beyond her expectation. Figuring it was another game of chicken, her eyes stayed shut.
“You’re not sleeping,” he murmured, an edge in his tone. “You haven’t been lying there long enough.” No questions and nothing worth responding to. “My guys are inside fueling up… We might only have a few minutes.” She remained quiet. “You still pissed about last night?”
“You wouldn’t have come out here and taken the risk of getting so close if you didn’t already know the answer to that,” she said, taking her time to show lazy affront.
“Why are you pissed? You think I’m still playing you? Baby, you can’t really—”
“Daire, if all you came out here to do was tell me what I can’t do or be, you’re wasting your time. That’s not your call.” She peeked out one eye for a brief second. “You owe me an apology.”
“For what?”
“For telling me I shouldn’t be running my mouth when you’re the one with the loose tongue.”
His arrogant laugh came out in a scoff. “No chance in hell I slip up with intelligence.”
“I didn’t say it was a slip up. It was a deliberate act,” she said, taking a deep breath and arching in a slight stretch. “It’s a dangerous game. I get that risk doesn’t scare you, but the more you talk about our former sex life, the more chance Harry will hear about it… I don’t know why you’d want my father to know sordid details of the things we’ve done to each other.”
“Quick question: were you spiked, or did you take the drugs voluntarily?”
“I am not high. If I was, it would be because you drove me to it. You can be a real asshole.”
“I love you,” he murmured.
That was a tease. Playing was his attempt to soften her up; she wouldn’t be that easy.
Her shield stayed up. “If that was true, you wouldn’t be exchanging stupid code faces with your buddy or boasting about the intimate little secrets you know about me.”
“I’ve never boasted about your intimate secrets. And there was no code face.”
“You know…” she said, raising a hand to shield her eyes when they opened. “I stood in the Beast and asked if there was anything you wanted to know.”
“You were sitting,” he said, earning himself only an unimpressed blink. “Which doesn’t really matter right now.”
She rose to her elbows. “I asked if there was anything you wanted to know, and you told me I wasn’t your gal on the inside. I don’t like feeling manipulated, Daire. I’ve been straight with you. Straight about how I feel, about where we are. We can’t be a couple and nothing will change that, fine, but I don’t like feeling as though you’re two different men. When it’s just us, when we’re alone, I believe you. I trust you. But when you and Harry sit there making faces at each other—”
“We’re worried about you,” he said. “No one’s trying to cultivate you. You’re our Tess, you’re not some insignificant asset.”
“We’re alone,” she said. “So I believe you… It’s just very convenient. Harry has a sudden change of heart just seconds after coming out of your trailer.”
“You think we were whispering about you? Making plans?”
The thought had occurred to her. His questions weren’t accusations; it didn’t feel like he was mad. He wasn’t apologetic either. The house in the desert heat was a pressure cooker. Tensions simmered under the surface for so many reasons.
She sighed. “Maybe I’m not as over Danny as I thought.”
“Babe…” he said, shifting closer and sliding his hand from his lap so the edge grazed her thigh. The contact was subtle. Always subtle, because no one could know. “Harry trusts me to protect you. He wouldn’t put me in charge of your safety if it wasn’t important to him. He wouldn’t do it if he thought my loyalties were split either.”
Being reassured was difficult when so much was up in the air. “For two weeks, I barely saw you.”
“And that changed the way you feel?”
“No,” she said, unlocking her elbows to lie down and allow her fingertips to meet his. “I guess it’s easier for me to believe you’re planning to use me again than to…”
“Accept we could be in love and apart?”
Just the words made her stomach flip. Being in love was exciting. Finding someone dedicated to her was beyond any reality she could’ve ever dreamed of existing in.
Tess wanted so much more than subtle. “I never said I loved you,” she mumbled, pushing her fingers an inch under his.
“You don’t have to,” he said. “I know my Little Red… my Heart.”
Focusing on the sky, she tried not to make their connection obvious to anyone who might be paying attention. “You asked if I wanted him to kiss me.”
“Hooking up with Three would make it easier for you to walk away.”
Walking away, putting some distance between them, would be the smartest thing to do. Forgetting wouldn’t be so easy, but at least they wouldn’t have to see each other all the time.
“Is that why you told him about the pancakes? Do you want me to be with him?”
“I didn’t tell him anything about you. I would never think to so much as gift him the sound of your name. I can’t stand seeing him anywhere near you. Why would I want you with him?”
“Because it’s easier to hate than to love… Easier to forget about us if I’m someone else’s responsibility.” Everything frustrated her. Living with so much strain couldn’t be healthy. “Damnit, Daire, if plotting with Harry to use me in some scheme is what will help you push me away—”
“I don’t want to push you away,” he said, surprising her by planting a hand on the bed on her other side, suspending himself over her. “Do you have any goddamn idea how hard it is for me to keep my hands off you right now? For me to stay away from you? I know where you sleep, Little Red, and I sleep in the bed we used to fuck in every night… You think about what that’s like? Every night I reach for you, every goddamn night.”
Though he loomed over her, she thrust her hands into the bed, straightening her arms some to brace herself just beneath him. “I think Harry wins, every time. I gave you to Olympus and you said it was brave and honorable. I didn’t do it so you could manipulate me, so you and my father could cook up some scheme—”
“I love you,” he hissed under his breath, his teeth gritted. “Goddamnit, woman, stop pissing me off when I can’t fuck some sense into you.”
His primal growl put that exact idea in her head. Though she was still unsure and probably afraid of the potential future, she couldn’t be so close to him, under him, without craving his taste and the indulgence of his touch.
“What would you do if I kissed you right now?” she asked, moistening her lips.
“I’d kiss you back. Don’t know a man who wouldn’t.”
He’d do it in spite of the risk, in spite of what it could mean for him and Harry, for Three and Olympus.
“You know, I said I’d… never have any expectation of you,” she murmured, struggling to keep the pant of her shallow breathing under control. “I promise I still don’t but… just to let you know… I’m going inside… Instead of going up to my room there’s a chance I’ll end up in your bed… naked… in like two minutes.”
“I’ll be less than one behind you.”
Daire freed her from the cage of his arm, and she sprang to her feet to stride inside, past the men in the kitchen, toward the front of the house. From the end of that hall, one way led to the stairs to her room, the other to the garage. Just like the day before, Tess didn’t hesitate to head for the Beast.
She only got a few feet when Hugo stepped out of the laundry room with a woman.
“Tess,” he said, stepping back to present the woman. “This is Mari.”
“Hi,” the woman said, coming forward, her hand outstretched. “So much to work with, you’re a beauty.”
What was happening? She shook the woman’s hand. “Thank you and you are…”
“My team is on the way,” Mari said. “We’ll have time to wash your hair, get you ready.”
“Ready for what?”
“Mari will be your style coordinator,” Hugo said.
“Hair, make-up, wardrobe,” Mari said. “Everything you need. I understand you’re a designer. It would be great to see some of your pieces. We should be able to accessorize them; you are the greatest advertisement for your work.”
Dumbfounded, she didn’t know how to react to the woman, so addressed Hugo instead. “This is the surprise? I thought we were going out.”
“We are. I need just another hour and then we’re set to go,” Hugo said. “Mari will help you get ready… The master is upstairs.”
Mari squealed and grabbed her hand to drag her away from Hugo. As they passed the end of the hall, she glanced that way and saw Daire loitering halfway down. He must have heard her being waylaid.
“Sorry,” Tess mouthed, though she had no idea if he caught it because Mari was on a mission.
Other than the occasional feel-good day with her mom in her pre- and early teens, being pampered in her bedroom was a first. Using a beauty parlor or indulging herself with a spa treatment was low on her priority list. Minimizing contact with others, especially those who may ask personal questions, was part of the lifestyle. That meant she was efficient at doing a bunch of treatments herself. Wouldn’t be unusual for her to be the one giving treatments to customers. Beauty places often didn’t mind paying off the books.
Somehow her life had taken a U-turn. From giving to receiving.
Hugo could offer a woman the world. He had wealth and resources abound. Yet the whole time she was being pampered, Tess kept thinking about how she’d much rather be in the Beast, beneath her feral mate. Whatever Daire was, however it turned out between them, he was still the only one who could rev her engine.
THE PAMPERING TOOK longer than an hour. Hugo didn’t complain. Mari ushered Tess out to a waiting limo after deeming her ready. Inside, Hugo poured champagne and toasted to bold beginnings. Tess didn’t know what that meant. He taunted her with hints about where they were going. His casino wasn’t exactly a new destination for them. They pulled up to the private entrance, and he guided her inside. Though it was early in the day, time had little meaning in Vegas. Windows to the outside world didn’t exist in the casino. Many people wouldn’t have the first clue what day it was, let alone the time. She expected they’d go to Hugo’s private bar or up to some suite for another party.
Rather than go up, he took her deep into the plaza beyond the grand lobby. With a central water feature and marble floors, retail units and eateries occupied the beautiful space.
One unit in a prime position at the noon point of the fountain was all lit up inside. She could see the gleaming white marble of the floors through the broad glass frontage.
That they actually went to the unit and Hugo produced a key to open the door was a surprise. Tess didn’t know why they were there, but figured they had to be meeting someone or that Hugo had business to deal with before they got to the surprise.
Going inside the sweet-smelling space, she admired the size and the modern lines. Because she expected Hugo to be there for his own purpose, she said nothing. But when her scanning around the place brought her attention to him, there was an unusual smile on his face.
“What do you think?” he asked.
She rolled her eyes around their sockets. “Uh, it’s great… You know I like this building, it’s beautiful.”
In truth, the plaza was too busy for her taste. Every inch of the entire building seemed to be occupied, always moving. All of Vegas was like that. But she was raised better than to insult the host. Her mom was big on, “if you have nothing nice to say…” with outsiders anyway.
“I hoped you would like it,” he said and opened his arms. “It’s yours.”
Unsure what he meant, she raised her brows. “Mine?”
“Yes,” he said, nodding as he approached. “I already have people working to employ you a staff and a squad ready to manufacture your product from the samples you have completed.”
The “samples” he was referring to were, she guessed, the already constructed garments. Given the current situation, most of what she made was for her own wardrobe or to combat boredom. In normal times, her pieces were sold to pay bills. It had never occurred to her to scale what she did or to run her own boutique.
“Thank you, but I… I can’t accept.”
He frowned. “You don’t have to worry about anything. This space is yours. Rent free. We have plenty of foot traffic passing through this location.” Hugo leaned in to stage whisper. “And we have bars and casinos to lower people’s inhibitions… and loosen their purse strings. There are shows and concerts and events all over, your highest end items will sell here.”
Her highest end items weren’t close to what a man of his means would consider high end.
“I appreciate it, really I do,” she said. “It’s an amazing thought, but…” There was another reason running a store wasn’t a good idea. “I never stay in one place for long. It’s never a good idea to stand out.”
“That’s the way you were raised,” he said, sliding an arm around her to guide her deeper into the empty space. “You don’t have to worry about Olympus, you’re part of Olympus now.” He stopped to take her shoulders. “You can stop running, Tess. No one will hurt you. No one is after you… You can have a life now.”
Daire was the first thing that came to mind. The only life Tess wanted was the one she could never have with him. He would hate the idea of a boutique. Not because he didn’t want her to have success, but because he wouldn’t want her to be a target… It also didn’t help that he’d already told her flat out that he was conscious of what Hugo could offer that he couldn’t.
Always believing himself to be secondary to the mission, to Hades, to Olympus, Daire’s life was about sacrifice. Giving him up was her sacrifice. His cause was worthy… But maybe she’d contributed to the problem. If he loved her, wanted her, he had the right to make his own choices. By declaring they couldn’t be together because he belonged to Olympus, she’d reinforced that his own desires should be dismissed. Was her sacrifice noble, or did it marginalize him the way Olympus always had?
“Tess?”
Hugo’s voice snapped her from a daze. “I… I do appreciate it. There’s no way I can possibly fill a space this size. Not quickly.”
“You can take as much time as you need,” he said. “You will have a team at your disposal. I’ve commissioned a workspace for you in a suite upstairs. For now, you can consider it your office. Mari will help with your personal needs. We’ll have an assistant assigned to run errands. Anything you require will be provided.”
“Hugo,” she said, laying a hand on his forearm. “Why are you doing this? Why would you do this for me?”
“Because you’ve been running long enough,” he said, touching her cheek. “Olympus has taken too much from you. It’s time you took control of your own future…” His grin returned. “Come on, I’ll show you the back, then take you upstairs to meet the beginnings of your team.”
Her own future. That could mean so much. Hugo liked to touch her, he liked to sit close and use endearments. But just like she’d said to Daire, their host hadn’t crossed any lines, hadn’t tried to kiss or grope her. If this was the way he went about getting laid, he was putting in a lot of effort and many miles. There had been no hint he wanted payment or expected gratitude. Still, Daire’s warning played in her mind. Hugo had an agenda. She just had to figure out what it was.