I leaned against the back of the elevator with my eyes closed, exhausted. The ache in my shoulders pulsed. I couldn’t wait to take a dip in the hotel pool. Maybe I’d splurge for a massage for Jo and me. She’d love that.
I waited for the elevator to stop at our floor. When seconds passed and the elevator was still moving, I opened my eyes and gazed at the only lit button—fifty-one.
“Are you sure we’re going to the right floor? Let me look at the keycard.”
“Relax.” Jo clutched the keycard against her chest. “I read it right. We’re on the fifty-first floor.”
“Are you sure it’s not fifteen? Maybe it’s a typo?”
“Nope, no typo. An upgrade means better than the broom closet we had booked. We’re moving on up, baby.”
The moment we had stepped into the hotel, we were treated like rock stars. It was strange how the hotel staff knew who we were before we even gave them our names. The woman at the front desk had offered us a free upgrade and handed us gift bags filled with goodies, compliments of the hotel. Before I could question her, Jo snatched the keycard and headed toward the elevators.
“I don’t know about this, Jo. Do hotels really do a guest of the day reward?” Maybe we misheard the woman’s explanation and she meant we’d get an upgrade at a discount.
“Some, I guess. I wouldn’t know. The fleabag motels my family typically stays at don’t have special guests of the day, unless you count getting a room without bedbugs special.”
When the elevator doors finally slid open, Jo practically skipped down the hall. She was so excited about the upgrade, I decided to push back my skepticism and enjoy it for one night. Thankfully, I’d brought my prepaid credit card for emergencies. When we reached our room number, she popped the keycard into the electronic lock on the door and stepped into the room.
Scratch that.
It wasn’t a room. It was a luxury suite.
“Oh my god!” Jo dropped her luggage and ran straight to the fifteen-seat bar. “This place is huge!”
Huge was an understatement. It was massive. Next to the bar was a glossy marble fireplace. A flat screen TV almost taking half the wall hung above it. My fingers slid across the sleek furniture circling the fireplace. I’d never felt material so soft and luxurious.
“Check this out. There’s like six mini-fridges back here.” Jo ducked behind the bar, opening and closing doors.
“We’re in the wrong room, Jo.” My voice echoed in the vast room.
She opened a bottled water and took a sip. “We wouldn’t have been able to get in if—” she stopped mid-sentence, her eyes widening as she looked at something behind me. “Whoa, is that a waterfall?”
I spun around. Next to a spiraling staircase was a waterfall. My neck arched, taking in the beautiful water cascading down the wall.
“There’s a second floor,” I whispered in awe. “We can’t stay here.”
“Of course we can.” Jo’s high heels clicked on the marble floor as she came to my side. “Can you figure out this remote? I think it turns on the fireplace.”
The remote buzzed and a strange shuddering sound came from the back wall.
“What did you do?” I snatched the remote. I didn’t even want to think about how much it would cost if we accidentally broke something.
Sunlight washed into the room. We turned, our jaws dropping as we watched an entire wall of blinds roll up into the ceiling, revealing a two-story glass wall and a swimming pool.
A swimming pool!
Squealing, Jo kicked off her heels as she ran through a pair of glass doors. She sat on the edge of the pool, dipping her feet. “Ooh, this feels so good. And look at this.” She spread her arms gesturing to the horizon. “What a view!”
I leaned against the doorway, taking in the spectacular view. I could see the outline of the mountaintops against the deep blue sky. It seemed like I could see every casino in Vegas. Something glimmered, catching my attention. It was the sign to the Mystic Casino. It shimmered under the sunlight, beckoning me.
“I’m getting my bikini.” Jo jumped up, rushing past me, her wet feet slapping across the floor. “I bought one for you too. And don’t be all shy about it either. No one’s going to see—oh my god! There’s an elevator. A freakin’ elevator.”
I turned, gawking as a glass elevator descended with two towering figures inside. I dashed back inside and grabbed my bag.
“Call security,” I said, frantically searching for my pepper spray.
“Screw security. Call room service. It’s party time. Look.” She elbowed my side, making me look up.
Zac stood against the back of the elevator, shaking his head. Tristan rubbed a towel over his wet hair as he talked to him. The elevator stopped, and Tristan turned. His eyes caught mine, and his face lit up. He quickly raked his long fingers through his messy hair. My breath caught. He looked even more handsome with his hair slicked back.
“You made it. I told you she’d love the upgrade, Zac. You were worried over nothing,” he said. “I took a quick dip in your pool. I hope you don’t mind.”
He held out the towel, a cocky, expectant grin on his face.
I knew it! Guest of the day, my ass. He paid for the upgrade and a pretty penny too, no doubt. It had to cost at least a thousand a night, if not more. And by the way, he was looking at me, I had no doubt he expected something in return.
“How did you get in here?” I snapped, snatching the towel from his hands.
“I told you we should’ve called first,” Zac said, nudging Tristan as he stepped out of the elevator. He turned to me, looking apologetic. “We didn’t mean to alarm you. We just wanted to surprise you with a little gift for being such a good sport at the Hoover Dam.”
A little?
“Thank you. We love it!”
“It’s too much. We couldn’t possibly accept.”
Tristan chuckled at our differing reactions. “It’s not really as much as you think. We give the hotel comp tickets to our shows all the time for their special guests. The suite wasn’t being used today, so we got it at a really deep discount. Right, Zac?”
“Uh . . . ” Zac looked from me to Tristan. “Yeah, it was a good deal.”
“I don’t know.” There was something fishy about all of this.
Tristan’s wet lashes lowered for a moment. When he lifted them, deep blue eyes gazed into mine with sincerity. “I’m really sorry about what happened on the bridge, Karenna. Let me make it up to you and Jo. Please.”
How did he do that? He looked like a little boy who’d been caught doing something naughty and was now asking for forgiveness, which somehow made him even more alluring. I had the sudden urge to run my fingers through his wet hair and tell him everything was okay. Was he playing mind games with me? Was it real? I couldn’t tell. I held my bag to my chest, shifting uncomfortably.
“He said please,” Jo whispered, her dark eyes pleading. She really wanted to stay.
I looked from Tristan to his friend. Zac looked embarrassed. He inched toward the exit, nudging Tristan to come with him. He seemed the most mature of the pair. I didn’t get the feeling they were going to pressure us into doing anything we didn’t want to. And the pool did look inviting.
“I guess.”
“Good.” Tristan rubbed his hands, smiling. “Maybe you’ll consider being our special guests at our show tonight.”
“Tristan, we discussed this,” Zac said in a low voice.
“Not here. Just please, do it,” Tristan urged under his breath.
Zac sighed, shaking his head as he dug into his jeans, then pulled out a pair of tickets. He handed them to Jo. “I know this is last minute and you may have other plans.”
“These are VIP! Thank you!” Zac blinked, surprised as Jo threw her arms around him. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”
“Well, uh, you’re welcome.” Zac cleared his throat as he gently pulled away from Jo. “Tristan, it’s time. We have to leave.”
“See you tonight,” Tristan said as he headed toward the glass doors leading out to the pool.
What was he doing? He rolled his shoulders back, stiffening his posture as if he was getting ready to leap off the edge of the balcony.
Was he high? His eyes were a little red, but I thought it was from the chlorine in the pool.
“Tristan,” Zac called out in a warning tone.
“Oh, right. My bad. Ladies.” Tristan chuckled and quickly spun around, rushing past us as he went out the door.
As soon as the door shut, I plopped onto the leather couch. Dealing with Tristan was exhausting.
“You can’t be tired already.” Jo stood over me. “We’re going to the show tonight, right?”
“I don’t know if I’m up to more of Tristan and his Revelationz friends.”
“Aw, come on. It’ll be fun.” Her phone buzzed. She glanced down. The excitement vanished from her face.
“I thought you blocked him.”
“I did, but . . . ” She dropped her head, unable to look me in eye, muttering an excuse how she unblocked Dorian. She tossed the phone and tickets on the bar as she walked out onto the balcony, heading for the pool.
I sighed. What hold did Dorian have on her? She’d broken up with him a dozen times over the year they’d been together. Somehow he always managed to weasel his way back in. And when he did, she always looked defeated.
The deflated girl sitting at the edge of the pool, dangling her legs in the water, was not Jo. The longer she stayed with Dorian the more she turned into someone I didn’t recognize anymore. I hated seeing her like this.
I groaned, pulling myself off the couch. I snatched the tickets on the way out to join her.
“The show starts at seven. That gives us just enough time to hit the salon.”