Page 72 of Kings Against the World

Vegas was never about some stupid fake relationship with Ozzie. It was always about taking down Boone.

“I’ve told you,” I say, softening my voice. I bat my lashes, trying my best to look harmless and vulnerable like he expects out of a woman like me. “I need more cash. The hours I’m pulling for Benz aren’t cutting it.”

He sits back against the leather cushions and stretches one arm along the top of the sectional. He drinks from his Oro Sonto tequila with the other hand, taking slow sips and staring at me in more consideration.

“Well,” he drawls finally, “maybe we can work something out, doll. If you need to earn more cash, I can sure think of a way a girl like you can earn it.”

The churning inside my stomach deepens. The muscles in my face resist as I contort my expression into a small smile of gratitude.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he says. “Tomorrow night, sweetie. I’ll let Benz know. Maybe we’ll have you shadow Nova or Chyna or someone a little more… experienced. You did amazing on thestage the other night. Just think about what you could do if you put in real work in the private rooms.”

He sits up to lean closer again, this time slipping his hand under the table. It finds its way to my lap, gravitating onto my bare thigh.

My skin crawls at his touch. The sick feeling he provokes battles it out with the sheer and utter hatred and contempt I have for him.

Both are so intense that it’s a miracle I’m able to keep composure. I remain still as Boone’s large hand glides over my bare skin and he hovers only inches away from my face, grinning wide. My reflection shows up in the dark glass of his shades, and I see a woman that’s desperate and untethered staring back at me.

A woman with nothing to lose, willing to risk everything, even her life.

It’s the adrenaline rush that surges through me and makes me do it. Makes it so that I’m able to play along as I realize it’s what I have to do to get what I want. If I’m to make Boone suffer, then I’m going to have to go to the pits of hell to get it done.

I might even have to sacrifice myself. Something I’ve always known; something I’ve never had a problem with.

“Well?” he prompts seconds later. He’s so close now, I can smell and feel his breath on my face. “Is that a yes, sweetie? Tell me in your own words.”

“Yes,” I answer with conviction. “It’s a yes. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

18

OZZIE

The underground casinois deserted when I turn up on the lookout for Zoe. I’ve gone everywhere searching for her and come up empty-handed. The receptionist in the hotel lobby said she saw her rush out the front doors, but she didn’t know where she was headed. I jogged outside in hopes I’d catch sight of her on the streets.

But Zoe was nowhere to be found.

She wasn’t anywhere on the Strip as far as I could tell. She hadn’t stopped at any of the attractions inside the Azure Sol.

I blew up her phone trying to get hold of her, but she hadn’t even taken that with her when she left. It wasn’t until I returned to the hotel lobby that I realized the one place she could go if she was manic and seeking a distraction.

Zoe has an obsession with her work. She barely sleeps as it is. I’ve never brought it up to her, but I’ve noticed her getting out of bed every night, going onto the balcony. I’ve heard her rustling through her luggage to look at her case file. She’s snuck off a few times, probably to go call her people at the bureau.

Her entire existence seems to be centered on her work as an FBI agent and her vendetta against Boone.

I’ve been there. So obsessed with something that I lost sight of everything else.

It’s why gambling’s been such a destructive force in my life. When I go on my benders, I go wild for days on end. I’m immersed in nothing but gambling, drugs, alcohol, strippers, sex. I don’t sleep for days and I barely eat either. I’ve crashed my bikes on benders and gotten arrested. Fights are common, like the time I duked it out with Mace.

There’s no stopping me if I don’t get my wakeup call that reins me in.

As I search for Zoe, this is exactly what it feels like. I’m witnessing someone else throw themselves off the deep end, seconds away from self-destructing. The elevator reaches the Azure Sol’s underground casino and I rush out, looking in every direction for Zoe.

I find her only a few seconds later. She’s in the lounge with Boone. He’s all up in her space, grinning wide like the fucking bastard he is.

But she doesn’t pull away. For as stiff and uncertain as she seems, she sits there and lets his hand sneak onto her thigh.

My muscles tense and I instinctively ball my fists up. The monster known as jealousy rears its ugly head, brewing inside me like a nasty storm about to strike.

It takes more restraint than I’ve ever known I have to keep from crashing their moment. From striding over, ripping her away from Boone’s clutches, and then knocking his fucking lights out.

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