Page 22 of Vegas Daddies

It’s a beautiful, spacious place. A king-size bed is central to the room and looks good even with the covers creased all over the bed. A plush, purple couch is by the window, nobody playing hide and seek when I check underneath. The same goes for the coffee table in the corner, and the huge wardrobe when I fling open all six doors.

“They must have checked you in here for the night and gone back to wherever they came from.” Tammy plonks herself on the bed. “Have a look on your phone. Did you get their numbers? Maybe they sent you a message.”

I peel open my eyes to locate my phone.

Tammy grabs it off the coffee table for me and checks herself.

“Wizard,” she reads out.

I feel myself blush.

“He messaged you at six thirty this morning to say, ‘Goodnight, darling wife. Enjoy all the Venetian has to offer, but not too much. You’re our property now.’” Tammy tosses my phone onto the bed. “They sound…very protective.”

“Give me that.”

I push past the stinging headache to read the message myself. Word for word.

Turns out Tammy isn’t a little shit making this all up.

I swipe a piece of greasy hair away from my face. A cold sweat breaks out all over my skin and I feel it dripping down my body. It hasn’t occurred to me until now that I’m still in the same pearl-white dress from last night, except now it’s more of a brown-Fireball orange, all thanks to the bits of vomit that didn’t reach the toilet. The skirt draped around my knees is also black in parts—riding a motorcycle probably has something to do with that.

“What am I gonna do?” I join Tammy on the bed.

Thank God she’s here. If there was a certificate for wriggling your way out of shitty situations, she’d have a PH-fucking-D.

“Relax.” She drops her shoulders. “Don’t worry about a thing.” A smile breaks out onto her face and it quickly turns into a laugh.

She’s happy for me? I see it in her eyes, the sparkling way they look at me like she’s a proud sister. They never glowed like this when I announced my engagement with Levi.

“I think you’re forgetting the most important thing here.” She pats my knee. “You rebounded, you had fun,andyou enjoyed it. We can take care of the mess, and you can get an annulment. After that, it’ll be as though none of this ever happened.” That smile creeps back onto her face. “Welcome to the single life, Ali. You’re back in the game.”

I bundleup my skirt and step out of the Uber, and he drives away without looking back. God bless Las Vegas, the one city on earth that’s home to people who don’t do a double take atanybody.Let’s be real. The driver has probably had worse than me in the back of his car.

That would explain the plastic covering over the seats.

I unlock my father’s house, slipping in through the door and closing it carefully behind me. It’s been a minute since I’ve been back here. Good thing I never returned my key. Except for the droning refrigerator that he still hasn’t replaced, the place is silent, so I relax my shoulders and drag myself upstairs to shower.

It’s a task getting the dress off by myself—I don’t have Lifesaver saving the day now.

Eventually, the dress falls to the floor, and I’m relieved to step out of it and toss it away. It’s in no good shape to sell, even after a thorough dry clean, but the diamond wedding ring on my finger tells a different story. One that could involve me never having to work another nursing shift at the hospital again.

I could trade it in for cash.

Slip the recruiter a couple hundred thousand at my nurse practitioner interview and achieve my dream that way…

No…

Daddy always says to play fair.

Playing unfair will lower me onto the same wavelength as the Bratva groups around here. Booze aside, nothing sickens me more than Russian degenerates who kill just to achieve their desires faster.

Plus, returning the ring to the bikers is the least I can do, to thank them for showing me a good time.

Areallyfucking good time.

Imagine the sex…

No, Alice,I say to myself, unclasping my bra and panties and getting ready to enter the shower.This year is about making money and showing up for yourself.

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