Page 96 of Cocky Prince
“Gabe wanted to meet the charming young woman you’re with, William,” Blackwell says.
William’s smile falters, and he glances at Hayden. “She’s my guest tonight. This is…”
“Sophia,” Hayden supplies in an unnaturally high voice, and I roll my eyes.
“Sophia, you say?” Blackwell’s gaze slides down her body. “Or is it Hayden?”
Hayden stiffens, her eyes darting to me.
Blackwell turns my way. “What is she doing here?”
“Leaving,” I say, and grab her arm.
He holds up his hand. “Just a moment, Adam.” He faces William. “Has Hayden seen the suites?”
William, a step behind the rest of us, stares. “Hayden?” His gaze rakes her body and he finally appears to clue in to what Blackwell realized the moment he set eyes on her. Our CEO may be a dick, but he is a smart bastard.
William looks back at Blackwell, chagrined. “Yes, sir. I thought she was one of the pinups here tonight.”
“I’m confused,” Gabe says. “I thought her name was Sophia.”
Blackwell glares at Hayden menacingly. “She will beno onesoon.”
I flatten my hand on Hayden’s lower back and push her forward. “I’ll escort her out.”
“See that you take her to the security guards,” Blackwell says, a threat in his tone. “In the meantime, Eve will be happy to take care of Gabe. Won’t you, Eve?”
Eve’s face blanks, but she quickly replaces it with a smile. “Yes, of course.”
I don’t wait for Gabe’s response. I head to the door with Hayden, then stop abruptly. The guards standing nearest the front are staring us down. One of them remains at the door, but the other moves in our direction.
Somehow, Blackwell signaled them. I don’t know how, but he did.
“Hurry,” I whisper to Hayden. “The elevator.”
We cut across the living room to the emergency elevator and I press my hand against the keypad. The screen turns blue, recognizing my fingerprint, and I punch in the code I was given days ago—a second before my shoulder is yanked back. I spin around.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Paul eyes Hayden maliciously.
The soft ding of the elevator chimes and I hear the doors slowly open.
I make a fist and drive an uppercut to Paul’s chin. With my right hand—the one wearing the Blue Star ring.
Paul screeches and stumbles back. I tear off the ring, toss it at him, and shove Hayden in the elevator. I pound the door-close button about a hundred times, and the doors finally react. They close slowly, blocking out the party, the people staring at the commotion we’ve caused—and the guard still headed our way. Paul, who’s bleeding from his chin and lip, talks rapidly on his phone, glaring at me as the doors finally shut.
There are only two floors this elevator goes to: the casino floor, and a regular guest floor the casino uses as a decoy for its Bliss members in case of an emergency.
I hit the decoy floor, and round on Hayden. “What in the hell are you doing here?”
“Don’t talk to me like that!”
I take a deep breath. “Explain, before I lose my mind.”
“Well, to be specific, you told me to leave the club, not Blue.”
“You’re using semantics on me now? I asked you to leave for the very reason we’re running away from the suite. Blackwell knows it’s you. Do you understand what that means?”
She bites the corner of her lip. “Right. Well, I hadn’t counted on that. I didn’t think he’d be here, and I certainly didn’t think he’d recognize me.”
