Page 101 of Cocky Prince
The one guy who knew me and stood by me—and I made it so that everything we’d shared was built on a lie. My lie.
I omitted what I knew about Blue. It was unintentional—I thought Adam had talked about the original suites with Tyler—but I held back by not openly discussing it. By protecting myself and my plans for turning Blue Casino around. I don’t blame Adam for thinking I lied to him.
How canheever trustme?
* * *
Adam
Jaegand I enter Hunt’s small apartment with my key. Hunt is slumped over the kitchen table, his outstretched hand gripping a quarter bottle of Jack. “Got any for the rest of us?”
Hunt lifts his head. His eyes are bloodshot, his complexion pale. “Always,” he slurs.
Jaeg rests his hand on my shoulder. “You think this is wise?”
I glare at his fingers, then his face. He drops his hand. “You don’t need to worry about protecting her from me. I’m done with her.”
“Who?” Hunt asks at the same time Jaeg sighs and says, “It’s not her fault. You don’t mean that.”
I collapse into the chair opposite Hunt. “She used me. It’s exactly her fault. Don’t know why I thought she’d be different.”
“Don’t be a hypocrite, Adam. You never thought about something casual with Hayden? In the beginning, before you were invested?”
I blink at Jaeg. I can’t process what the hell he’s trying to say to me. So I keep it simple. Everyone leaves. Hayden betrayed me. I leave her before she leaves me. “She’s just like the others. They all want something.”
I snort. That’s exactly what Paul said about women. Great, now I’m quoting douchebags. I need a drink.
Hayden didn’t want me to provide for her like the other women I dated. She wanted something altogether bigger. She wanted to use me to make her past right.
I trusted her—caredfor her. More than I’ve cared for any woman. And she used me. “I was an idiot. I know when the writing is on the wall. I invented the writing.”
Jaeg sighs again. “Hayden isn’t like that.”
“This about that girl you’ve been spending time with?” Hunt’s voice sounds clearer by the minute. I grab the finger-marked glass on the table and reach for the bottle of Jack. “Dump her,” he says. “You don’t need that baggage.”
I slam my fist on the table and Hunt flinches. “She’s not baggage.”
She’s out, but that doesn’t mean I’ll let my shithead brother, or anyone else, badmouth her.
Jaeg leans forward on the table. “Don’t do this, man. Your brother just gave you the advice you gave me in high school—do you remember? Things worked out for me in the end, but in this case you’re wrong. Don’t lose the girl.”
I stare at the amber liquid in my hand. “There is no girl,” I mutter, and take a swig. The liquor burns down my throat, warming the patch of ice that formed over my heart the moment I walked away from Hayden.
Chapter Forty
Hayden
Ireturn to work Monday, and it’s as if nothing happened Saturday night—no celebrity auction, no police raids. All traces of the burlesque show and the celebrities are gone, the casino floor buzzing and chiming away. Business as usual. Except on the executive floor. Up here, we’re missing a few key players.
Blackwell and the Blue Stars are nowhere to be found, not that we need them to run the place. Blackwell made the big decisions, but those don’t occur every day. The casino will be fine until an interim CEO takes his place. Some of the Blue Stars were managers, but somehow they mostly worked on Bliss and Blackwell’s special projects—all of which have been put on hold. The only Blue Star manager who actually performed his job was Adam. Adam runs hospitality, and he hasn’t shown up today. He also didn’t return my calls yesterday.
I spoke to Jaeger, and he told me to give Adam time. That he’d come around. But I’m not so sure.
Without meaning to, Mira said the one thing while Adam was most vulnerable that could push him away for good. She implied I’d used him to get close to the Blue Stars. And I can’t deny it, because it’s true. The only difference is, somewhere along the way, I fell in love with Adam and completely forgot about my original intentions. But how do I explain it and have him believe me when I kept so much from him?
That seed of doubt about why our relationship began has burrowed in his head. Other women have used him, and I suspect that even his own father used him. Then everything happens on the day he loses his dad, a man whose love he wanted desperately? I don’t know how to get through to Adam after all that.
He said that he and his brothers weren’t close to their father. That Ethan Cade didn’t care about them. But I’ve never seen a group of strong men look more stricken and vulnerable than when they learned of their father’s passing.
