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“Thanks for getting my stuff,” Diamond said, stupidly. “I was afraid I’d have to wear this dress all week.”
“It’s no problem. Truly. And I’ve been wanting to talk to you anyway, since last night.”
Diamond groaned. “Do we have to? Can’t we just act like it never happened?”
“Well,” Crystal joked. “I suppose I could, but I’d take bets that your ass wouldn’t be able to. I’ve been on the receiving end of Pax’s paddle before, and he ain’t no joke. And girl, he was swinging hard last night! I don’t think I’ve ever seen him swing that hard!”
Torn between laughing and being mortified at her friend’s sense of humor, Diamond just nodded.
“Well, I’m trying anyway. This whole mess has certainly been a good distraction.”
“I bet.” Crystal pursed her lips together looking thoughtful, as if she was unsure that she should say anything. But in a fashion all her own, she threw caution to the wind and plowed ahead. “Listen, if I could have said anything last night, it wouldn’t have been what you are probably thinking. What I would have said, to you and Pax both, is that I’m happy for you guys. Truly. Especially for Pax. Rojo has been his life for way too long. And he always puts the needs of the casino, and the customers, and the employees, before his own. He’s happy to do it. But it’s made him too rigid. It’s made him forget how to take a chance, to chase after what he wants, to put his own needs and wants first. He’s a great boss. But for the last year or so, something has been lacking. Rojo wasn’t enough to fill his needs anymore, but he wasn’t willing to admit it.”
Crystal paused and took a breath, smiling at Diamond encouragingly before continuing. “And then, you came along. I wish you could have seen the two of you on stage that first night. It was truly one of the hottest, most insane things that has ever graced that stage, and its seen its fair share of hotness, I’ll tell you what. But that, was in a league all its own. The connection between you two was evident to everyone watching. You could have heard a pin drop in there. Everyone was on the edge of their seats. And I kid you not, I thought to myself, if only Pax would pull his head out of his ass, and break the rules, and take a chance on love, I think he might have something special. You’re probably worried about your reputation, and being seen as a cliché, the whole dating the boss thing. I get it. But you know what? The staff here loves Pax, and they want him to be happy. And if I’m wrong, and someone doesn’t feel that way? Fuck ’em.”
“Wow, thank you.” Diamond was impressed and grateful for Crystal’s impassioned speech “That… wasn’t what I thought you’d say.”
“I figured not. That’s why I had to say it. Besides that,” she added. “It’s all true. Anyways, I better get back to work. It’s kind of a madhouse down there. You’d think they just found out the missing daughter of Elizabeth Barrett was working here secretly, and dating the boss, or something!”
Diamond groaned, throwing herself back on the bed dramatically. “Don’t remind me. Pax says I’m not allowed to leave the suite until this all calms down, whenever that is. I’m going to lose my mind after the first day.”
“Yeah, probably. I’ll talk to him on my way up. See if I can pop in and visit every once in a while. Maybe sneak in something not from room service?”
“That would be amazing.” Diamond grinned, grateful that she had been lucky enough to find a friend like Crystal in her short time here. She was going to need it.
Crystal left, shutting the door to Pax’s bedroom behind her, leaving Diamond alone with her thoughts, and thankfully, her stuff. She happily dug through the bags, relieved to see that Crystal had gotten everything important and then some. She grabbed her toiletries, makeup and a change of clothes and headed for the shower. Maybe standing under the hot water would help massage some of her stress away.
* * *
“Talk to me.” Pax answered his cell, relieved that Jason was finally calling. He had been going out of his mind up here waiting for updates. He was supposed to be helping keep Diamond calm, but he wasn’t sure that was within his abilities at the moment. He wasn’t keeping calm himself. She was doing a much better job of it, truth be told. She had more experience.
“Fitch has been located, and escorted off the premises. I’ve spoken with Diamond’s father, and if he sees Fitch again, he’ll be serving him with a restraining order.”
“Do you think he’ll try to sneak back in?”
“I actually don’t. Diamond’s father’s assessment of him seems pretty spot on, and security gave him the full treatment. He won’t be coming back if he knows what’s good for him.”
“Okay, good. What about the others?”
Jason hesitated on the other line, stalling for so long, Pax thought he had lost him. “That’s trickier. Technically, until they do something wrong, we can’t ask them to leave. They have as much right to be here as anyone else, and it would be impossible to pick them all out anyway. I spoke with the legal team, and they said we have two options. We can either hold an informal press conference, and confirm that Diamond is working here, and that the two of you are, in fact, dating, or we can use you as bait.”
“Explain.”
“Well, earlier, when those idiots with cameras nearly assaulted you trying to get their precious photos, we were able to have security haul them away, get their names and ask them to leave. So basically, we could just do that over, and over, and over again, until we got rid of them all.”
“That could take days.”
“Yes. The only upside to that method is we wouldn’t have to tell them anything.”
Pax shook his head, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he tried to decide between the lesser of the two evils. “Get the legal team up here, ASAP. I’ll need their help preparing a statement.”
“You got it, boss.”
Pax hung up the phone and headed into the bedroom.
“Di, we need to order lunch. Do you know what you want?”
“Not hungry!” she called out from behind the bathroom door.
