Page 46 of Billionaire In Vegas

“Of course he does. How could he not?”

I hugged her and stood up to leave when I realized my only choice was a hotel or back to the loft.

“Do you mind if I spend the night here?”

“No, I don’t mind, but I think it would better if you go home and face your demons.”

“You mean, face Jude”

“Yep.”

“Call me a cab?”

“I’ll just drop you off.”

We pulledup in front of the loft and I looked at her. “Wish me luck,”

I hopped out the car as Emmaline made a U-turn and yelled out, “Go get him, girl!”

I squared my shoulders as if I were going into battle and made my way to the door. I took a deep breath and inserted my key.

Before I could turn the lock, the door was opening from the other side. Looking tired and pissed off, Jude stood there.

I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but nothing came out.

He said nothing to me, just studied me, his eyes not revealing any emotions. He turned away from me and I avoided the inevitable as long as possible, taking my time to lock and bolt the door.

He went to the fridge, pulled out a beer and sat down on the couch and used the end table to open his beer, smacking the cap with his hand, sending the cap spiraling across the floor. I stared at the cap since it seemed the better option instead of facing Jude. Apparently, he had other ideas.

“I’m over here, Lacey. At the very least, you can look at me.”

I forced myself to.

“Why’d you run from me tonight?”

I shrugged and looked away from him, not because I didn’t know the answer, but because I didn’t even know where to start. So I just started talking and hoped he would understand.

“When we met, I didn’t even have my own car, Jude—”

He made a face, clearly confused. “What does that have to do with us?”

“You’re a son of a billionaire, a former athlete who’s been around the world. You have connections to all sorts of people. I was just a lowly temp worker. A nobody. Our meeting and marrying was like a Cinderella story, but instead of it being based on love, it was based on greed and deception.”

“A Cinderella story?” he said incredulously.

“Yeah, the handsome prince rescuing the lowly servant girl.”

“Rescue you? I didn’t rescue you, Lacey. Our story isn’t some sort of Cinderella tale. We were both consenting adults who helped each other. In fact, I needed you a lot more than you needed me. You were doing fine without me. Better than fine.”

“Oh please, I didn’t have a steady job, a car, a—”

“Stop. Stop downing yourself and your life. You know why my dad chose you as his assistant?”

I shrugged.

“He liked you. He knew upon meeting you that you had integrity, a backbone, you were a fighter and he liked that. You weren’t intimidated by either of us. You were like a schoolmaster… except much more attractive.”

I shook my head. “You’re just being nice.”