Arranged love

EMILEE

I OPEN MY eyes to a dark room. Sitting up, I wince. Shit. My entire body hurts.

Why am I …?

Titan! I slept with him.

“Fuck.” I cover my face and fall back down onto the bed. Removing my hands slowly, I look next to me, afraid he’s there, but he’s not. Throwing my arms to my sides, I release a heavy sigh. My hand hits something hard, and I pick it up, then drop the damn thing on my face. “Fuuucckk,” I moan and try again.

It’s my phone. And it’s almost dead because I didn’t charge it last night.

Sitting up, I look around to see I’m the only person in the room. I quickly go to my recent calls and call the one person I need to talk to.

“Hello?” Jasmine answers sleepily.

“Wake up.”

“Emilee?”

“Yep.”

“Wait … Do you know what time it is?” She yawns. Obviously, I woke her up.

“Doesn’t matter.”

“You okay? Do I need to come get you?” she asks in a rush, sounding more awake. She knew I had a job last night. “Your date …”

“No. I’m at Kingdom, and I’m fine.”

“At Kingdom? Why would you …” She trails off, and I hope she’s figured it out because I’m not sure I can say it out loud. “Did you stay with Titan last night?”

I fall to my side and bury my head into the sheets. They smell like sex. “Yeah,” I mumble.

She laughs. “How was it?”

Rolling onto my back, I stare up at the ceiling. “Amazing.”

“You’ve gotta tell me all about it. How about I meet you at the buffet there in thirty?” She yawns. “I need some breakfast.”

“Okay,” I say but pause. “Call Haven and see if she wants to join us.” It’s been so long since I’ve seen her. And Jasmine hasn’t mentioned her once.

She’s silent for a moment. “When was the last time you spoke to her?”

“I don’t know.” I try to add the months in my head. “Maybe four months ago. Why?”

“Well … she’s married.”

TITAN

I sit at my desk, my cell in one hand and a pen in the other. My door opens and when my eyes meet a set of dark green ones, I inwardly sigh.

“Let me call you back,” I say to Luca on the other end.

“I’ll see you in a few. I’m about to head that way.”

Click.

I set my cell on my desk, then cross my arms over my chest. “Mr. Bates. What can I do for you today?”

He’s dressed in one of his Armani suits ready to mow over anyone who gets in his way of ruling the world. Starting his day with me. “Fire her,” he demands, coming up to my desk.

I lean back in my seat, getting comfortable. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The fuck you do!” he seethes, pointing his finger at me. “You hired my daughter as a fucking Queen.”

“I can’t disclose that information.”

“Cut the shit, Titan.” He slaps my desk. “I saw her pictures. And in one of them, she was wearing fucking lingerie!”

My door opens, and Bones enters, shutting it behind him. “I was walking by and thought I’d check to see if you needed some assistance.”

I stand from my chair. “I’m good.”

Bones looks from me to Mr. Bates. They have history. Not a good one. He wants to stay but reluctantly exits.

“I will not allow her …”

“To what?” I arch a brow.

His jaw sharpens. “To be a fucking whore.”

I snort. Pot meet kettle. “You spent over two hundred grand last year on Queens,” I remind him.

He pulls his shoulders back and bows his chest.

I walk around my desk and come face to face with him. “I will not fire her. And the only reason you know she’s a Queen is because you’re a client.” I reach up and grab his suit jacket, yanking him to me. “If you want to continue to pay for your sex, then I suggest you keep your mouth shut and not tell me how to do my job.” I shove him back.

He trips over his own feet and falls into the chair. I make my way back around to my desk and sit down across from him.

He bows his head and runs his hand through his hair. His concern is getting the best of him. “Do you know what this will do to me if it gets out that my daughter sells her body?”

“It won’t.”

“You can’t guarantee that,” he growls.

“My airtight NDAs do.”

He stands. “And if someone talks?”

I stand as well. “Then I will take care of them just as I would if any of my clients leak any info about my Queens.” I run a no tolerance kind of business. “I protect my assets.”

He seems to be satisfied with my answer because he turns to the door but stops and faces me once again. “Jasmine is not to know that I was here.”

EMILEE

“YOU GOT MARRIED?” I demand as my best friend sits down beside me in the booth.

She nods and gives me a big smile as her amber eyes light up. “Yeah.”

“What the fuck, Haven?” I ask, my jaw still dropped at the news.

She sighs. “It was …complicated.”

I frown. “Are you okay? Is Luca treating you right?” The guy is in the mafia. We’ve all known it since high school, but that never stopped her from loving him.

“Yeah, it started out a little rough, but everything is perfect now.” She pushes a piece of brown hair behind her ear. Her amber eyes soft and full of love as she speaks about her husband.

I look over to see a man by the name of Oliver Nite standing at the entrance of the restaurant. “Is he here with you?” He grew up a Bianchi. Luca’s father took him off the streets when he was just a kid and raised him as one of their own. He wears the gold ring on his right hand to prove it. The Bianchis adopted him and made him one of their own even if it was for their own selfish reasons.

“Yeah. He’s my bodyguard.”

“Why do you need a bodyguard?” I ask worried. “Are you in danger?” The Bianchis have a lot of enemies. I never thought my best friend could be in danger due to who she loves.

She waves me off. “Everything is fine. Luca is just paranoid.”

“Well … that’s good to know.” I’m glad he’s making sure she’s safe, even if she feels it’s overkill.

“I tried calling you. Several times,” Haven says. Narrowing her eyes on mine, she changes the subject.

My chest tightens. “I’m sorry.” I’ve been a shitty friend. And I hate that I wasn’t here for her.

“I left you messages.” She takes my hand. “Did you not get them?”

It’s also complicated, but instead, I say, “I lost my phone and had to get a new one.”

“Voicemails transfer over,” Jasmine states, cramming a piece of pancake into her mouth across the booth from us.

I narrow my eyes at her.

“It’s okay.” Haven wraps her arms around my shoulders and pulls me into her. “I’m just glad you’re here now.”

“Yeah.” Jasmine nods her head. “We know how you get.”

“What does that mean?” I ask.

“That you pull away.”

I can’t argue with her or be mad about what Jasmine says because it’s true. I’ve never allowed myself to get too close. Not even to them. Haven and Jasmine were the closest.

“And your mom is sick …” Haven goes on. “I can’t even imagine how hard that must be.” She rubs my back. “How are you and your dad holding up?”

Jasmine drops her eyes to the table. She hasn’t told Haven what happened to him. I imagine Haven doesn’t watch the news often anyway. If she did, she’d see nothing but bad things regarding her husband.

“My father …” I take a deep breath. “My father passed away a few weeks ago.”

The table falls silent, and I drop my head to stare at my hands in my lap. “It was a heart attack. Happened at his office while in a meeting.” I swallow and leave it at that. “He left everything to George. And he is blackmailing me.” I’m like a drunk girl who has reached her limit of drinks, and they’re all coming back up. “But George owes the Kings five hundred thousand dollars. And he has offered me up to Titan in exchange for repaying his debt.”

As the words finish rushing out, I’m met with silence. But I can’t look up at them. I’m ashamed. Not sure why, since the girls and I have never kept secrets from one another. And let’s face it, we’ve all three done some stupid shit when it came to boys. I don’t know why this would be any different.

I hear the vinyl in the cushion shift as Jasmine gets up from her side of the table and comes to sit by me. I move closer to Haven to make room for her. And then I feel both of their arms around me.

Closing my eyes, I feel a tear run down my cheek. These are my sisters. We’ve only ever had each other, and I’ve missed them so much.

“I’m so sorry,” Jasmine whispers, either pretending like she didn’t know, or she truly is sincere.

“Me too.” Haven sniffs. “We should have been there for you …”

I pull away from both of them. “No. I should have been there for you,” I tell Haven.

“Hey.” She smiles. “I’m fine. Promise. Don’t worry about me. But Jasmine …” She looks over at her. “She needs help.”

I laugh, wiping the tear from my cheek.

“I’m just fine. Thank you,” Jasmine says, lifting her chin. “Hey, that offer still stands, Nite,” Jasmine calls out.

“Offer?” I ask, confused.

“Yeah, I told him I’d fuck him with a strap-on.”

“What? Why would you say that?” I ask.

“Because he’s gay.” She rolls her eyes.

“No, he’s not,” I argue.

“He is. But that’s okay. I don’t discriminate. And I’ll have you screaming my name all night.”

“He’s a mute,” I remind her. He took some kind of vow of silence back in college. That’s where he got his nickname Silent Nite from.

“He won’t be when I’m done with him.” She winks.

He ignores her.

Haven rolls her eyes. “You fucked him at my wedding.”

“What?” I gasp, looking at Jasmine.

She lifts her drink to take a sip. “For the hundredth time, we didn’t have sex. He ate me out.”

“At her wedding?” I ask wide-eyed. “Where did that happen at? In a closet?”

“A woman never tells.”

“Well, good thing you’re not a woman,” Haven jokes. “You’re that cocky frat guy who brags to all his friends.”

“She’s fucking Titan.” Jasmine obviously has no problem telling important information about my life.

Haven gasps. “No way.”

I nod, and Jasmine adds, “Yep. She’s a dirty little whore.”

I flinch at the way she says whore. I know she’s joking, but the thought of the guy from last night still has me on edge. God, he was such an ass.

Haven laughs. “Well, you’re screwing Trenton.”Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

“What?” I ask wide-eyed. “Jasmine, he’s married.” I follow his wife on Instagram. She went to college with us but was two years younger.

She shrugs. “It’s complicated.” Then her eyes slide over to Nite.

I look over at him as well, and he’s already staring at her. What the hell have I missed?

“Anyway, back to you and Titan.” Haven whistles. “I always knew it would happen. You two had this crazy chemistry going on. He always wanted you.”