“I’m saying I agree with you. No agenda here.” He held his hands up in surrender.

“You always have an agenda, even when you claim not to,” she said.

“Not this time.” He shrugged. “I knew you would respond like this. But I guess there’s nothing we can do about it. Anyway, they seem happy, I guess. Maybe we should remember that.”

“Or not. I’d rather them be miserable than have a baby.”

“Do you really mean that?” he asked.

“Yes. Don’t act surprised.”

He shook his head. “Is this temper tantrum really because you don’t want them to be happy? Or are you pissy because you aren’t going to be his only baby anymore?”

Bryna clamped her mouth shut and glared at him. They shouldn’t even be having this conversation. “Fuck off, Pace. I’m leaving.”

“Where the hell are you going?”

“Away from you and this fucked-up family.”

“What am I supposed to tell them?” he asked.

“Whatever you want. I don’t give a shit.”

With that, she left her condo. She needed time to think about and process what had happened. She had been ambushed, and she wasn’t going to stand for it.

She definitely was going to need some retail therapy and then booze. Yes, liquor fixed everything.

Bryna pulled out her phone and jotted out a text to Trihn and Stacia.

SOS, bitches.

The rest of the week was hell. She spent as much time with the girls as possible and stayed far away from Pace. The last thing she wanted to think about was Celia’s pregnancy or her stepbrother.

Thankfully, Hugh had arrived in town, and she could forget all about those pesky things.

She had called him after her blowup with Pace to confirm he was still coming into town. They had agreed to meet up at one of his resorts. She had never been there before, and she was excited that he was introducing her to more of his life. Ever since they had gone to Tahoe, she hadn’t been as nervous about the whole thing. Everything was progressing smoothly. This was the relationship she’d wanted. No feelings. No emotions. No love. Just sex and money.

A woman greeted her at the entrance and took her straight up the elevator to the penthouse suite. The room was gorgeous, all marble-tiled floors, expensive white furnishings, and an unbelievable view of the Vegas Strip.

Hugh was seated at a large black desk in the office.

“So, this is where you work when you’re in town?” Bryna asked. She leaned against the open doorway in her short black dress.

His smile was so easy and natural. He was clearly happy to see her. “Sometimes. I have an office, but people bother me there.”

“Am I bothering you? Should I go?” she joked. She took a step back out the door.

“Absolutely not. You should come inside and sit your ass down on my desk.”

She sauntered inside. “That might distract you.”

“Distract away.”

Bryna scooted past him until she was sitting on the edge of the desk in front of him. She reached back and shut his laptop. “Oops,” she murmured.

He laughed.

“Is this distracting?”

His hands ran up her bare thighs. “Very.”

She moved the laptop off to the side and then lay backward, taking up as much space as she could. She arched her back and let her blonde hair splay out all around her.

“Now, this is extremely distracting.”

He pushed her legs apart and moved his hand up her body. She groaned and writhed on his desk. He had his pants around his ankles in a matter of minutes. Her panties followed, and then he was claiming her body.

It was pure pleasure.

No thinking. No confusion.

Just a man and a woman taking what they wanted.

She finished before him, and her orgasm brought on one of his own.

After cleaning up, she returned to the study to find him completely put together with two small boxes in front of him.

She arched an eyebrow. “What’s that?”

“Your Christmas present,” he said.

She sat back down and tried to hide her smile.

“And a little something else. Which would you like first?”

“Which would you like to give me first?” she asked.

He considered the question. “Your pick.”

She licked her lips and stared down at her choices. “This one.”

“Good choice.” He handed the box to her.

She tore into the paper and popped the top. Inside was a plastic card with WC Resorts etched into one side. Her heart jumped. Is he giving me a credit card? Were we there already?

“What’s this?” she asked.

He grabbed the other box and came around to the other side of the desk. “That,” he said, “is a key to this suite.”

“Oh?”

“I want to see you more, Bri. I don’t know where this is leading, but I know I enjoy my time with you. I feel alive when I’m with you. I don’t want to lose that feeling. So, I decided I wanted to make a plan to be here every other weekend to be with you, if you’d like, and you can have access to the penthouse and everything else your heart desires in my resort while you’re here.”

She couldn’t rein in her shock fast enough. He was giving her an all-access card to WC Resorts—penthouse, spas, gambling, dinner, pool. Everything.

“This is so much,” she breathed.

“It’s not. I want you to be nearby when I’m in town. I’ll have to work, so I won’t always get to spend all my time with you, but I want you to have every luxury when I’m here.”

“I love this. Thank you so much!” How the hell is he going to top that?

“I’m glad you like it.” He handed her the second box.

“You give me your world,” she said, holding up the card, “and then offer me another gift?”

“My world comes with a lot of them,” he admitted.

She smiled and then took it out of his hands. She opened the lid and stared at bracelet inside. Her stomach plummeted. She felt sick.

Inside the box was a Harry Winston diamond tennis bracelet with a B that matched her necklace. The necklace Jude had given her.

“What is it?” Hugh could obviously see her disgust.

She pulled back the sickness threatening to overwhelm her and reminded herself that this was an unbelievably expensive gift. She should be thankful that he had been thoughtful enough to match the jewelry she wore on a regular basis. The necklace was her reminder, but he would never and could never know that.

“Nothing. It’s lovely. Will you put it on for me?” she forced out.

He clasped the bracelet around her wrist, and she pretended to admire the thing. It was beautiful—if only it didn’t reek of Jude.

“You seem tense.” Hugh kissed her shoulder.

“Sorry. I’ve had a taxing week.” She swallowed hard and decided to blame it on something else. “My stepbrother moved in with me. He’s a deadbeat, and he basically has nowhere else to go. Since my dad owns the house, he decided my stepbrother had to stay with me.”

She felt dumb, admitting it all. But wasn’t part of all this gold-digging thing to have the guy support her? It would be nice to have the penthouse to disappear to when she needed to escape from Pace.

“That does sound stressful.”

“You’ve no idea.”

“Well, I’d offer to help reduce that stress.” He brought her lips to his again. “But I do have some work to finish. Why don’t you take that card down to the spa and try not to let anything bother you? I promise you a stress-free weekend.”

That was exactly what she needed. One goddamn weekend without stress. She wasn’t sure that was going to be possible with her new scarlet letter staring back at her. Just another notch in the belt.