Baby Blues - A Vegas Baby Novella

Chapter 1

Knox

“I better run. Autumn wanted me home early to help get the kids down for bed. She got a sitter for a few hours so we can go listen to Addilyn Cole at Smoke and Rhythm tonight.”

My attention was zeroed in on the monitors in front of me because one of the pit bosses had alerted me to a possible card counter. Since I was only half-listening, I didn’t catch everything Drew said. “Listen to who?”

“The new singer I hired to headline in the lounge.”

My head jerked up at Drew’s answer. “What new lounge singer?”

“The one I hired yesterday.” He knew damn well how I was going to react but didn’t seem bothered by it in the least.

“How come this is the first time I’m hearing about it?” I growled after counting to ten to keep my temper in check. Drew was my friend, but he was also my boss. Ripping him a new one while some of my guys were within earshot wasn’t something I would ever do. So, I kept my voice low and my tone calm. “You always run new hires past me so I can do a background check before they start. It’s the protocol for a reason, Drew. My job is to keep everyone safe, and I can’t do that if you spring shit like this on me at the last second.”

“I’m sorry, man. I meant to call you last week, but with the kids all down with colds, time got away from me, and I forgot. I know how seriously you take your job, and I appreciate everything you do to keep us all safe, especially my family. It won’t happen again.”

Most of my anger drained away with his genuine apology. “Give me the singer’s name and whatever information you have on her, so I can have one of the guys run a check. If any red flags pop up, at least you have the clause in the employment contract that lets you fire her immediately.”

“Yeah…about that.” Drew ran one of his hands through his hair and sighed. I braced myself for what he was about to say because I knew I wasn’t going to like it. “I didn’t have her sign the standard contract. Her situation is different than our usual employees. I’ve been trying to hire her away from Stratton for two years with no luck because she took her commitment to him seriously. No matter how many times I offered to buy her out of her contract, she wouldn’t take me up on it.”

My brows rose in surprise. Most singers would jump at the chance, no matter who they were working for at the time. Not only did the Lennox draw in the biggest audiences in Vegas, but we also had some of the longest-running shows. “How many times did you offer her a contract?”

“More than I can count,” he chuckled, shaking his head. “Then I found out last week that her contract with him just ended, and she’d already sold her house. I had to move fast, or else I was going to lose the opportunity. Since her stuff was already packed and ready to go, she wasn’t interested in the usual offer. I had to up the ante.”

Considering how much money Drew had, there was a lot of room for him to maneuver when he wanted something to go his way. “What’d you give her?”

“A fuck ton of money, along with a guarantee that she could work at the Lennox as long as she wants.”

“Damn.” I whistled, stunned that he’d handed that much power over to the woman. Drew liked to keep the upper hand when it came to business. “Is she really that good?”

“Better.” He flashed me a smug grin. “She could probably make millions if she was interested in signing a recording contract, but she’s always been content to stay in Vegas and play to a smaller audience. I don’t know why she suddenly decided to leave Las Vegas, but I had to swoop in fast before she was gone. Now she’ll be singing for me, and Autumn is happy as fuck since she’s a fan of Addilyn.”

That explained his unprecedented decision to pull out all the stops to get the woman under contract with the Lennox. Addilyn Cole could’ve asked for those millions Drew thought she could earn with a recording studio, and he would’ve given them to her if it meant that Autumn got what she wanted. Drew would do anything for his wife, which made it easy to wind him up when I felt like yanking his chain. “Maybe I’ll horn in on your date night so I can hear her for myself.”

“Unless you want me to fire your ass, you’ll get your own damn table,” he grumbled with a glare aimed my way.