My heart is pounding as I turn the corner and run straight into a wall of a man. I bounce off his fat belly and fall to the ground.
I’m on my ass staring up at him in shock. He’s a giant Tony Soprano-looking dude and he’s raising his thick wrist to his mouth as I gawk at him. “I got her here.”
Another security guard arrives huffing and puffing, and I quickly get to my feet.
“Good evening, miss,” the Tony Soprano lookalike says with a smile. His polite demeanor and soft tone throw me off. But maybe that’s just how they get you. They’re all sweet and smiley on the floor, but once they get you back in private they bring the hammer out. I’ve seen Robert De Niro in Casino!
“I haven’t done anything!” I say in a panic.
“Of course not,” he answers. “We would like to extend you an invitation to our VIP area.”
“But… but, I don’t have any money.”
He smiles. “Then you’ll love our VIP section. There’s free food in all of the five-star restaurants and unlimited free alcohol including the finest champagnes in the world.”
My father always drilled into me that there is no such thing as a free lunch.
“What’s the catch?”
“Excuse me miss, the catch?”
“Yeah. Are you going to try and sell me a timeshare or something?”
He chuckles and then shakes off his smile, back to business.
“Only the Khan Hotel’s most treasured guests are allowed to enter the VIP area,” he says. “I assure you that all anyone wants up there is to fulfill your every desire.”
Now it’s my turn to chuckle. Like that’s going to happen.
“You have been invited by our two most distinguished guests.”
“Who?” I ask even though I know the answer. I can still feel the two sets of dark eyes on me. It makes my body tingle from just thinking about it.
He steps aside and extends his large hand. “Come with me and I’ll introduce you to them.”
I don’t move.
“What’s their names?”
“Jack Ross and Jax North. They’re from Manhattan.”
“And what do they want from me?”
Surely, it’s not luck. I don’t have any of that.
“I don’t know, miss…”
“Mila.”
He smiles. “I can introduce you if you’d like. You can leave whenever you wish. I am told they are quite taken with you.”
Taken with me?
My breath quickens as my nerve endings start to tingle and stir. Those two beautiful men are taken with me?
I think back to the quarter I threw into the fountain. I wished that I had two men to spend the night with, and now the two most gorgeous men I’ve ever seen want to meet me.
Can it be fate? Is my luck finally changing?
There’s only one way to find out.
It’s time to roll the dice.
“Okay. I’ll meet them.”
He takes a breath of relief and nods. “Follow me.”
The big guy moves fast and I have to race to keep up. He brings me down a series of hallways until we get to a special golden elevator that’s hidden around a corner.
He swipes his card on the keypad and it starts to descend.
My heart is really thumping inside my chest when the doors open with a ding.
“After you, miss Mila.”
I gulp and then step in. He follows me and the doors close. There are no buttons in here. Just gold plated walls and doors.
A few awkward seconds later, the doors open and we’re in the VIP area.
I’m surrounded by the most beautiful people in the most expensive clothes as I follow the security guard past the marble bar. A beautiful woman catches my eye—well, actually it’s the diamond the size of a golf ball around her neck that catches it—and I suddenly feel wildly underdressed.
“In here, miss Mila,” he says as he opens a door in the backroom.
“Uh, thanks,” I say awkwardly as I walk into the dark room. The door quickly closes behind me and I hear the lock click shut.
I whip around and try to grab the handle, but the heavy door won’t budge.
“Leaving so soon?”
The deep voice sends shivers racing through my body. I spin around and press my back against the door as I look around the room for the first time.
The two men who I spotted earlier are sitting at a round poker table watching me. It’s only the three of us in the room and the only light is from the fixture hanging over the table.
“Come sit,” the one on the left says as he points to an empty chair in front of them.
The one on the right is shuffling the cards in his hands, but he hasn’t taken his eyes off me yet. He has a playful, mischievous look to him whereas the other one just looks rugged and mean.
My body is tingling with nerves and excitement as they watch me. Somehow my feet start moving toward the table, but I stop behind the leather chair and put both hands on the back.
“What’s your name?” the one on the right asks. “I’m Jax and this is my close friend Jack.”
Jack just nods as he keeps his heated eyes locked on me. He has a thicker chin and a little scar beside his left eye.
“Mila Price.”
“And what brings you to Las Vegas, Mila Price?”
I swallow hard and try to keep my voice steady, but it’s hard with them looking at me so intensely. “My brother’s wedding.”
“Congratulations.” He glances at the locked door. “Is he outside?”
I shake my head. “Everyone in the wedding party went home this afternoon.”
“And they left you all alone?”
I’m not sure how much I should tell these mysterious strangers about me so I decide to change the subject.
“What are you two here for?”
Jax looks at the cards in his hands. “Playing cards. Care to join us?”
“I don’t have any money.”
“There’s no money in this game.”
I’m suddenly very aware of my heartbeat and the waves of heat swirling inside me begin to settle between my legs.
“What does it involve?”
My breath catches in my throat and my whole body stiffens as he stands up and walks around the table toward me. The rich sexy smell of his cologne is making all kinds of dirty thoughts come to my head as he pulls out the chair in front of me.
“Sit.” It’s not a question. It comes out firm and dominant, like a command. “And we’ll show you.”
I should turn and run. I should bang on the doors and scream my head off until security comes charging in. I should whip out my phone and call the police. I should grab the pepper spray in my purse and let it fly.
But I don’t do any of those things.
Instead, I smooth out my dress and sit down.
Chapter Three
Mila
“Strip poker.”
It’s the first words out of Jack’s mouth and they make my whole body erupt in warm shivers.
They can’t be serious.
“Do you know how to play?” Jax asks.
I swallow hard and nod.
My dad made sure that my brother and I were really good at poker. He’s always holding games in the back of the shop with the owners of the local construction companies, painters and contractors.