Free Rise of the Notorious by Katie Jennings Page A

with luck like that, huh, Wyatt?”
    “Indeed.” Wyatt gathered her cards and shuffled them back into the deck, his expression amused and a bit strained as he watched her. “That’s the curse of Vegas, sweetheart. Beginner’s luck makes a gambler of us all.”
    “If that’s true, then you can expect me back tomorrow for round two, Mr. Bailey.” She slipped off the chair and hooked her arm in her cousin’s, smiling deviously at the dealer once again. “Until then.”
    Wyatt nodded, watching as his boss led the girl away. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from her, haunted by the very way she moved, by the way those lips of hers curved like a demon or an angel, he wasn’t sure which. The worst of it was, he wondered if she understood just what impact that sultry look of hers had on a man…
    It certainly had an effect on him. It had been years since he’d felt that for a woman, and he’d seen his fair share of them all over the world. None of them could even come close to comparing to her.
    Despite the good angel standing on his right shoulder begging him to leave it be, reminding him that she was a Vasser and therefore off limits if he wanted to keep his job complication-free, the bad devil on his left shoulder demanded that he find a way to have her, come hell or high water. He’d always been fond of taking the Devil’s advice anyway.

     

    Grant sat back tiredly in his desk chair and wondered when exactly his office had become the Vasser Hotel’s complaint department, eagerly awaiting submissions. As if he hadn’t had enough to deal with, now he had his cousins trying to convince him to turn against his own sister. The depravity of it grated on his nerves. Clearly, they did not know who they were dealing with.
    “I understand your concerns, but they’re pointless,” Grant told the two men before him impatiently. He held his great-grandfather’s fountain pen in his hands, running it through his fingers absently. It was something he usually did when dealing with people he didn’t want to deal with.
    “I fundamentally do not agree with this list, Grant,” Duke began, rising to his feet to pace the room in frustration. “If I were in charge—”
    “But you’re not in charge,” Grant asserted, his eyes narrowing. “Madison is.”
    “Yeah and she’s fucking everything up,” Cy put in with a scowl, his arms crossed tightly as he slouched in the chair across from Grant. “I don’t care what the goddamn will said, she’s not my boss.”
    “She is, and if you want to maintain your position in this company as we move forward, you will follow her instruction.” Grant sighed, feeling a headache coming on. “What do either of you expect me to say? I wasn’t thrilled with this arrangement at first, but it is what it is. We have no choice.”
    “There are ways to open up our options…” Duke muttered, continuing to pace. Before he could elaborate, the door opened and Quinn poked her head in.
    “Sorry to interrupt…Madison called and said she’s running late from her appointment with the lawyers. She’s on her way now.”
    Grant nodded to her, attempting a smile. “Thank you.”
    Quinn winked with a grin as she shut the door, enclosing Grant with his two cousins once more.
    “She’s a cute one,” Cy said suddenly, looking from the door to Grant with a sleazy grin.
    “She’s taken,” Grant asserted stiffly, disgusted by the look in his cousin’s eyes.
    “Wait, are you tappin’ that?” Cy asked, eyes widening. When Grant said nothing, he let out a hoot of laughter and settled back into his chair. “Well, damn. Lucky bastard.”
    “Is that seriously all you can think about?” Duke demanded, confronting Cy impatiently. “If you’re just here to get laid then you can hightail it back to L.A. I don’t have the patience for this. We have serious business to figure out and you’re sniffing after women.”
    Cy glared up at his cousin bitterly. “I’m not leaving till you leave, Duke.