As the noise in the hallway overpowered everything else, I slipped away from the craziness into an adjunct office I used when spending any time in the concert space. While I adored my cousin’s wife, she was a type-A personality on steroids. But she was the perfect person to orchestrate my daughter Nina’s seventh birthday party since she had a daughter close in age.
With my rough business schedule, and long hours including working weekends the last few months, I’d needed help, or I’d throw the kind of party that would crash and burn. Nina was a harsh critic about everything her daddy did or didn’t do.
“What’s going wrong with the arrangements?” This time. Before it had been a crisis with balloons. Before that, the caterer had walked. At least I’d had another contact that could pick up the slack without hesitation. It paid to know people in Las Vegas.
With my eyes aching like a son of a bitch, I leaned against the wall, reminding myself this only occurred once a year. Thank God for that. I sucked at being a dad.
“The entertainment bagged. Poof. They’re gone.”
“Who did you hire again?”
“A world-renowned juggler and clowns. Plus, they were going to bring a bounce house with them.”
There were world-renowned jugglers? Really?
And a bounce house. I loathed them. In my mind they were terribly unsafe. And I thought I’d told Halle that Nina hated clowns. Who didn’t? They were creepy as shit. Okay, so maybe I shouldn’t be so elated that there was another failure with the party, but this one made me happy.
While I had no clue who I could hire on such short notice, I was bound and determined that this deadbeat dad was going to do something right. “I’ll take care of the entertainment.”
“How? How are you going to do that on short notice? I’ve checked around. There is nobody available.”
Hearing noise just outside the door that included singing, several girls doing their best to sound like Lainey Rose, a strange and perhaps impossible idea popped into my mind.
Lainey Rose had just finished her phenomenal residency, the wildly popular musician topping every chart with every album she released. She’d been the best decision I’d made for our entertainment venue since I’d taken over management.
Our numbers had soared for months, every resort fully booked, our casinos, restaurants, and nightclubs at max every day and night.
As I opened the door, I was able to see Lainey coming down the hallway, signing autographs along the way. People adored her. She was sweet, funny, smart, and one of the hottest women I’d ever met in my life.
She was also my daughter’s favorite singer, Nina memorizing every word of every song. How many months had I been forced to listen to the sappy love songs that drove both young girls and women wild?
Too many.
However…
“Just leave it to me, Halle. I promise you I won’t let you down.” Every once in a while, I could be pretty damn persuasive.I bit back a smile. I had no clue how Alexsey controlled the feisty woman. She was a handful, but certainly good for my cousin.
He’d stopped being a brooding asshole and had found a personality.
“If you do, you know what will happen,” Halle barked at me.
“Yes, I do. I promise I’ll be a very good boy. Now, I need to attend to a few things.”
She growled into the phone and hung up on me. I slipped mine into my pocket, pounding the back of my head against the wall.
Being a single father wasn’t the easiest thing in the world.
At least my little girl seemed happy. She loved school, her friends, and her family. What more could I ask? She had no understanding of the family legacy she’d been born into and that was fine by me. In some people’s eyes, she was a Bratva princess, a tool to be used later in life. To me, she was my perfect princess and the only thing left of a life I’d once enjoyed. I would do anything for her.
Including using every technique I’d mastered in convincing women to do what I wanted with Lainey Rose if necessary. A slight smile crossed my face. Although she wasn’t a typical girl. She was a combination of innocence and wild kitty all wrapped up into a lovely package. In the months of limited conversations, I’d learned she had a fiery personality, squelched by a team of idiots who’d created a perfect, marketable package.
Maybe my enjoyment of women was jaded or at least had been over the last few years. I had my reasons that in my mind were acceptable. However, seeing how her team had manipulated her had pissed me off. Sadly, I wasn’t in control of her. If I was… Filthy thoughts drifted into my mind, completely inappropriate.
Then again, maybe she needed a change in direction. Or at least a day spent away from the norm.
All she could do was say no, which I anticipated she would do. Private gigs weren’t in her contracts.
“Trouble in paradise, boss?” Jaxon asked. He was my right-hand man. Not only considered security but also a good friend.
