Chapter One
Anna
If my heart were beating any faster, I’d be dead by the time my father got home. I couldn’t stop staring at the email on my tablet. I could almost hear the old man’s crackling voice as I read it once again. My breath caught somewhere inside my chest as I silently mouthed the words.
Dear Ms. Kaplan,
I am pleased to inform you that you have been selected to perform at the upcoming charity benefit in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 7th. This event is generously hosted by Las Vegas’s very own Michael Blake. You were selected from thousands of submitted applications to help in honoring our veterans. Please respond within twenty-four hours if you will be accepting this invitation. Monetary compensation will be discussed before the event. Flight information and travel accommodations will be made upon acceptance.
Sincerely,
Marie Tanner, Event Coordinator
It seemed so unreal that I had to read it one more time. I heard the familiar crackling of my father’s plumbing truck in our driveway and my heart nearly skipped a beat. I jumped from my perch on the windowsill and jogged to my door before trotting down the steps. I felt like a child again, waiting for him to come home so I could ask about a sleepover or party. This was so much more though. I was nineteen, I didn’t need his permission, but I desperately wanted his blessing and support.
“Hey kiddo, you look like you’re about to explode,” he said with a grin.
I smiled. “Well, there’s something that I want to talk to you about. Do you remember when I applied to be a part of that fundraiser in Vegas? It’s going to be televised and everything.”
He frowned and set down the toolbox in his hands. “Isn’t that the one Blake is hosting or something?”
“Yeah, I think that’s what it said,” I stammered. I knew this was going to be a problem. My father hated Michael Blake. At sixty-two, Blake was known for his womanizing, taking a special interest in young women.
“I don’t know about all this.” My father hesitated. “That man is the bottom of the barrel. He isn’t known for his charities and good morals.”
“I know, Dad,” I told him calmly. “But I’m not exactly a naive young girl from the sticks. I grew up in Vegas. I know what kind of man he is. You have to trust me to know right from wrong.”
“And I do, pumpkin,” he offered reassuringly. “It’s the rest of the world I don’t trust!”
“Dad, I really want your support in this,” I whispered.
His warm smile hit me like a ton of bricks. He never could tell me no. Ever since I was a little girl and my mother had skipped town, it had just been him and me against the world. Leaving him wasn’t going to be easy, but I needed the chance to follow my dreams. This was the break I’d been waiting for in my singing career. This one show could open so many amazing doors.
“You really want to do this, huh?” he said.
I nodded. “I really do, but your support means everything to me.”
“Well,” he said in a defeated tone. “I don’t like it, but I’m not going to hold you back. I know this is your dream. Just promise me that you will be safe and check in every single day.”
“Twice a day,” I said giddily. “Thank you, Daddy. This is going to change my life. I can feel it.”
“That’s what I’m worried about,” he said before pulling me into a warm embrace.
I hugged him back, knowing that in a few days, I wouldn’t have the chance to hold him like this anymore. If the event went well, then there was no telling when I would be back home again. I was already getting pulled into the dream of bright lights and packed stadiums. The world was ready for me. I just had to get my foot in the door, and Blake’s show was the way that was going to happen. Everything was going to change.
* * *
“Thank you,” I said passively to the clerk at the front desk. “Do you know where I can get a cheap meal?”
He looked down his nose at me. “The buffet offers an a la carte menu. I’m sure you will find something in your price range. As a member of the charity event, your food will be deducted from your per diam.”
“Right,” I muttered. I didn’t feel like telling him that the money coming in was the only paying gig I had for the immediate future. I would eat crappy food for as long as I needed to, until I hit it big.
The hotel was one of the best on the strip. If it was left up to me, I would have picked cheaper accommodations and pocketed the difference, but as it was, I had no say in it. The hotel and event were being paid for by our generous sponsor, Blake. Thankfully, I’d been there a few hours and still hadn’t seen him. My first stop had been the event location to meet with Blake and his event coordinator, but it turned out my appointment with them wasn’t for another three hours.
“Thank you,” I said to the man at the desk.
He barely looked up. “You’re welcome. Have a wonderful time in sunny Las Vegas.”
“Sure thing.” I walked away from him. “You really need to pull the stick out of your ass.”
I thought about the failed meeting with Blake earlier in the afternoon and winced. I’d shown up bright eyed and cheerful, ready to wow him and the rest of the crew, only to be shoved aside and told I was too early. Oh, and there was no room for me to wait around for him either. The way the event coordinator had spoken to me made me feel like I was a call girl, waiting on her next John. He’d shooed me away, telling me to come back at my scheduled time. I hated him on sight and knew that only a pig like Blake could’ve hired an asshole like him.
“Just one?” asked the hostess.
“Yes, thank you.”
Her smile was sweet, but I could tell she was thinking the same thing as the concierge. That I was a naive girl from the country who had just blown into town. They couldn’t be more wrong. My mother had loved Vegas, only moving away after my father’s constant nagging. She hadn’t lasted long though. The last time we’d heard from her was on my eighth birthday, when I told her I never wanted to talk to her again. It was one of the best decisions I’d ever made.
Thinking about my father, alone and hours away in our small desert town made my heart ache. I looked down at my phone as the woman seated me at the bar and quickly dialed his number. He answered on the first ring.
“Hey kiddo! How is the big city treating you so far?”
I sighed. “Rude people and sideways glances, so nothing I wasn’t expecting.”
“Aw, well I’m sorry to hear that. Do you want to come home? How are you doing on money?”
“I’m fine, Dad,” I replied with a laugh. “The hotel is fine, and I have the same amount of money as when I left okay? I just wanted to see how you were doing.”
“Well, I haven’t burned the house down yet, so that’s a plus, right? I miss you already, kiddo.”
“Dad, I’m not a kid anymore? I can handle this. Make sure you’re taking your medicine, okay? Don’t make me come back there.”
“So that’s all it’ll take? A few missed pills?”
“Sure, if you want me to come back for your funeral. The doctor put you on that heart medication for a reason?”
“Sure, sure, whatever you say. Call me after you meet with that joke of a man, got it?”
“Will do,” I whispered. “Love you.”
“Love you too, honey.”
I blushed as I set down the phone and saw that I was no longer alone at the bar. A man was sitting just two seats away, his attention trained on me. I didn’t like being the center of attention when I wasn’t on stage. Doing my best to ignore him, I swallowed my fear and flagged down the bartender. He slid over, eyeing me and wondering if I would be an easy mark. All the help in Vegas apparently thought the same exact way.
“What can I get for you, doll?” he said smoothly. “First time in Vegas?”
I rolled my eyes. “Sure. Can I get a virgin bloody Mary and the small steak? Potatoes and corn on the side.”
“How do you want it done?” he muttered as his eyes traveled over my body.
I shuddered, not from attraction but from revulsion. I’d had my fair share of admirers over the years, but he seemed like the type of man who took what he wanted instead of asking.
Glaring, I hissed, “Rare.”
The man next to me chuckled as the bartender stormed away, and I couldn’t stop myself from stealing a glance in his direction. The first thing I noticed was his thick black hair that hung down to his shoulders. It was pulled back in a ponytail at the base of his muscular neck. He wasn’t the bodybuilder type, but he was lean with well-sculpted muscles that I could imagine rippled under his tanned skin.
I could feel his green eyes as they roved over me, but the sensations rocking my body weren’t full of disgust. There was an undertone of fear wrapped with pleasure and desire. He was the type of man my father had warned me about, tempting and dangerous, but still I couldn’t pull my eyes away from him. When he smiled again and cleared his throat, our eyes met against my better judgment.
“You sure know how to handle yourself. I bet that poor fella is in the back, licking his wounds right now.”
“Well,” I stammered, mustering all my courage, “I’m not here to make friends. I’m here to work.”
“Oh? And what, pray tell, is your profession?”
I ground my teeth together, not liking the way he said “profession.” He was blatantly asking if I was a prostitute in the way that Vegas men did.
“I’m a singer. I have a slot for the upcoming Veterans Benefit, if you must know. I just got into town today.”
“So you’re an outsider?” he asked, a bit more curious than I liked.
My heart was racing as I looked around for the bartender. A bloody Mary shouldn’t be taking so long to make. I needed any kind of distraction from the man at my side. He was going to be a pain in my ass if I let him keep talking. I didn’t want to seem rude though.
Once I was sure no bartender was going to come to my rescue, I sighed and continued the conversation.
“You could say that. I don’t live in Vegas.”
“Then where are you from? That was a very cryptic answer.”
I clenched my jaw. Good looking or not, I didn’t like being hit on in the middle of the afternoon. I knew what kind of men lurked around the bars, even if he didn’t seem like a bad apple. I needed to keep a level head on my shoulders. I leveled my gaze at him and prepared to be called a bitch or a slew of other insults. I was done with his games.
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