Authors: Deborah Bladon
Ellie
"You're going down for this, Jerry." I squat on the floor next to him; my hands wrapped tightly around his wrists. I squeeze as I press them both into the small of his back. "You crossed a line this time. I can't believe how fucked up you are."
"How fucked up I am?" He squirms beneath me, his chest pressed against the cool marble. "You're the one who tackled me. You broke my nose. I think you broke my fucking nose."
I glance down at the blood that's pooling near his face. "You make me sick. I hope the judge throws you in jail and buries the key."
"What judge?" He turns his head so he can look right at me. "I'll leave, Ellie. I'll walk out and never step foot in here again."
I arch my neck back, an exasperated sigh escaping me. "You're not getting a warning this time. This is way more serious than jerking off in the staff room."
He closes his eyes for a minute. The resistance in his body fades as I shuffle my feet.
"The police will be here soon," I say hoping that someone who works at the club will step into this fray. I don't know how long I can pin down a man Jerry's size. If he pushes back, I'm going to end up with my ass on the floor, and my lace panties on display. Damn this short dress.
I don't look up even though I know that a circle of people has gathered around us. I heard the gasps when I yelled at Jerry. I saw the movement of bodies when I jerked him to the ground as he was trying to bolt. I was so close to the club's entrance, but I couldn't just walk past Jerry when I saw what he was doing.
My duty as a security officer of this resort wouldn't allow me to and my conscience wouldn't either.
"When a woman tells you to stop touching her, you damn well stop," I spit the words out through clenched teeth. "What gives you the right to ignore that?"
"She didn't want me to stop. That '
no
' meant nothing."
"What?" I twist his left wrist. "You didn't just say that."
"You didn't see the way she was grinding on me earlier, Ellie. That chick wants me." He sucks in a deep breath as a drop of blood trails out of his nostril. "She was just playing hard to get in the line."
"You had your hand up her skirt," I say, shaking with anger. "She was pushing you away. I heard her tell you to stop."
"That wasn't real." He laughs. He fucking laughs as blood flows out of his nose and onto his upper lip. "I guarantee her panties were wet. She wanted me. Her body was screaming yes. I don't give a fuck if her mouth was saying '
no
.' "
I look up at the face of the woman who I saw pushing Jerry away. I heard the desperation in her voice. I saw the panic that flashed over her expression when she told him to stop. Her words may have been quiet, but the emotion behind them was loud enough to wake the dead. The tears in her eyes and the stuttering breaths that escape between her sobs, tells me everything I need to know.
"I don't think your nose is broken, Jerry." I stare down at his nausea-inducing face. He's the boy-next-door type. When he worked security with me, women would constantly stop him to ask for directions, or assistance, or his number. That ended the day I caught him in the staff room with his pants shoved to his thighs, his cock in his hand as he jerked off, oblivious to the fact that motion sensitive cameras anchored to the ceiling were capturing his every stroke.
"I fell hard," he whines, the distinct scent of beer on his breath. "I've never had a broken nose, but this feels like one."
I know two wrongs don't make a right. I'm acutely aware that I'm violating protocol by even considering what I'm about to do, but sometimes rules have to be broken and lessons have to be learned the hard way.
I reach forward, grab a handful of blonde hair on the back of Jerry's head and just as I'm about to smash his smug face onto the hard tile to guarantee his nose is indeed broken, I feel something brush against my shoulder.
I turn at the touch, my gaze sweeping over the handsome face of the man whose lap I landed in earlier. Broad shoulders, messy hair and evening stubble greet my eyes. "Hey, Nolan Black. How's your night been?"
***
"You're inviting her for a drink too?" Lacy, one of the resort's deputy night managers, asks. "I thought it was just going to be me and you. You know, just us two."
Really?
You'd think after everything that's happened tonight, the fact that Nolan Black is hot for Lacy wouldn't shock me. It does. I get that some men are into older women. I didn't peg Nolan as one of them, but then again what do I know about the man other than he smells fantastic and his ex-non-girlfriend pockets everything in sight.
"Three's a crowd," I announce, loudly, way too loudly. Both security guards leading Jerry away, turn back to look at me. "You two go have fun. I don't want to get in the middle."
I couldn't get in the middle if I tried. Lacy has wrapped her arm around Nolan's waist and with every step he takes to the side, she mirrors it with one of her own. They look like a pair destined for the finish line of a three-legged race.
"Lacy and I are not having a drink." Nolan tries another side step, but Lacy doesn't miss a beat. "We're past that point. There's no need for it now."
"So you're good with skipping the drink and just going back to my place?" she asks in a rush. "I told you foreplay isn't necessary. You're a fast learner."
"Foreplay is always necessary." A man's voice to the left catches me off-guard. "It's often the best part."
I'm not going to argue with the handsome stranger. He's almost as good looking as Nolan. His black hair is long enough to skim the collar of the white dress shirt he's wearing. His green eyes are as mesmerizing as his smile. He pulls one hand out of the front pocket of his gray pants as he approaches.
"I'm Crew Benton and you are?"
I reach for his hand giving it a squeeze. He's not my type, but he definitely checks all the boxes on Adley's list of what constitutes the perfect man. If I can make a connection for her maybe Leo will finally cease to exist in her mind and heart.
"I'm Ellie Madden, and I'm pleased…"
I'm interrupted mid-introduction by a woman who taps me on the shoulder. "She's Ellie Madden, and she's officially fired."
Ellie
"Fired?" I furrow my brow, confused by the word. The head of security at Echo Resort just fired me in front of a bunch of total strangers. "Ms. Griffin, I don't understand what you mean."
"What is there to understand, Ellie?" She peers down her nose at me. "You're no longer employed here. You can collect all of your things from your locker tonight."
"Tonight?" I bark back. "I'm fired as of this minute? Now?"
"Exactly." She taps the toe of her expensive shoe on the floor. The woman is dressed to impress tonight. The pink cocktail dress she's wearing shows off curves I never knew existed beneath her typical outfit of choice. I've never seen her in anything that wasn't navy blue or white. Sometimes it's a skirt with a blazer. On the breezier days, she changes the skirt out for a pair of slacks. A white blouse is always part of her ensemble. If it has ruffles down the front, she's feeling adventurous.
Tonight must be an all-out circus based on the fact that she's wearing makeup and her hair isn't tucked into the tight braid it's usually in. It's a wild, blown-out mess.
"You're firing me because of what I did to Jerry?"
"Jack-off Jerry?" she volleys backs. "What did you do to him?"
Wait. What? Who calls him that other than himself?
I point at the pool of Jerry's blood that is now surrounded by four yellow caution signs that were placed by one of my co-workers. The resort is committed to cleanliness, so I have no doubt that someone with a bucket and a wet mop is on their way. "That."
She looks down at the floor, shaking her head. "Jerry deserves worse. He's the scum of the earth, that one. "
My forehead scrunches as I try to piece together exactly what's happening. I see Adley standing behind Ms. Griffin. She's listening intently to our conversation. She's not alone. Crew Benton, the man who just introduced himself to me before I was promptly kicked to the curb, is also within earshot, as are Nolan Black and Lacy. If my humiliation wasn't off the charts before, it's launched into the stratosphere now.
"Why am I being fired?" I ask calmly, smoothly. If I'm going to have any chance to salvage my job, I need to appear rational, even though I'm in full panic mode inside. "I haven't done anything to warrant termination of my employment. My last review was stellar."
"I didn't say you weren't great at your job, Ellie." Her eyes drift from my face to where Nolan and Crew are standing. "There is security camera footage of you taking a picture in the casino of two guests. You're well aware that's not permitted on the casino floor, yet you took the male guest's phone from him and happily took the picture while they posed. It's a clear violation."
I rest my palm on my cheek. I know that rule. It's one of the obscure rules that virtually every guard breaks in some way. Most of us look the other way when a guest visiting Las Vegas from out of town takes a selfie or poses next to the screen of a slot machine they've won on.
I've only requested once that someone stop taking pictures when I noticed he had a high-end camera in his hands and an agenda that seemed to be outside the norm for a regular casino patron. I escorted him to the central security office and they took it from there.
"You're talking about the elderly couple from two nights ago, aren't you?" I question. "It was their first time in Vegas and it was her eightieth birthday. I was careful to position them away from any tables or slot machines. I made an exception because they asked politely if I could take the picture instead of just taking it themselves."
"An exception?" She shakes her head. "You're not authorized to grant exceptions, Ellie."
The finality in her tone is unmistakable. I'm not going to win this battle. I'm not sure I want to. This job pays shit. I live in a bachelor suite with no air conditioning, intermittent hot water and a neighbor who plays a medley of classical music early every morning. I love Mozart. I'm a big fan of Beethoven. I just don't want to hear it as soon as I come home from my shift when all I'm seeking is a few hours of sleep.
"Why fire me tonight?" I ask because Ms. Griffin doesn't strike me as the type to publicly shame people if it can be avoided. "Couldn't you have done this tomorrow? In private?"
"That was my original intention," she says with a half-grin. "I was going to have my assistant call you in the morning so we could handle this then, but I noticed you on my way into the club. I thought why not get it over with now?"
I sigh, heavily. Instead of enjoying Adley's last night in Vegas, I now have an unemployment cloud hanging over my head.
Way to rain on my party parade, Ms. Griffin.
"It looks like I'm heading to New York with you, Adley." I look right at my best friend. "If you know where I can score a job, I'm there."
"I have a job for you." Crew Benton steps closer, his open hand reaching for me. "It's nice to meet you, Ellie Madden. You're officially hired."
***
I shake his hand again, not sure if this time it's a simple
hello, nice to meet you
, or if I'm making a deal with the devil. The man looks like sin. I can't even imagine what the job he's offering entails.
I draw the line at pet sitting an iguana or wearing a sandwich board while walking around Times Square. I've done both of those things and I know when repeating history is a mistake.
"It looks like you're all set, Ellie," Ms. Griffin says, obvious relief in her tone. "I can offer a recommendation if need be. Ellie is an exemplary employee when she isn't writing her own rule book."
I smile at her. I sense she's done me a favor. The only reason I'm still in this city is because there's a very slim chance that I might land a job with the Las Vegas Police Department. It's looking increasingly less likely that will ever happen. I have no ties left here. My life is back in New York City. It's where I belong.
She nervously murmurs an awkward goodbye before she darts toward the entrance of the club.
"When can you start?" Crew watches Ms. Griffin walk away before he turns to me with a smile. "We'll cover the cost of your flight back to Manhattan and we'll supply a moving allowance."
Generous, maybe too generous considering I have no idea what I'll be doing once I land in New York.
"What kind of job is it?" I rub my chin. "I appreciate the offer, sir, but I need to know what you'll want me to do for you."
"My name is Crew. You'll call me Crew. No sir bullshit."
I nod. "No sir bullshit. Got it."
"We need a head of security at our flagship store. You'll be setting new protocol in place for our loss prevention team. You're perfect for the job."
"What store?" I raise a brow.
He bites back a smile. "I'm Crew Benton, Ellie. I'm the Chief Operating Officer of Matiz Cosmetics. Nolan is the CEO. We want you to work in our store on Fifth Avenue."