Promises Made (BBW Billionaire Romantic Erotica) (Vegas Billionaire) (2 page)

The casinos referred to the biggest of the big spenders as whales.  Some of them could drop millions of dollars in a single night, and each had an assigned host who had the unenviable job of anticipating and providing for their wishes.  If the big spenders were treated better elsewhere, those large sums of money would leave with them.

“Ah, damn.  I’m sorry, Julien.  I was so focused on the drink orders that I haven’t pulled tonight’s schedules.  I’
ll shift some servers around.”  Elle knew that if everything wasn’t flawless on her end, the casino could stand to lose a good chunk of profits.

“I thought about that, and tried to arrange it myself.  You don’t have anyone available tonight who has ever worked in the Platinum Lounge.”  Julien ran a hand through his short blond hair, ruffling it before smoothing it back into the expensive cut he maintained.

The Platinum Lounge was the casino’s pride and joy.  An ultra high limit gambling area where table bets started at amounts higher than Elle’s yearly salary.   Sending a server who had never worked in the room could be a disaster
, and could cost both of them their jobs if major mistakes were made.  It had taken Julien’s first promotion before Elle had ever been allowed to work the Platinum Lounge herself.

“I’ll call Mia or Lana in for tonight.  Both have worked the room before, and we’ve never had any complaints about either.”  She picked up her telephone, and started to dial, when Julien interrupted her.

“We’ve already called them, Elle.  Mia is in Texas helping out with her sister’s new baby, and Lana has the flu.  I need you to take the shift.”  Julien gave her a pleading look.

“No way.  Even if I could still fit into one of those tiny little dresses, which I can’t, I need to be home this evening.  Ryan and I haven’t been doing well and we need some time to reconnect.”  Elle shook her head emphatically.

Julien sighed deeply.  “When have you and Ryan ever been doing well?  That man treats you like a servant, except instead of paying you, he insults you and takes your money.”  Julien hated Ryan, and Elle knew it was her own fault.  She had spent many evenings at the house he shared with his lover, Aiden,
crying on his shoulder  when things went badly.

“It’s getting better, Julien. 
Nevacore
is really taking off now, and I know once things calm down the two of us will be able to really start communicating.”  Elle wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince herself or Julien that it was the truth.

“Ahh, Elle.  You know I love you, but someday you’re going to have to see him for what he really is.  Anyway, I’m having a uniform brought over to your office.  You’ll look gorgeous in it, just like you always did.  Now go home and get some rest.  I’m having the meeting for today rescheduled to later in the week.”  Julien walked out of her office, looking back over  his shoulder at her as he left. “See you tonight, Elle.”

She sat at her desk, stunned.  It had been three years and many plates of pasta since she had last served drinks at the Empyrean, and now it looked like she had no choice.  After everything Julien had done for her, she couldn’t let him down now.  It’s just one night, she reasoned with herself.  I’ll get through tonight and it will all be over, and I can come back to my office and pretend I didn’t embarrass myself.  She shut down her computer and
began the trek back to her car.

*****

Elle pulled into the driveway of the cute two story house she shared with Ryan.  No point in bothering with the garage, she thought.  She’d just have to go back out in a few hours anyway.  On the ride home, she had been somewhat cheered by the realization that now she could make dinner for Ryan.  It would be great to be able to surprise him after the long days he had in the office.

She tossed her purse onto the entry table and headed back toward the kitchen to see what ingredients she had available.  She set about putting some thick steaks into a marinade to throw onto the grill later, then made sure she had what she needed for sides.  Finding some asparagus, she
set aside the
prosciutto and garlic she would need to prepare it later.

Satisfied with her dinner preparations, Elle headed upstairs to get in a nap before she had to face the demanding Platinum Lounge gamblers.  As she climbed the stairs, she started making a mental checklist of the things she  would need to do before starting her cocktail waitress shift.  She dreaded facing the myriad of implements she knew she would have to use to tame her hair enough for the shift.  It was going to have to be a short nap or she’d never have the time to get both herself and dinner ready.

She opened the bedroom door and almost shut it again.  Her mind wasn’t able to process what she was seeing, and she was convinced she had walked into the wrong house.  Except this wrong house had her kitchen, and this bedroom had all of her things.  It also had a man and woman in her bed.  A man and woman in her bed?  She was too confused to try to sort out what she was seeing.

A thin, tanned blonde was straddling a man that she couldn’t quite see.  She was nude and her hips were grinding against him while she made deep noises in her throat. 
The man’s hands grabbed the blonde’s hips, guiding her along as she rode him.  She saw a gold and onyx ring on the man’s finger and thought that Ryan had a ring like that.  These people must have broken in and stolen it.

“Mm yeah, Katja.  That’s it, baby.  God, you’re so hot.  Fuck, I love looking at your flat stomach with those firm little tits jiggling.”

It was Ryan’s voice, but Ryan didn’t say things like that, Elle thought.  Ryan went about sex mechanically, like it was something that just needed to be done.  He had once compared it to car maintenance and told her that sometimes you just have to change the oil.  She wasn’t able to make any sense of any of this, and stood holding the door in shock.

“Roll over, Katja.  I wanna taste some of that pussy before you make me come.”

The woman climbed off him and turned to lay on her back.  Her delicate features formed into a lo
o
k of  surprise when she saw Elle standing in the doorway, then she shrugged and lay down, spreading her legs.

“Ryan, you did not tell me you invited a friend.  She’s a
bit
bigger than I usually find attractive, but I love that you thought to bring me a surprise,” she purred, reaching down to stroke between her legs.
  “Tell her to come lick me while you use her, like we did last time.”

Ryan looked at Elle standing in the doorway and a mixture of emotions passed over his face.  She saw the shock there, but also anger and irritation at being interrupted.

“I’ll be right back, Katja.  That one isn’t for you.  That’s Elle.”  He climbed from the bed, leaving the tanned blonde to start laughing as he wrapped a sheet around his waist.

“
That
is Elle?” The blonde continued laughing and sat up.  “Oh, love, now I see why you hate your life so much.  Well, hurry back.  This pussy isn’t going to wait all day.” 
She fell back onto the bed
and gave Elle a look of satisfaction as she once again spread her legs.

Ryan guided the stunned Elle from the bedroom and shut the door behind them, blocking Katja and her overexposed body from their view.  Elle recoiled when he touched her and backed against the hallway wall.  Her confusion had finally started to clear and she thought she might throw up. 

“Elle, you weren’t supposed to be home until late. 
What are you doing here?”  Ryan slipped back into his annoyed pose, trying to put her on the defensive.

Elle gaped at him, unable to speak, then shook her head and fled from the house. 

*****

She drove aimlessly for what felt like hours,
trying to sort out everything that had just occurred.  Tears streamed down her face and an empty ache felt like it would tear her apart from inside.  She pulled the car into what used to be a parking lot, but was now little more than a field of overgrown weeds, and climbed into the back seat, curling into a ball.

Katja’s words kept invading her mind, echoing over and over.  “…now I see why you hate your life.”  He had talked about her to that woman, had shared parts of his life with her.  Elle thought that hurt even more than the physical act of betrayal.  Ryan hadn’t talked to her about anything other than things he was forced to for a long time.

She realized she knew nothing about Ryan, that she had been living with a stranger.  “…like we did last time.”  The man she thought saw sex as a necessary chore  had been having threesomes with that skinny blonde bitch, had tried to do things to please her sexually.  Elle had shared some of her tamer fantasies with him in the past and he had seemed disgusted.

Anger started to fill her and she sat up, pounding at the back of the car seats with her fists. 
He had made her feel insecure and used her, and in response she had given him everything she could.  The last six years of her life had been spent dedicated to the needs of a man who hated everything but the support she had provided.

Elle reached into the front seat and felt for her purse.  She had to call Julien.  He would be expecting her tonight and there was no way she could serve drinks to pampered rich assholes.  She quickly located his stored contact and waited for him to answer.

“Elle, you should be napping.  Don’t worry, I have everything taken care of here. The uniform is in your office,” Julien answered in his usual abrupt manner, knowing it was Elle on the other end.

Hearing the voice of her best friend brought on a fresh set of tears.  She snuffled through a mangled version of the afternoon’s events while Julien listened, then told him she wouldn’t be in that evening and he would have to find someone else.

“Where are you, Elle.  We’ll worry about tonight later.  Right now, we need to take care of you.”

She looked out the window of the backseat and spotted road signs, then gave him the intersection where she was parked.  He let out a low sigh, and she heard him typing in the background.

“I’m sending a driver for you.  Leave your car there, we’ll have it picked up
and delivered to the hotel later.”  Julien had switched into the take control mode that had earned him his first promotion.  His voice softened before he continued.  “And Elle, it’s going to be okay.  It really is.”

*****

Two months had passed since Elle had walked in on Ryan in the middle of proving he was an asshole.  She had moved into a small suite at the Empyrean while she threw herself into work, doing anything she could to avoid focusing on what felt like a wasted six years. 

I’ll get cats
, she thought. 
Forty cats.  I’
m going to end up being a
crazy cat lady anyway, so why not get a
head start
.
  The memory of her houseplants,
with their
wrinkled brown leaves and sad droopy stems
made her wince.  It wasn’t her fault they required so much work, like watering and sunlight.  Well, maybe it was.  So no cats.  That would be bad. 
There
, she thought. 
I
just
saved the lives of forty cats.  I did something noble today.

She was still giggling to herself when Julien walked into her office.  He smiled at seeing his friend looking happy for once, instead of being the mess she had been on and off over the last two months.  Elle looked up at him from her desk and said, “I just saved forty
imaginary
cats from certain death, Julien.”  She collapsed onto her desk in peals of laughter, while he shook his head and his smile broadened.

“
You have no idea how happy I am to see you laugh,” he replied, then his face changed and Elle sat up from her desk
, looking at him with concern
.

“What’s wrong, Julien?”

“It’s nothing, Elle.  I’ll take care of it.”  Julien didn’t want anything to interrupt this rare display of  silliness from his friend.  She had gone through a lot, not even just the past two months, but the entire time she had been with Ryan.

Elle sobered.  “No really, Julien.  I need to get fully back into work.  It helps.  Let me deal with whatever it is.”