Chapter 1

The spilled champagne soaked into the carpet, a dark stain spreading like a shadow. Tara Lawrence pointed a manicured finger, her voice sharp enough to cut through the lounge' s low hum.

"On your knees. Clean it up with a napkin."

I stood still, my tray balanced perfectly on one hand. I looked from her thousand-dollar shoes to her smug face, then back to the mess. A simple apology for the accidental spill wasn' t enough for her. She needed a show.

"No," I said, my voice calm and even.

Tara' s eyes widened. She wasn' t used to being told no. "What did you just say to me?"

"I said no. I' ll get a cloth and cleaning supplies, but I' m not kneeling."

Her companion, Caleb Scott, the heir to the casino empire that owned this very lounge, watched the scene with a bored, amused smirk. He leaned back in his velvet armchair, a king observing his court. He didn't intervene. He was enjoying this.

"You' ll do as I say, you little bitch, or you won' t have a job by morning," Tara hissed, her voice low and venomous.

I didn' t flinch. I needed this job, but my dignity wasn' t for sale. "Then I guess I' ll be looking for a new job."

I placed the tray on a nearby table, turned, and walked away, feeling the weight of every eye in the room on my back. The silence was heavy, broken only by Tara' s furious gasp. I didn' t look back.

The next day, my manager called me into his office. I expected to be fired. Instead, he told me Caleb Scott had requested to see me. Personally.

I found him in a private penthouse suite, the kind I usually only delivered room service to. The city of Las Vegas glittered below us through floor-to-ceiling windows.

He was lounging on a white leather sofa, wearing a casual silk shirt that probably cost more than my month' s rent. He didn't waste time with pleasantries.

"I have a proposition for you, Jennifer," he said, his voice smooth as aged whiskey. "Be my girlfriend."

I stared at him, my mind racing. This made no sense. A man like him didn't ask out a cocktail waitress, especially not after she publicly defied his friend. This was a trap.

"Why?" I asked, keeping my tone neutral.

He chuckled, a low, condescending sound. "Let' s just say I was impressed by your nerve. And Tara... she needs to be taught a lesson about her temper."

It was a lie, I knew it. A flimsy, transparent lie. But in his eyes, I saw something else: an opportunity. A dangerous, risky, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

This was a game. And if I was going to play, I was going to play to win.

"What' s in it for me?" I asked, my voice steady.

A slow smile spread across his face. He liked that. He thought he understood me.

"Everything," he promised. "I' ll give you everything."