Rouge: A Dark Billionaire Romance (Tattered Curtain Series)

Lacey

“Lacey! Lacey, are you okay?”

My mom’s scream shocks me like a penny in a light socket.

“Mom! Mom! Are you alright? What’s going on?!”

“Lacey! You’re okay. Thank God. You didn’t answer this morning, and I was afraid that poor girl was you!”

Kian feigns boredom as he lounges against the couch, his defined washboard abs now dry and casually engaged. But his dark-auburn eyebrow lifts slightly with interest.

“Mom, calm down. I can’t understand you. You thought who was me?”

She gulps so hard my own throat aches despite the ibuprofen from earlier. My hand drifts to my neck where Kian’s fingers were. Out of the corner of my eye, a small, infuriating smirk lifts his lips. I scowl at him in return.

“A woman was found dead this morning in one of the Rouge dressing rooms! Her face was beaten beyond recognition, but she was wearing a white bride costume and her hair was the same color as yours. I was so scared, Lacey.”

“A-a woman was murdered last night at Rouge?” My eyes widen.

Kian’s cocky expression disappears and he pushes off the couch to step closer. His thickly corded arms end in fists and I can see his heartbeat pulse in his veins. But when he stops a breath away from me, so close the heat radiating from his skin warms mine, I don’t feel afraid.

I feel protected.

Dangerous.

“Yes! At our own business! The manager informed me while I was waiting for you at the courthouse. Your father doesn’t call until the guards go on break later today, so I couldn’t talk to him. And when I couldn’t get in touch with you, either, I thought the worst!”

“Mom, I’m so sorry, but I’m okay.” My eyes meet Kian’s and the irony isn’t lost on me at what I say next. “I’m safe.”

“Where are you? Roxana insisted you were in your suite, but one of our bodyguards said you were gone, and Maeve claims you left them at the club.”

My heartbeat races. Fuck, Maeve might not remember much, but she remembers one of the most damning pieces of evidence against me.

Kian shakes his head and whispers, “She was too wrecked to remember.”

I nod at him and use his lie. “She’s covering for the fact that she got too wasted last night to remember beyond the limo. Don’t worry about me, though, I’m fine. What’s happening at Rouge now? Are the police there?”

“The poor girl is being analyzed by the crime scene investigators and coroner. The police have requested that I go to the club since I’m the effective owner in charge. I’m leaving the courthouse now so I can answer any questions they may have.”

“Do they know who could’ve done it?”

“They don’t even know the victim’s name, Lacey!”

“Okay, I’m sorry. I’m worried, too, and I’m just trying to wrap my mind around all this.”

Kian’s strong hand grips my nape and as much as I don’t want to, I let myself find comfort in him as he massages the back of my neck.

“What’s most important is that we won’t be found liable. The lead detective is one of ours so we at least have that on our side if it turns out a deal went sour.”

My lips roll between my teeth to keep from speaking my mind against an elder.

“Yup,” I mutter, knowing she won’t catch my sarcasm. “That’s what’s most important.”

If someone innocent is dead, it shouldn’t matter who’s on whose side. The murderer should be dealt with accordingly, either in-house or by the government. But if the hit was done by a high-ranking member, neither will happen.

That’s the way of it in the Garde. My family thrives in a society of handshakes and turned heads. Clay poker chips are as good as money and loyalty is only as good as the blackmail that secured it.

“Thank goodness Monroe hadn’t arrived at the courthouse yet.”

I frown. “He wasn’t there?”

“No. I called to let him know about Rouge. I’d even hoped you were with him, despite the scandal it would’ve caused.”

“What did he say when you called? Was he worried?”

There’s a pause before she answers my question. “He, um, hasn’t called back. One of his bodyguards promised to relay the message, but the Baron was preoccupied with business he had to take care of on the Strip. You know how Garde men are. Always so busy.”

Yeah, busy gambling away his fortune.

“My fiancé was so busy he couldn’t make sure I was alive?”

It should hurt that the man I was supposed to marry only cares about me when I’m worth something to him, but my disappointment lies with my mother. She wanted this arrangement about as much as I did, so the way she always sticks up for him stings.

But for some reason, Kian’s protective scowl feels like a salve on the burn. I’ve never had someone care this much about me. Why does it have to be a man my family hates?

“It’s best not to look at it that way, dear. Your father and I weren’t a love match at first, either. I know you had high hopes for your first arrangement, but I wasn’t your father’s first choice either and we grew to love one another over time. I’m… I’m sure you and Monroe will become fond of each other, too.”

“If he can spare a moment of his time to be in the same room with me.”

I block out Kian’s intense stare and shrug his hand from my shoulder. If I could flee from him and this vulnerable moment, I would. I jiggle the handle of the door halfheartedly just to make myself feel like I’m doing something.

“Speaking of sparing a moment, you couldn’t spare one to get married this morning? Where on earth were you? The location on your phone is off. We talked about how dangerous that could be. How could you be so reckless?”

“I didn’t—” A quick glance at Kian shows me the smug smile that seems permanently etched into his face.

“You?” I mouth.

He shrugs as if to say “guilty.”

Of course he did. This psychopath has obviously thought of everything in his plot for what? Revenge? But people don’t get married for revenge and the Garde uses overdoses and fake suicides to extinguish family lines. It can’t be about money because the McKennons are billionaires—

But Kian doesn’t see a cent unless he has an heir.

Without a Garde-approved marriage—which my father will never grant after Kian cast me aside—his inheritance will go to the Garde’s coffers once Finneas McKennon passes away. Status and family get you in the Garde. Power and succession keep you in.

And it seems Kian just made the biggest power play of them all.

“Lacey!”

My mother snaps me back into the conversation. “Sorry, Mom. I thought keeping my location on only applied while I was in New Orleans,” I lie. “You know, since the ruling family there refuses to join the Garde.”

“Of course it’s not just New Orleans. They honored their promise to leave you unharmed, but you need to be vigilant anywhere our enemies are. And if this was a warning, then our enemies are even in our own backyard.”

“It could’ve had nothing to do with us,” I counter, wishing it was true.

“Don’t be naive. People will likely come out of the woodwork to stop your wedding with the Baron, especially if they know he’s going to testi—”

“Okay! Okay, I’ll turn my location on. I’m sorry.” I hope like hell I’ve stopped Kian from hearing that Monroe is going to testify on my father’s behalf. With the way Kian was interrogating me minutes ago, I don’t think he knows. When he finds out, though, he’ll have even more reason to prevent me from doing what I have to for my family.

“Good. Where are you now? I’ll send a bodyguard—”

“—I’m hungover and getting a coffee near the Bellagio,” I blurt out, instantly confused with myself that I didn’t just tell the truth so a bodyguard could come save me.

“Lacey O’Shea, have you lost your head? First turning off your location, then getting so drunk you get hungover, and now you’re getting coffee across the street from the McKennon Hotel? What if one of them—or God forbid Kian—sees you the day you’re supposed to get married?”

Kian snorts. I cover the receiver quickly and turn away from his prying attention before responding.

“They can’t hurt me in broad daylight. Besides, I’m leaving now.”

“When you do, turn your location back on and call Monroe. Beg him for another chance.”

“Beg him?” I grimace and look around to see if Kian heard that, but he’s gone. I’m alone. My mind races at what I should do, but my mother keeps talking, distracting me.

“Women of the Garde do what we have to in order to advance the elite of the elite. The men may rule this country, but the women rule the men.”

“Unless the men kill us first,” I mutter.

“Only if we give them a reason,” she argues, as if that makes our reality better. “You know what’s at stake. Your father needs you. What if the Baron decides not to testify because you’ve acted foolishly?”

My breath catches in my chest. “C-can he even do that? He wouldn’t, right?”

“Why wouldn’t he? If he refuses to marry you right away to punish us, how long will the Garde tolerate an inmate as Keeper? If they depose your father, what will keep the Baron interested since he would no longer be next in line to lead? He’s already done us a favor by offering to marry you when no one else would. If the Baron doesn’t want you and your father is usurped, we’ll be extinguished.”

My heart races as she speaks. For the first time, I’m actually grateful for Kian’s promise to protect me. Even though the Baron has said he’ll testify to free my father, Monroe has never promised me protection if our marriage falls through. If I do whatever it takes to save my father, will Kian still save me?

“It seems I’ve finally made you think of someone besides yourself. I know you’ll do the right thing. I’ve just arrived at Rouge, and I have to go. Your father and I are counting on you.”

With that, she hangs up. I lower the phone, warm in my hand—almost as hot as my cheeks over the revelations my mother just dropped.

What the hell am I going to do?

The sound of dress shoes on marble echoes louder in the living room until Kian is just feet away from me. I follow the black Ferragamo loafers all the way up his tall form to take in his sharp charcoal-gray business suit. It accentuates his broad shoulders, making him look bigger than he already is. His dark-red tie has fine silver threading that brings out the shine in the gold flecks in his hazel eyes. His gaze keeps mine as he casually flips a silver poker chip in the air and pockets it. He’s so fucking intense that my lower belly flares with need. But that fire quickly blazes to anger once he opens his overbearing mouth.

“Did I hear you say the word ‘beg’? What’s so at stake that the great Lacey O’Shea has to beg for the old Baron to marry her?” there’s a tinge of barely controlled rage in his voice that brings out his light accent. It dances under my skin in a shiver, but his mocking question grates on my nerves.

“None of your business,” I mutter. “All you need to know is that whatever we did last night has to be undone. We can get an annulment—”

“The fuck we will.” He pulls me so hard against his chest my breasts nearly spill from my corset. His intoxicating smoky amber scent overwhelms me and I nearly miss that he’s still talking. “Everything you do is my business now. Especially if there were parts of last night that can’t be undone.”

Dread creeps over me like ice. “W-what do you mean? What did we do that can’t be undone?”

He looks down at my rapidly breathing chest with appreciation before bending to whisper in my ear. His short, coarse facial hair gently tickles my cheek.

“We were skin to skin, tine. There was nothing between us last night, and there never will be.”

“Nothing between us…” My heart stalls out. I remember thinking that we missed a step, but I was so caught up in the heat of the moment… “Oh my god. We didn’t use a condom. Kian, I’m not on the pill!”

He shrugs like the smug bastard he is. “I raised the stakes, hoping it’d pay off. Looks like I won this hand. You may hate me for it, but I don’t regret a single thing—”

The sting in my fingers tingles before I even register that I’ve slapped him.