Silver and Chrome: A Bad Boy MC Romance (40 page)

Chapter Twenty-Three

It
’
s
funny how you can think you
’
re
about as angry as possible about something, and then something else happens to
show you just how much more angry you can get.  The sound of Denise
’
s
name rolling off the tongue of that woman gave me that particular feeling.  I
had been angry at Chase about the house and his lies, but then finding out that
his bitch of an ex was involved just made it that much worse.

What burns me even more was being forced
to sit in the limousine with Chase as it slowly makes its way through midday
Vegas traffic, back to his hotel room where the very last of my belongings
are.  I’ve already lost most of what I arrived in this city with, thanks to
Harrison
’
s
betrayal
— he took that bag back with him to Toronto –
and I
’
m
not willing to be reduced to the clothes on my back once again because Chase is
a liar as well.  Even though most of the clothes I have back at his place are
ones he
’
s bought for me. 
Fuck him, I
’
m taking them with
me anyway.  Not that I have a clue where I
’
m
going to go.

“
Lila, can we please just
talk about this?
”

I continue to stare out the window.

“
Okay, well I
’
m
just going to talk then, and you can listen.
” 
He
pauses, but when he gets no response from me he continues. 
“
The
whole thing with the house
…
it
was supposed to be a simple little thing that got away from me.  You were
asking to see it, adamant, even, and the reality was I had nothing to show
you.  My lifestyle, it doesn’t require having a home.  I mean, in the past I’ve
had one, but then I realized that I just didn’t need it.  It didn’t make
sense.  So I basically just started living in hotel rooms.
”

Despite myself, I can
’
t
keep quiet. 
“
I asked you the first
night we were together whether you lived in that hotel room, you said no.
”

“
Because I don
’t. 
I don’
t live in any particular room.  Each time
I go somewhere else I check out, and when I come back to Vegas I check back
in.  Sometimes I get that room, sometimes I get a different one.  There
’
s
no point in paying for it if I
’
m
not there, despite the favorable rate they give me.
” 
When I raise my eyebrow, he explains. 
“
Vegas
is notorious for comping gamblers things like drinks, meals, or even rooms in
order to get them to come to their hotel and lose money at their casino.  With
me it
’
s a little different,
since I play poker against other players, not the house.  I don
’
t
lose money to them.  Still, because of my
…
because
I
’
m on television and I
have a certain amount of recognition, they like me to stay at their hotel.  For
the fans.  Because of that, I pay a lot less per night than the posted rate.
”

“
So famous people get
money and stuff thrown at them, that
’
s
what you
’
re saying.  The
rich get richer.  Got it.  What
’
s
that got to do with Denise and your lies?
”

Chase lets out a heavy sigh but doesn’t
respond to my taunt. 
“
Anyway, it seemed
obvious to me that you put a lot of value in a home.  It didn’t make sense to
you that someone would live in hotels.  I guess I wanted to impress you.
”

“
With what?  A big house? 
You thought that would impress me?
”

Chase shrugs, looking down and breaking my
hard stare. 
“
Denise is a real estate
agent.  She deals primarily in big, expensive houses.  I asked her to find me a
house that was on the market that didn’t have any personal stuff in it, so that
I can pretend like it was mine and impress you.  Not with how fancy it was.  I
know the money doesn’t impress you.  I only thought it should be big because I
thought you
’
d expect that of
someone like me.  But the point was more about the stability.
”

“
What?
” 
I
’
m confused.

“Lila, I
’
m
used to people knowing who I am.  I
’
m
not trying to sound conceited, but especially in Vegas I
’
m
usually recognized.  When I met you, you had no idea who I was.  That was a
breath of fresh air, to be honest.  But at the same time, because of how things
ended with Harrison, you seemed to have a pretty dim view of guys who gamble in
general.
” 
He looks back up at me and when he sees my glare
hasn’t disappeared, he adds,
“
Maybe
you still do.
”

I continue to wait silently, watching him
with pursed lips as he flounders through his explanation. 

“
Anyway, I guess it seems
stupid now, but I thought that if I had a house you wouldn’t think that I was
just some degenerate gambler who was at risk of losing everything on the roll
of the dice, but would
think
I had more stability in my life because I had a place of my own.  When I first
set things up with Denise, I just thought it would be a onetime thing.  I
thought you and I were just having a fling, and I
’
d
take you to this house and prove that not all gamblers were like your ex, and
eventually we
’
d end up going our
separate ways.  But something happened in between when I set it all up and when
we actually got to the house.
”

“
What was that?
”

“
I started to fall for
you.
” 
He says it quietly, but he lifts his head to look at
me again.

I let out a slow breath, shaking my head
slowly.  Lies, lies, lies.  You can
’
t
build a relationship on a foundation of lies.  My heart is fighting with my
head, but I
’
m careful to keep
the frown on my face.  Lying comes so easily to Chase.  How do I know what is
real and what isn’t
?

“
After we left the house I
realized that I didn’t want you to leave, but when you agreed to stay I
realized I had put myself in a position where I had to maintain a story that I
thought was only going to be a onetime thing.  So I had to keep making
appointments to see it.
”

“
And then you just went
and bought it?  To what, keep the lie going forever?
”

“
The reason I don
’
t
have a place I call home now is because I didn’t have anyone to live there with
me.  What good is a big house all to myself?  But over this last week I’ve
started to be able to envision a time where maybe that will no longer be the
case.  I decided I was being short sighted in not having a house.  So I bought
it.  That was the real reason I met with Denise secretly yesterday.  I was
signing the papers.
”

“
There are still too many
lies,
”
I say, turning back away from him to stare out the
window again.  I hear him sigh and lean back, the leather of the seats creaking
against his weight.

The strip speeds by now that traffic has
picked up.  The neon lights of Vegas seemed washed out against the midday sun,
their glamor and glitz less impressive when they aren’t contrasted against the
backdrop of a darkened night.  Everything in Vegas is designed, on some level,
to fool people.  To make them hand over whatever is most important to them, and
to do it with a smile on their faces.  Chase is no exception.  He is Vegas,
putting on a show for me, the tourist.  He shows me what he thinks I want to
see in order to get me to give him whatever it is he wants.  And like every
fool who has ever flown here thinking he
w
as
going to beat the house, I fell for it.

It
’
s
time this tourist takes what little is left in her pockets and goes home. 

Chapter Twenty-Four

The
airport is busy, but I only have a carry-on bag that I was able to shove all of
my clothes into so it
’
s
easy to navigate my way through the crowds.  Memories of my final conversation
back at Chase
’
s hotel room are
echoing through my head as I walk.  They
’
re
too fresh to ignore, but hopefully time will let them fade.

“
Please don
’
t
go,”
Chase had pleaded.  For the first time I
think I saw a glimmer of feeling cross his face, but for all I knew he could
plaster that on just as easily as keeping it off.

“
I wasted so much time
with Harrison and his lies,
”
I
said, shaking my head. 
“
I
don’
t want to waste any more on yours.
”

“
I only kept quiet about
the house because I was falling for you.  I thought it would make being with
someone like me more acceptable after Harrison.
”

“Don
’
t
you see why that doesn’t make it any better?
”
I argued. 
“
You
lied to trick me into thinking you
’
re
somebody you
’
re
not.  How do we base a relationship on that?
”

“No, no, no,”
he
protested. 
“You don
’
t
understand.  I wasn’t trying to trick you.  I am that person.  I want stability
and a home.  I just haven
’
t
been in a relationship where anyone mattered to me.  Until now.  But you were
so against me being a gambler, I just wanted to prove to you that I was more
than that
…”

“
With a lie.  And worst of
all, you included Denise in it.  She knew that you were lying to me, she was
helping you.
”

“Lila-”

It was at that point that I walked out of
his hotel room, slamming the door behind me and catching a cab to the airport. 
I knew his driver would have taken me, but I
’
d
taken enough handouts from Chase Anderson.  This plane ticket is the last thing
I
’
m going to accept, and
only because I have no other choice.  First thing I need to do when I get home
is find a job. 

After a good long cry.

I know it
’
s
coming.  I’ve
been swallowing back a sob ever since the
ride back to his hotel when I had first decided to go home.  My chest is heavy,
and I feel stupid.  Not just because I let yet another man lie to me, but that
I fell so hard and so fast for Chase.  It
’
s
only been a week, and yet the feelings I have for him feel almost stronger than
what I felt for Harrison after months.  I let myself get distracted by a week
of fun, my worries left behind in another country, gathering dust as they
waited for me to come back to reality.  Maybe in the back of my mind I had
hoped
I
’
d never have to go back
to them.  That Chase would be my knight in shining armor who would keep me from
ever having to face my problems again.  That
’
s
why I feel stupid.  The fairy tale always ends.

The best thing I can do is learn from my
mistake this time, since I didn’t learn from it after Harrison.  So as soon as
I get to my gate and sit down to wait for boarding, I pull my phone out and
shuffle through the settings until I figure out how to block a number.  I
’
m
not letting Chase hound me the way Harrison did.  It just makes things harder. 
If I end things with a clean break, it
’
ll
be easier.

My chest heaves again and I can feel the
sting of tears in my eyes, but I
’
m
able to blink them back again.  Get a hold of yourself, Lila.  You’ve only
known him a week.

Not like Denise.  How long has he known
her?  Long enough to include her in his plans to dupe me.  And I bet that bitch
loved going along with it.  How could he not see her for who she truly is?  Love
is blind, so does that mean he still loves her?  If he does, he really isn’t
the man I thought he was and it
’
s
a good thing I
’
m getting away. 
Including her in his plan to fool me makes the whole thing so much worse.  I
could have almost forgiven him for the house, if she hadn’t been involved.  Now
I just feel like a total
fool.

I scroll through my phone as a distraction
and come across Evelyn
’
s
texts from the other day.  I never did call her back to hear her news.  I’ve
been a shitty friend and roommate to her this week, so wrapped up in the wild
ride I was on with Chase that I didn’t even care about what
’
s
going on in her life  The fact that she hasn’t sent me anything since tells me
that she
’
s likely pissed. 
I consider calling her back now, but I
’
m
worried I’ll end up breaking down and crying in the middle of the airport as
soon as she asks about Chase.  I
’
m
sure we can both wait a few more hours.  I’ll be home after dinner, and
hopefully she
’
ll be up for
staying in with a bottle of wine.

I quickly fire off a text to let her know
I
’
m coming.

10:51 AM Lila: Hey Eve, I
’
m
coming home tonight.  I should be home a little after 8. You have plans?

There
’
s
no response for a few minutes, so I sit and watch the people around me, waiting
for their flight.  Most of the faces look tired, depressed.  I imagine Vegas
does that to a lot of people.  Sucks them dry of everything they came with and
then spits them back home when there
’
s
nothing left.  For most, they got off lucky where all they lost was some money.
 I can
’
t help but feeling I lost
a lot more. 

It was only a week, I remind myself
again.  Stop being so melodramatic.

My phone buzzes with a new message. 

10:58 AM Evelyn: Wow, look who it is.  I
wasn’t
sure I’
d
ever hear from you again.

Yep.  She
’
s
pissed.

10:59 AM Lila: I
’
m
so sorry for being a shitty friend lately.  Can we stay in and split a bottle
of wine tonight?

She makes me wait for a response again.

11:05 AM Evelyn: I just checked twitter. 
I’ll
buy a couple bottles.

I haven
’
t
a clue what she
’
s talking about so
I flip over to my twitter app.  It
’
s
still on Chase
’
s profile, and his
latest tweet is only about 30 minutes old.

Chase Anderson @chaseanderson - 31m

People who say you should live life
without regrets must never have hurt someone who meant everything to them
…

I switch back to my messages and type one
last one.

11:08 AM Lila: Maybe get 3.  I’ll
see you soon and thx

I have to wipe the screen before I can hit
send, my tears have splattered against the glass.  So much for waiting until I
get home.  It
’
s going to be a
long flight.