Page 36 of King of Desire (Kings of Las Vegas #2)

Ava

I step off the bus, the stop only a block from my office building and pull my phone from my purse.

Dialing the phone, I huff a breath of impatience as I straighten my skirt, striding down the crowded Vegas street.

This time of day, the tourists aren’t clogging up the sidewalks as much as the army of workers coming off a night of work or starting the day shift.

But either way, they hustle, jostling each other and me as they pass.

I can’t bother with the irritation, my attention on willing Cassis to finally pick up her phone.

The line rings several times, finally going to voicemail. My eye close for a split second. “Cassie,” I beg into the phone. “It’s been days. Where are you? Call me…” I hesitate. “I’m worried.”

I frown as I hang up, rubbing a spot of tension between my brows. It’s not the first time Cassie has gone missing. She usually resurfaces after an epic binge of some kind or another.

But I thought those days had passed. That she’d cleaned up and was ready to live a straight, healthy life. She’d taken a job as a receptionist at a small company that I placed her in myself.

Frowning, I enter the lobby of my office, the air conditioning instantly cooling my skin.

At twenty-five, I’ve been working here since I was nineteen when I first applied to be one of the temps.

I impressed the intake officer enough to get referred to HR, where I was placed on staff here instead.

I managed to get a college degree at night, while working full-time, while I also worked my way up the ranks at the agency.

Another city probably wouldn’t support a temp agency of this size, but in Vegas, temporary positions are a big business.

With the amount of workers needed to run the tourist industry, every big company in Vegas uses us for staffing.

I run one of our smallest departments, nannies. My boss has hinted at giving me a bigger sector, but I’m happy with the work I do and don’t want to change.

Placing hired nannies with the right family is a job for which I feel intimately acquainted, and I work tirelessly to get it right. And while technically we’re a temp agency, the percentage of employees who take on permanent positions from our placements is amazingly high.

So every placement is done with care.

I smile at the receptionists and make my way up the elevator, bypassing the kitchen on my floor, to make my way straight to my desk.

Setting my bag with my lunch on the surface, I pick up my work phone, dialing the small insurance company where I placed Cassie.

“Brightside Insurance,” a receptionist, who is not Cassie, answers.

“Hi, this is Ava Tantor from Temps For You. I’m calling to speak with Walter, please.”

“Mister Cartwright? He’s not in yet. Can I take a message?”

“Please.” I give her my information and then I take a quick breath. “But also, we placed the last girl in your position. Cassie.”

“Oh yeah. I heard about her. Left suddenly…”

My heart starts to pound in my chest. “Any idea where she went?”

“No.” The girl on the other end of the phone sounds skeptical, like it’s weird that I’m asking.

“She left incomplete paperwork here at the temp agency,” I quickly cover. “Trying to track her down.”

“Oh,” she sounds relieved. “Right. All I know is she came in last week and said she needed a month off. Mr. Cartwright let her go and then hired me. I’m his niece.”

Shit. Shit. Shit. “Please give him the message. Thanks for the information.” I hang up, the knot in my stomach so tight I feel like I might be sick.

Picking up the phone, I dial another number I know by heart.

“Steve Imperian, investigator for hire.”

Steve is a guy we use here at work pretty regularly. If a temp files a complaint against an employer, we do our due diligence to find out who is actually at fault.

But I’ve used him privately to track Cassie on a couple of occasions.

I make good money for my age, and I live pretty simply. Small apartment, no car, thrift my clothes when I can.

I save half of my income every month in order to protect myself from any kind of disaster.

But on more than one occasion, I’ve used that money to bail Cassie out. From hiring investigators, to paying off some drug dealer she’s got herself in deep with, to sending her to rehab that she didn’t have insurance to cover.

She hates it when I spend my money on her, so I try not to offer unless it’s really bad. Cassie sees my help as a red line under her personal failures, I think, like I’m not trying to underline them in pen.

Not at all. She’s my only family, and she had it way tougher than me. But also, and we both know this, if shit were really going down, Cassie is the one who’d save my ass. We’re a team.

“Hey Steve, it’s Ava from Temps For You.”

“Hey gorgeous, good to hear from you. How’s it going? Did you change your mind about having dinner with me?”

“I’ll get back to you on dinner,” I answer, my voice laced with the tension I’m barely able to hold in. “I’ve got a problem I’m hoping you can help with.”

“Cassie again?” I hear his chair squeak as he sits up. “What is it this time?”

With a sigh, I tell him the little I know.

He listens silently, hearing everything I’ve got to say before he taps his finger on his desk. “Honestly, I wouldn’t worry too much.”

“You think?”

“I’ll look into it for sure, and you know I’ll get you answers, but hear me out. If she asked for time off, planned something in advance, she’s fine.”

His words really do make me feel better and the knot in my stomach unwinds. “You’re right. Maybe she just fell in with a group who decided to tour the country on a bus, or was taking a trip to Ibiza, or…” I trail off as I try to think of another adventure she hasn’t been on.

Steve laughs. “I’ll get you answers. Same rate as always.”

“Thanks, Steve.”

I’m about to hang up when I hear him hesitate. “Ava.”

My mouth twitches as I wait for what’s coming. Hopefully not another dinner invitation. Steve’s cute enough but I’m just… “Yeah?”

“Are you sure you want to do this? Track her down?”

I bite my tongue, wanting to tell him it’s none of his business. I’m not paying him for advice. I draw in a slow breath of air through my nose and then let it out. “She’s my sister, Steve. The only one I’ve got.”

“All right,” he says in a voice that makes it clear he’s shaking his head. “I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”

“Thanks.” I hang up, relieved I’ll have answers soon. The nice thing about giving him so much work is he’ll be quick. We’re a priority customer.

I’m about to return to the kitchen to put my lunch in the fridge and get started with my day, when my phone rings.

Stopping, I pick it up. “Temps For You, this is Ava, how may I help you?”

“Ava,” a man says on the other side of the line with the deep kind of baritone that moves through me like a shiver. “What a beautiful name.”

I’ve heard that line a million times, but it’s the first time that it makes me feel something other than irritation. A warmth slides through my stomach settling between my legs.

I don’t date. I’ve tried a couple times, but it doesn’t really work for me. I can’t ever relax enough to enjoy it.

But this man, with his accent and his honey-rich voice has me skipping a beat, wondering why I don’t give it another try.

“Thank you. Very kind. Who do I have the pleasure of speaking with?”

“Dimitri Ivanov.”

“Mr. Ivanov?—”

“Call me, Dimitri.”

“Dimitri,” the name slides off my tongue. “How can I help you?”

“I’m hoping to hire a nanny.”

I find myself biting my lip before I answer. “In that case, you’ve called the right person.”

He laughs, warm and low and the ache between my legs actually throbs. “Excellent.”

“I’d like to collect some information, Dimitri, and then I can schedule a visit to your home to complete the intake interview.”

“How long will all this take? I’m in a bind with my daughter and her care.”

“I can send someone as early as tomorrow for short-term care, but if you’re looking for someone you hope to make permanent, the more time I take with the placement, the more likely the pairing will be successful.”

He pauses for a moment. “A short-term option would be most helpful. And we can certainly proceed with your interview. But I’m a quick decision-maker myself, and if I could meet the candidates, I’d know very quickly which would suit my family.”

My lips purse. I take pride in being good at my job.

In addition, when employers choose incorrectly, they forget they are actually to blame.

“Any possibility we can discuss this when we meet.” I flip open my calendar.

“I’ve got a spot open at three-thirty this afternoon if you’d like to move forward with the intake? ”

“That sounds excellent. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Dimitri, I’ll see you then.” I shift, wondering if he’s half as delicious as he sounds.

He makes this masculine rumble in his throat that has me pulsing all over again. “I look forward to it, Ava. This afternoon.”

The line goes dead. But it’s at least a minute before I place the receiver back in its cradle and start for the kitchen. It’s not even nine in the morning and this day is already crazy.

Then again, it’s got all kinds of potential to turn absolutely insane.