Page 16 of The Girlfriend Card (Vegas Sin #4)

Always Hungry League

Ottavia

D ad’s satisfaction was evident as he peered at me over the rim of his wine glass, grinning and swaying his shoulders. “I’d say that went well.”

“What the hell’s the matter with you?”

“The matter with me ?” He chuckled in disbelief. “I just did you a favor, princess. That kid is a loser. He’s made it this far in life just coasting on his dad’s reputation, but now everyone knows it. He’s peaked. He’ll never amount to anything. So cut your losses and run.”

I rose from my seat at the table, and said, “You don’t know him like I do.”

“Ottavia. Sit down,” he ordered sternly.

“No,” I said, my voice filled with determination. I tossed my napkin to the table. “I’m done listening to you belittle him.”

I turned and hurried out of the dining room, my heels clicking on the marble floor.

“Hey. Hey! Ottavia, don’t you dare walk away from me. Where are you going?”

“I can’t stay here,” I declared matter-of-factly. “I’m leaving with Dakota.”

“Don’t go after him, Ottavia,” he warned.

“You don’t run my life!”

“Oh, really? Are you sure about that?” He taunted, yelling after me.

Whatever, I thought, picking up my pace.

I ran out of the house just in time to see Dakota settle into his car, his hand reaching for the door.

“Hey, Dakota!” I yelled as I ran down the front steps. “Wait for me! I’m coming!”

I was worried he wouldn’t hear me, or worse, pretend he couldn’t hear me.

But to my relief, the hockey player heard me just before he shut the door, and climbed out.

Leaning against his car with his hands buried in his pockets, he patiently waited for me, watching as I hurriedly descended the stairs.

Dakota was undeniably an attractive man— especially when wearing a suit, as I’d learned when he picked me up tonight—but it wasn’t until that moment I truly realized the depth of his beauty.

It was a tragic sort, with a flicker of pain in his eyes, his shoulders slumped, his spirit dejected.

Yet it was this vulnerability that made him the most strikingly handsome man I’d ever laid my eyes on.

I threw myself into his arms, hoping and wishing I could comfort him.

“I’m so sorry about that,” I whispered. “My dad is a complete asshole.”

“Aw. Hey. Don’t be sorry.” I was hoping he’d squeeze me tight, but he only gave me a half-hearted hug. “Nothing he said was wrong.”

Hearing him say that nearly shattered my heart. “Don’t say that.”

“Nah … it’s true. I really fucked up this time.” Dakota pulled away from me, and nudged my shoulder with his fist, as if we were old pals. I sensed him trying to distance himself from me. I understood why, but that didn’t make it hurt any less.

“But hey. Thanks for pretending to be Jane,” he said, forcing a smile to mask the pain in his eyes. “You really stuck it out. You didn’t have to do that, you know. You could’ve thrown me under the bus. I would’ve understood.”

I shook my head. “I wouldn’t do that. I said I’d help you. Besides, this mess isn’t just your fault. I played a part in it, too.”

“I don’t know about that. But hey. Thanks again. I really appreciate it.” He reached out and shook my hand, but his grip felt cool and listless. “I should probably get going. I don’t want to cause any more problems for you with your dad. So … bye.”

“ Bye ?” I couldn’t believe he was going to leave without me. As awful as that scene was, I felt like we had so much to talk about now.

But Dakota forced his eyes away from me, climbed into his car, and pulled the door shut.

The engine came to life with a growl, filling the air with its sporty rumble.

I stood there, a mix of emotions swirling inside me—stunned, angry, hurt.

We had so much to talk about, to learn about each other!

Was he really going to let my dad scare him off?

No!

A surge of righteous indignation filled me, and before Dakota could drive off, I jumped in front of his car to keep him from leaving. Rounding the car, I defiantly climbed into the passenger side.

“Take me back to the city,” I demanded.

“Ottavia. I can’t.”

“You can’t just leave me here. I don’t want to stay here.”

He sighed. “You heard the man. I can’t be with you anymore.”

“Be with me anymore?” I giggled. “Please tell me you don’t actually think we’re dating now, Dakota. I mean, sure, we were convincing … but we weren’t that convincing.”

Dakota didn’t laugh, but I could detect the faintest hint of a smile on his lips. “You know what I mean. Besides, your dad doesn’t know we’re not actually dating.”

“So what?”

“So … it’d probably be best if you stayed here.” He shrugged. “You heard what he said.”

I folded my arms and pouted. “I don’t care what he said.”

“Easy for you to say when he doesn’t control your financial future.”

I let out a sharp laugh. “Are you kidding? You think my dad doesn’t try to control me with money?”

Dakota cracked a grin. I was so glad to see his handsome smile again, butterflies fluttered in my stomach.

“I guess he’s probably pretty nuts about money with you too, eh?” he asked.

“Um, yeah. You have no idea.”

Dakota hesitated for a moment, his grip tightening on the steering wheel. I could tell he was wrestling with his own conflicting emotions. “You’re not gonna get out of my car, are you?”

“I just found out you’re a professional athlete. And you just found out I’m the daughter of a billionaire.” I fastened my seat belt. “Like it or not, I’m not going anywhere, ’cause we’ve got some things to talk about.”

He grinned as he put the car in gear. “You know this might cost me my career, right?”

“You’ll be fine. He’s just trying to scare you away.” I waved at the road ahead. “C’mon, drive! Let’s go!”

Dakota accelerated down the drive, the heaviness inside me slowly disintegrating as the mansion shrank in my side-view mirror.

Once we made it past the security gate, the open road stretched out before us, and we were free —and Dakota gunned it, engine growling and tires screeching, as we peeled out and left my suffocating home behind.

“Woooooooo!” I cheered, an exhilarating rush of wind tousling my hair through the open window.

Unable to contain his pent-up frustrations any longer, Dakota let out a deep and primal yell. I joined him and screamed, too, our voices mingling in a cathartic symphony of raw emotion.

“Fucking hell! ” Dakota exclaimed. “What was that?! ”

“Oh, the usual. Just my father being his controlling asshole self.”

“Is he always that big of a dick?!”

I shrugged. “As long as you’re doing exactly what he wants, he’s actually pretty nice. But the second you go against his plan, or make him angry … that’s what you get.”

“That is fucked, ” Dakota said. “Okay. Like. Yeah, I’m an idiot.

And I shouldn’t have lied. Of course I never intended for it to go this far.

But dude, I’m not the only fucking player that went out to the bar that night.

A whole bunch of guys came with me.” He let out a heavy sigh.

“But I’m the moron who climbed on that bull, trying to make everyone laugh, and the rest is history. ”

“Why didn’t you tell my dad that? It might’ve helped.”

“What, and make all the other boys undergo the inquisition, too?” He huffed. “I wouldn’t do that to my friends.”

Touched, I wore a frown. “You’re sweet, Dakota. You’ve got honor.”

“Pft.” He rolled his eyes. “Lot of good honor’s going to do me when I’m in the AHL.”

“The AHL is the minor league, right?” I asked, and he nodded. “What’s AHL stand for?”

“American Hockey League,” he said. “But us NHLers like to call it the Always Hungry League.”

I laughed. “Why? Because the pay is worse?”

“Oh, babe, it’s not just the pay that’s worse. It’s the rinks, the facilities, the hotels, the fact that you have to travel everywhere on a shitty, cramped, smelly bus …”

“You know, I still can’t believe you’re a pro hockey player.”

“ Me? I can’t believe you’re a billionaire. ” He scoffed. “Shit, no wonder I had such a hard time talking you into this. Here I was, thinking I’m some big shot, throwing all this money at you … yet you didn’t even flinch! I couldn’t believe it.”

I couldn’t help but giggle. “Hey, I tried telling you.”

“Uh!” He jerked his head, shooting me a wild look. “No, you didn’t. If you’d told me, it would’ve sounded more like this: ‘Hey, Dakota, there’s no amount of money you can interest me with, because I’m a freakin’ billionaire heiress, and you’re just a lowly peasant.’ ”

“Peasant?!” I gasped with stunned laughter and gave his tummy a poke—which was a mistake, because I stubbed my finger against his rock-solid stomach. “I would never call you that! I hope you know, I don’t think that way about people.”

“I know, I know.” He flashed me his handsome smile.

“But you gotta admit, you were sending some mixed signals. I mean, what kind of billionaire’s daughter is looking for jobs on Craigslist and applying for jobs at Starbucks and riding around in Ubers?

” His face drained. “Wait a minute. That wasn’t an Uber, was it? ”

“Nope! That’s my driver. His name is Florin.”

“She has her own driver.” He shook his head in disbelief. “What the fuck.”

“Hey, I’m just as shocked as you are that you play pro hockey for a living.” I smiled at him. “I think that’s really cool, Dakota.”

“Yeah, well … don’t get too used to it …”

I patted his leg. “All you have to do is train hard this summer, and you’ll get traded, right?”

“And try to survive the assassination,” he joked.

I cocked my head at him. “Assassination?”

“You know your dad is a mafia boss, right?” he asked.

“And with this stunt tonight, I basically rolled into The Godfather’s mansion, slapped him across the cheek, and told him I’m boning his daughter.

Then , after he warned me to stop seeing you, I left with you.

” He stole a side-eyed glance at me. “Worst part is? He’s gonna kill me … and we never even boned.”

“Dakota!” I howled with laughter. “He’s not going to kill you. My dad isn’t in the mafia.”

“Then how come the whole world thinks he does?!”

“Because he’s rich and Italian, and he owns casinos in Las Vegas. Also, he enjoys the rumors, so he sort of fosters the image that he might be connected.”

“HMM! And why would he do that, Ottavia?”

“Because it gives him a certain power when everyone’s afraid of him.”

“You know what else gives him a certain power? Whacking people who piss him off!”

I laughed. “Oh, please! Look, my dad might be an asshole, but he’s not in the mafia and he’s never ‘whacked’ anybody in his life.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes!”

“How do you know?”

“Because I’m his daughter.”

“So?”

“So I think I’d know, Dakota . ”

“Ever seen The Sopranos? Meadow had no clue Tony was the mob boss.”

“That’s not true!” I said. “Meadow didn’t want to believe her dad was in the mob, true, because she grappled with her dad being a bad person. But deep down? She knew.”

“Hmm.” Dakota briefly took his eyes off the road to give me a piercing look, his eyes filled with unspoken implications. “Ya don’t say.”

I clicked my tongue. “I know what you’re thinking. And no.”

“But be honest.” Dakota paused. “Deep down. Do you have any suspicions about Sal? Any at all?”

I hesitated to answer, letting the silence between us grow charged.

Slowly, I turned to him, my eyes troubled and wary.

“Well … honestly …?” I began, speaking gravely. Dakota’s anxiety seemed to grow by the second, his breath caught in his throat. “Let’s just say, the less you know about it, the better.”

I watched Dakota’s eyes widen and heard him loudly swallow, his gulp audible in the tense silence. He totally bought it—and I couldn’t hold back the laughter anymore.

“I’m kidding!”

“Holy shit.” Dakota’s hand flew to his chest as if he were trying to calm his racing heart. “You can’t do that to me, Ottavia! I can’t tell when you’re acting.”

“Sorry! I couldn’t help it,” I said between bursts of laughter.

“Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up.” He tutted, pretending to be annoyed. “You know I’m gonna get you back, right?”

“Oh yeah?” I asked, practically daring him.

“Oh, yeah,” he answered emphatically, which felt like a promise.

“Well, I can’t wait,” I said, eager to see what Dakota had in store for me.