The Good Bad Boy: A forbidden Mafia romance, page 1
The Good Bad Boy
Sallie Steadman
Copyright © 2023 by Sallie Steadman
All rights reserved.
No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.
Contents
1. Chapter One Thea
2. Chapter Two Scott
3. Chapter Three Thea
4. Chapter Four Scott
5. Chapter Five Thea
6. Chapter Six Scott
7. Chapter Seven Thea
8. Chapter Eight Scott
9. Chapter Nine Thea
10. Chapter Ten Scott
11. Chapter Eleven Thea
12. Chapter Twelve Scott
13. Chapter Thirteen Thea
14. Chapter Fourteen Scott
15. Chapter Fifteen Thea
16. Chapter Sixteen Scott
17. Chapter Seventeen Thea
18. Chapter Eighteen Scott
19. Chapter Nineteen Thea
20. Epiloge Thea
Chapter One Thea
As Shelby climbed into the car, I waved her off and turned to walk back into the hotel. Just then, I was confronted by two burly men, one of them stepping out in front of me.
"I’m sorry, we’re not booking in guests yet—"
The man grabbed me by the collar and yanked me towards him. My heart dropped. Over the years, I’d had some trouble living in Vegas, everyone had, but there was nobody here to help me right now, and I didn’t even know what I had apparently done to piss these guys off.
"Where’s your brother?" He demanded, shoving his face close to mine. I could smell his stinking breath like he had been drinking and smoking all night long. How long had he been waiting for someone to come out, someone they could intimidate into giving them what they wanted?
"I—I don’t know," I blurted out. It was the truth. I knew Mark had been in a meeting this evening. It was why he hadn’t joined Shelby and me for drinks, but beyond that, I had no idea.
"Come on," the man demanded, shaking me. I felt like a ragdoll in his hands, unable to do anything but go along with whatever he wanted. I swallowed hard, the tipsiness making it even harder to think straight.
"I’m sorry, I think you should go," I told him. I should have screamed and told him to get the fuck off of me and stay away or I’d call the police, but I recognized this type of guy. And I had learned a long time ago that you didn’t piss these kinds of guys off. Better to pretend you were the one who had made a mistake, even if it was anything but that.
"I’m not going anywhere until you tell me where your fucking brother is—"
"Gentleman, is there an issue here?”
Another male voice cut in, and all of us turned to see where it had come from. Behind these guys, a man had just stepped out of the hotel, and he eyed the situation before him with open distaste.
One of the brutes retreated immediately, as though he had good reason to be scared. The guy holding me, though, didn’t move.
"Stay the fuck out of this," he snapped.
I stared at the stranger, silently pleading with him to do something, anything to get me out of here. I didn’t care what it took, but I couldn’t just let this happen. I couldn’t just let one of my first nights at the hotel be soured by these fucking psychos. What the hell had my brother done to piss them off, anyway? I had no idea. But I didn’t want to find out...
The man stood his ground. He was a little older than me, maybe ten years or so, with bright blue eyes and hair shaved close to his head. The suit he was wearing looked expensive, which surprised me. It wasn’t that we never got any upmarket guests at the hotel under my parent’s ownership, but usually, upscale clients would spring for somewhere a little fancier.
He took a step towards the man hanging onto me, holding his ground. The stranger wasn’t scared of them, even though he likely should have been. In fact, he seemed almost amused by the whole thing, like the fact they thought they could handle him was humorous.
"Let her go," he ordered one more time. His voice was low and commanding enough to make me shiver. I didn’t know who the hell he was, but he clearly believed he had the right to call these guys out—and honestly, thank God he did because I wasn’t sure I would have stood a chance against them otherwise.
The man let go of me, and I thought about running past him and into the hotel, but I wasn’t sure I would be able to put the distance between us before he came after me. Besides, what if my brother was in there? I didn’t know what they planned to do to him, but it was clear they had nothing good in mind. I didn’t want to bring them right to his doorstep...
Before I could make a run for it, though, the guy who had been holding onto me made his move—and, in a matter of seconds, blood spattered over the concrete around me.
In shock, my mind goes back over the evening. I was having dinner with Shelby. I haven’t seen her in a few months. "Here’s to finally having you back!” she exclaimed as she lifted her glass to mine and touched them together.
I laughed. "You’re just happy because you finally get free drinks at the hotel again," I teased her.
She waved a hand. "Well, yeah, kind of," she replied. "But having you back isn’t so bad either, I guess."
I smiled at my best friend and lifted the glass to my lips. I had to admit, even though it felt like a lifetime since I’d last been here in Las Vegas, it was good to be back.
Hard to believe it had been nearly four years since I had been drinking with Shelby in this very spot, the family hotel I had practically grown up in. Back then, we never had anything other than sodas. My mom had always been hovering around, making sure we weren’t going to try and sweet-talk Harry, the old bartender, into giving us anything stronger.
I felt a pang in my chest when I thought of my mom. God, I was still wrapping my head around her not being here any longer—I had always imagined toasting with her when I had finished my degree, the two of us celebrating it finally being over.
But instead, just a few weeks after I had graduated, they had—I could hardly even think of it—I was still trying to grasp the reality. My parents, both of them, were killed in a car accident on the way back from some dinner with their friends. I could still remember the moment Mark, my big brother, had called me—hearing his voice, cracked and broken, telling me they were gone. Feeling like nothing was ever going to be the same again, and having no idea how I was going to survive it.
I had been planning to stay in my apartment in New York for a little while longer, but I knew I couldn’t leave my brother alone here to deal with all of this. I'd come back as soon as I had the chance to help him—make sure he knew how to handle all their business affairs. It’s what I’d studied, after all, even if I hadn’t expected my first job to revolve around handling my parents’ will like this.
Having left college and my New York apartment behind, I returned to Las Vegas and was staying in the small hotel my brother inherited until I could find a place of my own. Mark was already there working on a few ideas. He'd started converting one of the old meeting rooms into a small, bespoke casino, which was a good idea. Everyone in Vegas expected the hotels to come with casinos, and I was sure we would bring in more guests once he’d gotten it set up, even if I was still trying to work out exactly how he was going to afford it. Dad had left him the hotel but also a decent amount of debt. All I could figure was that Mark must have found a way to pay it off.
It was good he was looking toward the future. I wasn’t sure I had it in me to do the same right now. It was so hard to think about what I was going to do next now that our parents were gone. I missed them so much, sometimes, it felt like someone had hollowed out a giant hole in my heart, and I didn’t know what could fill it. Hell, I didn’t even know if I could fill it without them.
But I knew they wouldn’t have wanted me to spend the rest of my life sitting around, waiting for something to change. My mom especially.
"If there’s something you want to get done, then you have to be willing to get out there and do it yourself," she had told me when I was a teenager. Back then, I had likely just rolled my eyes at her, but now I could see she was right. And I was grateful for how much she had inspired me to pursue the career I had. She'd been involved in charity work all over the city, especially when it came to supporting women, using every little bit of clout and influence she had to try to make a difference in this world. There weren’t many people out there who would have gone as far as she did to try and make things right, but her commitment was what was keeping me going these days. If she could do it, I could, too, right?
"What’s on your mind?" Shelby asked, tipping her head to the side and raising her eyebrows at me. I shook my head. I didn’t want to bring down what was meant to be a fun night with my solemn thoughts. Besides, with a few drinks in me, maybe I could loosen up a little and focus on having some fun.
And if there was anyone I could have fun with, it was Shelby. She had always been the kind of girl who knew how to let loose and party. Born and raised in Las Vegas, just like me, she might as well have been made for this city. It was a miracle she had managed to last as long as she had without getting caught sneaking into clubs with fake IDs, but I figured she didn’t have to worry about it any longer.
"Nothing," I replied, shaking my head. "Come on, let’s get another drink, I want to have fun tonight."
"Yeah, seems like your whole family is going that way," she remarked, cocking an eyebrow. "Mark’s setting up a casino, isn’t he?”
"Yes, should be open by the end of the month," I replied. She frowned.
"Sorry if this is over the line," she told me. "But...how are you guys affording that? I mean, everything you told me about your family, it seemed like your parents didn’t leave you much more than the hotel. Not enough to open up a place like that, anyway."
I shrugged.
"I’m honestly not sure," I replied. "I haven’t asked him about it. He wanted to take over the hotel, and I’m not going to stick my nose in. Besides, I think a casino would be good—I mean, this is Vegas, after all. People expect there to be one in every hotel."
"Yeah, don’t get me wrong, it’s a great idea," she replied. "And I’ll get free drinks there, too, right?"
"You’ll have to talk to him about that," I laughed. "But I don’t think he’s going to be throwing around the free booze if he can help it."
"What, even for a beloved family friend like me?" Shelby cooed, planting a hand on her chest.
"You’ll have to sweet-talk him if you want that," I pointed out, and she pulled a face.
"I’ll pass," she replied and lifted her glass to her lips again.
Just like that, we turned the conversation on to her dating life. She always had some guy on the go, most of them sure they could tame her, and swiftly finding out they didn’t stand a chance. Ever since we’d been in high school together, she’d always been the one the guys paid attention to.
It had never really bothered me then because I got to hear all the juicy details while I could actually spend my time focused on my studies and getting the grades I needed to win the scholarship to NYU. But now? Now, I was starting to wonder if I should have been looking for someone. Maybe it could have eased the pain of losing my family if I had another half, someone I could share my emotions with.
But I didn’t want to jump into anything just for the sake of it. There had been plenty of offers when I was in college, given that everyone was pretty much trying to hook up with everyone else, but I had never wanted to fall into bed with someone just to say I had. There’d been a few guys, a few dates, and even a few fun nights, but none of it had ever really turned into anything more than that. I had been too focused on my work to let some fling get in the way of it, and most of the guys I liked seemed to sense that from a mile away. They didn’t want to get involved with me, because they knew I never would have put them first—not when there was so much about the world I wanted to change.
We drank till late into the night, and I walked Shelby outside so she could get a cab home safely. She lived in a little studio on the other side of the city, though she spent most of her nights with the random guys she hooked up with. She gave me a tight hug before she climbed into the car, as though she could tell there was a lot on my mind.
"If you need to talk about anything, just let me know, okay?" She said to me, looking me up and down. She knew me too well to let me get away with how quiet I had been this evening, how in my head I had let myself get. It wasn’t that I wanted to be, of course, I didn’t, but I was just...there was so much going on in my mind, and most of it was so dark I could hardly even think about putting it into words. I wouldn’t have known where to begin.
"I will," I replied, offering her a smile, hoping it would be enough to get her off my back for the time being. She had already been there for me so long as it was. She didn’t need to be burdened with anything more than she already had.
“What a fucking idiot.” The stranger said.
And just like that I am back to the present. My eyes wide in surprise at all the blood. Shelby’s gone and I’m looking up at the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen.
Chapter Two Scott
Fucking idiot.
That was all I could think as this fool made a lunge for me. I spiked my hand into his nose in a split second, sending a spray of blood across his face and dripping down his shirt. He had been drinking so it poured from him like a fountain as he staggered back, groaning in pain.
"Now, the two of you, get the fuck out of here," I ordered them. The other assailant had hung back this whole time, and he grabbed his friend and muttered something to him. When he looked back at me, his eyes widened, and then, he rushed off, seeming to think better of the whole thing. Good. Better for them to figure that out now rather than wait and get themselves in more trouble than they could handle.
I turned to the girl, who was shaking hard. Her face was pale, and her whole body was tensed, shoulders drawn up to her ears.
"Are you okay?" I asked as I reached out to touch her arm. She jumped as soon as I laid a hand on her, and her eyes flared.
"I’m sorry, I just—" She blurted out.
"It’s okay. You don’t have to apologize," I assured, pulling back so I didn’t put too much pressure on her. I had to remind myself that not everyone was used to this kind of thing—used to those kinds of thugs bursting out of nowhere to cause trouble. For me? They’d been background noise for my whole fucking life. They were downright average to me by now.
"I don’t know what just happened," she stammered, her voice cracking. "I—I was just making sure my friend got to her car in one piece, and then, they came out of nowhere, they were..."
"Hey, hey, take a breath," I told her, and she closed her eyes and drew in a long, shaky one. As she let it go, she looked up at me again.
"Thank you for that," she murmured. "I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t been here."
"It’s okay. I was. That’s what matters," I assured her, glancing back toward the hotel. "Are you staying here? Do you want to walk me to your room?"
She paused, her eyes moving back toward the building. It was clear she didn’t much like the thought of stepping back in there, and, after what had just happened, I couldn’t blame her. She was visibly shaken, and must have worried someone else was waiting to jump out of the shadows at her.
"No, I really don’t," she confessed, lowering her eyes to the ground. "But I don’t have anywhere else I can go. I’ll have to call for a car. I hope they can get here fast.” There was doubt in her voice.
"You can stay with me, if you want," I offered, before I had a chance to think about how ridiculous the words probably sounded. I wasn’t trying to get her back to my place, not like that, anyway. But I couldn’t just leave her standing around here waiting for an Uber, feeling it was a better alternative than returning to her room. She deserved better than that.
She parted her lips in surprise, and I could tell she was about to turn me down. She likely thought I was just trying to get into her panties, even though I had no intention of anything like that.
"I’m not trying to sleep with you, if that’s what you’re worried about," I told her quickly. "It’s just—” I looked into the shadows “—you don’t want to be out here alone."
She paused for a moment, considering the offer. It clearly wasn’t what she had expected, but I could tell she didn’t want to be out here any longer than she needed to be. Her shoulders sagged, and she nodded.
"I don’t like the idea of standing out here alone," she admitted, finally. "Not after what just happened. I hope you don’t think I’m crazy..."
"I just saw you get confronted by two thugs," I reminded her. "I don’t think you’re crazy for not feeling entirely safe. Hey, my name’s Scott, by the way. Scott Stewart.” I held my hand out to her to show her I didn’t bite.
Her soft hand managed a firm shake. “Thea Simpson,” she said.
She managed to smile. She had a nice smile, slightly crooked but warm and welcoming. Now that the danger had passed, I couldn’t help but notice how attractive she was. In her simple black dress and heels, she could have looked like any other girl out on the strip for a fun night on the town, but there was something different about her; something about the way she carried herself, her athletic body set in confidence, despite what she had been through.
"Come on, let me get you to my car," I told her, and touched her shoulder, steering her toward where I had parked. The last thing I had expected when I came to this meeting with Mark was running into trouble like this. Still, I supposed I should have been ready for it. Much as I liked Mark, and as much as I was sure I could turn his business into a lucrative opportunity for the two of us, he had been in financial trouble when I had stepped in. No doubt there was a stack of debts he had to pay off and plenty of guys who would do whatever it took to get them paid.
