King's Passion by Adrianne Byrd Page B

and tried to open it.
    â€œWhat took so long?” Iris asked, scooting up from the backseat and folding her arms on the back of their chairs. “Who is that? He’s fine.”
    You don’t have to tell me.
    â€œMs. Gregory!” He knocked on the window and then yelled, “We haven’t finished talking.”
    â€œIs that what we’re calling talking nowadays?” Grace snickered.
    â€œShut up.” Victoria crammed the key into the ignition and started the car.
    King tossed up his hands. “You’re the one that came to see me. Remember?”
    She shifted the car in Reverse. “You can talk to my lawyer,” she yelled back and then jammed her foot down on the accelerator. He jumped back in time to save his precious toes from being run over and Victoria felt a stab of disappointment.
    â€œYou’re not even going to tell me where I can find you?” he shouted.
    Victoria shifted the car back into Drive and jerked the wheel to the right.
    But while she was in the middle of making her getaway, Grace powered her window down and screamed, “We’re staying at the Bellagio!”
    â€œGrace!” She peeled out of the parking lot.
    Her cousin whipped around in her seat, smiling like a peacock. “What?”
    â€œWhy in the hell did you do that?”
    She crossed her arms. “You heard him. You guys haven’t finished talking.”
    Victoria seethed as she took off like she was trying to qualify for the Indy 500.
    Iris piped up again. “Okay. Does anyone want to tell me what’s going on?”
    â€œTrust me. I’ll fill you in on every tantalizing detail when we get back to our hotel,” Grace promised.
    â€œI don’t know why in the hell I asked you two to come with me,” Victoria grumbled.
    â€œYeah. You would hate that about now. Though I wonder what would’ve happened if I hadn’t walked in on you two. Lord knows how many carpet burns I saved you from. You should be thanking me. Not trying to take my head off.”
    â€œSHUT UP!” Iris popped them both on the shoulder. “Victoria was making out with that chocolate god back there?”
    â€œGirl, it was like animal kingdom up in there,” Grace laughed. “That brother had her pinned down and mounted.”
    The twins squealed with laughter before high-fiving each other like pro athletes.
    Victoria continued to stew in her seat. What in the hell was I thinking? She shook her head, but the question kept looping inside her mind. By the time they pulled up to the hotel, she just had to admit the truth to herself. She wasn’t thinking. She was just feeling—feeling things that she had never felt before.
    That’s good enough reason to stay the hell away from him.
    She exchanged her key for a ticket at the valet and then waltzed into the casino’s hotel.
    â€œI say you forget about the lawsuit and hook-up with Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome.”
    â€œI hardly think that he’s a fifty-million-dollar lay,” Victoria snipped.
    The twins exchanged a look.
    â€œYou know I really hate it when you two do that,” Victoria said as they stepped into the elevator. “If you’ve got something to say, I wish that you would just say it.”
    â€œIt’s just that…the lawsuit. You don’t think that maybe you’re overreacting?”
    Victoria’s mouth dropped open as she turned toward her cousins. “Overreacting? Have you forgotten how I was humiliated last week? My wedding announcement was in the New York Times. Three hundred of the most important people in New York show up for a wedding that cost my father a mint—only for my fiancé to fly to Vegasfor a bachelor party and fall head over heels in love with a stripper named Delicious. Are you hearing me? Delicious. And you just calmly stand there and ask me if I’m overreacting?!”
    Grace shrugged and mumbled, “It was just a