Sweet Addiction (Sweet #6)(92)

Not that Cole and Lucas weren’t always complimentary, but tonight there was something decidedly different about their regard. She looked inquisitively at them, but they were giving nothing away.

Lucas leaned forward to kiss her forehead, likely so he wouldn’t muss her lipstick, not that he normally cared about such things.

“Let’s go,” he murmured.

She cocked her head. “Where?”

Cole arched an eyebrow. “You’ll find out in good time.”

At one time Lucas had maintained a residence in Las Vegas, but after he, Cole and Ren had forged ahead in a committed relationship, he’d sold his apartment because he didn’t feel it reflected his commitment to Ren.

They spent much of their time in Houston. Both men had been willing to sell their homes and for them to choose a new one together, but Ren hadn’t wanted that. In the end, they’d decided to keep Lucas’s home and Cole sold his.

Now when they came to Vegas, they stayed in one of the sprawling, posh suites at one of the hotels on the strip. Ren loved the nightclubs and the excitement of Vegas. She liked being in the middle of all the hustle and bustle and the nightlife.

Cole wasn’t as sold on it as she and Lucas were and it had been an adjustment on his part, but he went where Ren went. Every time. No complaint and Ren had even gotten him on the dance floor with no small amount of coaxing.

Blackjack and poker were her two games of choice when it came to gambling and Cole and Lucas bankrolled her willingly. She had to admit to a decadent thrill to have two gorgeous men hover at her sides, watching over her while she played. She drew looks of envy from women and undisguised interest from males.

They spoiled her shamelessly, getting her drinks, making sure she was comfortable, her every whim satisfied. But the nights when they were back in their suite, alone, sheltered from the world, were her favorites. Those were the times they demanded her obedience, showered her with love and gave her all she needed and more.

In the elevator, rushing down to the casino level floor, she nestled closer to Cole’s side, enjoying his scent and the natural warmth that radiated from his body. He curled his arm around her waist just as the door opened and she exited, flanked by both men.

They walked through the busy crowds, past blackjack, roulette, baccarat, pai gow and craps tables. One arm was linked through Lucas’s while she held Cole’s hand on her other side. Cole scowled when one man who’d obviously had too much to drink teetered too close into Ren’s path.

Once they reached the exit, they ushered her to a waiting limousine where the driver stood holding the back door open for them to duck in.

Ren settled back, content to await whatever the night held for her.

A few minutes later, they pulled into the parking lot of Lucas’s nightclub that was just a block off the strip. The car pulled to the very front and Ren frowned to see the parking lot completely empty save for a few other limousines.

The door opened and Cole got out and reached back to help Ren. Lucas climbed out behind them and then tucked Ren’s hand into his.

She glanced sharply up at Lucas because she could swear the man was nervous. His grip was too tight and his whole body language was tense like he was uneasy.

She glanced over at Cole, trying to get some clue as to what was up, but he looked similarly unsettled.

And then the doors to his club swung open. Two men, dressed formally in dark suits, held the doors open as Cole and Lucas started forward again, bearing her with them.

When she stepped inside, she gasped. It was Lucas’s club, but then it wasn’t. It had been completely and utterly transformed into something she couldn’t quite describe. Magical. Fairy tale. Something straight out of a book. And then she realized it was out of a book. Her book.

“Oh my God,” she whispered. “Oh my God!”

She took another step. And another. Shaking off their hands, moving further into the wonder before her.

It was her garden. The magical place she’d created within the pages of her story. The place her characters—and she—had retreated to. A place of comfort and refuge.

It was her drawing come to life.

There was an honest to goodness koi pond to the right with a fountain spilling water over its sides. Flowers. Flowering vines. Stone benches. A beautiful flowering archway.

“How?” she whispered. She turned round and round, staring up at the ceiling where it gave the appearance of a beautiful sky just after sunrise. “How on earth did you do this?”

Cole and Lucas stood smiling, their eyes bright with excitement as they watched her. It was only then she realized they weren’t alone. She turned again, suddenly taking in that there were many people here. People she knew.

Damon and Serena, their baby daughter nestled on Serena’s hip. Micah and Angelina, their daughter held securely in Micah’s arms. Other friends she’d gone on to make in the year she’d been with Cole. Connor and his wife, Lyric Jones, the famous pop star. Nathan Tucker and his wife, Julie. Gray Montgomery and his wife, Faith. And Pop. Surrogate dad to them all.

The management team from Lucas’s Houston club. His employees here at the Vegas club. Two people from his Dallas club.

And they were all looking at her, smiling, excited.

She sensed this moment was huge, but she couldn’t make her mind work beyond the shock of the setting and the crowd of people assembled. She turned again in bewilderment, seeking out Cole and Lucas who were now mere feet away, their expressions serious.