LITMIR.BIZ

       One

      Chasen “Chase” Barron needed a wife like he needed another hangover. Dark thoughts winnowed through his mind as he surveyed his world from the window of his Gulfstream jet. Below him, Las Vegas looked like a necklace of sparkling neon jewels strung on ribbons of car headlights. Vegas never slept. His kind of place.

      His latest escapades had landed him back on the front page of the supermarket tabloids—much to his old man’s disgust. Chase wasn’t a bad guy. Not really. It was just that as head of Barron Entertainment, he was surrounded by beautiful women. And he was definitely a man who enjoyed beautiful women. Frequently. How was he to know the gorgeous actress—who’d told him she was separated—was still very much married to a powerful studio head? Or that she’d invited the paparazzi to record her tryst with Chase in order to... Just thinking about it made his head hurt.

      He’d left LA for Nashville to deal with some problems in setting up Barron Entertainment’s new country and Western record label, and there were two cute, young singers who wanted an edge. Being seen getting it on with the CEO of Barron Entertainment was their ticket to glory. Who knew those selfies they took would go viral? Yeah, he definitely should have confiscated their cell phones. Water under the bridge now. And lesson learned.

      Despite the social media storm, his trip to Nashville had been productive. The new company, Bent Star Records, had launched, making headlines by signing superstar Deacon Tate, and his band, the Sons of Nashville, as the first act. That Deke was Chase’s cousin was beside the point. Family did business with family. Which brought him back around to the situation at hand.

      Waking up, predictably hungover, to his father’s edict to marry the very disagreeable daughter of a business associate, Chase figured there was only one way out—head back to Las Vegas with all speed and ignore his father’s demands. Besides, the old man hadn’t called in his brothers for a family intervention, right? Or maybe dear old Dad was finally getting the message now that Chance, Cord and Clay had all defied the old jackass, married the women they loved and were living the lives they wanted without his permission.

      Chase admired his older brothers. He’d fallen in with the old man’s edicts during the family confrontations, but had secretly rooted for his siblings. Now if he could just figure out what was going on with his identical twin. Cash had been a coiled snake ready to strike every time Chase had seen him lately. And he was worried. They used to be so close they knew what the other was thinking. Not anymore.

      But solving the mystery of his twin’s behavior would have to wait. Chase had his own problems—mainly figuring out how not to get engaged to Janiece Carroll. While pretty enough, courtesy of a personal trainer and a skilled plastic surgeon, Janiece was High Maintenance, capitalized and trademarked. The former debutante had a voice like nails on a blackboard and the social skills of a spoiled toddler. Yeah, he needed to figure out a way to dodge this particular bullet.

      On the ground, he traded the jet for his Jaguar F-type convertible. Once the top was down, he cranked up the sound system and the strains of Deacon’s newest hit, “Heading Home,” filled the hangar. He pulled out, maneuvered off airport property and headed into Las Vegas proper. The dazzling array of lights and throngs of people on the Strip felt like home.

      Downshifting the powerful Jag, he coasted to a stop at a traffic light. Two women in spangly minidresses barely covering their butts sauntered by in the crosswalk in front of him. They watched him, their invitation plain in their expressions. Part of him was tempted. Part of him wanted only to hit his bed in the penthouse apartment at the Barron Crown Hotel and Casino. The light changed and the opportunity was lost. He wasn’t disappointed. He’d had enough female manipulation for a while.

      Chase cruised down the street debating whether to pull into the main entrance of the hotel or head around the block to the employees’ parking garage. He hadn’t shaken the headache so he decided to forgo the casino’s clamor. The guard on duty at the garage nodded to him and opened the gate with a quiet “Good to have you back, sir.”

      After parking in his spot near the private elevators, he snagged his satchel and overnight bag. Having semipermanent residences in both LA and Nashville made for light travel. He rubbed his jaw as he rode up in the elevator.

      Cash had upgraded security and it took Chase’s thumbprint to get to any of the secured floors, including the top floor, where he resided. His card key was in his hand when he stepped into the beautifully appointed foyer. His apartment took up a third of the floor. Three suites—the smallest and cheapest going for ten grand a night—occupied the rest of the space.

      Everything about the Crown was five-star, including his apartment. He card-keyed the door and stepped inside, as soft lights slowly brightened. Motion detectors meant he never walked into a darkened room—except the master bedroom. The light switch in there was the old-fashioned kind.

      He moved into the open living area and hit the wet bar. He skipped the bottles of top-shelf liquor and grabbed a cold bottle of beer from the fridge instead. Mail was stacked on his desk and he checked it with a bored eye. His vice president of operations would have already handled anything important. Tucker was his cousin and he trusted the man implicitly—again, it was that whole family-doing-business-together thing.

      Wandering into the gourmet kitchen, Chase tried to decide if he was hungry. A plastic-wrapped tray of meat, cheese and a variety of artisan breads occupied one shelf in the Sub-Zero refrigerator. His pilot would have alerted Tuck of their pending arrival, and as usual, his cousin had taken care of him before shutting down for the night. The tray was perfect. He slid it out onto the granite top of the breakfast bar and hitched a hip onto the wrought iron bar stool. He ate and drank, watching the play of lights outside the floor-to-ceiling windows bracketing the living space.

      A few minutes might have passed, or a few hours. He wasn’t sure and didn’t care. His headache had receded and he finally felt

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