The Wedding Gamble

by Cindi Myers

  At last they parted, both breathing hard. She blinked at him. “Wow, you really can kiss.”

  “Yeah.” He touched the tip of one finger to her lips. “So can you.”

  “Get a room, you two!”

  They jerked apart and Laura’s sister, Rachel, hurried toward them. She wore a glittery pink T-shirt that read “What happens in Vegas”, pink denim shorts, and platform shoes. She was blonde, tanned, trim, and not half as interesting as her sister. “What were you doing in that jewelry store?” she asked.

  “I had my ring cleaned.” Laura offered the hand that wore the diamond up for inspection.

  Rachel’s eyes widened. “That is not the same ring.”

  “Of course it is. I told you it just needed cleaning.”

  He suppressed a smile. For someone who probably didn’t make a habit of lying, Laura was getting good at it.

  “I hope you’re not planning on monopolizing Laura for this whole trip,” Rachel said to David. “I need her help with the last-minute wedding preparations.”

  What could little sister need Laura for a week prior to the wedding? he wondered. Especially when she had three other bridesmaids to wait on her. “We’re on our honeymoon,” he said, slipping an arm protectively around Laura’s shoulders. “That’s all about monopolizing.”

  Rachel ignored him. “You’re not going to have any kind of church ceremony or reception or anything back in Davenport, are you?” she asked. “Because you know Mom and Dad spent everything on my wedding festivities.”

  “One ceremony was enough for us,” Laura said. “You don’t have to worry about me stealing the spotlight from you.”

  “That’s not what I meant.” Rachel had the grace to look embarrassed.

  “I promise I’ll help with the wedding when we get home,” Laura said. “You have Kimmy and your other friends here with you for anything you need in Vegas. Right now, I want to be with David.”

  She even sounded as if she meant it.

  Rachel still looked put out, but she was smart enough not to say anything. “I hope you know what you’re doing,” she said.

  “I do.” Laura kissed Rachel’s cheek. “Now go, have fun. That’s why you’re here.”

  “That’s why I’m here.” She brightened. “We’re taking a pole-dancing class tonight. Can you believe it?” She waved then skipped away.

  “Are you sure you two are from the same family?” he asked as he fell into step beside Laura, her suitcase rolling along behind.

  “People ask that all the time. They can’t believe Rachel is so popular and beautiful and successful—and then there’s me.”

  “That’s not what I meant. I meant you’re so smart and level-headed and thoughtful, and she’s…she’s like a golden retriever puppy. Cute, but totally focused on her own needs, to the exclusion of everything else.”

  “That’s Rachel.” She shrugged. “She’s not so bad, really. I don’t think weddings bring out the best in people.” She flushed. “I mean, large, formal weddings, anyway.”

  There’d been nothing large or formal about their wedding last night—he was suddenly glad of that. No doubt about it—Laura brought out the best in him. She made him feel…human. The effect wouldn’t last—the work he did had stained his soul years ago. But for a while, it felt good to imagine himself as the upright, dependable guy who’d won a sweetheart like Laura.

  …

  Laura couldn’t stop admiring the ring on her hand. There was something about a diamond—even if the sentiment behind this one was fake, the ring was still real. David had been so sweet to buy it for her…Though maybe sweetness had nothing to do with it. He said he felt guilty for putting her in danger. Her stomach knotted whenever she remembered Victor and Charlie bursting into the room with guns drawn and pointed at David. Yes, David ought to feel a little guilty. She’d been minding her own business when he dragged her into his chaotic life.

  But despite the fear, she couldn’t deny the thrill of being involved in something so exciting. She’d spent her whole life being safe, always doing what everyone expected and putting others’ needs ahead of hers. She liked taking care of people, but in the process, she’d forgotten to take care of herself. Sharing the company of this gorgeous, thoughtful, powerful man made her feel more alive than she could remember.

  She sank down lower in the bubble bath she’d drawn, a wicked grin forming. Too bad Mr. Gorgeous wasn’t with her in their new suite a couple of blocks off the Strip. She’d like to show him just how alive he made her feel.

  “You should be safe here while I have a talk with Tommy,” he’d said after checking the room top to bottom, even looking behind the curtains. “Order room service, take a nap—whatever you like. I’ll try not to be too late.”

  “Where will you be?” she’d asked, hoping she didn’t sound like a nagging wife already.

  “Tommy likes to play craps at the Venetian. I’m going to try to get him alone at the tables and arrange a meeting later.”

  His departure had left an emptiness that surprised her. After all, she’d known the guy less than twenty-four hours, and in that time he’d turned her world upside down. But in those few hours he’d also been more concerned about her safety and welfare—and about her feelings—than anyone in recent memory…And the caring hadn’t been an act. When he looked into her eyes, she saw the worry there—worry for her.

  She’d also seen the appreciation—the lust even—when she’d showed up in the red swimsuit. He appreciated her curves—all of them. She smoothed her hands down her hips and smiled. Of all the pretend husbands she might have found on the Strip, she’d lucked out. Too bad there wasn’t a way to take the relationship from pretend to real. Not a real marriage, of course, but she wouldn’t mind if David stuck around long enough for her to get to know him better. He’d made it clear he wasn’t the sticking-around kind, but a girl could dream, right?

  After her bath and a room-service chicken salad, she flipped through the hundred-plus channels on the TV. Sun streamed in the bank of windows along one wall, and she could see the glass and steel towers of the Strip against a cloudless sky. She picked out the Venetian only a few blocks away. Had David found Tommy? Or had Charlie and Victor found David first?

  Anxiety over his safety made it impossible to sit still. She paced, hugging her arms around her body. Why was David working alone? Shouldn’t he have a partner to watch his back? Maybe the feds thought two men working undercover together wasn’t safe, so David had to risk his life alone.

  Except he wasn’t alone. He had her. She was his partner, legally, anyway. She couldn’t sit here, safely cocooned in luxury he was paying for, while he tried to stay out of the way of people who presumably wanted him dead. He’d made such a point of looking after her, but right now, he was the one who needed looking after, and she was the only one who could do it.

  Before she had time to chicken out, she took the elevator downstairs and hailed a taxi. “Can you take me to the Venetian?” she asked the driver.

  “I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”

  How about home to Davenport?

  She could take the cab all the way to the airport and catch the first plane out of town. Maybe that would be the smart thing to do. The safe thing. She inhaled deeply, steadying herself. Safety meant leaving David behind. Maybe safety was overrated.

  At the Venetian, she asked the doorman to point her toward the craps tables. If David saw her, he’d order her back to her room right away. Not that she’d obey him—did they even use that word in wedding vows anymore?—but she didn’t want to make a scene. Instead she lurked behind pillars and plants until she spotted him at a table. He was talking to a younger man with heavily-gelled brown hair and a prominent nose. Tommy?

  She studied the others at the table—an assortment of middle-aged men and women. Movement across the casino caught her eye. Victor, his bug-eyes scanning the room, stepped out from behind a pillar near the elevators. Charlie walked a few paces behind him, his hand tucked
not-so-casually in his suit jacket. Were they here with Tommy Zacolli? Or had they followed David? No—they didn’t appear to have spotted him. Yet. She felt as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice over her. A vision of Charlie shoving the gun into David’s side and ordering him toward the elevator flashed before her eyes. The three men would disappear, and she’d never see David again.

  Chapter Five

  Charlie and Victor headed toward the craps tables, where they were bound to see David with Tommy, if Laura didn’t do something to stop them. She couldn’t overpower them with physical strength, but she had an idea. Before fear and common sense got the better of her, she rushed forward, a manic smile on her face. “Charlie! Victor!” She greeted them like long-lost cousins, her arms held wide as if to gather them in a hug.

  The two thugs stared at her, Victor’s mouth hanging open. They probably thought she was drunk, or crazy. Possibly both. Good. Drunk, crazy people were unpredictable. She wanted these two to worry about her for a while, not David. “I’m so glad to see you,” she gushed. “I’ve felt so guilty about the way I treated you before—back in the hotel room? I’m really new at this whole married thing, and I forgot that, as David’s wife, I need to support him in his business dealings and be more gracious to his associates. Let me make it up to you and buy you a drink.” She slipped an arm around each of them, hoping they wouldn’t notice her unsteady legs. Abject terror was a little like being drunk, come to think of it.

  “No thanks,” Victor said. He tried to move away, but she gripped his arm tightly.

  “Why aren’t you with your husband?” Charlie asked.

  “Oh, he’s around here somewhere. I think he’s playing slots or something.” She waved in the direction of the slot machines. “Honestly, slots are so boring,” she continued. “The game I want to learn to play is Blackjack.”

  She headed toward the blackjack table, both thugs in tow. Apparently, they were reluctant to make a scene with her. Either that or they’d decided she presented more of a threat at the moment than David. She led them to a blackjack table. “Let’s play,” she said.

  The dealer began to lay out the cards, and they placed their bets. “Isn’t this exciting?” she gushed. She made a show of oohing and ahhing over their cards and asking dozens of questions. “What is this card worth, again?” “Charlie, do you think I should stand, or get another card?”

  The dealer scowled at her, but she kept right on, determined to keep her two companions busy as long as possible.

  To her amazement, she won that hand. And the next. And the next.

  “You know how to play this game,” Victor said, his voice accusing.

  Right. How hard was it to add cards to get to twenty-one? “Beginner’s luck,” she said, and raked another pile of chips toward her.

  “We need to go.” Charlie turned away, but she snagged his arm once more. “Oh, you can’t leave!” she protested. “You’re my good luck charms!”

  …

  When David spotted Laura at the blackjack table, he fought down his annoyance. He should have guessed she wouldn’t stay quietly in the hotel room. Somehow she’d gotten the idea that he needed protecting and had assigned herself as his personal bodyguard. The fact that the only weapon she had at her disposal was a boatload of nerve and a disarming smile made his blood run cold.

  As he drew nearer, he noticed she had several stacks of chips in front of her and a crowd of admirers watching her coo and crow over each hand. Then he saw Charlie and Victor standing on either side of her, and he broke into a sweat. If either of those goons laid a hand on her…

  Odd thing, though—both men looked as if someone had whacked them on the head. Charlie, in particular, looked a little desperate.

  “Darling. Looks like you’ve been lucky.” He eased through the crowd to stand beside Laura.

  “David!” She threw her arms around him, almost knocking him over, and plastered a wet kiss on his mouth. If he hadn’t known better, he might have thought she was drunk, but the laughter in her eyes signaled otherwise. He couldn’t believe it. He was worried sick about her safety, and she was having fun. “I’ve been having such a wonderful time. Your friends Charlie and Victor are a hoot! They’ve been teaching me to play blackjack!”

  “Wasn’t that nice of them.” David nodded to the two thugs. “Thanks, guys.”

  Charlie’s eyes met his, sending a message that he wasn’t through with David. The feeling is mutual, pal, he thought.

  Charlie turned and left, shoving onlookers out of the way. Victor paused only long enough to collect his chips, then he fled also. “Ready to go?” David asked Laura.

  “I am.” He helped her gather her chips and carry them to the cashier. The total came to almost $1,500. “That’s almost enough to pay for that swimsuit and accessories,” she said. “Did you win at slots?”

  Slots? He checked to make sure they were alone, and leaned close, keeping his voice low. “What are you doing here?”

  “I was worried Charlie and Victor would see you with Tommy. You said yourself they’re looking for any excuse to kill you. When I got here, they were looking for you, so I distracted them.”

  He looked at her incredulously and struggled to keep from shouting. “Laura, I am a trained federal agent. I think I know how to look after myself. I don’t need a babysitter.”

  “Don’t think of it as a babysitter. Think of it as backup.”

  “I don’t need backup, either. I like to work alone.”

  “Right. And if those two had seen you alone with Tommy, you might have blown your cover—and your case. I was a good distraction.”

  He swallowed another angry retort. She was right. Clearly, he was losing his edge. Or he was letting his attraction to Laura and his concern for her distract him from his goals. Using her for cover had been a bad idea. He had to find a way out of this marriage before it undid all his years of hard work building the case against Zacolli. “You shouldn’t take risks like that. Not for me.”

  “I was shaking in my shoes at first, but after a while, it was kind of fun,” she said. “I was never into acting, but this must be what it’s like—to pretend to be someone you’re not.”

  That’s what he did every day; so much so that sometimes he didn’t really know who he was anymore. “Let’s get out of here.”

  “How did things go with Tommy?” she asked as they fell into step with the flow of traffic on the sidewalk.

  He shouldn’t tell her anything. The less she knew, the better off she’d be. But she smiled up at him, so eager and interested—as if what he said really mattered to her. He’d never had anyone like her to confide in before, and he trusted her to keep a secret. “I set up a meeting with Tommy at midnight upstairs at the Imperial Palace. There’s a grill up there that’s closed that time of night.”

  “I’ll go with you,” she said.

  “You can’t.” He squeezed her arm. “It’s too dangerous.”

  She assumed the stubborn expression he was growing to dread. “You need a look-out.”

  “Absolutely not. You can’t go.”

  Her eyes narrowed, but she said nothing. She wasn’t a woman he could order around. He’d have to find a way to persuade her that it was in both their best interests if she stayed away tonight. He didn’t want to have to worry about her safety.

  “Why don’t we order dinner in tonight?” he asked. “We can relax and get to know each other better.”

  “I’d like that,” she said. “After all, we might as well take advantage of this marriage arrangement while it lasts.” She bumped her hip against him provocatively. The things I do in the name of duty. Leaving her alone in his room tonight while he went after a mob informant had to rank up there with one of the great sacrifices of his career.

  …

  “Don’t look now, but the goon brothers are back on our tail.”

  David’s words, spoken low against Laura’s ear, sent a shiver up her spine in spite of the Vegas heat. She tried to look over her shoulder
, but he put a hand to the back of her neck to stop her. “Don’t let on we know they’re back there,” he said.

  “We’re not doing anything wrong,” she said. “It’s their wasted time if they want to watch us.”

  “I don’t want them to know where we’re staying,” he said. “We need to ditch them before we can head back to our hotel.”

  An ordinary, sensible woman—the kind of woman she used to be—would have been annoyed, she told herself. She wanted to get back to her hotel room, out of the heat with her feet up and maybe a cool drink. She also wanted David all to herself. She still wanted those things, but the idea of having to evade Charlie and Victor first sent a buzz of excitement through her. She wasn’t ordinary Laura Nichols anymore. She was a glamorous, sexy spy, ditching a tail, defying danger in the arms of her devastatingly handsome partner. “What do we do?” she asked, breathless.

  David scanned the hotels around them. “I have an idea.” He took her hand and tugged her back the way they’d come.

  Up ahead, she thought she glimpsed Charlie diving into the midst of a clump of teens who wore matching T-shirts—as if that were good camouflage for a six-foot goon in a black suit. “Do you think we can throw them off by heading in the opposite direction?” she asked.

  “I was thinking we’d lose them on a side trip to Venice.”

  He held open the door that led into the Venetian. The air conditioning raised goose bumps on her arms as they hurried across the marble floors, past the neon of the casino and the displays of haute couture in the shops, and to the canals that wound through replicas of Venetian streets and piazzas.

  “Two, please.” David pressed cash into the hand of the attendant, and led her onto the closest gondola. As they settled into the low red leather seat, she looked back down the way they’d come—no sign of two scowling men in dark suits.