She quickly shuts the safe and locks it. “They remind me of a simpler time when I believed in heroes.”
I cup the back of her neck, pulling her close and pressing a kiss to her lips. “I’m here now.”
She pulls away and stands with her safe clutched to her chest. “It’s different now. I’m different. You should go.” She heads for the kitchen and puts her safe back in the oven.
I’m not sure what to say or do, still reeling from the discovery that Sara held onto those cards. She held onto our connection.
“Please go,” she says quietly.
I stand. “I’m going, but I’ll be back.”
She lifts her hand in a brief wave and turns away, but not before I see the shine of tears in her eyes. I halt. Why the tears? She must have some feeling for me. Why is she upset about it? Does she think I’m going to leave for good? Because if there’s something there between us, something real, I’m open to seeing where it goes. I’m torn between hauling her into my arms and giving her the space she asked for.
I step toward the door, giving her one last look. Her arms are crossed now, hugging herself. I can’t leave her like this.
I cross to her, tip her chin up and kiss her gently. “I’m glad we met again and, if you’ll let me, I want to stay in your life.”
Her green eyes are shiny, her lips pressed tightly together. “Ade, I’ve changed. I can’t do relationships. I’m broken.”
I stroke her hair back. “I always say relationships are a bad bet, but we go back so far it’s not even fair to call it a relationship. It’s more like we just picked up where we left off.”
She stares at me, her brow crinkled in apparent thought.
I want to say more, that I could never commit to anyone, and maybe that was because no one could compare to her. Maybe I’m making too much of the pair of twos she held onto, but this feels right.
I cup her jaw, and her eyes go soft. She definitely has some feeling for me. “I kept my pair of fives too.”
She swallows visibly, her cheeks flushing pink. “You did?”
“Of course. We had a pact.” I give her a quick hard kiss and leave before I can get caught up in her again.
~ ~ ~
Sara
Last night with Adrian got intense. I can’t believe he hung onto his pair of fives! Is it possible he held onto our shared fantasy future just like I did? Did it bring a bright spot to dark times for him too? No. Adrian didn’t have dark times. He lives a golden life, a royal with a large loving family, who does whatever he wants. He says he wants to be in my life, but I know he’s tied to Villroy, and I never want to go there again. It’s just too painful with all the memories of my parents. I can’t face that grief again. I just can’t. It was hard enough the first time. Besides, I have a good thing going here with my game, and I could never leave Chloe.
I can’t let him get close enough to make the goodbye painful. He’s decided to stay an extra day, and I’m trying not to read too much into it. I need to keep a friendly affection between us and then go back to my life.
Adrian showed up this morning just like he said he would. Part of me was glad because I missed him after he left last night, and part of me was irritated that he’s checking up on the way I do business. Today is collection and payout day for the game, and we’re in his rented Mercedes on the way to my first collection. His guard, Jack, is in the front passenger seat. Adrian doesn’t know what it’s like to truly be on your own and know there’s no one you can depend on besides yourself.
I direct the driver, Bill, to park a short way down the block from the brownstone I’m going to and then hop out of the car, feeling Adrian’s eyes on me. He’ll probably time how long I’m inside the place too. He and his guard will storm the brownstone if I’m not out in the requisite amount of time. I stifle a sigh. I’m not used to having someone second-guess me. Honestly, these guys are not dangerous. Okay, I had a dicey moment with Sergei on collection day before, only because he was angling for a date, but he backed off. Of course, it’s a good idea to have someone guarding the money as I travel with it, but I just can’t justify paying a guard when I know Chloe’s tuition bill is so hefty.
The first visit goes smoothly, and I can’t help but rub it in Adrian’s face when I get back in the car. “I told you. No big thing. I keep it a light, fun visit.”
His expression gives nothing away, poker face firmly in place. “Sure. Let me know when we’re at Sergei’s place.”
“He’s a sore loser. Doesn’t mean he won’t pay up. He’s loaded.”
“Tell him we’re together now.” He says it matter-of-factly like he expects me to comply. It gets my back up. Bad enough he’s got his nose in my business; now he’s issuing orders.
“I’m not going to say that. You’re leaving in two days, anyway, so it’s not like that’s a deterrent.” I huff. “You know this kind of bossiness may work with your sister, but it’s not gonna fly with me. I’ve been operating just fine on my own for a very long time.”
He tucks a lock of hair behind my ear in a tender gesture, his voice deep and warm. “I wish I’d known you then. I feel like I missed so much.”
I swallow over the lump in my throat. Somehow he cuts through all my defenses so easily. “You wouldn’t have wanted to know me then. It was hell, and I was not fun to be around.”
“I could’ve helped you.”
“No one could’ve helped me and, believe me, they tried. My uncle, my school social worker, my teachers. I had to pull myself together, and I did it by focusing on caring for Chloe, which was a win-win for both of us.” I paste on a smile and gesture to myself. “Count yourself lucky to meet the newly put together Sara.”
His eyes are so sympathetic, I have to look away. I hate sympathy. I’ve had way too much of it in my life, along with the whispers: “Those poor Travers girls. Such a shame, and their uncle isn’t much help.”
I force my mind back to business. The next stop goes smoothly. This time I stifle the I told you so, but I sure am thinking it.
A few minutes later, I tell the driver, “Turn right at the stop sign. It’s at the end of the next block.”
“Is this Sergei’s place?” Adrian asks.
I’m a little surprised he guessed. “How did you know?”
“Because only three people owed you after the buy-in was collected, and we already made two stops. Process of elimination.”
“Such a smartie. Stay here.”
He arches a brow but says nothing.
When I get to Sergei’s house, I ring the bell and wait on the front stoop. I hear stealthy footsteps behind me and whirl, about to yell at Adrian to back off, but it’s Jack.
“I’m to accompany you inside, ma’am,” he says.
“You can’t. I won’t be able to collect with another guy witnessing it.”
His expression is unyielding. “I’ll remain in the background completely unobtrusively. I won’t even look at him.”
I stifle a groan. “Go away. Please. This is going to make things so much worse.”
The front door opens and it’s Sergei, not the housekeeper. “Good morning, Sara. Looks like you brought some muscle today. Don’t trust me to honor my debt?”
“Of course I trust you. My—” I nearly choke on the word “—boyfriend is insanely overprotective and insisted his guard accompany me today.” I don’t have boyfriends. I have acquaintances.
“Prince Adrian is your boyfriend?”
I nod. It’s all I can manage.
His eyes narrow. “You said you would never consider being with a player. Now you are telling me that Prince Adrian, a player, is someone you are with.”
“He’s a temporary guest, not a permanent player. We’ve known each other for a very long time.”
He looks up and down the street and spots the Mercedes sitting conspicuously a few doors down. “Is that him?”
Before I can deny it, Sergei strides outside and goes right to the car, knocking on the driver’s side window.
>
Adrian steps out of the backseat. “How’s it going?”
Sergei crosses his arms, his legs braced wide apart in battle stance. “It’s going shitty. I’ve lost two games in a row, and now there are three people here to witness it. I want you all gone.”
Adrian’s gaze turns steely. “Pay up and we’ll go.”
Sergei turns and storms back to his place. I rush after him, but he slams the door in my face. I hear the snick of the lock. Fuck.
I ring the bell again and again. He owes me too much to walk away. One hundred K. It’ll clean me out to cover him. I glare at Adrian, who’s standing on the sidewalk nearby. “You screwed it up!” I shout at him. “I’ve never had a problem before now.”
“This was always a possibility,” he says calmly.
I turn back to the door and pound on it. His housekeeper, Ms. Davies, answers. “I’m sorry, Miss Sara. Sergei isn’t taking callers right now.”
“Please. I just need to talk to him.” I open my purse and dig out a hundred-dollar bill from my last collection visit and press it in her hand. “Here, for your trouble.”
She gives me a look of disgust and hands it back. “I’ll lose my job for not following orders.”
I shove past her and rush down the hallway. He’s probably in his study. “Sergei!”
Footsteps pound behind me. Oh, shit. It’s like I have a parade. Jack, Adrian, and Ms. Davies are following me at a run. “Stay back!” I shout. “This is business!”
I find the study and there he is, sitting at his desk. I quickly shut the door behind me and lock it. “Sorry about the disturbance earlier. It’s just you and me now. Let’s get straight and then we’ll be good for Thursday.”
Someone knocks on the door. “Go away!” I shout.
“I told her not to come in,” Ms. Davies says through the door. “Very sorry, Sergei. She overpowered me and forced her way in.”
Sergei sends me a dark look. “That is my aunt’s friend.”
“I didn’t overpower her,” I whisper fiercely. “I just ran past her.”
“Please leave us,” Sergei commands loud enough to be heard by the crowd on the other side of the door.
Ms. Davies speaks softly through the door. “As you wish, sir.”
He stares at his desk morosely.
“It’s okay,” I say, approaching cautiously. “I’m sure you’ll do great next game. Odds are in your favor, right? Nowhere to go but up.”
He exhales sharply. “I don’t have the money.”
My stomach drops. “What do you mean you don’t have the money?”
He lifts his head. “I gave Yuri the last of my reserves for his sure-thing land deal. Everything else is gone. You must understand. His investment was worth more to me than paying a poker game debt.”
I hold onto my temper. “Sergei, if you don’t pay, then the winners don’t get their full winnings. They’ll quit. The game will fold.”
He lifts one shoulder in a careless shrug. “I don’t want Ivan to have my money anyway. He’s swinging his dick around, showing off with his mansion and his diamond cuff links.”
I lose it. “He was wearing a T-shirt and jeans! And you have a mansion too!”
He scowls. “I’ve seen him wear the diamond cuff links. And my town house is not a mansion. I need my money more than he does.”
I take a deep breath. “I can’t cover you. This is it. If you don’t pay, you can’t play in the game anymore.”
He lifts a shoulder. “Your boyfriend could take my place in the game.”
I reach for calm. “That doesn’t erase your debt. Listen, how about half? Can you cover half?”
He lifts his palms. “I’m afraid not. Please shut the door on your way out.”
“You’re out,” I say in a low, controlled voice. “I have a waiting list. I wish it didn’t have to be this way.”
“Business,” he says. “Sometimes it’s good; sometimes it’s bad.”
I swear he’s stiffing me as payback for turning him down. I turn on my heel and stride toward the door. My hand’s on the knob when he says, “Call me when your boyfriend leaves your bed cold again. Now that I’m not a player, you can be with me.”
I knew it! He’s mad I turned him down, and seeing Adrian here made it worse.
I shake my head and turn. “I will never be with you.”
“I still care for you, Sunny Sara.”
Blech.
I open the door and find Adrian and Jack standing just on the other side of it. Adrian’s eyes are knowing. He said this would happen, that I’d get stiffed one day and come up short. I always knew it was a risk to front their bets myself, but I always came out even the next day. Only this time I had an entourage with me and everything went south. I could’ve convinced Sergei if I didn’t have curious witnesses. It put him on edge.
I brush past Adrian and Jack and stride out the door. This sucks. Every time I get ahead, something pulls me right back to square one.
Adrian catches up to me on the sidewalk. “I’ll help cover him.”
“No! You’ve done enough.” I look down the street. “I’m walking home.”
“Come on. You knew this was a possibility. At some point a player was going to stiff you. So it happened.”
“It happened because you were there! And your guard. I could’ve gotten it out of him.”
He shakes his head. “You think flirting is going to get your players to cough up the money? That only goes so far. Especially after turning him down.”
I make a frustrated half scream, turn, and stride down the street.
Adrian keeps up with me. “Sara, you’re carrying more than half a mil in your purse, and you think you can just walk all the way back to your apartment by yourself with that?”
“Shh. Nobody knows what I have until you blab about it.”
“Silvia was worried about you, and now I am too.”
I halt. “Don’t you see? I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. My life before this sucked, okay? I worked two jobs, exhausted all the time, for crap pay. Maybe that’s something a prince doesn’t know about, living it up at the palace, but for people stuck here in the real world, that’s how it is. You work and work and work and you barely have enough to pay your bills. I was an office manager and a waitress. Two jobs! And I could barely survive. I brought Chloe food from my one comped meal a day at the diner because we could barely afford groceries. Can you picture that?”
His eyes are sympathetic. “It sounds tough.”
“Ya think? Or…you get creative, take a risk, and finally get somewhere. That’s where I was, and now you’re trying to drag me back down to the muck again.”
“Are you done?”
I blow out a breath. “Yeah, that about covers it.”
His voice is a gruff command. “Get in the car.”
I hesitate.
“If you don’t, my car will follow you all the way home, so you may as well take the easy way.”
I close my eyes for a moment. “Fine. You suck.”
“Thanks.”
I get in the car, and he follows me in, takes my hand in his, and gives it a warm squeeze. My eyes get hot. I still remember when he held my hand all the way to the health clinic when I was in pain and terrified of stitches in my ankle. He cares about me, and it’s been so long since I’ve felt cared for. It makes my insides quiver, unsure if I can trust this feeling enough to enjoy it.
“Listen, I want you to land on your feet,” he says. “I don’t want you in the muck either. Come back to Villroy with me. I could use you at the casino. I need a pit boss. Someone who understands gambling, who can make the staff feel comfortable. I’ll give you a generous salary; you can stay at the palace in a guest room. We’ll commute together. It will all be so much easier and safer than what you’re doing here.”
I go cold. Villroy is the last place I want to be. “I stand on my own two feet, and I don’t need a handout.”
“You’d be doing me a favor. I need a right-hand
woman. I’m so sick of all the phone calls, texts, and emails, and the day-to-day stuff with staff is not my thing. I want to be working on big-picture strategies for running the place and bringing in more business. You could be good at it. Your experience is perfect. An office manager slash card shark slash waitress? It’s like my dream candidate.”
I laugh a little. No one has ever called me a dream in any context. “I can’t. Chloe needs me.” It’s true. She’s my responsibility. And Villroy is never going to happen. I want to be past this—it’s been twelve years since I lost my parents—but I’m just not. Even now my chest aches just thinking about them. I can’t lose control to panic attacks again.
Adrian presses on. “Chloe’s at university. She’s an adult.”
I shake my head. “It’s different with us. She barely remembers our parents. She was only six when they died. I’m like a mom to her. I visit her once a week, and we text all the time. She needs to know I’m only a train ride away. I’m all she has.”
He gazes into my eyes for a long moment. “Just promise me you’ll think about it.”
I sigh. “Okay, I’ll think about it.” But I already know I can’t leave Chloe, and I can’t face the memories of my parents on Villroy. It was the best, most happiest times our family had, and it’ll hurt too much to feel their absence there. My chest tightens, and I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. I do that. Just stop breathing when the memory of them gets too intense. Breathe in, breathe out. I’m in control.
And then Adrian surprises me, wrapping an arm around me and pulling me close. My head rests against his chest. I’m frozen in shock for a moment. He smooths my hair back with his other hand and gives me a smile, his hazel eyes warm on mine.
Oh God, I’m going to cry. I close my eyes tight, willing my tears away. I can’t get used to this. It’ll be too painful to say goodbye.
I start to get up, and his arm tightens around me. “Just a little longer,” he murmurs. “I’ve missed you. Every woman I’ve met since you has paled in comparison.”
My heart thunders in my chest. I can’t believe he just said that. It’s so sweet, so…romantic. I can’t even find it in me to be angry anymore that he fucked up the Sergei situation.
Royal Shark (The Rourkes, Book 6) Page 8