The Big Blind (Nadia Wolf)

by Pierce, Nicolette

  “Sure. Let me show you to the bedroom.”

  As I trudged out of the room, I heard David say, “Make sure she has her own room.”

  Greyson led me up a wide sweeping staircase. He stopped at the last door in the hallway and opened it.

  “You should be comfortable in here,” he said.

  I eyed him as I entered the room. It had to be the master bedroom. The room was spacious enough to fit three semi trucks. A king size bed sat large and ominous with its high posts at the end of the room. A sitting area surrounded a marble fireplace. I could see a master bathroom off to the side with a sunken tub. I bet it had jets.

  “Do you have something smaller?” I asked.

  He chuckled. “Yes, but I want you in here. There’s the bathroom right here if you need it. You can raid my drawers to see if there are any t-shirts you want to wear. I’m sorry I don’t have anything girly for you to wear.”

  “Huh?”

  “I don’t have any underwear for you.”

  “Oh, that’s okay. My skin still hurts.”

  “I’ll let you get settled while I finish up with David. He’ll need to head out soon.”

  “Thank you.”

  He kissed the top of my head and closed the door leaving me in the enormous room.

  The Miller brothers had way too much money I thought as I dug through Greyson’s drawers. I spotted a jersey with Miller written on the back and number thirty-three below it. Greyson plays baseball? The shirt was ultra-soft so I brought it in the bathroom with me. I ogled longingly at the tub but headed for the shower. My skin needed cool water not a hot bath. Cool showers were no fun so I hurried through my routine and jumped out. I pulled on the jersey and dove between the eight hundred thread-count sheets. Seriously, too much freaking money. But I wasn’t complaining. The sheets were gentle on my skin.

  As soon as my head touched the pillow my body relaxed into a state of mushy bliss. I heard the door open. The thick carpeting muffled the sound of footsteps.

  Chapter 18

  “What’s going on?” I asked. My voice was muffled by the squishy pillow.

  Greyson crossed the room and climbed into bed.

  “David just left,” Greyson said.

  “David said you needed your own room.”

  “I don’t care what he says. What do you say?”

  I contemplated it.

  “Nadia, sweetheart, I just want to be next to you and fall asleep with you in my arms. We’ve been through so much together in the few days we’ve known each other. Let me hold you.”

  I turned to curl next to him. His arms wrapped around me bringing me closer. He was stripped down except for a pair of boxer shorts. The touch of his skin flustered me. I didn’t see how I was going to be able to sleep.

  “Nadia, what are you wearing?”

  “I found a t-shirt in your drawer.”

  “I feel lettering. Are you wearing my jersey?”

  “Yes, why?”

  He groaned. “Nothing.”

  “Should I find a different t-shirt?”

  “No, just remind me to keep my hands off you.”

  “I’m confused.”

  “It’s a guy thing. You aren’t suppose to understand.”

  “Then explain it to me.”

  “No.”

  “You can’t just say no.”

  “Yes, I can.”

  “Greyson, tell me or I’ll have to find a different t-shirt to wear. I won’t be able to fall asleep knowing there is something mysterious about the jersey I’m wearing.”

  “There’s nothing mysterious about it. You’re wearing my name.”

  “That’s it? I’m wearing your name?”

  “It’s unbelievably sexy. I told you, it’s a guy thing.”

  “Maybe I should change.”

  “Don’t you dare. You’re the only woman who has ever worn the jersey. I’m happy you’re the one to wear it.”

  I settled back into his arms. He was too damn comfortable to leave the bed to change.

  “Goodnight, sweetheart,” he said, kissing behind my ear.

  Even with Gus kidnapped and my skin tap dancing from Greyson’s touch, I was able to fall into a deep and heavy sleep.

  I bolted up in bed. The room was pitch black. Greyson stirred next to me, tightening his arms around my waist, dragging me back to him.

  “Why are you sitting up?” His voice was rough with sleep.

  “I had a nightmare about the damn scorpions. Greyson, I think I know what happened to the money.”

  He propped himself up on his elbow. “Huh?”

  “The tournament money. You never found it, right?”

  “No.” He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. “We never found it, and we can’t see any one walking off with it in the surveillance footage.”

  “That’s because it never left.”

  “Walk me through this. I’m half asleep.” He reached over and clicked on the bedside lamp.

  “What if the money never left the tournament? What if it just disappeared?”

  “Where would it have disappeared to?” He asked.

  “I don’t know. I bet it’s still in the room waiting for the right moment to make it really disappear.”

  “Why would someone take the risk of stealing it only to have to do it again?”

  I slid out of bed.

  “Nadia, what are you doing?”

  “I’m pacing.”

  “The bed is cold without you.”

  “There has to be a reason some one would hide money. If I wanted the money so bad that I have to make an elaborate plan to steal it, I sure as hell wouldn’t hide it in the same room. So, why do it?”

  Greyson bounded out of bed. “It was counterfeit.” He grabbed me and kissed me so thoroughly I almost forgot why I was out of bed.

  “That has to be it. They stole it because it was counterfeit. If Caleb won the money, their secret would be out. They didn’t want the money for themselves. They wanted to get rid of the evidence.”

  Greyson paced with me. “We’re so close to figuring this out. I need to get back to the casino.”

  “I’m coming with you.”

  “No, you’re not. I can’t risk Dagor seeing you.”

  “Greyson, I’m going and that’s final.”

  “Are you willing to risk the life of Gus?”

  I hesitated.

  His eyes softened as his lips pressed to my forehead. “Nadia, it’s not that I don’t want you to come. There are lives at stake that would haunt you forever if you took a risk that didn’t pan out. Let’s go back to bed. If the money is there, it will be there in the morning.”

  “But, Greyson, I could . . .”

  “Bedtime,” he said, tugging at my t-shirt.

  “But,” I said as Greyson swooped and silenced me with a kiss.

  “You talk too much.” He coaxed me the rest of the way into bed with his promising lips.

  “There’s no way I can sleep.”

  “Who said anything about sleep?”

  “Is this a ploy so I’ll forget about the money? It won’t work.”

  “No. This is a devious plan where you will sleep with me . . . with the jersey on.”

  “Do you think I could fall for such an obvious trap?”

  “That’s why it’s a devious plan. First, I’ll relax you. Are you relaxed yet?”

  “No.”

  “Let me fix that.”

  His hand smoothed over my hair. I gazed into his eyes. With the dim light they were the shade of black silk. His hands were as silky as his eyes. They roamed freely; gentle to not irritate my skin. His lips kissed as soft as butterfly wings each more tantalizing than the last.

  “Step two of my plan,” he whispered, “is to keep you in suspense.”

  His body was within a centimeter of mine. He didn’t touch. His energy radiated through me. He moved within the space but never once touched me. It took all my strength not to pull him to me, to kiss him, to take him into me. His lips w
ere near . . . so deliriously near. I moved to him. The closer I came, the further he moved back.

  “Step three of my plan is to make you want me so bad nothing will keep you from having me.”

  “You’re dreaming,” I said even though I was already there and waiting with bells on.

  “Am I? I think I’m closer to achieving step three than you want to admit.”

  I turned to climb out of bed. He arms shot out and captured me, pinning me so I was lying on my stomach. His hand slid my shirt up exposing my back. My back arched with the intense muscle contractions as he used the tip of his tongue to navigate his way down my back. As he continued his journey, my fingers curled into the sheets. He trailed to the back of my knees. Catching me off guard, I bucked at the sudden jolt his kiss caused. He moved to the other knee. I twisted to turn before he could continue his quest.

  He smirked. “Giving up so soon? I have more up my sleeve.”

  I pushed him on his back, straddling him as I held on to the remaining thread of coherent thought. He settled under me, shifting so I was on top of his hard manhood. He pressed me down onto him making me feel every thing that was there and ready for me to take.

  I was at my breaking point. He was here for the taking. He was here for me now but not in the future. Would I be able to walk away from this night? I’d grown close to him these last few days. Close enough to be crushed by pain if he forgot about me. I can’t disconnect sex and the man I’m having sex with. If I allowed him any closer he could tear my heart to shreds.

  I scurried off of him and off the bed.

  “Nadia, sweetheart, what’s wrong?”

  I shook my head. “I can’t do this, Greyson.”

  He moved slowly. “Come here.”

  When I didn’t move he took my hand and pulled me to him. I stayed locked in his embrace. I bit the side of my cheek to keep from thinking how much I wanted him. I thought I was stronger than this. I was wrong.

  “Sweetheart, you’ve been through a lot these last few days. I’m not going to push you to do anything but sleep. Everything else can wait until you’re ready.”

  “Greyson, I’ll never be ready.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I can’t be like the other women. I’m not that girl. My life doesn’t revolve around men, or pretty things, or money. My life is sitting at a poker table, making my own way, and making my own lousy money. I can’t be the girl who is there one day and gone the next.”

  “I’d never want you to be that girl nor expect you to be that girl. Nadia, I can’t make promises I have no way of keeping. If you want to slow things down then that’s what will happen. You call the shots.”

  “Then hurry up and change. I’m going to the casino.”

  “You need more sleep.”

  I glanced down at his boxer shorts and winced. “There’s no way I’ll be able to sleep. Can’t you sneak me in the back?”

  “You win. Let’s go.”

  Chapter 19

  Greyson drove to the back of the casino near the rear entrance. I was thankful to be out of his bedroom but concerned about Dagor finding me. My curiosity about the vanishing money shoved those thoughts to the back.

  Greyson used his key card to access the backdoor leading me through the back hallways. His stride was long and quick. I hurried to trail in his footsteps. He swiped his key card once again to unlock the tournament room.

  “Has this room been used since the tournament?”

  “No. It’s set up for televised games. This isn’t a room that would be used on a daily basis. We purchased the cameras and technology to make this operational. The table has tiny cameras built in to view the player’s cards.”

  “Where could the money be hidden?” I pondered. “The money was piled on the table when the lights went off. They had to do it fast. Security was already on the way with the flashlights.”

  We stood in the room surveying the area. The poker table sat in the middle of the room. Audience chairs surrounded two sides of the table, and cameras surrounded the remaining two sides.

  “It has to be somewhere in the middle of the room. They wouldn’t be able to hide it in the seating section since it was filled with the audience. There wouldn’t be any place to hide it by the cameras because it’s all open space.” I said.

  Greyson smoothed his hand over the table top. “There aren’t any marks or lines on the felt. If the table opened up, the felt would have been ripped or cut.”

  I kneeled to inspect the carpeting. My hand skimmed the floor hoping to find a seam. After ten minutes of looking, I gave up.

  “Damn it,” I said. “I know it’s in here. I can feel it.”

  “You can feel it?”

  “Yes, the universe is telling me it’s here.” I tried to keep a straight face but ended up chuckling. I needed to go back to work. My poker face was suffering from lack of practice.

  I traced my finger around the poker table edge. There were six tiny glass windows on the table top where a camera was hidden underneath each one. As the players place their cards face down on the table, the cameras show the viewers at home what cards each player has.

  “How are these tiny cameras mounted?”

  “It’s all wired underneath.”

  I knelt and scooted under the table. I examined each camera mounted to the underside. The wires ran into a metal box located in the center. I felt around the box’s rim. To make the money disappear, they had to be fast and quiet. This box was screwed into the table which would make it tedious to unscrew it, load it with money, and screw it back together.

  I sighed. “Maybe the universe misled me.”

  “Come out from under there. Let’s go home and sleep some more. It was a good theory.”

  As I slid from under the table my head smashed into the bottom jarring it loose. Bundles of hundred dollar bills tumbled down on me.

  “Ow!” I rubbed my head.

  Greyson peered at me and the money. He shook his head. “Only you could hurt yourself and have it be a good thing.”

  “The whole bottom of the table is fake. Look at this thing. It even has the wires and a metal box.”

  “They could stash the money quickly,” Greyson said as he inspected the fake table bottom. “With Caleb knocking out players left and right, it gave them an opening to maneuver under the table without being noticed. We need to transfer this money. I didn’t think to bring a bag.”

  “Do you want to find one? I can stay here.”

  “No. I’m not letting you or the money out of my sight.”

  “Then what’s your plan?”

  “To keep you safe, then dispose of this money.”

  “Don’t you want to keep the money to give to the police?”

  “There’s enough phony money floating around. I don’t need the extra million.”

  My cell phone rang. I dug it out of my pocket wondering who the hell could be calling me at this hour. Then again, it’s Las Vegas.

  “Hello?”

  “Where are you, baby?”

  “Why do you want to know?” I mouthed to Greyson, “Dagor”. His back straightened.

  “Don’t play games with me. I know you’re not at home. The lights are on but you aren’t there. Funny thing, a man climbed out of your window.”

  “I’m working the tables tonight. I have to make a living. I don’t know about the man in my apartment. Though, I wouldn’t think it’s safe to climb out my window.”

  “Go home now or say goodbye to your cat. You have exactly thirty minutes.” He hung up.

  “I have to go home. Dagor is giving me thirty minutes or he’ll kill Gus.”

  Greyson rubbed the back of his neck. “Damn it!”

  “I don’t know a way out of this. I have to go.”

  “Can you call David to see what he knows?”

  I shook my head. “He always has a different phone number. He contacts me.”

  “Alright, take my car. Drive as slowly as you can. Use all of the thirty minutes.
I’ll get in touch with Remy. We’ll stay close and watch. If there’s any sign of a problem, we’ll come in.”

  “Then let’s go. The clock’s ticking.”

  He set his keys in my hand and led me to the back door. He gave me a tight hug. I could have stayed in his arms forever, but I needed to save Gus. I pushed him back.

  “Be careful,” he said. “Scream or break a window so we know if you’re in trouble.”

  I nodded, hopped in his car, and drove off. I kept a little under the speed limit—to the annoyance of the other drivers on the road—to use up the thirty minutes.

  I pulled into the chapel parking lot and killed the engine. I took a deep breath before I stepped out of the car and into uncertainty.

  I ran upstairs to find my apartment door unlocked. Stepping cautiously into the apartment, I found Dagor and two men—who had more muscles than brains—waiting for me.

  “You barely made it in time.” Dagor frowned at my jersey and sweatpants. “You need to pretty yourself. I can’t be seen with you this way.”

  “I work the tables all day and night. I have to be comfortable.”

  “You don’t work any more.”

  “How am I suppose to pay rent?”

  “You’ll give up this rat hole apartment and move in with me.”

  “And when you tire of me I’ll be out on my ass with nowhere to go.”

  “I tie up my loose ends.”

  A slithering chill snaked its way through my spine. David told me Dagor’s girls tend to disappear. Was that his way of tying up loose ends?

  “Dagor, you know who I am. I’m not the kind of girl who depends on men. There are hundreds of girls who would love to sponge off you and be at your beck and call. That isn’t me.”

  “Baby, you came to me. You sought me to help you.”

  “Yes, but you won’t help me.”

  “I wouldn’t be helping you. I would be helping your lover, Greyson Miller.”

  “He’s not my lover.”

  Dagor grabbed my arm. “Then why are you wearing his jersey?”

  Oh, shit!

  He shook me. “Stop fucking lying to me, bitch.”

  “I’m not lying. I never slept with him.”

  The back of his hand cracked me across my cheekbone so fast and hard there was no time to block or duck.