The Big Blind (Nadia Wolf)

by Pierce, Nicolette

  Before Greyson could answer, I planted a kiss on him that backfired. I had wanted to give a little performance for the employees, but the kiss was so much more than I expected. Luckily, Greyson had the sense to pull back but not before nipping my bottom lip.

  “Sugar dumpling?” He whispered.

  “It’s a term of endearment,” I whispered back.

  “Have you ever used it before?”

  “Do I look like a person who goes around calling men sugar dumpling?”

  His lips curved slightly.

  In a louder voice, I said, “Look at all the money on the shelves.”

  I roamed from Greyson to the shelves. Greyson followed behind. As I studied the shelves, I noticed they were metal and sturdy. They were probably bolted directly to the wall. I couldn’t see any seams where the wall might have been cut. Each shelf had its own denomination. Singles were at the bottom. Hundreds were at the top. I ignored the lower bills and studied the hundred dollar shelf. This had to be where the “magic” happened.

  If Greyson didn’t see the money come or go, maybe it just disappeared and reappeared on this shelf. I studied the ceiling. It was white drywall. No seams or vents. I wanted to scream. It had to be here. Why the hell can’t I see it?

  Lupier made sure his tricks were hidden from the audience. The gimmicks he used were shielded. Only the magician and his assistant learn where triggers were placed. I shivered at the remembrance of the scorpion coffin. Even then, the faulty button I pushed was hidden from the audience.

  I pondered. The cash room and cameras were like the audience. Any thing the audience could see would be part of the illusion. I needed to find the area the magician was working in.

  I smirked and glommed onto Greyson. “Sugar dumpling, when we get married, will you shower me with money?”

  Three pairs of wide eyes shot in our direction. They showed more shock than he did.

  “Sweetheart, when we get married this weekend, I will shower you with anything you want.”

  My eyes sprung wide open.

  Greyson chuckled and whispered, “I can play this game too.”

  “No, you can’t,” I whispered back. “You freaked me out. I think you gave the employees a heart attack. You’ll need to put them on workers’ comp.”

  He held me near. “Maybe you shouldn’t play games if you aren’t ready to follow through.”

  I eyed him suspiciously. “Come on. Let’s go to the hallway.”

  He followed me out of the cash room and into the hall.

  “What’s on the other side of the shelves?” I asked.

  “A storage room.”

  This tidbit sparked my interest. “Can you show me?”

  “For you, my blushing bride, I would be honored.” A smile escaped his lips.

  “Cut that out,” I said. “You’re doing it to make me nervous. And I’m far from a blushing bride.”

  “I don’t see why it should make you nervous. You started the game; I’m just playing along. I’m not all that bad.”

  “You said yourself you would make a bad husband.”

  “True. However, David seems to be worse, and Mya still loves him.”

  “Yes, but absence makes the heart grow fonder. Indifference kills it.”

  “Ouch, that hurts.”

  “It only hurts because you know it’s true. You have no plans to marry. And I wouldn’t marry you if you did so cut it out.”

  “Just stab the knife in deeper. Better yet, twist the knife for maximum pain.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Just show me the damn room.”

  He chuckled and led me to a storage room. It was filled with cleaning supplies and stacks of linens. I wandered around inspecting the area.

  Jason opened the door and peeked in. “Greyson, I was told you were onsite.” He entered into the storage room. “Why are you in here?”

  “I’m giving Nadia a tour.”

  His brow arched. “Of the storage room? I’m sure she would rather see the kitchens or the boutiques.”

  “Is there something you wanted?” Greyson asked.

  “We need to come up with a game plan for the meetings tomorrow. I set some reports on your desk that we need to go over.”

  “We can do that first thing in the morning. I’m trying to keep Nadia awake right now. Any talk of meetings or reports could make a person fall dead asleep.”

  “Oh,” Jason said. “I’ll leave you to finish your tour.” Jason retreated out of the storage room leaving the door slightly ajar.

  “Let’s do this quickly,” Greyson whispered.

  “I was expecting the storage room to be bigger.”

  “Be happy it isn’t. Otherwise, we would have more ground to cover.”

  “Doesn’t it seem like we walked further to get here?”

  I left the storage room and counted paces to the cash room door. There were twenty paces. Only ten of them were equivalent to the storage room space. It wasn’t adding up. Greyson ran his hand along the hallway wall.

  “Nothing,” he said.

  “Let’s go back in the storage room. Are there cameras in there?”

  “No. There are some in the hallway.”

  “Perhaps we should make it look like we don’t want to be disturbed.”

  “How would we do that?” He asked, but his eyes darkened in understanding.

  I took a couple of steps back. “I meant acting like we did in the cash room.”

  He closed in. “I don’t want to act.”

  His lips were on mine in an instant. I pushed him back, but he slid in the storage room yanking me in with him. He shut the door. I found myself pinned between Greyson and the door. He gazed down at me.

  “Kiss me, Nadia.”

  He gazed into my eyes as if I was the only woman in the world he’d ever want. I raised myself on my tippy toes and brought his mouth to mine. What began as a slow kiss turned into a flurry of desperate need. Our lips couldn’t take in each other fast enough. Our hands couldn’t explore with enough speed. I fumbled with his shirt to strip it off. I needed his skin, his warmth, his muscles. He pulled the shirt over his head and then removed mine.

  We had begun at the door but between kissing and a flurry of hands, we ended up at the opposite side of the room. Greyson pinned me by a shelf. I felt my bra unhook and loosen. He hooked his finger in the strap and tugged it the rest of the way off.

  “I can honestly say I’ve never been in a storage closet with a girl before,” he said into my neck.

  “Glad I could help make your dreams come true.”

  “Just wait, I’ll get to your dreams.”

  I held onto the shelf for support as Greyson kissed his way down. The shelf gave way. I tumbled backwards taking Greyson with me.

  “Ow!”

  Greyson and I looked up from where we were sprawled on the floor to find we were half in the storage room and half in another room. We scrambled to our feet.

  “What the hell just happened?” I asked.

  “I think we found the printing room.”

  Chapter 26

  Greyson was right. We found the printing room. There was a printer set up in a corner with pages of uncut hundred dollar bills stacked high. The smell of ink and chemicals filled the room.

  “Grab our shirts,” he said as he propped a vacuum cleaner in the doorway.

  I scooted past him into the storage room to collect our clothes. I slipped into my shirt as I roamed around the printing room.

  The room was big enough for the printer, supplies, and a few stacks of money. An empty shelf secured high on the wall caught my attention. It was a high place to install a shelf and then not store anything on it.

  “Greyson, does this shelf stand out to you?”

  “It’s odd it’s so high with nothing on it. It looks like a shelf from the cash room.”

  Greyson and I gawked at each other with the same realization. We hurried over to the shelf. A step stool was placed under it. Greyson stepped on it and inspected the shelf.r />
  “This is about the same height as the hundred dollar shelf in the cash room, isn’t it?” I asked.

  “It has to be. I can’t see anything different.”

  “Can you see any buttons or triggers? Maybe jiggle the shelf and see if it moves.”

  Greyson pressed, jiggled, and pushed at the shelf. It didn’t budge.

  “Maybe the trigger is located somewhere else,” I said.

  Greyson hopped off the stool, and we searched the room. Greyson wandered to the desk and inspected it and its contents. I searched along the walls. My hand ran across the light switches. There were two switches and a button that had a safety release so you couldn’t accidentally press it. This made me curious. I released the safety mechanism and pressed the button. The shelf turned. The cash room money was now on the inside of the printing room. I pushed the button again. It rotated the shelf so the money was back in the cash room.

  “Now we know how the money was moved,” I said. “The workers wouldn’t have noticed it because it was above their heads. What about the cameras?”

  “From what I remember of the footage, the cameras were all pointing down towards the busy areas of the room. It might have been too hard of an angle to capture the top shelf. I can’t believe this room was built under my nose. This must be why Jeff was hired,” Greyson growled. “My casino is printing counterfeit money!”

  I left Greyson to his thoughts and studied the printer. I had never seen a printer set up for money, so I wanted to check it out before the police took it for evidence.

  “Nadia, come here quickly.”

  “Did you find something?”

  His eyes were focused at the doorway. I followed his eyes to Jason. He was standing in the doorway with a gun pointed at Greyson.

  “You couldn’t leave it alone, could you? My one place to have a little spotlight of my own and not hover in your shadow.”

  “I should have known it was you. You have nearly the same amount of security clearance as I do. You have access to my calendar, my office, and my penthouse.”

  Jason smirked. “You would have never suspected me because I was your right hand man. You say jump, and I jump until I can’t breathe.”

  “Put the gun down and let’s talk.”

  “Talk about what? Maybe you want to talk about how much I slaved for you as you waltzed around in your Armani suits. While you got all the girls with your money, I worked around the clock.” Jason twitched. He was trying to keep a tight grip on his emotions. They were gnawing at him and wearing him down. “It looks like you found your last girl. I know how much you like each other, so I’ll be the gentleman and let you choose who I shoot first. Then I’ll seal the door and let you both rot here together.”

  “We can make a deal,” Greyson said. He pulled me to stand behind him. “We’ll take down this printing room. I’ll wire money into an offshore account. You can make a clean break. Move somewhere new and start over.”

  “It’s not that easy. I’m not alone.” The vein in his neck pulsated as he twitched again.

  “We already know about Lupier and Dagor,” Greyson said.

  “Dagor is the middleman. I could care less about him. This is far beyond anything I can stop.”

  “Who does Dagor work for?” I asked.

  Jason shook his head. He bit back the fear reflected in his eyes. “Dagor tipped him off that you both knew about the money. He nearly ate me for breakfast.” Jason’s eyes glazed over as he shuddered. “I’m getting out of here but not before I kill you both. Those were my directions. If I don’t follow them, I’m a dead man.”

  I had to keep Jason talking and not shooting. “What about Lupier?” I asked. “Is he going with you?”

  Jason arched his brow. “Why would he go with me? He doesn’t have anything to do with this.”

  “You’re not working together? How did you know how to create these illusions?”

  Jason smiled.

  “Yvette is your partner,” I concluded. She was the only logical person who could have been as valuable as Lupier.

  “I wouldn’t cut her in on this deal. But I did, uh, pump her for information. Jeff was my partner until he drank something he shouldn’t have.”

  “He was alive long enough to be useful but died after services were performed at the tournament.”

  “Yeah,” Jason said. “Something like that. He was a carpenter and skilled at rigging up false walls and the table bottom. But he was greedy and wanted to steal the counterfeit money. He said we could swap it out later. I knew the cameras would catch us. With all the security and cameras in this place, and Greyson’s constant overshadowing, I had to tread carefully. Jeff was all about instant gratification.” Jason’s finger pulsed at the trigger. A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.

  “What about Catarina? She was hanging around Lupier. I know she needs money,” I said.

  “Yes, she desperately needs money. She’s working all the angles to cash in on Lupier’s success. I heard her mention making an illusion video and something about pie that could be sold on the internet. She has nothing to do with me. But she did sabotage you the two times you were on stage. I must give her credit for that.”

  Catarina was the one who bumped into me and disabled the switch on the coffin? My hand flexed in anger. I shuddered at the thought of Lupier and Catarina . . . and pie. I didn’t ponder long about the union of my two least favorite people. Jason held out his gun and steadied his hand to take aim.

  “I’ve told you too much information,” he said. “I didn’t want to kill you, but I really don’t have a choice.” His finger pressed the trigger.

  I swallowed not knowing what to do. Greyson pushed me further behind him. I squirmed to free myself from his protection. I needed to help, not hide. A gunshot blasted the air. Greyson slammed against me. We smashed against the wall and fell to the floor. His full weight was on top of me. Warm liquid ran down on me and soaked my shirt.

  “Greyson!”

  I scrambled to escape from under him. His weight pinned me down.

  “I’m okay,” he said. His voice was edged with pain.

  An arm reached down and helped Greyson up. I fixed my eyes on Remy. Jason was on the floor knocked out. Greyson held his arm while blood trickled down.

  “I thought we were goners. When did you get here?” I asked Remy.

  “In time to knock out Jason before he shot Greyson in the chest. A shot to the arm isn’t as bad.”

  “I’d rather have the wall shot instead,” Greyson said through gritted teeth.

  I winced at the blood flowing from Greyson’s arm. “I’ll drive you to the emergency room.” I hurried to the storage room and grabbed a towel. I wrapped it around his arm to help stop the bleeding.

  “How did you know where to find us?” Greyson asked.

  “Security was all up in your business. They were collecting bets to see if you two were going to do the nasty in the storage room. I arrived as the camera picked up Jason entering the room. When he didn’t leave I knew something was wrong and hauled ass down here.”

  “They would bet on something like that?” I asked.

  “This is a casino. We bet on every thing.”

  “We need to hurry. The towel is saturated.”

  “I can take him,” Remy said.

  “No, Nadia can take me. I want you to stay here and guard this room. Call the police and tell them the situation. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Don’t let anyone in except the police. Right now, I don’t trust anyone except you. There are people in this building who knew about this printing room. Until we determine who it is, I’m giving you all the responsibility. Tie Jason up so he can’t run away.”

  Remy nodded. I ushered Greyson out the door. He would have talked business until he ran out of blood.

  Greyson gave me the keys to his Ferrari as we hurried outside.

  “You’re going to smear blood all over your car,” I said.

  “The seats are leather. It should be fine. And if not
, I don’t care right now.”

  “Alright, hop in because I’m going to see what this car is made of.”

  “As long as you drive to the hospital before I bleed to death, you can do whatever you want.”

  I grinned.

  They admitted Greyson right away. I was allowed to stay with him even though I protested. Blood and I have an unspoken agreement. It stays inside the body, and I don’t throw up. Once it escapes, the agreement is broken. I was heroic back in the printing room because I was hopped up on adrenaline. Being in the hospital made the blood seem more treacherous.

  I let them patch Greyson as I stood in the corner humming. I figured show tunes were the way to go. I tried to think of something upbeat and peppy, but it ended up a compilation of several songs and was grating to even my ears. If Frankie was here, he could have belted out a song that would have made me feel better.

  “Nadia, you can stop humming. It’s over.”

  I turned to inspect Greyson. He had a gauze bandage over his wound. I could deal with a bandage.

  “Does it hurt?”

  “No. It’s tender, but they gave me something for pain.”

  “Are you ready to go?”

  “Yeah, let’s head back home.”

  “To your house?”

  “Yes, that’s what I meant.”

  “I just wanted to make sure. You said before you didn’t think of the house as your home.”

  “That was before. It’s grown on me.” Greyson took my hand as we strolled to the car. “Nadia, a part of me didn’t want to find the counterfeit money. I knew I would have to work an insane amount of hours to prevent the casino from falling down around my ears when the story hits the news. I’m sure it will have complete media coverage by morning. Any bits of a normal life I had are going to go with it. I’ll have to make calls to release statements as soon as we get back.”

  I nodded. “You don’t have to explain this to me. I already know. I did like spending time with you. Not the life threatening parts, nor the parts when Mya dressed me up, but the other times.”