Deadly Odds

by Adrienne Giordano

  But, it could be a wild—extremely wild—coincidence. She’d have to rule Mrs. Miller out before she saw Ross again. Which meant finding any similarities between Watercress’s videos and Fortuna’s.

  Particularly any incidents of Mrs. Miller and Mr. Reegs being at the same tables at the same times.

  And winning.

  * * *

  By three o’clock, Ross was already whupped. A hard thing for him to admit, but the week had most definitely caught up to him. Between keeping up with Kate and her doings and the general day-to-day of performing his job, it had been a helluva week.

  And a short five hours of sleep after last night’s activities wasn’t nearly enough.

  A soft knock landed on his office door and he glanced up, found Kate standing just outside the threshold, her beautiful creamy skin a notch paler than earlier. Already, she was pushing too hard, disregarding the fact that she was injured.

  She offered up a smile, but nothing about that smile hit him right. Too tight. Controlled.

  “Hey, gorgeous,” he said. “Come in.”

  Ross didn’t buy into the whole karma thing, but when she stepped into his office a dark, foreboding energy came with her.

  Typically, she came at him with confidence and well, aggression. Good aggression. A woman who got shit done aggression.

  This?

  Nuh-uh.

  He sat back, held his hand out, directing her to sit. “This looks ominous.”

  She lowered into one of his desk chairs, smoothed her long, perfect fingers over her skirt. Damn, those fingers. Hell, she didn’t even need to touch him. All he had to do was look at her fingers and his thoughts went to the places those fingers had been and—bam—he wanted her.

  Whatever she had on her mind didn’t match what he had on his mind.

  He studied her, met her gaze for a long few seconds and waited for her to tell him something he instinctively knew he wouldn’t want to hear.

  After this bitch of a week, he could think of better things to do than get pissed off.

  He sat forward. “Spit it out, Kate.”

  She inched up in her seat, got right to the edge and set one hand on his desk. “I think I found something. On the surveillance tapes.”

  “Why do I think I’m not going to like it?”

  “If I’m right, you won’t.”

  “Another dealer?”

  “No. I compared surveillance video from Dominion, Watercress and Fortuna on any night that suspected cheating took place.”

  “And?”

  “I found Mrs. Miller.”

  Ross laughed. Of course she found Mrs. Miller. The woman’s love of gambling rivaled her son’s.

  Ross propped his elbows on the desk and leaned in. “Honey, that’s not a shock. She’s always around.”

  “Yes, but is she always at a table where cheating is taking place? And, honey, I mean always. In every instance, she was at the tables within the hours in question.”

  This was nuts. That old woman a crossroader? Please. They all wanted to nail a cheat, but he wasn’t about to accuse the mother of one of his biggest whales.

  “Then we have one hell of a coincidence. There is no way that old woman is a crossroader. She’s been coming to Vegas for years. Her son is one of the biggest whales we’ve got. If his mother were a cheat, someone, somewhere in Vegas would know it.”

  “You’d think.”

  “I know, Kate. You’re spinning wheels. Move on to the next theory before Samuels cans all our asses.”

  “No, Ross.”

  No? Sex or no sex, he ran this casino and she was a damned consultant. He tilted his head. “Careful here, Kate.”

  “Oh, I’m being careful. I’m also not moving on. This is a solid lead. One we have to pursue. And every instinct I have is screaming it’s not a coincidence that Mrs. Miller and this Reegs are on all these videos together. As much as I’d love it to be one.”

  Ross was about to let out a huff, but caught himself. That huff would no doubt start a war. And he wasn’t in the mood. He closed his eyes, ran the conversation through his mind again. Wait. What he had here was a consultant trying to prove her worth. Kate was a pro. She, like him, wanted to succeed.

  Every time.

  It was one of the things he admired about her. A woman making her own way in the brutal environment known as Las Vegas.

  But this time, she was wrong.

  He scratched the back of his neck where that damned incessant tension drove him bat-shit.

  “I’m not gonna fight with you about this.”

  “Good. Because this needs vetting.”

  He sighed. Couldn’t help it. And it wasn’t a huff. Might as well have been though with the scorching look she gave him. That sucker? Pure napalm.

  But he’d humor her and figure out what the hell she was thinking.

  He held one palm up. “Okay. Let’s work through this. Tell me what you propose.”

  “We watch Mrs. Miller. Wherever she goes, whatever she does. I think she’s up to something.”

  “And you don’t think that’s an invasion of her privacy?”

  “If she’s stealing from your casino do you care? If this were anyone else, you’d jump on it.”

  And now she wanted to add sarcasm into this? “I know this woman. Have for years. She’s not a cheat.”

  “Your support of her is admirable.”

  “But?”

  Definitely a but coming. Kate didn’t back down. Not that easy.

  “Have you even considered she might be playing you?”

  He burst out laughing. “Mrs. Miller?”

  “Yes. Mrs. Miller. That sweet, rich old woman. Maybe, just maybe, she’s figured out that stroking a man’s ego might win him over. Might make him believe she wasn’t doing a damned thing wrong.”

  Now he was done. He drove his index finger into the top of his desk. “This is bullshit. You’re grasping.”

  Rather than shoot out of her chair, she smoothed her hands down her skirt again, blew air through her puckered lips and slowly got to her feet. “I take it you’re going to let your ego get in the way and not admit you might be wrong about this woman?”

  “Bet your sweet ass. Not when you want to crucify an old woman whose son spends millions in my casino.”

  “All right then.”

  Still with that unruffled calm, she made her way to the door and stopped. She turned back and the controlled movements made Ross’s chest pound. Damn, that was hot.

  “All I asked of you,” she said, “was to watch her. I didn’t ask you to crucify her. You’d know that, if you’d get your head out of your ass.”

  * * *

  Kate stormed the hallway leading to her suite. Damned Ross. She’d been studying and studying and studying those surveillance tapes until her vision blurred and he wouldn’t give her the courtesy of opening his mind? Even a little bit?

  Damn him.

  This is what happened when two people mixed business and sex.

  Gah. If it were only that easy to call it just sex. Sex implied a fling. A no-strings lack of emotions. Sex would be a whole lot easier to deal with.

  This? She waved her hands in front of her. This…this up and down…this drama—yes, that’s what it was, drama—ravaged her. Ross? He was all about the rush. He lived for it.

  She’d known that going in. And still, she’d been seduced by it. By the free-wheeling Vegas playboy lifestyle.

  She’d temporarily lost her mind, abandoned the idea that she needed a man who, like her, enjoyed a quiet life.

  Instead, she’d let herself believe in Ross Cooper. A man who, as soon as he’d ensnared her, tried to push her around. Tried to make her think she was incompetent simply because he didn’t want to believe an old woman had duped him.

  Just as she reached her door, her phone bleeped. Dev’s ringtone. Terrific.

  Everyone just pile on.

  She swiped her key and pushed open the door while grabbing her phone from her bag.

>   “Hi, Dev.”

  “What the hell is going on over there?”

  “Come again?”

  “Samuels is demanding answers from me because he can’t get a hold of you.”

  Samuels? He’d called minutes ago, just prior to her walking into Ross’s office. Yes, she’d let it go to voicemail simply so she could give Ross the benefit of hearing her theory before his boss did. Shame on her.

  “Dev, the man is a maniac. He called me not ten minutes ago and I was in a meeting with Ross. I just finished with him and haven’t had a chance to return calls.”

  “He’s on a fucking tear. What have you got so far? And please, tell me something because I’m beginning to think you’re in over your head here.”

  Yes, men of the world, just pile on.

  First Ross, now Dev with Samuels more than likely to follow. Dev she should be used to. She’d been dealing with his harsh realities for months. But combined with Ross’s sudden derision, it stung.

  Badly.

  “I’m far from over my head.” You bastard. “I was just with Ross discussing a potential suspect.”

  Kate set her bag on the desk and tossed her keycard next to it. Beside her the peaceful foothills loomed. She’d love to put her boots on and wander outside. Just shut out all the buzzing in her head.

  “What suspect?”

  The suspect Ross didn’t want to hear about.

  But she knew her boss and he wanted to make Samuels happy. If she told him about Mrs. Miller, he’d run with it, no doubt. He’d take it straight to the top. To Ross’s boss.

  Which would leave her even more at odds with one extremely charismatic and driven casino executive.

  One she’d let herself fall hard for.

  Damn him.

  “Kate, Samuels is a son of a bitch. He’ll take us both down and I’m not having that. Give me what you’ve got or you can start looking for a new job.”

  And damn him too.

  Kate dropped onto the arm of the sofa, glanced at the bed she’d shared with Ross and wondered just how the hell she’d wound up having to choose between him and her job. But, she’d known that from the beginning. Had called it early on that at some point, she and Ross would be on opposite sides.

  And here they were. In that nasty place where she had to follow her instincts to complete her assignment. Even if it meant betraying Ross.

  Well, they’d have to agree to disagree on this one because she wasn’t about to blow her career.

  “There’s a woman. Mrs. Miller. Her son is a whale. They were fixtures at Dominion and now Fortuna. Ross is quite fond of the mother. By all accounts, she’s a lovely woman.”

  “And what?”

  “Something isn’t right. Today I was scanning video of the other suspect, Dillon Reegs, and Mrs. Miller shows up in several instances where Reegs is at the tables.”

  “You think they’re working together?”

  “I don’t know. But I’m sure the dealer is doing a false shuffle and combining that with Reegs and Mrs. Miller? It’s, at the very least, suspect.”

  “And she’s there every time?”

  “As far as I can tell. Each night mini-bac revenue was down at Fortuna, I compared it with the nights revenue was down at Dominion and Watercress. The similarities are obvious.”

  “Is Cooper taking this to Samuels?”

  Here we go…

  She hesitated a full sixty seconds. However she chose to proceed here, would impact her relationship—if it even was a relationship—with Ross. But his being pig-headed wasn’t helping.

  “Kate? Is he taking this to Samuels?”

  Dammit.

  “He feels I’m reaching.”

  “Of course you’re reaching. It’s a lead. You’re following it.”

  Finally, something she could agree on. Still, sharing the conversation with her boss, outing Ross seemed such a betrayal. “My suggestion to Ross was to watch Mrs. Miller. See what, if anything, she’s up to.”

  “And?”

  “Not interested.”

  “Well, glamour boy is gonna have to suck it up.”

  “I’m sorry?”

  “He’s out of his mind if he thinks we’re sitting on this. You’re taking it to Samuels.”

  I am?

  “Dev—”

  “You said you owed him a call. Call him back. Tell him what you told Cooper.”

  “And throw Ross under a bus? That’s a terrific way to make friends.”

  “You want friends or a career? If you don’t take it to Samuels, I will.”

  Some things, she simply could not do. Telling her boss was one thing, telling Ross’s boss, without giving Ross the opportunity to think it over, to come to his senses and at least watch the woman, didn’t seem right. Particularly when she’d hit him with it after a very long few days.

  His emotions, without question, were driving him. After a night’s sleep, he might feel differently.

  “Let me talk to Ross again. See if I can budge him.”

  “And ignore Samuels?”

  “Not ignore. Stall. Tell him I’m studying video and I might have something. Buy me time. Please.”

  “I don’t like it.”

  “Well, Dev, guess what? Neither do I. But Ross Cooper has a lot of friends in Vegas. Maybe not as many as Samuels, but pissing him off wouldn’t be our best move. Trust me on that.”

  * * *

  “Yes, sir. I’ve got it.”

  Ross rested his head back against his chair, let it sink into the softness of the leather, while his boss ripped him a new one—or two—for not following up on Kate’s lead.

  On most days, Samuels popped off. Nothing new there. They’d all grown used to it. Had become almost numb to it.

  The yelling Ross didn’t mind.

  The reason he yelled bugged the shit out of him.

  Kate. She’d marched out of his office and had gone straight to his boss. Not even a cooling off period. A measly hour to wrap his head around the idea of Mrs. Miller, a woman he’d known and adored for years, being a cheat. Someone who would screw him.

  As Kate had obviously just done. How ironic.

  “Am I clear?” Bob thundered through the phone.

  “Crystal.”

  “Good. Call me before the end of the day with an update.”

  The line went dead and Ross dropped the handset back in the cradle.

  “Marcia!”

  No answer. Of course. Which meant she wasn’t at her desk and could be anywhere in the building. This one, he’d handle himself.

  He’d track down his redheaded snitch himself.

  He’d known, all along, he shouldn’t break the cardinal rule. The one that required him to keep his hands off the sexy consultant. Because this is what happened when a man like him let his dick lead the charge.

  Sure, he’d gotten laid. And it had been epic. Off-the-charts epic.

  At least until she’d fucked him. Literally and figuratively.

  She wanted to play? Perfect. “Let’s do it.” He slammed both palms against the desk. “Son of a bitch.”

  He shot from the chair, headed for the door while he adjusted the folded edge of his shirt cuff. Got that sucker straight.

  Jacket. He should put it on.

  Hell with it. Who cared? The mood he was in, fuck the jacket.

  At the elevator bank he jabbed the button for the staff only car. Burning some steam on the stairs was an option, but with the level of rage he had? Not nearly enough stairs for that.

  The elevator door slid open to a thankfully empty car. Right now he didn’t have it in him to be Ross-the-schmoozer.

  Goddamned witch.

  She had him completely twisted. His own fault.

  The elevator reached her floor and he stalked toward her suite.

  Calm.

  Going at her too hard wouldn’t help. He’d let her know he didn’t appreciate her playing him—personally and professionally—but he’d stay in control. Say what he had to say and leave. End o
f it.

  He knocked on the door. Three solid raps. Waited.

  Come on. Come on.

  Had she checked the peep? Saw it was him and ignored him? Would she go that far?

  “Kate!”

  The door flew open. “Relax.”

  The sight of her, that long red hair, the green eyes, cut right into him. Damned near hit bone.

  She betrayed you, dumbass.

  She stepped back from the door, waved him in. He hit the center of the room, a large open area with a view of the foothills—those damned foothills—and spun on her, holding his arms out.

  “One disagreement and you screw me? What’s that about?”

  So much for control.

  She gawked. “How did I screw you?”

  “If going to my boss because I didn’t give you what you wanted isn’t screwing me, I don’t know what is.”

  He stood, waiting for the explosion.

  Nothing.

  Not cool, collected Kate. She’d never just let it fly and for once give him a spontaneous reaction. Should have known.

  She folded her arms, narrowed those fiery green eyes on him and the air in the room got thick. Hot. Even then, as pissed as he was, he wanted her.

  “First of all,” she said, “if you ever speak to me that way again, I’ll dismember you. Second, I will say again, I have not spoken to your boss. I did however, speak to my boss. Who called me demanding answers or I’d be on the unemployment line. Like you, I tend to respond when my superiors, the ones who pay my salary, ask questions. I also requested that he wait until I had a chance to speak to you again before going to Samuels.”

  “Well, guess what, that didn’t happen. You should have known better.”

  What the hell was he doing? He should leave now. Walk right the hell out. He came here looking for answers and he’d gotten them. She may not have gone to Samuels, but she’d gone to her psychotic boss. And she knew that self-serving asshole well enough to know he wouldn’t hold back that information. Not if it got him ahead.

  “Ross?”

  “What?”

  “Screw you.”

  He leaned in, right next to her ear, got a whiff of her soap and something inside him came apart. A huge chunk simply sheared off. “Sweetheart,” he said, “you’ve already managed that.”

  To her credit, she didn’t respond. Just stood there in that ice queen way he’d seen the first day she’d entered his office.