High Stakes: A Texas Heat Romance

by Camilla Stevens

  It was all Chance could do not to leap out of his chair and act on the first instinct that had almost overtaken him when he first shook hands with the man. His hands itched to wrap around that thick neck and squeeze until Peter was blue in the face. Maybe then there would actually be something human in those eyes…right before the life left them.

  Peter leaned in ever so slightly. “In fact, I’m sure he is having plenty of fun with more than just her legs while he can.”

  When you feel your emotions coming, think of me. That’s when your eyes are the calmest.

  He thought of those brown shoulders glowing in the dim light of the gems and minerals exhibit. He thought of Juliet’s sleepy smile as he went off back to the rig. He thought of the animation in her voice when she talked about baseball. He thought of that smile, the genuine one that took over her whole face, making it shine brighter than a supernova.

  Was she already dead?

  Did Jacob have his fitly hands all over her?

  You’ll be safe here. His own words were killing him now.

  If he left now, he’d give himself away. Peter would find a way to get in touch with Jacob quicker than Chance could get there, cell phone ban or not. Hell, he probably had people watching the place from outside waiting on that exact thing to happen so they could warn Jacob off. She’d be dead by the time Chance made it to the highway. He’d probably even have enough time to get rid of the body.

  No, his best bet was to play it cool and hope Peter bought it. At the very least it would buy him some time, hopefully Juliet as well.

  He turned to Peter with a gaze that was as calm as the eye of a storm.

  “If you think that piece of ass means more to me than this three million dollar jackpot, you’re even dumber than you look.”

  36

  Jacob screamed in pain as the alcohol hit his eyes. His own glass fell from his hands on to the couch.

  Juliet watched him struggle, wondering where in the hell the impulse to do that had come from. As he wiped furiously at his eyes, she snapped out of it, thinking fast.

  Her eye was caught by the baseball in the case, the case with the marble bottom. She grabbed it and, again almost without thinking, slammed it against his head.

  Something that was a mixture of a gurgle and a hiccup escaped his lips just before his body slumped down onto the couch. Blood poured from his forehead so liberally that Juliet worried the man might bleed to death.

  The thought sent a brief flash of terror through her…right before she remembered Chance. Chance, who was sitting in the viper’s pit at that very moment.

  Jacob was either responsible for that or at the very least involved. That thought brought her practical side around. She could handle the consequences of murder later.

  She saw a slight rise to his chest indicating that he wasn’t in fact dead. She was both relieved and panicked at that.

  Focus.

  The steps she needed to take came at her like a series of instructions from a user’s manual.

  Step 1. Find something to tie him with.

  Step 2. Bind him good and tight.

  Step 3. Make a phone call.

  Ten minutes later, Jacob was still out cold. He was also hogtied, with both hands tied behind his back and both feet tied together.

  Juliet had added a step, which was to find some gauze and bandages for his head wound. It wasn’t that she gave a damn about the man—as far as she was concerned he could die a thousand deaths, especially if Chance never came back from that game—she just couldn’t stomach the sight of it anymore.

  Juliet found her phone and found the name that was listed right under Chance in her list of contacts. She pressed the button and waited. It took exactly one ring before it was answered.

  “Juliet?” The surprise in Katherine McCoy’s voice was evident.

  “You should probably come over here,” Juliet said, staring down at the man lying on the couch. “We’ve got trouble.”

  “I’m impressed,” Katherine said, staring down at Jacob, who was still out cold.

  “I did it without thinking.”

  “But you did it. That’s the important thing.” Chance’s mother looked up at Juliet with a new appreciation for her.

  “So what are we going to do with him? Should we call the police?”

  The consequences of what she’d done were now hitting Juliet. How would she even explain how she was in this man’s house as a guest in the first place? Then somehow knocking him over the head with his own bit of Sluggers memorabilia? She looked down at Jacob and her mind was abuzz with the various ways that would go down.

  “No police.”

  Juliet blinked up at Katherine.

  Katherine looked back at her with those fierce Russian eyes. “No police.”

  Juliet just nodded. “So what do we do then?”

  Katherine looked down at Jacob then back up at Juliet and shrugged. “Now we drink.”

  “What?”

  “There’s no sense in letting that bottle go to waste,” She said nodding at the bottle Jacob had brought to the coffee table earlier. “He was right about one thing. It is a very good bottle.”

  37

  Shit. Shit. Shit!

  Leo had just gone all in. If he lost this round, he was out. This meant he either had a stellar hand, or he was playing right into Peter’s hands.

  “Are you sure you want to do that?” Chance asked. He wasn’t quite ready for Leo to leave the game just yet.

  “Shut the fuck up,” Leo said, still staring at Peter with his jaw so taut Chance thought it would crack.

  “Let the little boy make his big bet. If he loses, he loses,” Peter said, taunting Leo with an easy smile that belied the predatory feel behind it.

  They were only at the turn, with four cards lying face up before them, so losing wasn’t a complete impossibility. There were a Queen of spades, 4 of diamonds, 9 of diamonds, and a Queen of hearts. Maybe Leo was holding onto two lovely ladies. Still, Chance didn’t like the look of Leo’s body language at all. He was too tense, too fidgety, too eager to punch Peter’s lights out.

  He could sympathize.

  Both Peter and Chance had more money, which meant either of them could raise, thus putting Leo in the sticky position of needing to borrow.

  “I’ll call,” Peter said, matching Leo’s bet, which surprised both of his opponents.

  He had enough to work with to be able to risk raising on Leo. In the alternative, if he knew he had no hand to work with, he could have easily afforded to fold and give up what he’d already put in the pot.

  Chance was less flexible on that account. Matching Leo’s bet meant he’d be down to bare bones. He looked at the two cards in his hand again: a 6 of diamonds and an 8 of hearts. Even if the fifth card worked in his favor he had little chance of winning.

  “I call,” he said, and tossed his lot in the pot.

  Amazingly enough, Leo wasn’t bluffing. He had one queen in his hand, which was enough to keep him securely in the game.

  Chance kept his sigh of relief to himself.

  Two rounds later he had lost it all. He was out of the game.

  38

  Juliet and Katherine were seated on the opposite couch, each keeping a watchful eye on Jacob, should he wake up.

  Juliet picked her phone up and dialed Chance. She knew he wouldn’t be able to answer, but she wanted him to know that all was well on their end from the moment he was able to access his phone. The last thing he needed was the distraction of worrying about them while completing what he needed to do on his end.

  “Chance, it’s Juliet. Jacob is in on it. I’m fine and your mother is here with me.” She brought the phone up to Katherine.

  “We’re both fine, Chance,” Katherine said. “Stick to the plan.”

  “You finish your drink,” Katherine said as soon as Juliet took the phone back and hung up. “You look like you could use it.”

  Juliet smiled and took a long sip of the vodka. It was not her prefer
red drink, but it did the trick of ironing out all that built up tension.

  The lightning flashed through the window.

  “Listen, those things I said to Chance at the restaurant—”

  Katherine laughed and waved a hand at her dismissively. “Don’t. You did it for my son. For that I salute you.”

  She raised her glass and Juliet smiled and joined her.

  Katherine raised an eyebrow at her as she drank. When she finished her sip she said, “I have to say, you are a fine actress.”

  Juliet laughed. “You aren’t so bad yourself. I thought you were going to jump across the room and strangle me earlier today.” She turned back to Jacob on the couch. “Too bad none of it seemed to work. Do you think Chance is okay?”

  “Hey,” Katherine said and waited for Juliet to bring her attention back around to her. “If anyone knows how to take care of himself, it’s my son.”

  Juliet could believe that. The problem wasn’t Chance, it was the two men he was up against.

  39

  “I guess this means you are back on the rig,” Leo said, laughing. He was over his earlier angst, having found his mojo again after winning that dramatic round.

  Chance just gave him a hard stare as he stood up to leave. “I suppose so.”

  “I guess the rumors about your abilities at poker aren’t so true then,” Peter said. “Lucky for you this means you get to return to your little bird. Maybe get those legs around you tonight to make you feel better?” He chuckled at his little dig.

  Chance turned his attention to him, completely stone-faced. There was a brief wary look to Peter’s eyes, but it was quickly overshadowed by the unrepressed smugness in his smile. The man was feeling mighty proud of himself at having got under Chance’s skin.

  Chance didn’t bother responding to him.

  Enjoy it while it lasts you motherfucker.

  Chance backed his chair up and walked over to grab his phone and wallet as he left. It was still storming outside and he carefully protected his phone as he made a dash for his truck.

  He didn’t want to seem too anxious to get away since he was more certain than ever that he was being watched. Luckily the thunderstorm provided great cover for him as he ran to get inside and check his phone.

  Chance, it’s Juliet. Jacob is in on it. I’m fine and your mother is here with me.

  We’re both fine, Chance. Stick to the plan.

  He played it three times, listening hard for any telltale signs that they weren’t quite being truthful. He didn’t dare call, just in case they weren’t and Jacob, or someone else, was holding them hostage. A phone call from him would most certainly give them a heads-up.

  That thought had him nearly turning on the ignition and rushing over to Jacob’s house.

  We’re both fine, Chance. Stick to the plan.

  Stick to the plan.

  Chance took two deep breaths and turned his truck on. He headed to the nearest bar.

  Chance retrieved an item from his glove compartment, then threw on a jacket and walked in. Fortunately the bar wasn’t too crowded. He walked straight up to the bar and pulled a fifty dollar bill out of his pocket.

  “Sorry buddy, we don’t accept anything larger than a $20.”

  “It’s been a bitch of a day. That’s your personal tip, so long as you keep the beer comin’. I’ll start with a Shiner Bock.”

  The man stared down at the unusual denomination, then back at Chance. He shrugged and pocketed the money. He reached into the cooler behind him for the bottle of beer. “Thanks, buddy.”

  Chance handed him his credit card. “Keep it open.”

  The bartender nodded and placed his card behind the counter.

  Chance walked over to one of the tables furthest away from the bar, out of the line of sight of the bartender and placed his bottle there. Then he put a strained look on his face and grabbed his stomach as though in pain as he walked back up to the bar.

  “You got a bathroom?”

  “Around the corner there,” the bartender said pointing toward the back.

  “Thanks,” Chance nodded and headed back. Once he was around the corner, he walked right past the bathroom and out the back exit. When he’d come to the bar yesterday—thankfully with a different bartender working—he’d noted that they didn’t lock this door during business hours. That was a bonus.

  He huddled himself against the pouring rain as he ran as fast as he could through it. He’d never been so thrilled to see a Houston thunderstorm. It worked perfectly with his plans.

  Ten minutes later had had trailed a complex path back to the warehouse. He found the breaker box in back and opened it. He found the main breaker and flipped the switch. After a full three seconds, making sure to stick an elongated Mississippi between each number, he switched it back on. The remaining players inside would be treated to a nice little power outage, courtesy of the raging thunderstorm outside the warehouse, or so they would assume. Nothing at all suspicious about that.

  Then he waited.

  40

  Juliet was learning that good vodka and hilarious stories from Chance’s mother about his youth were a fine substitute for origami. As the thunderstorm raged on outside, the two of them were bonding over the one thing they had in common: Chance McCoy.

  “So we have this nice day at the beach all planned and Jackson picks Chance up to take him into the water. He was only three or four, I think, and he screams bloody murder until Jackson brought him back to the blanket.”

  “‘Mommy!’ he cries,” Katherine took a moment to get over her laughter, “‘the water tried to eat me!’”

  They both laughed as though that was the funniest thing in the world. Yes, the vodka was most certainly working.

  The laughter came to an abrupt stop when they heard Jacob moan. Both of them diverted their attention to the man lying prone on the sofa as his eyes blinked awake.

  “Uh,” he uttered. “Wha-?” His eyes squinted open, wincing in pain as he tried turning his head to take in his situation. Then they popped open and stared with alert clarity at the two women sitting across from him.

  “You,” he said with venom in his voice as he began struggling against his binds. “Untie me and maybe you’ll live.”

  Katherine was the first to stand up. She gave a soft chuckle as she approached him. “Sure, we’ll untie you. Just tell me what they have planned for my boy?”

  Jacob could read the jest in her voice and scowled at her. She knew he would never tell, and he knew the only way out of those binds was by struggling free of them.

  Juliet got up to stand next to her, looking down at him.

  “You could have survived,” he said, looking up at her. “Chance is never going to make it out of that game alive. You could have at least walked away from it. You were nothing but a pawn anyway, now you’ve just signed your death warrant.”

  Even as recently as yesterday, those words would have sent a chill of terror through Juliet. She would have taken them as the absolute truth. Perhaps it was the vodka, which even now had the world slightly skewed, but today she felt almost strengthened by them. Chance had told her he’d come back to her…and she believed him.

  Jacob looked like a cornered rat. She could read the fear in his eyes, especially when his words failed to have the impact on her that he had intended. That’s when he decided to switch tactics.

  “I can protect you. Peter Antonov has no qualms with you,” he looked desperately toward Katherine. “I can even work it out so Chance lives, but there may not be much time.”

  Katherine knelt down next to him with a cool smile on her face. “I’m not worried about Chance. Do you honestly think he didn’t know what he was walking into?”

  Jacob blinked in surprise, which made Juliet smile.

  “In fact, I have to hand it to you. The only wild card was you. But the Morettis will be more than happy to handle you. They’ll have a lot of house cleaning to do anyway when they take over. One more rat to deal with won’t matter
.”

  “Morettis? The Italians? They haven’t been in Houston since…” his startled expression fell as he realized what her words meant.

  “Juliet, see if you can find another tie to stuff in this fat pig’s mouth. I’m sick of hearing his voice.”

  “Happily.”

  41

  It took about five minutes, but sure enough Chance heard the sound he was looking for.

  Gunshots.

  They were difficult to hear over the sound of the rain and thunder, but it was there all the same. He pulled out the gun he’d taken from his truck and placed in the back of his pants. He wasn’t sure how many shots had been fired, but it was a good sign that there had been more than one.

  Once again he waited. No sense entering too hastily. In fact, if either Leo or Peter had managed to survive, it would be better to catch them by surprise when they exited rather than walking into the danger zone.

  The person who came out the back door wasn’t Peter or Leo, it was the dealer, carrying all three bags of money. The same man who was entrusted with making sure no player brought in weapons.

  He was surprised to find himself staring down the barrel of one right that moment.

  “I’m guessing you were a bit sloppy with the pat down on those two in there,” he said loud enough so the man could hear him over the rain. Chance had known all along both men inside were packing. In fact, he had counted on it.

  The man just stared at Chance wide-eyed, then came to his senses. “We can split it,” he yelled, lifting up the bags.

  “That’s an interesting offer, considering I’m the one holding the gun here.”