by J. A. Coffey
He never imagined wanting Tena Lewis to the point of distraction, yet what they'd just shared-twice-roused feelings in him he didn't quite know how to put into words. This thing between them was intense, and it left him feeling...exposed.
David was suddenly eager to get this business between him and the Acerras done and over so that he could devote his time to working her out of his system-then try to convince her to give up the life.
Fourteen years, and he still couldn't shake the pang of guilt for not coming back to see her as he'd promised. But after graduating from Stanford, he'd gotten too many great opportunities that he couldn't turn down. Opportunities to travel overseas and build on his skills and experience. He hated to admit it, but as they'd all grown older, he'd become too driven, too ambitious, to be bothered with his past.
He'd left and never looked back.
With a sigh of disgust, he ran his hand through his hair and leaned against the desk. Having her here, seeing the same grave look in her eyes as she told him about her brother and the Acerras, brought up all the protective instincts he'd felt before. That look reminded him of the solemn, boyishly dressed little girl that had sat on the bumper of his new, red and black Camaro-a gift to himself from the money he'd managed to hustle from his father's pool halls. David hadn't had the heart to shoo her away like any normal fifteen year old would while she'd waited for her brother to finish whatever game he'd been playing with one of the Acerras.
Instead, he'd sat down beside her and introduced himself. David Enrico Carrone. She must have misheard him because, for whatever reason, she'd started calling him "Davie" and he hadn't bothered to correct her. He hadn't cared for the nickname, but it had eventually grown on him. She, however, was the only person he'd allow to call him that.
Now he wanted nothing more than to wipe that forlorn look from her eyes again.
First, he needed to deal with Luke Acerra.
David glanced at the closed bathroom door and frowned. He wasn't going to let her hide in there all night.
He walked up to the door and tapped on it lightly. "Tena?" He waited to hear something from the other side of the door. Nothing. "Talk to me, sweets. Let me know you're still alive in there, or I'm going to break the door down."
"I'm alive," she snapped.
He grinned, despite himself. If what she had told him was the truth, then the Acerras' annoying presence in his casino could have just been a way to draw his attention elsewhere while they blackmailed a woman into doing their dirty work.
In the end, Tena was just a pawn in all this.
The sudden vibrating of his cell phone immediately drew his attention. It was Carlos. This couldn't be good.
He answered anyway.
"Carrone, I need you to come down to the Lab."
David tensed at the levelness in Carlos' voice. It was the same tone he'd had when he'd called about the break-in last night.
"What is it?"
"I think the person who broke in last night might be back at the resort."
David cursed. What is it tonight? He thought savagely. A full fucking moon?
"We managed to pull something from the cameras that might confirm it," Carlos added when he didn't respond.
He cursed again. Their newly formed security and surveillance room, the Lab, primarily monitored high alert areas around the casino floor and select sections of the resort, but after the break-in, they were paying closer attention to the executive floor and offices. Now in just twenty-four hours, the intruder dared to come back?
"I'll be right there," David said curtly then hung up the phone. He thought of calling Gabe, but immediately dismissed the thought. He needed to find out what Carlos had discovered before he raised any alarms. Though he was more interested in resolving this situation with Athena, he couldn't ignore that they could potentially have the intruder somewhere in the building. He didn't want to leave her here alone either, but he could only deal with one mess at a time.
The situation with the Acerras would have to wait.
David knocked on the bathroom door again. There was a short pause before Tena responded.
"What?"
"Open the door, Tena."
He waited a few seconds longer than he liked before she jerked the door open. The expression on her beautiful dark face was blank. Though the familiar attitude was there, he couldn't get past how much she'd changed-and how beautiful she was.
"You okay?"
She brushed the ends of her long bangs aside, her eyes unreadable. "I'm fine."
He couldn't help himself. He reached out and lightly cupped her chin, running the pad of his thumb across her smooth cheek. It was as soft as he remembered only just a few short hours ago in his suite. She swung her gaze to his and, for a moment, they just stood there, staring at each other.
"You look so different," he murmured after a while.
"It's been fourteen years, Davie."
Yes, it has. And in that time, her face had matured into that of a very attractive woman, the angles of her jaw, chin, and high cheekbones becoming more refined. He couldn't remember her neck being so long and graceful either, but then he hadn't been looking at her in that way. She'd been too young and too much like a sister to him.
Glancing down at her body in that tight, black dress, which hugged around her breasts and hips and tapered into her waist, all he could think about was how her body had hugged warmly and tightly around his shaft only moments ago. He stiffened at the memory and suddenly two things became absolutely glaring-she wasn't a little girl anymore, and she certainly wasn't his sister.
"I thought about you," he confessed, then shook his head. "But I never imagined you looking so..." Good. "Different."
She rolled her eyes. "You say that like I was some kind of Smurf or something."
He bit back a smile. "Well, you did like wearing those hats."
"Well, at least I wore clothes."
"They wear clothes."
She scoffed. "Barely."
This time he couldn't contain a grin. "Why are we talking about Smurfs?"
She frowned thoughtfully. "I don't know."
He chuckled. "God, I've missed you."
"You never came back."
Guilt at her blurted accusation washed over him, and he sobered quickly. "I know," he said simply.
When he'd returned to Vegas five years ago, he'd asked the Acerras about her, wondering where she had ended up. From what he'd been told, she had found her way into another crew, and he had left it at that.
Her expression remained somber and she turned her head, slowly pulling away from his hand.
"What now?" she asked quietly, not looking at him.
He sighed. "I need to take care of something. Can I trust you to stay here until I get back?"
She stared at him, her dark eyes probing. "If I said yes, would you believe me?"
"Is that a yes?" he countered. He hoped what she had told him about her brother and the Acerras was the truth because he wanted to trust her.
But she remained silent.
He headed toward the door and threw over his shoulder, "Just stay in here. I won't be long."
As he headed toward the elevators, he pulled out his cell. Her defiant silence didn't leave him with much confidence, and he wouldn't leave it up to chance that she would actually listen to him. He would just have to send someone over to make sure she kept her ass put.
*****
When the hotel room door shut, Athena released the ragged breath she'd been holding in. She couldn't believe he had actually left her alone. She hadn't promised to wait for him because she didn't think she could. He'd given her no indication as to what he planned to do next, and she didn't like being in anyone's mercy. Not even Davie's.
Now that he was gone, she was left more confused and uncertain of what the hell was going on. It was moments like this that she once again felt like the same lost little girl-helpless, unsure, and easily forgotten.
But Davie said he had thought about her.
As pathetic as it was, she was thrilled to know that she had been on his mind, no matter how fleeting. She couldn't blame him for not returning to Vegas-how could she? He didn't owe her anything, and it wasn't his fault she had been so clingy. He had gone on to accomplish great things for himself, and she should have been ecstatic for him.
Instead, she had played her part in this elaborate scheme that could have very well destroyed it.
She sighed, suddenly very weary. Tonight had not gone as she'd expected, and she couldn't decide if she was happy about that little twist of fate or not. What should have been an easy drop had only revealed more mysteries. For a moment, she wondered what arrangement Jay had with Davie. The other man had only learned of the job last night.
One thing for certain, Athena would remember to never underestimate David Carrone again.
She also wouldn't sit around and wait for him to get back and change his mind about the cops. It had been in his eyes that he didn't trust her, which she couldn't blame him, but that meant he could very likely be sending security up to watch her. If she planned to leave, she needed to move now.
Athena wasted no time. She quickly searched the room for her wig, feeling anxious to leave the luxury resort-and all the memories she'd made with the man she would never have. In her frantic search, she found, to her surprise, the main thing that had been the source of her guilt and misery all night.
The hard drive.
It peeked through the rumpled bed sheets and she let out a humorless laugh as she grabbed for it. It must have fallen out of his pocket when he'd been...preoccupied.
She could just leave it there and get as far from Royal Courts as possible, but it wouldn't change the fact that her brother still owed the Acerras a lot of money. In her hands was the one thing that would make that all go away.
And make Davie hate her forever.
It shouldn't have mattered because after she left here, she would never see him again. Her heart lurched at that thought. Sleeping with him tonight had been a heart-wrenching mistake-one she would probably never recover from. It had only been one night, and yet there was no way she could ever be the same.
Athena stared down at the thin, black device. She needed to make a decision-finish what she started or haul ass out of there as fast as she could?
Whatever she decided, one of the two men she loved would get hurt.
Suddenly, an idea began to form. It was yet another risky one, downright dangerous even, but if it worked, she could walk away with her conscience intact. It may not make up for what she'd tried to do tonight-or lessen Davie's rage when he found her gone-but at least he would know that she never meant to hurt him or his business.
She would also be able to get her brother out of this mess and still face herself in the mirror.
Athena grabbed a notepad and left Davie a quick message. She didn't know where the compulsion to leave the note had come from, but she wanted him to know, in case he still held any doubt, that she hadn't done any of this lightly. That this hadn't been easy for her to do to him.
In short time, she was heading out of the hotel room. This time she ran into a uniformed guard coming out of the elevators, but breathed a sigh of relief when he simply nodded to her and continued down the hall. In her haste, she realized she'd forgotten her wig. But it didn't matter. Davie knew exactly who she was. Whether he came after her or not remained to be seen...but after her last stop, she would focus on putting this whole night-and him-behind her.
*****
Athena walked into the Ace of Clubs with more determination than courage.
She had to admit her plan wasn't well thought out, but time was a luxury she was short on these days. She made her way up to the second level, where a few VIP parties were happening in a roped off section of the club. It was not as crowded as downstairs, and through the loud, dim nightclub, she was able to make out the one person she hadn't expected to see there.
Jay's bulk was unmistakable, and from the deep frown on his face, he was either really surprised or really pissed to see her there too. He whispered into a girl's ear then made his way toward her, his penetrating glare nowhere as fierce as what the girl shot his back.
Athena should have continued on toward the stairs that led up to Luke's office, but something compelled her to wait.
"What the hell are you doing here," he barked over the loud music when he reached her. "Where's David?"
She shrugged. By now he had to know that she had left. "I need to talk to Luke."
Jay grabbed her arm, his grip firm but surprisingly not painful for such a big guy. "About what?" he asked softly, his eyes becoming glaciers.
She jerked her arm from his hold, and he let her go. Smart of him because the way she was feeling, she was not shy about making a scene.
"Don't worry," she snapped, "I won't tell Luke about your little stunt tonight. I'm just gonna give him what he has coming."
Jay's frown deepened. "If I were you, I wouldn't fuck with him."
"I won't," she said. I've done enough of that tonight, she thought wryly. "But I need him to know that this whole thing went to shit and that he can forget about getting anything in or out of Royal Courts."
Jay stared at her for a minute. "Fine," he muttered. "But just wait a few minutes, and I'll go up with you."
She shook her head. "No, I don't need you there." At his stubborn frown, she added, "Look, you obviously have your own agenda, and I'm trying to keep you out of this."
"It's not like that," he said. "David's a friend. I was just looking out for him."
She looked at the big man, trying to gauge his sincerity. "Then we're on the same team. Now just stay out of this."
She made her way around him before he could say anything else. She needed to get this over with before she lost her last grain of courage.
Chapter Nine
"Do you see that?" Carlos said. "It's the same person."
David peered down at the computer screen, assessing the grainy footage of a woman in a Royal Courts gray and black office cleaners' uniform. Carlos and his team had managed to pull the image of the woman in a short, curly wig and large eyeglasses from the few working cameras from yesterday's break-in.
One of their senior computer techs, Samantha Hobbs, had run a scan of the cleaner's face and had pulled up several more images. David hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary until still shots of the same woman in the resort elevators wearing a bellhop uniform and later a tight, black dress had filled the screen. The new facial recognition technology Carlos had installed had confirmed it was the same person.
Damn it, Tena.
"Sam, can you zoom in?"
"Yeah, sure." The pixie-haired blonde pushed back her narrow, dark-rimmed glasses further up her nose then created a split screen of the images before pulling them up closer to the wide monitor. David didn't want to believe it, but the evidence was right there in front of him. With closer scrutiny, he could make out Athena's striking features.
His blood boiled. So she'd lied to him. She had been there yesterday.
"It's pretty neat, isn't it," Sam said. "I was actually showing Gabe this earlier. The scanner can even pull up all the info we have of each employee who works here based on their photo. Since nothing else has come up for her, there's no way she could actually be part of the cleaning staff."
Obviously. But why had she lied? David shook his head. For a second, he'd forgotten who he was dealing with. Tena had clearly gotten better at this stuff. She was damn near a pro. And to think he had almost fallen for her story about unpaid debts and such. He wondered how much the Acerras were paying her to do this.
"I ran into her in the elevator," Carlos said. "Coming off your floor. That's when I recognized her. She said she was in room 1408. It could be a lie, but I could go up and check it out."
"She's there," he confirmed. "I was just with her. I ran into Tom on my way down here, so he's watching her room." David had also given the young guard specific instructions to keep her in there
and to call him if she tried anything.
Carlos' eyes narrowed curiously. "So what do you want to do next?"
David wanted to go back there and wring her damn neck-or at least until she told him the damn truth. "I'll handle it," he said.
"Are you sure-"
"I said I'll handle it," David snapped.
Sam looked up at him in surprise, but Carlos simply cocked a brow. David was bending the rules with Tena, but he needed to get the full story before he decided what to do with her. Getting the cops involved before they had any real answers wouldn't help.
"All right," Carlos said. "Do you need me to stick around tonight?"
David shook his head. "No, I got this covered. But thanks, man. And thank you," he said, slapping Sam on the shoulder. "This was good work."
"I know, I know," she said with a sly grin. "I'm amazing."
"I'll have my cell on me, just in case," Carlos said. "But Harper's here if you need anything."
David nodded to them and quickly left the dark surveillance room. Pete Harper was the night supervisor in the Lab, and though he was competent, David wanted to keep tonight's events isolated between the three of them.
He made it back to the hotel room to find Tom standing vigilantly outside the room door.
"Did she give you any trouble?" David asked as he neared.
"Not a sound," the young guard said.
That should have relieved him, but David frowned. That didn't sound like Tena. To not even make an attempt? He quickly entered the room and found it empty. He threw the bathroom door open, just to be sure.
She was gone.
"Damn it, how the hell did she leave?" He whirled around to face the guard who was standing near the door, cautiously away from him. "Were you outside the door the whole time?"
Flustered, the young man explained his every move. David realized he had let her walk right past him.
Idiot.
David ran his hand through his hair. No, he was the idiot for continuing to underestimate her.