by J. Saman
Chapter Twenty-Four
I smile the entire walk down the strip. I could get in my truck and drive it, but with the traffic here it actually takes longer than walking. Besides, with my jacket slung over my shoulder and the sleeves of my shirt rolled up, it’s not unpleasant. You get used to the heat. I mean, no one gets used to a hundred-and-ten in the shade. That shit gives you a glimpse of what hell must feel like.
But eighty-five, I can do. The heat we had going on yesterday is gone and now we’re back to reasonable. My eyes spot the Turner Palace up ahead and I take it in for a moment. It’s not gimmicky like some of the other hotels on the strip. My father was more into simplistic beauty and he certainly accomplished that with this one. It’s got an old-world vibe to it, made mostly out of glass and white sandstone.
I hit the side ramp, walk past the illuminated requisite Vegas water feature and then coast through the main lobby. It’s Sunday morning, and there’s already a very nice line at check-in. I watch it a minute and when I see it moves steadily along, I continue on my path. This is the largest casino of any of our resorts. It’s clean, relatively well lit—for a casino—and nicely ventilated, which means you can barely detect cigarette or cigar smoke.
I make my way through the throngs of slot machines that are flashing lights, buzzing and clanking loudly over to the high-limit tables. That’s usually where I camp out first because believe it or not, those tables are more crowded during the day. At night, the whales are with their wives or mistresses. They take them to dinner and shows. But during the day, they like to play and that’s why I’m here.
I say my hellos to a few of the dealers as I reach my position in the center of the ring of tables. In this area, we have three blackjack tables, two craps tables, one roulette wheel and one Pai Gow table. Typically, each dealer rotates every sixty minutes with a ‘breaker’ who fills in during dealer break times. It’s a well-run machine and each of the dealers in this section have been with our hotel for at least five years. That was my father’s requirement for high-limit tables.
These dealers must be flawless, personable, well-groomed and trustworthy. My father might have been a lot of things, but the man knew his business. He practically built up this hotel with his bare hands. It was our flagship that he turned into three on the strip and then into a national chain. Some of the other executives have been wanting to go global. Branch out to Europe, Asia, and try our hand at a resort in the Caribbean. It’s a goal certainly, but I want to see how these changes affect our business before we discuss international markets.
My gaze focuses in the players at the blackjack tables. They’re a rowdy group of guys, at the end of their party weekend. They’re laughing and drinking—even though it’s only a little after ten in the morning—and giving each other shit like they’ve known each other forever. They also look too young to have the type of money they’re throwing around, considering it’s a five-hundred-dollar-a-hand table. But they could be like Fiona. Rich kids born to rich parents.
Fiona.
Just her name makes me smile. I can’t get her out of my head.
I love that she kicked Maddox’s ass this morning. I might not have even been kidding about the whole marrying her thing. She’s perfect for me.
In the back of my mind, I know I’m in trouble. Not just over the girl. But over everything she could possibly represent for me. I would love to play the role of the bad-boy bartender who rides a motorcycle and has zero fucks to give. But I’m not that guy anymore. Fiona Ramsey-Foss-Vaughn is dangerous. Her husband, Niklas Vaughn, is dangerous and I’m playing the only hand I have with her.
Protector. Lover. All around savior.
I sent Maddox on an errand this morning. The fact he knows Fiona, knows some of her story, is an asset. An ace in the hole. Because Maddox is not someone you fuck with. And he’s protective of Fiona. There was no arm twisting. No special favors I had to promise. I told him the situation and he said he was in. That was it. All it took.
But he has far less at stake than I do.
I may want this woman in a way I’ve never wanted one before, but that does not make me stupid. It will not make me careless. I think back on my conversation with Luke and I know I need to be offensive with this. I need to be smart. Pervasive. If I want to save my woman and my empire, I have no other choice.
I watch the guys a little longer than I should, a little longer than is required, before I move to the next table. My eyes scour around the casino floor, and every time I do this, I hate the piece of me that loves it here. I push addiction. I make money off the vice. Alcohol. Drugs. Sex. Gambling. I don’t discriminate.
And then there’s Fiona.
Pure. Sweet. Innocent.
None of those adjectives match the world I’m engrossed in. But I can’t give her up. She’s a part of my blood. The beautiful storm on the horizon you can’t take your eyes off, even when you know it’s going to blow your fucking house down. That’s her. Unassuming beauty. Brazen destruction.
I push my temptress aside and focus on my work. Close to the end of my shift, five hours later, I’m watching over the roulette wheel when I feel a slap on my shoulder and the large presence of too many muscles on my right.
“S’up, man?” Maddox asks, eyeing the tables the same way I am. “I’m surprised to still see you here. I figured you’d be done by now.”
“No rest for the weary or the wicked, my friend. What’s your excuse?” I question, moving over to the Pai Gow table.
Maddox is my head of security. And not just in one of the casinos or hotels. He’s it. We served together until the sniper hit me in the shoulder. He completed two tours, eight years in total, and when that was up, I talked him into coming on board with me. He’s intimidating as hell. The guy looks like an NFL defensive end. Think J.J. Watt big—and quietly brilliant. Tactical in all of his endeavors. So, the fact Sunshine took him down like tipping over a domino is fucking hot. I won’t even lie about that.
“I just finished checking up on the things you asked me to when I heard you were still down here dicking around. I have some of what you were looking for.”
“And?”
He gives me a look that says I’m an asshole for even asking that here. “And between me and your Seattle boys, we were able to come up with some shit. Some shit that’s meant for a later discussion,” he emphasizes, staring at me intently while I try to focus on the goddamn gaming tables. “When are you off?”
“Half an hour.”
“She worth all this?”
I hate that question. I get it, but I still don’t like it. I clear my throat and straighten. “What do you think?” I clip out. “You know her. You’ve been lying your ass off and training her this whole time.”
“Of course, I have. You would have done the same. Why do you think I sent her to you?”
“What?”
“Don’t what me, guy. She needed someone to take care of her more than I could. It’s why I have her working at Valaria’s. It’s why I asked Cal to have you train her that first night.”
“You set me up with her?” My eyebrows knit together. Methodical bastard.
“Don’t look so surprised.”
I sigh. I should feel hoodwinked, but I don’t. I’m grateful he went to such extremes. Both for her and for me. “We have to be smart about this...” He nudges my shoulder, urging me to continue when I don’t elaborate. “Why are you smiling at me like an asshole?”
He laughs. “Because I’ve never seen you look like that over a girl.”
“Fuck off. Are we having a girlfriend moment here? Are we sharing our innermost thoughts and feelings, sweetheart? You know what this really is.”
Maddox rolls his eyes at me, not fooled for a second. “Yeah, you’re a lovesick bastard who has gotten in way over his head.”
“Yep. One and the same.”
“Then I hope it’s the real deal, brother, because we’re about to walk the line,” he says with a sadistic smile. He likes the game. Always
has.
His threat is not for me. Not really. But it is a threat. Something is headed our way. Or it’s already here. I know it. I feel it pumping through my blood like newly injected heroin. Only instead of getting me high and numbing me up, it’s grounding me, focusing my thoughts and making me hyperaware.
It’s also making me anxious to see Fiona again. I hate we both had to work today. It’s no longer safe for her. Not with that asshole Brent sniffing around again. “What’s he doing here?”
“Not the place, brother, but he’s a professional.”
I sigh. I already knew that, but hearing it confirmed only frustrates me more. “I might be totally fucked. I can’t get—” I pause mid-sentence, my phone vibrating in my pocket. “Fiona.”
“Why is she calling? I thought you told her to go to her place after her shift was done and wait for you.” Maddox checks his watch. “That was well over an hour ago. It’s almost four.” Maddox leans in to stare down at my screen like he can’t believe it, either.
“No idea,” I mumble. I slide my finger across the screen and say, “Sunshine?” Maddox is waving me out of here. There are no phone calls allowed by the tables. “Everything okay?” I point at the ground, and he nods, understanding that I’m asking him to do my job while I take this call. I walk past the partition rope and over towards the bathrooms because it’s quieter there than it is on the floor.
“I’m sorry to call, Jake. I didn’t know what else to do.” My heartbeat picks up a notch at her tone. She sounds shaken to her core. “I can’t do this anymore. I…care about you. So much. Please believe that. It’s why I have to go…” she trails off.
“Fi?” I rub my hand back and forth across my forehead. “You’re not going anywhere. You can’t just run off.”
Nothing is making sense and then Maddox is there next to me, his phone pressed to his ear, a sick expression on his face. “We need to go,” he mouths to me. I shake my head, but it’s not a no. It’s a what-the-fuck-is-going-on shake.
“I have to, Jake,” Fiona continues. “It’s for your safety. For everyone’s safety. Please try to understand.”
No way. Just no fucking way am I letting this girl go.
“I’m on my way,” I say without a moment’s hesitation. “Meet me by our entrance, Fi. You stay there, and you wait for me to find you. Don’t leave, baby. Wait for me and we’ll work this out together. You’re safe with me,” I remind her.
She blows out a relieved breath and then disconnects the call. She didn’t agree to meet me, but I know my girl. She’ll be there. She doesn’t want to leave, she told me so last night. Something’s changed. Something’s wrong.
“No. I want first and only access to video. I don’t care. I want to see it and I want to see it the second I get there,” Maddox shouts, his eyes locked on mine. “What the hell do you mean the guy is waiting on us?”
“That Cash?”
He nods. “Just hold him there, Cash. Do not let him leave.” Maddox disconnects the call and then turns on me. “Our friend found his way up into our security booth. He’s there now, waiting on you and me.” Maddox stares me down at that. We both know what it means. He lets out a sigh and runs his hand through his hair. “You told Fiona to wait for you?”
I nod, and Maddox shakes his head like he’s pissed at the entire planet.
“I need you in the security booth, Jake. He wants both of us, and I want to make sure he knows what’s up, but you need to find Fiona first.”
“Agreed. Let’s go.”
“What about your shift?”
Right. Shit. I grasp onto the ends of my hair and tug. Fiona needs me. She’s freaked out about who the hell knows what is now getting ready to run. A freaking hired gun is now staking himself out in my security tower. And I’m a goddamn pit boss. Jesus Christ.
“I got it. I’ll grab someone we trust from a quiet section. Don’t worry. Go take care of your girl and then find me. This shit has to be taken care of. And, Jake?” I pause at the sound of my name. “You know it’s coming down, right? You know this is just the start?”
I give him a tight, determined nod. “Storm’s coming.”
“Let it rain.”
And so it begins.
“I gotta get to Fiona first. I’ll call you the second I’m done. Get to that Gavin guy,” I call as I start to walk away from him. “I have a really bad feeling about this. A really bad feeling.”
Maddox throws me a wave that says he’s got it. Me? I just run out of the casino, and all the way up the strip. I don’t stop until I’ve reached the Turner Grand and I’m dripping sweat and panting for my life. Fiona. I just sprinted over a mile in eighty-five-degree heat for a girl who wants nothing to do with me. Who wants to run from me the first second she gets.
Awesome. I think I’ve officially hit a new level of moron.
And really, what the motherfuck? How could she do that? How can she possibly think of running after our night together? After we talked and worked so much out?
I make my way through the lobby, that is uncomfortably quiet and subdued, past the casino and across to the west entrance. And when I get there, I spot Sunshine, her back to me, her eyes fixed on the pane of glass that comes in the form of the door beyond. For a moment, I can’t make myself close the distance. I know what it means if I do. It means I might have to say goodbye to her. It means I probably should say goodbye to her. She’s married. Even if she doesn’t consider herself to be. Even if the prick beat her whenever he got the chance.
Even if he doesn’t deserve her and I do.
Sucking in a deep breath, I slowly approach her.
I hear Sunshine sniffling a little, and even though she hasn’t turned around to face me, from the sudden shift in her position, I’m pretty positive she knows I’m behind her. She’s wiping furiously at her cheeks as she tries to regain her composure. “Don’t try and talk me out of leaving. I…” She looks up at the ceiling, blowing out a heavy, despair-saturated breath. “I need to leave.” She swallows, clears her throat and turns to meet my eyes. “It’s not safe here for me or for you. There are too many forces at play and I can’t control or stop any of them.”
“You were just going to run? Just like that?”
She’s so beautiful. Red-rimmed eyes and rosy cheeks and messy dark hair and long legs. I need her to stay. She can’t go.
Fiona glowers, shaking her head. “It’s not how I want this, Jake. You know that. You’re…You’ve. Christ.” She blows out another breath, this one soft, and wipes at another tear that’s fallen. “I don’t even know. You’re important to me, okay? You’re more than that. A lot more and I’m scared. Everything is coming down on me, on us, and I need to leave. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you.”
The problem with this moment is that I get it. I get her wanting to go. Her feeling like she needs to. She might even be right. I honestly don’t know yet. But I do know I’m not just going to let her run off with nothing but her backpack and nowhere to go. That is not happening.
“Come here,” I whisper, taking her hand and pulling her in to me. She doesn’t resist and that has me smiling despite the gravity of this moment and this day. I inhale her scent and close my eyes, needing this with her. My heart is still racing, and I have no idea if it’s from the run up the strip or the threat of losing the woman in my arms. I’m thinking it’s the latter, because the idea of her leaving unravels me. “Let me figure out what’s going on, okay?” I draw back, cupping her face and staring intently into her eyes. “Come up stairs with me. Stay in my place. It’s safe up there. You’ll be safe up there. Let me find out what happened and then we can decide together once we have all the facts.”
She searches my face before refocusing on my eyes, bouncing back and forth between them, her green to my brown. “Okay. I’ll stay in your place for an hour, but then I’m leaving,” she says this like it’s a warning. “I thought I could be normal with you. I want to be normal with you. More than anything. But I’m not normal.
And maybe I should be more grateful than I am. Maybe I should just be happy that I’m alive. But I’m not. I’m fucking resentful. I’m fucking angry. And I’m swearing, Jake, which isn’t something I typically do and that pisses me off too.”
I can’t help but smile at that. She may be having an existential crisis at the moment, but she’s goddamn adorable. “Come on,” I say, reaching out and taking her hand. She glances down at our fingers as I intertwine them and sighs. Her eyes reluctantly make the journey up to mine.
“You can’t talk me out of going,” she warns. “I need to. I don’t want to, but I need to. It has to be done.”
I lean in and kiss her sweet mouth. “Maybe,” I whisper against her, “but I’m gonna try like hell to change your mind.”
“I know you will. And part of me loves you for that. So, okay, let’s go upstairs and talk. I have a lot to tell you. A lot you need to know.”
I kiss her crazy. I can’t help it. That one okay feels like please. It’s not. I know it’s not. That okay is a mess of a half-baked promise.
I press my lips to hers one last time and then I’m leading her away from the exit and back toward the elevators. Back into the fray of a casino. It’s bright, noisy and disorienting, and Fiona sinks further into my side as we go. Just before we reach the elevator, my phone rings.
Maddox. Shit. That Gavin guy.
“Hey,” I say, my eyes on Fiona who can’t seem to pull hers from the floor. We reach my elevator and I press the button. “What’s going on?”
“I need you in the control room. I need you here ten minutes ago.”
A healthy cocktail of adrenaline and dread courses through my veins. “Okay,” I draw out, trying to regain my equilibrium and think. “Let me take her upstairs and I’ll meet you there in a few.”
“No,” he says it in a tone I don’t know how to argue with. “You can’t do that. Because fuck it all, I need you here, Jake. This very second. This guy’s got a gun in here, dude. A freaking gun. And he knows shit he shouldn’t know. Put her on the elevator and get your ass here. Now.”