The Billionaire's Casino - The Complete Collection: Billionaire Romance Box Set

by Sarah J. Brooks

  “So, are you from around here?” Katie went right to the questions.

  “Not really, a few hours away, but my friend lives down the block; it’s how I found out about this place.” Katie nodded. I could tell she was trying to get his life story from him. I was just interested to see how that went.

  As it turns out, it went pretty well. Between myself and Katie we knew just how to ask the right questions, and I think Jake was eager to open up about what he’d been through these past couple years. He hadn’t minded showing us the cuts on his arm from three years ago or telling us all about his dysfunctional relationship that he’d just gotten out of—and he wasn’t ashamed to admit he was getting help for everything he was going through.

  He stayed for three hours until finally calling it quits. He thanked us again for the food and promised pizza would be on him sometime—once he actually got settled in.

  After he left, so did Katie, she had early classes, and I had to be up at a reasonable time, so I was more than happy to see them both off.

  Right before bed, I checked my phone. My brow furrowed. How hadn’t I seen it go off?

  How is your night going?

  It was sent two hours ago. The next one was only an hour ago.

  Hope your night was good, and you & Katie had lots of fun. See you tomorrow. Miss you babe.

  My heart sank into the pit of my stomach. How hadn’t I heard my phone go off?

  I lay in bed feeling guilty and depressed that I hadn’t had a chance to talk to him—but I didn’t dare text back in case he was already asleep.

  Chapter Two

  “How was your night?” I asked as I stepped into his office.

  “It was good. How was your night?”

  “Not too bad.”

  I looked around. Melina wasn’t here yet, which meant it was just me and Dean. “So, are we still on for tonight?”

  “Of course. I checked your schedule. You get off at 5:00 tonight, which means you have a little time to get things going before I get there. Whatever special things you have planned.”

  I laughed softly. “Don’t get your hopes up. I may not be in college yet, but I’m still pretty much that broke.” I winked.

  “Oh, is that a hint?” He raised his eyebrows. “I can always give you my black credit card.”

  I had to control my reaction. “I’ll pass.” I smiled. “I wouldn’t want you to think I was just dating you for your money.”

  I made it sound like a joke, but it was the truth. I was willing to bet he’d had lots of girls try to date him for his money, and I never wanted him to feel that way about me.

  “Trust me; I’ve never thought that about you.”

  “Good.”

  “You’re not the type. I know that type, and you’ve never given me the impression that you’ve ever been interested in my money.”

  I smiled softly. “It’s because I’m not interested in you for your money. I actually think personality wise you’re kinda cool.”

  Dean grinned, but I saw his cheeks turn a shade darker. “I’m glad you think so. What did you get up to last night?”

  “Nothing really.” I pulled out a small baggy with white powder in it and handed it to Dean. “We’ve been working on white chocolate and lavender.” He raised an eyebrow. “So far this is our best batch; I might even keep the recipe. Oh, and we had some guy move in down the hall … He didn’t have any food, so we just let him have some of our leftovers, and he stayed for a couple hours.”

  I saw his body stiffen. I shouldn’t have liked seeing it, but I really did honestly. I bit my lip. Glad to know he cares

  “Really?”

  “You’re not jealous, are you?”

  I mean, I liked seeing the reaction out of him, but I didn’t want him going all crazy jealous boyfriend on me. That was not cute.

  “That another guy got to spend time with you? Of course, I am. But I’m also jealous that Katie gets to spend time with you. I’m not jealous that you were hanging out with another guy, just jealous of people who get to see you when I don’t.”

  “Kinda like how Melina gets to spend more time with you than I do.” I didn’t think before saying it. The second it came out, I knew I probably shouldn’t have said it, but it was out there now. They’d both told me several times that they were just friends, but I mean come on, he’d flown her out here from New York. Of course, I questioned it. And, of course, it made me jealous that she seemed to be the only person he would talk to about something. I wanted to be that person; I didn’t want it to be another girl, a pretty girl at that, and one he’d clearly known for a long time.

  “Are you jealous?” Dean stared at me.

  “Only a little,” I admitted. I wasn’t totally ashamed to admit it. As long as I kept it under control. “I mean, I like her. She’s nice. I just … wish you saw me the way you saw her.”

  “Trust me. I see you in a much better way.” He stood up and crossed over to me.

  “I mean in terms of talking. It’s like you can talk to her about anything.” His arms wrapped around me, and he pulled me close. “Don’t get me wrong; I think it’s great you have such a good friend in her … I just …”

  “Wish you could be that friend?” He stared into my eyes.

  “Yes.”

  “Just like I could be like Katie is to you.” He smiled. “We all have someone who helps us with our goals. And normally that someone is a person we have a long-standing connection with. It will come with time. In time, I’ll be able to talk to you like I do Melina, and you’ll be able to get my help with your business.”

  I opened my mouth to tell him I already did, but the truth was I didn’t really care about his opinion unless it was a strong one. If he said the hot chocolate was dreadful, I’d care … but if he said it could use less of something and Katie disagreed, I’d probably believe her.

  Dean pulled away from me and gave me a smile. “Just because Melina is that friend to me doesn’t mean you’re not important. You’re just important to me in another way.”

  I smiled, and for the first time today it was because I was actually happy. “I know, but still.”

  Dean put a finger to my lips. His eyes locked on mine, and I felt my heart skip a beat. I licked my dry lips. It was amazing how this man could make me feel.

  His lips touched mine for a fraction of a second before he pulled away from me. “It’s almost opening time; we should probably behave ourselves.”

  “Alright, fine.”

  I didn’t want to. Oh God, I really didn’t want to, but I was going to. Slipping out of his office, I made my way to the change room to get changed into a pair of black slacks and the uniform shit.

  I spent a couple seconds looking myself over. My black hair was tied up in a bun, and the black and red striped uniform shirt looked cute actually, or, at least, I thought it did. I was more than willing to bet it had been Melina who came up with the idea of the four aces stitched on the back of it. I bit my lip thinking about her.

  I liked her; I really did. She’d been the one to train me when I came here, but I couldn’t help being a little jealous of the relationship she had with Dean—one I was sure I would never have with him, and that sucked.

  I wanted to be everything he needed. I wanted him to feel like he could bounce ideas off me if he needed to; I wanted him to feel like I could help him come up with ideas. Then you’re just going to have to prove to him that you can, I told myself.

  My big eyes stared back at me in the mirror as I took a deep breath and gave myself a nod. Yup, I’d have to prove to him that he could do things like bounce ideas off me. But how was I going to get on the topic of work with him? That was going to be the main issue.

  “Hey,” Natalie said as she opened the door and stepped in.

  I grabbed my purse and pulled out my lip gloss. “How’s it going?”

  “Not bad, you? How is it you’re always here before anyone else?”

  “Dean and Melina are here before me.” Sometimes. Meli
na wasn’t always here before me, but Natalie didn’t need to know that.

  “Okay, how is it you’re always almost here before anyone else?”

  I shrugged. “I like being early. It was … something I picked up at another job.” How to date a boss without anyone realizing. Great skill to have. I should be sure to put it on all my resumes. I applied a quick coat of lip gloss and let my hair out of my bun.

  “Well, I’m sure Dean loves it.”

  “I’m surprised you don’t do it.” I gave her a wink. “Would give you two some time alone.”

  Jealousy tugged at me as I said it, but I didn’t want to make it look like I was trying to get the time alone with him.

  Natalie laughed as she slipped into her uniform. “Actually, I’m going to play hard to get for a little while.”

  “Really?”

  “Yea, I met this guy, he’s super cute, and he asked me out at the weekend, so I’m going to see how that goes.”

  “Lucky guy.”

  “Well, he’s definitely not as rich as Dean, but he is almost as hot as him.” Natalie grinned. “Anyways, money never really mattered that much to me.”

  I raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue talking. She caught my eye and smiled but didn’t say anything for a couple more seconds.

  “When you grow up without much, you either let the idea of becoming rich control you when you’re grown up, or you learn when you’re little that money can’t buy happiness and that all that matters is finding inner happiness.”

  It was the smartest thing I’d ever heard her say. Actually, I’d never really heard her talk about anything except getting at Dean.”

  “You’re right. Just gotta be thankful if you’re one of the ones who were smart enough to figure out money can’t buy happiness.”

  She gave me a soft smile before heading to the changing room door. “I was.”

  *

  I plastered on a fake smile as I strode towards the slot machine with three beers.

  “Here you are.” I handed one man his beer. The sober ones tended not to give out any tips, but once you got them drunk, they tended to get a little bit gentle with their wallet. I made my way to the guy a few seats down. He held a $20 out to me. “Thank you so much, sir.” I handed him his beer before taking the money.

  I froze, staring at the man who had just come in here.

  Jake tilted his head to the left as he looked me up and down. “Hey.”

  “Hi! How are you doing? Coming to gamble away your sorrows?” I raised an eyebrow.

  “Meeting a friend.”

  “You’ve already got a new girlfriend?” I grinned, letting him know it was a joke. Jake chuckled.

  “No. Just had a friend promise to get me drunk, so figured I’d take him up on it.”

  “Well, let me get you a beer.” I smiled, turning on my heel and heading back to the bar. It felt odd seeing Jake here, not because I’d just met him, but because he knew me from outside of work. I always hated having people I knew outside of work find me at work. I took a deep breath heading back to the bar.

  “Hey,” Melina caught my eye. “Beer me?”

  “Sure thing.” She grabbed a couple of beers and handed them to me. I placed then on the tray and nodded my thanks. Since we’re a casino, we give out free booze, you know as a way to get people drunk, so they spend more money—which meant that often times my job was pretty much just to walk around with a tray of beer.

  I headed to the table I saw Jake sitting at. Another guy looked me over as I came over and handed them each a beer.

  “So, how are you settling into the new place?”

  “Fine thanks. I got some of my own food so you won’t have to worry about me trying to bum more off you.” He grinned as he took a sip of beer.

  “I really didn’t mind.”

  “Still. I’m sure it would have gotten annoying. I didn’t know you worked at a casino.”

  “I do.” I didn’t mention I was dating the owner of the casino. I glanced over at the clock. “But my shift is almost over, so I’d better get going. I’ll see you around, Jake.”

  “See you around, Rebecca!” he called as I turned on my heel and headed back to the bar. I waved over my shoulder.

  “He’s cute.” Melina grinned as I reached the bar. “Was he hitting on you?”

  “No, he … I know him.” He wasn’t a friend, which was what I’d been about to say.

  “Well, if I didn’t have a boyfriend, I’d be getting his number.” Her eyes lingered on him as she spoke.

  “If you break up with your boyfriend, I’ll be sure to get you his number, how’s that sound?”

  “Sounds fucking perfect.” Her eyes sparkled as she finally turned to look at me. “You’re getting off, right?”

  “Yup.”

  “Alright, see you tomorrow. And have a good night.”

  I sure as hell hoped I was going to have a good night. But I still wasn’t even sure if Dean would actually make it home in time for dinner so I didn’t reply; I just headed for the change room and changed out of my uniform. Tucking it into my purse neatly, I slipped into a dark blue skirt and a black cowl neck T-shirt. It wasn’t anything crazy fancy, but when I looked in the mirror, I felt pretty, and right now that was all that mattered to me.

  I had to make a quick stop to pick up the stuff for dinner, and thankfully they had everything I wanted, and it was affordable.

  When I got to Dean’s, I used the spare key that he’d told me was under a stone in the garden to let myself in and headed right for the kitchen.

  How’s work?

  I sent the text right before getting to my own work on dinner.

  Long. Waiting for reporters to show up; they are 30 min late. -_-

  Oh :(

  How’s dinner coming along? What should I be expecting? ;)

  A surprise ;)

  I crossed over to the frying pan with the sausage and bacon. My meal was nothing fancy, but beans and buns were a staple, and I’d been told I made wonderful beans, so I was going to make them and hope they impressed Dean. If not, I’d order pizza or something.

  It took me half an hour to get everything ready to go and the beans, along with the meat, in the crockpot, then it was just a matter of waiting.

  Dean still had another two hours at least at work, so I wasn’t too worried; it was just a matter of finding a way to spend that time.

  And boy did I find a way to spend it.

  I know snooping is wrong, but really who doesn’t do it? I bit my lip looking around his living room. Besides the TV, the bookshelf, and the video games, there was a couch, a coffee table, and a couple end tables. The end tables had some nuts and seeds in them, along with a little black book that had phone numbers. It put my mind at ease to see things like “mom” and “mom’s cell” in there, along with the fact that a lot of them were male, and they all had little notes about how they’d met—most seemed to be business associates.

  I knew it was stupid that it made me happy to know that the majority of people in his address book were male, I mean for all I knew, he could be into guys, but it still did.

  After I was done in the living room, I made my way into the bedroom. Although I’d been in it before, I’d never really looked around. I did, however, notice once that there was a black box in the closet. And if movies had taught me anything, it was that boxes should always be opened.

  I crossed to the closet quickly and pulled it open. Despite the fact I knew Dean would be gone for a couple hours, my heart still raced as I reached for the closet door and pulled it open.

  My brow furrowed as I stared down at all the papers. That’s what the box was; it was filled with papers. Pulling out a handful, I caught sight of some pictures as well. I grabbed a handful of the pictures and flipped through them. The girl in the brown hair that was cut to her ears and spiked up. She smiled widely at the camera as she held a drink in her hand. I flipped to the next one.

  In this one, she was flipping the camera off with
her tongue sticking out. I didn’t realize it made me smile until the smile vanished when I flipped to the next picture. This time she wasn’t alone. Dean was there with her; he had his arms wrapped around her tightly and was kissing her cheek. My heart sank into the pit of my stomach as I remembered I was going through his stuff. Right now, I needed to know who she was.

  Putting the pictures aside, I looked at the papers. They were all newspapers.

  Woman killed in park late at night.

  22-year-old Jessica Bright was killed Oct 23rd around midnight and 1:00 a.m. There currently are no suspects, but sources say that she was involved in a fight the night she was killed.

  Jessica was found yesterday morning; cause of death is believed to be strangulation. Police refused to comment but did tell us that this was an ongoing investigation, and that they would provide us with updates when possible.

  I stared down at the clipping for a long time. Who was Jessica Bright to Dean? And why would he have clippings of her death? Even if they had been together, wasn’t that creepy? I looked through a couple other newspaper clippings, but they were all pretty much the same. She died, police were looking for the killer; one did say that they had a potential suspect—a lover of hers who she had been having the fight with that night. My heart did a back flip. Dean had to be the lover—right?

  I took a deep breath; that was silly. To think Dean could be a killer, he was so kind and caring. But you hardly know him. It was true—I’d never seen him mad or, well anything other than happy, but still … you didn’t just accuse someone of being a murderer because of newspaper clippings you found in their room. I mean, that would mean I’d have to admit to snooping through his stuff, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to do that.

  I pushed myself up, grabbed the pictures and put them back into the box. As I reached for the clippings, I paused, staring down at them. What’s the deal? I asked myself, even though I knew I didn’t have the answer. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and took a picture of the girl’s name. Jessica Bright. I was sure I’d remember it but wanted to have a backup plan so I didn’t have to go through his stuff again if I could avoid it. I put the clippings back in and placed the lid back on the box before carrying it over to the closet and putting it back where I had found it.