The answer that leaped to my lips was bitten back. I wasn’t going to feed into this. There was no doubt that the love I’d had for Thea Kent was real. But Thea wasn’t here.
I was.
She’d known where to find me for almost a decade, ever since I’d fumbled my way into an opening act in a second-rate hotel here on the Vegas strip. She knew where to find me. And she hadn’t done it.
“And sometimes…age is just that,” I said gently. “Age. We were kids, honey. Kids who were going through an awful lot.” I caught her hand and brought it upward, kissing the back gently, the way my dad had done for so many women and girls. It was second nature now.
“You’re a gentleman, son. The Vanderbilts always are. Remember that. Conduct yourself accordingly.”
I planned to.
“Come on. Let me buy you lunch.”
Dee studied me for a long moment, then she sighed and nodded. “Fine. But I want tickets for the show. And…by the way, I’m twenty-four now. You told me once I graduated college, you’d introduce me to Sly.”
She sent me a look that made me want to shudder.
“Ah…yeah.” Gamely, I grimaced. “Sure. Sure thing.”
24
Thea
“Your brother’s doing very well.”
The woman’s name was Rose and she had bright blue eyes, a friendly smile, and an equally friendly demeanor. That demeanor hid the fact that she had a ferociously protective streak—I’d made sure of that, too.
I couldn’t just leave Nicky’s future in the hands of someone who wouldn’t watch out for him the way I did.
“And he’s working eight hours?” I asked, disbelieving.
The program was designed for those with special needs to be integrated into the service industry.
I’d fought, bought, and bargained to get Nicky into the short training program that would give him the tools he needed to live more independently. Then, after he got his certificate, I fought, bought and bargained again.
Rose and I were walking around one of the hotels involved in the program and this one was perfect.
It was the one I needed.
I even promised to design clothes for an upcoming charity fashion show for one of Rose’s friends if she’d help me get Nicky a job at this hotel. I threw in one extra off-season fashion show the following year if things went well.
Then I outright pleaded.
“You realize, of course, that I can’t make guarantees,” Rose said again as we toured the hotel. She introduced me to two of her students who were already working there as part of their training. They looked so happy. One helped at the concierge desk. Another assisted at the front desk.
That was what I wanted, for Nicky to feel like he belonged, like he was doing something that mattered.
And he’d be close.
“I understand.” I shot Rose a smile and nodded. I knew she couldn’t make promises, but with everything I’d thrown into my side of the deal, I was sure she wanted what I could give her as much as I wanted what she could give to Nicky.
This hotel was in the same complex where my penthouse was.
It was also directly across the street from the elegant resort hotel that housed the show LeVan headlined with two illusionists, Sly and Mac.
I knew their names. I knew their work. I knew as much as I could know about them, because they were a part of his life. I even knew some of their pasts, because LeVan used to talk to me about them.
But that was almost two years ago.
After Mother got too weak to live in the house alone, her paranoia got the better of her. She no longer had a string of nurses coming to her home to tend to her. They all refused to work with her. She stopped trusting our longstanding housekeeper too, and at that point, insisted that I had to move in with her.
I refused.
Then her lawyer called, reminding me on her behalf that Nicky’s once-a-month visitation schedule was a courtesy, not a right. Siblings had no rights in the eyes of the law, not when a parent persisted the way Mother did.
I caved.
I’d let her have what she wanted—my presence, until she took her very last breath. And now, my time was my own.
“Doesn’t he look ready?” Rose asked. “Doesn’t he look happy?”
Staring at his eager face, I let myself hope again. “He does. He looks very happy.”
Rose and I paused at a window that overlooked the Vegas Strip, and she gestured outside. “You do know there are a few other hotels we’re connected with that are very close to your home. Casino Torrid recently came on board.”
“No.” Even though a part of me leaped at the thought of a connection to LeVan so quickly, so easily, I shook my head.
I had to make sure Nicky was comfortable, that he understood his new life first.
Soon, LeVan, I thought. Soon.
“You think he’ll be ready to start the shadowing process on time?” I asked, more out of a need to get my thoughts away from the man who dominated them all the time.
“Oh, he’ll be ready,” Rose said, laughing. “I’ve never seen a young man thrive as he has. He’s so happy to just…be, Thea. Do you understand what I mean?”
“Yes.” I couldn’t return her smile. I knew all too well what it was like to simply need to just be. After living under the shadow of our mother, just being was all we’d wanted for a very long time.
“I got over five hundred dollars, Thea,” Nicky announced proudly, showing me the slip from the ATM. He’d been to the bank today with his group and one of the tellers went over deposits and withdrawals, then how to use the ATM machine.
His face had still been lit up when I’d picked him up after putting in some hours on my current workload. I had several custom dresses in the pipeline for longtime customers, but I wasn’t taking on anything new until we were more settled here.
It was a good thing because my nerves couldn’t handle the stress of anything else. Just trying to think about how I was going to find the courage to contact LeVan, what I was going to do once I saw him.
Kiss him. Touch him. Wrap my arms around him and tell him I’d never let him go again.
But how was he going to react when he saw me?
I’d imagined his answer.
It had been played in front of a live, televised audience when he and the guy who’d later become his current partner were chosen to perform with a big-time local magician, along with a few other small-time acts as part of a fundraiser back in Louisiana.
I’d watched from my apartment, my breath trapped inside my lungs.
I’d been waiting for some sort of response, some sort of answer. Naomi hadn’t told me that he’d been too pissed off—who could blame him—to really give me much of an answer the day she’d gone to see him. Maybe I’d been waiting for a letter in response to mine, but trust LeVan not to do things in normal style.
I’d been crying by the time he’d wrapped his arms around the dark-haired woman in the illusion—a Sleeping Beauty sort of twist, complete with the appearance of a dragon. Nicky had watched the special with me and had laughed and clapped, not once understanding the meaning behind it. But he’d recognized LeVan.
“It’s Magic Man,” he’d crowed, recognizing his friend and calling him the nickname he’d given LeVan ever since he’d pulled the queen of hearts out from behind Nicky’s right ear.
Now, still glowing with the excitement of his newfound fortune, Nicky waved the slip of paper from the ATM at me once more. “Five hundred dollars! I could buy you dinner, Thea. Can I buy you dinner?”
Charmed, I shook my head. “You don’t need to do that.”
“But I want to,” he said, his enthusiasm dimming. “You always buy me stuff. Let me buy dinner.”
“Okay.” I acquiesced, because keeping that smile on his face was tantamount. “What are you in the mood for?”
“You pick.” Face eager, he caught my hand and squeezed, tugging me along down the sidewalk with him, looking at everything and everyo
ne. All of Vegas delighted him. From the beauty of the fountains at the Bellagio to the bedraggled costumes people wore as they posed with tourists for a few bucks. I’d told Nicky we’d pick a day to come down here and do just that, but he had to wait for me.
He’d sulked, but agreed. Now, though, the various Darth Vaders and crew were forgotten as he waited for my answer. “Well…” I thought about it. Dining out with Nicky could be an adventure. Sometimes a good one, sometimes a tense one, but always an interesting one.
“Someplace nice,” Nicky said, cutting into my thoughts.
“Okay.” His idea of nice didn’t always run side by side with what someone else might think was nice. “How about sushi? We can go to one of the hibachi restaurants you love so much.”
“That’s perfect.” He carefully folded the ATM slip and tucked it into his pocket. “It won’t cost the whole five hundred, will it?”
“No.” If I’d said yes, he still would’ve insisted on taking me out. His innocence, the goodness of his heart never ceased to amaze me and I was so grateful that Melody hadn’t crushed that part of him. “Come on, let’s walk around and see what we can find.”
“Okay.” Happily, he continued on by my side. “They have magic shows here, Thea. Look.” He pointed at one of the marquees blazing overhead. “You think they are good like LeVan? Or is he the best?”
“LeVan’s absolutely the best,” I replied somberly.
“Maybe we can go see him do magic again sometime.”
I squeezed his hand. “I will make sure of it.”
25
LeVan
The day after Valentine’s Day, I hopped on a plane.
I had the next week off—our monthly rotation allowed each of us to take a week off every four weeks and like I’d been counting down the days, I just decided to take off.
I had no conscious plan of really going anywhere, but I’d been sitting at my computer, staring at my email, waiting for a communication that just wasn’t coming and I thought…
Fuck it.
If she wasn’t coming to me, then I’d go to her.
I’d bought the ticket five minutes later, was packed less than fifteen minutes after that, then I did little more than sit and stare out the window as the sun set over the strip.
I wasn’t really…thinking.
I felt like I was waiting, trapped in some odd state of hyperawareness where time ticked away too fast and not fast enough. There wasn’t enough room inside me to describe what I was feeling and if I could’ve sped time up so I was already on the plane, hurtling toward Thea—and answers—then I’d have done so.
But every trick I knew, every bit of showmanship I possessed, that’s all it was…tricks, smoke and mirrors.
So I waited.
Somewhere near dawn, I dozed off and slept for maybe two hours. When I woke, it was with enough time to shower, grab some breakfast, then I had to leave.
I didn’t bother calling Sly or Mac.
I sent a quick text off once I reached the airport, knowing neither of them was likely to be awake yet. Sly was probably still buried in puddles of woman flesh and Mac would be buried in darkness, pretending the world didn’t exist.
That was fine. They wouldn’t be expecting me to show up for rehearsals or anything until Saturday and for now, my time was mine. Knowing them—especially Mac—I’d let them know I was okay just so they wouldn’t worry about me, then I’d cut myself off from the world for a little while so I could take care of the things I needed to take care of.
Thea.
I’m coming, pretty lady. I hope you’re ready.
Speeding down the backcountry road that led to the house a few miles outside of St. Gabriel, I throttled back on the anticipation filling every inch of me. I had no idea where I was going to find Thea.
I’d tried calling her cellphone the day I found out Melody was gone, but the number belonged to someone else now.
I’d tried calling the boutique she used to work at, but I hadn’t had any luck there either.
If I could, I would’ve reached out to Naomi, but again, the number had changed.
Did anyone keep their cell phone numbers longer than a minute anymore?
I’d almost contacted Mom and Dad to see if they had any idea how to reach her, but in the end, I’d decided against that. They’d asked what had happened between Thea and me, and I’d told them I didn’t want to talk about it. Until there was a resolution, I wanted to keep it that way.
If I didn’t have any other luck tracking her, I’d reach out to Dad, but not yet.
My heart thundered up into the area near my ears as I rounded the final curve.
My brain processed something was off but it took a few moments for the message to sink in.
It took a little bit longer for the message on the sign on the front lawn near the mailbox.
FOR SALE
Dragging my eyes away from it, I told myself the house wouldn’t be empty.
I didn’t know where else to fucking look for her.
Dee had told me she’d moved out of the apartment where she’d been living in town. I knew exactly where she’d been living while her mother got sicker and sicker. I knew that she’d been going to the family home every day to be with Melody and although nobody had outright said it, it was common knowledge that Melody had chased away pretty much every nurse hired to take care of her.
Her daughter had been brought in for the task.
I knew the name of the facility where Melody had put Nicky not just once, but three times.
What I didn’t know was where in the hell I was supposed to find Thea.
I knew where I wouldn’t find her.
This house.
As I drove the rental car closer, I stared at the vacant eyes of the windows, peering back at me impassively from the stone façade of the house. It was empty.
I didn’t have to get out of the car and go knock to know that.
I would, but I’d be wasting my time.
Thea wasn’t here.
“Nobody has seen her since a few days after the funeral,” Braxton Vanderbilt said. He swirled scotch in his glass and watched me as he spoke. He hadn’t been at all surprised when I walked into his office, which meant he’d been waiting for me to show up.
I guess my dad knew me better than I thought.
“Who was it that saw her last?”
He shrugged. “As far as I know, it was the preacher who performed the ceremony, John Wilson from United Presbyterian.” Finally taking a sip of the scotch, Dad tipped his head back and studied the ceiling for a long moment before looking back at me. “Since you’re here, I’m going to assume she hasn’t called you. I would’ve thought the two of you kept in touch.”
I snorted. There was no point in keeping it quiet anymore. Getting up from my chair, I paced over to the window. “I haven’t talked to Thea in years, Dad. You remember when her mother put Nicky in a home that first time?”
I shot him a glance just in time to see him nod.
“That was the warning volley. She told Thea that if she ever talked to me again, she’d keep Nicky in that facility and Thea wouldn’t even be allowed to see him.”
My father’s face bore some hint of surprise, but there was no outright shock. Why?
Why wasn’t he surprised?
I had still been surprised by it—some part of me was still shocked by the antipathy that woman had carried inside her.
But my father wasn’t.
“I’m going to assume Thea chose to protect Nicky over your relationship,” he said eventually.
“What was she supposed to do?” I said with a scowl. “You’ve met Nicky. He’s the sweetest kid you’ll ever meet, and he’s…”
“All but defenseless—or he was defenseless against his mother. At the time, I imagine Thea felt rather defenseless, too. Still in school, struggling to find her own feet, her own voice.”
“Why does it sound like you’re blaming her?” I demanded.
“Does
it?” He shrugged. “I can’t say that I am…at least not in such simple terms. But…Melody Kent is dead and Thea Kent is far from helpless or defenseless these days.” He swirled his scotch once more, then took a sip. “And she hasn’t reached out to you in all the time since her mother died.”
There was a reason, I told myself.
There had to be.
But I was running out of ideas as to what that might be.
26
Thea
My reflection was pale.
I was always pale, cursed with a natural redhead’s complexion, but the pallor of the woman in the mirror wasn’t the peaches and cream I should’ve seen.
I was just white.
“Nerves,” I muttered as I patted some more powder onto my nose.
I was about to finally do it.
I was going to the hotel and while I didn’t know how it would go, I was going to reach out to LeVan very shortly after. I’d told Nicky we’d see a magic show when we got to Vegas, and now we were about to do just that. Hunting down LeVan and facing him weren’t in the cards for this part of the night. I needed to do that in private. But I damn well had to see his face for the first time in years, even if it was from a seat in the audience, with him on stage.
My plan was that once I got Nicky settled in after the show, I’d brave going over to the hotel and leave a message for LeVan at the front desk. For all I knew, he’d changed his number in the past few years. I doubted it, but maybe that was wishful thinking, assuming a guy wouldn’t change his number after so many years, all because he was willing to wait for years for a phone call from a girl he loved.
If he still loved me at all.
The last time I saw LeVan face to face was when my mother gave me the ultimatum.
Risk Me (Vegas Knights Book 2) Page 14