by L A Dobbs
“Dino?” a female voice said from behind him, and Dino’s heart sank. Once, just once couldn’t she do what he asked her to do? He turned to find Jan standing there in the shadows. “What’s going on?”
Exasperated, he took her arm and pulled her aside. “I told you to stay back there.”
“I was worried.”
“That makes two of us.” He glanced over at Vinnie then back to her. “Do not say anything, and if I tell you to run, run. Okay?”
She nodded and gripped his arm as they walked back over to the group.
“Boy, Dino,” Vinnie mocked. “You can’t control any of your women tonight, can you?”
“Forget them. How much?”
“Fifteen hundred dollars.”
“What?” Dino and Jan said in unison.
“I told you not to say anything,” he growled to her over his shoulder, but Jan was focused solely on her cousin.
“Stacy, if you needed money for rent, why didn’t you just ask me?” she said, giving Dino a peeved glare. “You should have come to me.”
“Rent?” Vinnie snorted. “The money she gets from me sure as hell ain’t for rent.”
“What’s it for?” Jan turned her furious gaze on the loan shark.
“Jan, don’t,” Dino warned her.
“Why don’t you ask her?” Vinnie said, pointing at Stacy.
“Well?” Jan gave her cousin an expectant stare, and Dino had a feeling this whole situation was going downhill fast. At least farther downhill than it already was. “Out with it.”
Stacy winced, digging the toe of her pump into the asphalt below. “I like to gamble sometimes. It helps me relax.”
“Gambling?” The concern in Jan’s voice quickly morphed to anger. “Is that what the fifteen hundred dollars is for? Gambling debts?”
“She doesn’t owe fifteen hundred,” Dino piped in. “She’s already paid him two grand.”
“Has she really?” Vinnie’s suspicious gaze slid from Dino to Stacy.
Stacy sighed and had the decency to look contrite. “I only gave him half. When he told me there’d be interest, I thought…”
A cavern opened up where Dino’s stomach used to be, sucking him down into a pit of unease. He shook his head. “Tell me you didn’t, Stacy. Please tell me you didn’t think you could win more.”
The thug beside him cracked his massive knuckles and stepped closer to Stacy, and Jan’s grip on Dino’s arm threatened to cut off what was left of his circulation.
“Well, now that we have all that out in the open,” Vinnie said, his sleazy smile back in place, “somebody needs to pay me.”
Stacy kept her head down, leaving Dino to deal with her mess.
“Look, I don’t carry that kind of cash with me.” He held up his hands and started to back away slowly, praying Jan would come with him. “I’ll have to get it from the ATM. How about you let Stacy go, and we’ll go right down there, inside Binion’s, and get it for you?”
“You think I’m some kind of idiot?” Vinnie tugged Stacy closer to him, knocking her further off-balance. She stumbled against him then cried out as he smacked her hard across the face again. “How about you and your little girlfriend there go and get my money then bring it back here.”
Dino clenched his teeth and grabbed Jan’s hand. “Fine.”
He pulled her down the alley beside him despite her protests to the contrary.
“We can’t just leave her there,” Jan said as she tried to wrench free of him again.
“We’re not leaving anybody anywhere. But these guys are hardcore.” He pulled her around the corner and into the bustling casino. They located an open ATM, and he pulled out his wallet. “Now do you understand why I told you to wait back here? We’re just lucky they didn’t recognize you. If they thought they could get more money from you because of your fame, they wouldn’t hesitate.”
“Put that away.” Jan batted his hands away and pulled her own debit card from her purse. “My cousin, my money. And I don’t care if those creeps recognize me or not.”
“You’ll care if they kidnap you and hold you for ransom.” Dino scowled as she punched in her PIN number and took the cash that came out. “Why can’t you just trust me for once and do as I say?”
“Trust? I haven’t had anyone to trust since my mom married that creep. Why start now? And contrary to what you might think, I don’t need anyone to tell me what to do. Been doing things fine on my own since I was a kid.” She shoved her card and money into her purse then took off out of the casino without a glance back at him, still on a rant. “I’m not helpless, you know.”
“I never said you were.” He stomped along beside her, down the block and back into the alley. “In case you forgot, it’s my job to protect you.”
Jan ignored him. “How long have you been helping her out?”
Dino didn’t answer at first, just kept walking.
“How long?” she demanded, refusing to let it drop.
“Since she dropped out of college shortly after her father was shot.”
Jan halted. “That was five years ago.”
He stopped too. “Yeah.”
“You knew about her problems, you kept in contact with her, yet you never said a word.” Jan’s voice was incredulous. “And not once, not once in all those years did you ever try to contact me.”
“Jan, I—”
“Forget it,” she said softly.
It was the soft tone that did it. That made him feel like he’d really screwed up. He’d have preferred she yell at him, then they could have it out. Work it through. And make up. Even though Jan was a grown woman now, Dino could see that inside she was still much the same as she’d been fifteen years ago. Dino knew the quiet voice meant she was hurt deeply, and it killed him to think he’d been the cause.
She took off, and he trailed behind, feeling awful, feeling like he’d just lost something really precious and he had no idea how to get it back. How to get her back.
They approached Vinnie and Stacy again, and Jan pulled the cash from her purse, all but flinging it at Vinnie. He counted it out slowly then shoved Stacy at Jan. She stumbled forward, and Jan barely caught her before she tumbled to the ground.
After a prolonged stare, Vinnie and his thug took off toward the other end of the alley, and Dino finally took a much-needed breath. He stepped forward and took each woman by the arm to lead them back to his SUV.
“You’re coming home with me,” Jan said to Stacy from across Dino’s chest. “Then tomorrow morning we’ll get you enrolled in a twelve-step program.”
“I don’t need a twelve-step program,” Stacy said, her words slightly slurred as she scowled at her cousin. “I’m not an addict. I’ve just had a run of bad luck.”
“Yeah.” Jan snorted. “For five years.”
They crossed the busy street then headed across the parking lot toward the Tahoe, the women still bickering and Dino still wisely remaining silent.
“You’ve got a real problem,” Jan said, pointing her finger at Stacy. “You need help.”
“I don’t need anybody’s help.” Stacy tried to tug free from Dino’s grasp, but he refused to let go. She glowered up at him. “Why did you bring her anyway?”
He yanked open the side door of the SUV and pushed her toward it. “Get in.”
“No.” Stacy crossed her arms like a petulant two-year-old. “I don’t want to go with you.”
“Get in, or I’ll put you in.” His firm tone brooked no argument.
Stacy glared from him to Jan then back again, tears welling in her green eyes. “Fine. But I hate you both.”
He waited while she clambered inside then slammed the door behind her. Jan turned on her heel and walked away from him without a word.
Marvelous.
Frustrated, Dino walked around and climbed in behind the wheel again. All he’d been trying to do was help people out, and somehow he’d ended up on everyone’s shit list.
Typical.
The drive back to
Jan’s house was long awkward silence, punctuated by Stacy’s occasional hiccups and drunken curses. The air between all of them was so tense you could have sliced it with a scalpel. By the time he pulled up at Jan’s entrance, she didn’t even wait for him to cut the engine. Just jumped out then yanked her cousin from the backseat. He barely reached them in time to see Jan shove Stacy into the foyer then turn back to him with a sour expression. “Thank you for your help, but I’ll take it from here. I’ll call you if I need anything.”
The door closed in his face.
Perfect.
Pissed and restless, Dino resorted to his standard operating procedure. Check the perimeters, secure the area, don’t think, don’t feel, just work, just do. Jan’s statements still ricocheted through his mind like shrapnel, stinging with each hit.
My cousin, my money…
Meaning he wasn’t part of her family. Meaning he was an outsider.
Meaning he’d never fit into her life and he never would. He’d been only fooling himself to think he would.
Dammit. He’d known this, known it all along. She was too beautiful, too successful, too smart and funny and good for a guy like him. Always had been. Always would be. After finishing his rounds of her property, he climbed back into the SUV, started the engine, then gunned it and sped away for home. His home.
The one place he was sure he belonged.
20
The next morning, Jan rolled over and squinted at her alarm clock. Six forty-five. She groaned and rubbed her eyes. That meant she’d gotten exactly…two hours of sleep. Most of the night she’d spent tossing and turning, either running through every second of the whole Binion Affair—as she’d come to call it—or bolting upright at every little sound in the house. Her worries over her cousin almost overshadowed the fact that she had a dangerous stalker. Almost.
Between Dino’s lies and Stacy’s truths, they’d ruined what had been a pretty awesome night up to that point. The intimate night with Dino had been everything she’d wished for and so much more. Then poof, gone. Now, instead of snuggling in bed with her love, she was on alert for any noise that would suggest her addict cousin was robbing her blind while she slept.
Raw. Betrayed. Outraged.
None of those words adequately described how Jan felt this morning. But she shouldn’t have been surprised. Dino and Stacy hiding the truth of what was going on from her only validated her unwillingness to trust. But she couldn’t blame them fully, because when it came down to it, it was her fault she hadn’t paid enough attention to Stacy. She’d been too busy with her rising career … too busy to notice that her cousin needed her. Maybe if she’d paid more attention, Stacy wouldn’t have ended up like this.
With about as much enthusiasm as a drunk snail, she rolled out of bed and stumbled for the bathroom to get ready. Half an hour later, she stepped back into the bedroom with a towel wrapped around her, freshly scrubbed and brushed and combed, ready to get dressed and tackle the world the way she had for the last fifteen years—alone.
Grumbling, she pulled out a clean pair of jeans and a soft chenille sweater then decided on a less fashionable but way more comfortable pair of Uggs. After tugging on the boots and running her fingers through her still-damp curls, she exited the bedroom and walked down the hall toward the guest room where she had stuck Stacy the night before.
She hesitated outside her door, guilt gnawing at her. She should have paid more attention to Stacy after her uncle’s shooting. She knew her cousin had gone into a funk, but she just figured she’d eventually pull out. Maybe if she’d been more observant instead of being so wrapped up in her own career, she would have seen the signs. Could have prevented it. Nothing she could do about that now. The best she could do was try to help her get back on track.
She knocked once and waited.
Nothing.
“Hey, Stacy,” she called, knocking again. “Time to get up.”
No response.
“C’mon, Stace. The longer you put this off, the rougher it will be. I’ll make some fresh coffee and breakfast, and we’ll research group programs together. Despite how you acted last night, I won’t dump you off all alone, I promise.”
Nada.
Impatience growing, Jan tried the door handle and found it unlocked. She peeked inside the shadowed room but found the bed neatly made and no sign of Stacy anywhere.
Dammit.
Of all the ungrateful, messed up, selfish things to do. Angrily, she thumbed in a text to Stacy’s cell number then hit her speed dial button just for good measure. If her lying, cheating, gambling-obsessed little cousin thought she could outsmart Jan, she had another thing coming.
Jan jogged downstairs and laid her phone on the kitchen counter while she started a pot of coffee, expecting a reply any second. Except none came. A half hour passed, an hour, still nothing. Two cups of strong black coffee later, real worry set in.
They’d all been upset last night, said things better left forgotten. Surely Stacy wouldn’t have taken that to heart, wouldn’t have overreacted and done something stupid. Memories of her cousin—bruised and battered and barely able to stand on her own two feet from whatever substances had been circulating in her system—swirled through Jan’s exhausted brain, and her worry morphed to full-blown panic.
Dino.
Had she been too hard on him? Throughout their time together, he’d been sweet, sincere. She hadn’t imagined the connection, and she knew he felt it, too. Then he’d gone and blown it by lying to her.
Well, not exactly lying. More like avoiding telling the truth. It was kind of sweet that he’d been helping Stacy all these years, especially because Stacy was Jan’s family. Her heart pinched. He’d been doing it for her.
Last night she’d been emotional—the fact that he’d never mentioned Stacy being in trouble had hurt. It had brought back all those feelings of betrayal she’d felt when her mother would “avoid telling the truth” about her stepfather and take his side against Jan, and it had felt too much like the other lies she thought he’d told her.
But now she feared she’d been too hasty. Slipped back into not-letting-anyone-in mode too easily. Was her anger at Dino really just misplaced fear that he’d break her heart again?
No matter what the reason, she needed to push aside her fear and call him to tell him Stacy had disappeared during the night. She needed his help. Jan dialed his number without even glancing at the keyboard, his digits permanently seared into her brain.
“Hello?” he answered after the second ring, his voice sounding as strung out as she felt.
“It’s me. Jan.”
Silence, then, “What’s wrong?”
“Stacy’s gone.”
He cursed loudly. “Stay put. I’ll be right over.”
Thirty minutes later, he stood on her front porch, hair still damp from a recent shower. Unsure how to act or what to say after shutting the door in his face the night before, she stepped aside and held the same door for him while he strode into her foyer, then closed it behind him.
“When did you first notice she was gone?”
“This morning. I went to check on her on my way downstairs, and I found her guest room empty. The bed hadn’t been slept in, so she could’ve left any time during the night.”
“What about the security system?” He glanced around the place like he expected Stacy to just walk out of some corner. “The alarms should’ve gone off if she left without disarming them.”
Jan exhaled and looked away. Much as she’d like to wipe that superior look off his face by telling him some grand story about the security system malfunctioning, she couldn’t. “I might’ve forgotten to set it last night.”
“Excuse me?” Scowl dark and lips compressed into a thin white line, Dino looked every bit the intimidating bodyguard he’d been hired to be. “Why would you do that, Jan? In case you’ve forgotten, there’s a crazy person stalking you right now. Screw Stacy, you could’ve been attacked or worse.”
He raked a hand thro
ugh his hair and turned away, mumbling under his breath.
Fists clenched at her sides, Jan squared her shoulders. “No. I haven’t forgotten. I’m the one who has to live with it every day, twenty-four, seven, remember? I’m not allowed to forget.” She stalked back into the kitchen, not caring if Dino followed or not. She’d called him here to help, not harp on her about her mistakes.
Like he had any room to talk.
She picked up her mug of coffee and took a big swig, grabbing her phone off the counter to check her e-mails. Still nothing from Stacy. Figured. She opened up her mail and began scrolling through the messages as Dino walked into the kitchen. Jan glanced up at him to find his expression less Terminator and more contrite.
He stood on the other side of the island and rested his hands on the granite top. “Listen, I’m sorry for the way I acted out there. I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
“Neither did I.” She wasn’t giving him an inch. After all, she was the injured party in their little game of deceit. Seems she’d always be on the receiving end of Dino’s distorted version of honesty. First Erin, now Stacy. “It was a bad night all around.”
“Yeah, it was.” He continued to watch her until she met his gaze. “I’m sorry. I should have told you up front that I’d been in contact with Stacy. It’s just that at first, it didn’t seem important, then later…” He sighed, the dark circles beneath his eyes more pronounced under the overhead lights in the room. “It’s not really my story to tell. Stacy should have been the one to tell you, but since she hasn’t come clean yet, I guess I should have told you. I’m an ass.”
Well, then.
Jan scrunched her nose. She didn’t want to let him off the hook that easily, but when he stood there all self-deprecating and rumpled and with that dark stubble gracing his jaw because he’d apparently rushed over here so fast he hadn’t even taken the time to shave, her stubborn heart caved without a fight.
“I’m sorry too.” She exhaled and put the phone down. “I was just so hurt that you two would keep something like that from me, and I guess I overreacted. I should’ve trusted you enough to know you’d have a good reason for not telling me.”
