Someone picked up on the third ring.
“What the hell is going on? It’s the middle of the night.” He didn’t wait for her greeting, didn’t need to. Stacy never called him to socialize anyway.
“Dino?” Her shrill, tight voice carried over the line, and his blood froze. She sounded close to hysterical. Something was definitely wrong, something more than a cash shortage. “Dino, I really need your help.”
“What’s wrong?” he asked, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Jan was still asleep then lowering his voice to a whisper. “Where are you?”
“The alley behind Binion’s Casino.” Her choked sobs made his already-rising tension skyrocket. “Please, Dino. Please, I really, really need your help. Please, can you come?”
He sighed and stared at the ceiling. Part of him said to stay away. Every call with Stacy sounded like an emergency until he got there and all she needed was his wallet, not his help. The other part of him, the one that had grown up with an alcoholic, abusive father who used everyone and everything as his personal punching bag refused to turn away from this damsel in distress. “Fine. I’ll be there in half an hour. Don’t leave.”
He ended the call then stalked back to the bed to find the rest of his discarded clothes. After locating his underwear, he sat on the edge of the mattress to pull them on. Behind him, Jan murmured in her sleep and turned over to face him and run her fingers down his naked back.
“What’s the matter?” she asked, her voice groggy as she propped up on one elbow. “Where are you going?”
“Nowhere.” He turned and gave her a quick kiss then stood to pull on his jeans and zip them closed. “Nowhere you’d want to know about, anyway.”
Jan sat up higher and ran a hand through her mussed hair. “Of course I want to know.”
He flipped on the bedside light and grabbed his T-shirt from the floor, tugging it on before hanging his head and placing his hands on his hips. “It’s Stacy.”
“Stacy?” Jan scrunched her nose. “My cousin Stacy?”
“Yeah.”
“But how—”
“We’ve sort of kept in touch since high school. Nothing more than casual friendship,” he added when she gave him an incredulous look. “She knows I work in security, and she calls me sometimes when she needs help.”
“What kind of help?”
Cursing, he went searching for his socks and shoes then plopped down in a chair across from the bed to put them on. “Just help. She doesn’t always make enough at her waitress job, so sometimes she needs help. You know, making ends meet.”
“So you give her money?”
“Sometimes.”
Jan shook her head, scowling. “Why didn’t she ask me? She’s never even mentioned knowing you, let alone seeing you on a regular basis. I’m her family. Why wouldn’t she ask me?”
“Probably because you are family. People get weird when it comes to money.” Once he’d pulled both of his boots back on, he stood and walked back to the bed, bending to kiss her then smoothing his thumb over the frown lines between her brows. “Don’t worry about it. It’s no big deal, okay? I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“No.”
“No?”
“No.” Jan threw back the covers and stood, naked and entirely too cute for his own good. He couldn’t help staring at her pert little backside while he pulled on his jacket. “I’m coming with you.”
“That’s not a good idea.”
“I don’t care.” She tugged on her panties and fastened her bra and bent to grab her jeans from the floor, and all he wanted to do at that moment was toss her back into bed and strip off those clothes and make love to her again until neither one of them could remember their own names, let alone Stacy’s. Except with his conscience and her current mood, that wasn’t an option. “She’s my cousin and the only family I have left. I’m coming with you whether you want me to or not.”
Oh, he wanted her all right, warm and wet and willing beneath him. Not freezing and scared in some dark back alley on a cold Las Vegas night. That wasn’t the way for her to find out about Stacy’s issues. “I really don’t think this is something you want to see.”
“Too bad.” She finished dressing then pulled her tousled hair back into a messy ponytail. “C’mon.”
He followed her downstairs to his SUV then waited while she locked up and set the alarm system. Twenty silent minutes later, he pulled into his normal spot near Fremont Street and jammed the transmission into park. This late at night, you’d think the place would be empty, but not here in Sin City. This place went full tilt, twenty-four, seven. He climbed out of the Tahoe and waited near the front for Jan to join him. She hadn’t looked at him once the entire way over, let alone spoken to him. He wasn’t exactly sure what he’d done, but somewhere between snuggling under the covers and standing here beneath the neon lights, he’d stepped in it good.
“Where is she?” Jan asked, glancing around at all the tourists, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. “I don’t see her.”
“She said she’d be in the alley behind Binion’s.”
“Alley?” Jan let him lead her across the busy roadway then shook off his touch once they were under the glittering LED canopy of Fremont Street. “Why would Stacy be in an alley?”
“How much do you know about Stacy’s life?” Dino asked as they weaved through the crowds. “What she does when she’s not working?”
“Not much, I guess.” Jan frowned. What was he talking about? Stacy and she were close. Or so she’d thought, but now, thinking back, she realized that Stacy had been acting odd, secretive. And why hadn’t she answered her recent phone calls? “Why? Is she in some kind of trouble?”
“You could say that.”
They rounded the hulking blue façade of Binion’s and stopped at the end of the dimly lit alleyway behind the building. Beneath the orange glow of a single streetlight, Dino spotted three people—Stacy, and two men. One guy he recognized from the Rockford Security files, a notoriously vicious loan shark named Vinnie Matusa. The other appeared to be his hired muscle, if his crooked nose and broad bulk were any indication.
Adrenaline pumped hot through Dino’s bloodstream as his instincts kicked in. He pushed Jan toward the shadows and held her by the upper arms. “Stay here. Don’t come out until I say.”
“But—”
“No. No arguments.” He pointed to the men down the alley. “Those guys would just as soon kill you as look at you. They don’t care who you are. All they care about is their money. Now stay here where it’s safe. Understand?”
She exhaled sharply. “Fine.”
“Thank you.” He dropped a quick kiss on her lips then squared his shoulders. He wished he’d grabbed his gun out of the glove compartment of the Tahoe, but since he hadn’t, his fists would have to do if it came down to it. As he approached the trio ahead slowly, he sized up the hired thug. Even as in shape as Dino was, that guy had a good fifty to seventy-five pounds of extra muscle on him. Dino’s best bet would be to go for the SING—Solar Plexus, Instep, Nose, Groin—then get the hell out of there fast.
After a deep breath, he stopped several feet away from them and kept his tone as calm as possible. “Hi, Stacy. What’s going on here?”
This close, he could see her smeared makeup, her eyes red and swollen from crying, the growing bruise on her cheek. In his book, people who beat up on anyone smaller or weaker than themselves were cowards. He clenched his fist at his sides and forced his rage to calm. Losing his shit in this situation wouldn’t help anyone, even if beating the crap out of these guys would make him feel better. He might have done it too, but with Jan back there in the shadows ... he couldn’t take the risk.
“Dino,” Stacy said, her tone pleading as she wobbled unsteadily on her high heels. “Please.”
The loan shark, Vinnie, eyed him up and down, his thin lips curved into a sneer. “Yeah, Dino. We’ve been waiting on you.”
“Really?” He met the shorter man’s gaze dire
ctly. “Why?”
“Your lady friend here can’t pay up. She says you can give her some cash.”
Dino sighed and met Stacy’s sorrowful gaze. “I already gave her some cash.”
“Not enough, apparently.” Vinnie smiled and tugged Stacy in closer to him. She cringed, and he laughed. “I think she forgot to ask for the interest too.”
“Interest?” He gave the loan shark a disgusted look. “All this is for two hundred bucks?”
“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. Again.
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.
Twenty
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.
Deadly Betrayal (The Rockford Security Series Book 1) Page 17
