Wild Aces

by Marni Mann

  “Increase them then. It won’t affect the demand, and our prices will still be considered reasonable.”

  “That’s what I was thinking.” She took the tablet from my hand and tapped the screen a few times. “I’m going to put together a few different pricing options, and we can discuss which one we think will be best.”

  “Fine. And it’ll be applied to the new clients who come in. Current ones will be grandfathered.”

  “I think that sounds perfect.”

  I reached for my phone when it vibrated. It was a text from Brea.

  Brea: I think we should talk.

  My thumbs hovered above the keyboard. I hadn’t expected to hear from her this quickly—or at all. After I’d left her standing at her front door, I figured I’d have to reach out to her first.

  Me: Tomorrow night.

  Brea: Where?

  Me: My place.

  Brea: Send me your address, and I’ll be there.

  “Will Jameson be grandfathered?” Adrianna asked when I set down my phone.

  “I think he should be.”

  “I agree.” She typed something onto her tablet and stuck it back inside her bag. “I heard from him again this morning. He’s eager, very eager.”

  “He’s been texting you a lot?”

  “Twice a day, at least.”

  “Next time you hear from him, tell him I’m still waiting on my new contract.”

  We’d negotiated a higher fee over the dinner we’d had in Vegas, but he hadn’t presented it on paper and probably wouldn’t for a few weeks. I was sure his lawyer was taking his time with it.

  “Maybe that’ll slow down his texts for a day.”

  She playfully slapped my arm. “He’s excited, Trapper. Don’t rain on his parade. Besides, it’s me he’s driving crazy, not you.”

  “Yeah, true.” There needed to be some fucking happiness as a result of all this. And from the little I knew about Jameson, he deserved it. “I really am happy for the guy.”

  Brea

  Frankie sat on the edge of my desk with a huge bag of chocolate chips, popping them into her mouth like they were peanuts. “Have you talked to Cody’s mom?”

  I shook my head as I turned toward her. “Every time I go to call her, I chicken out.”

  “You’re only asking if you can go visit her. That’s easy. The hard part comes when you ring her doorbell.”

  “Not so easy. She’s going to lay on the guilt because I haven’t called her lately.”

  “Then rush her through the conversation, and don’t give her a chance to.”

  It wasn’t like me to just call and ask if I could swing by their place in Connecticut. I hadn’t been there since the funeral. She would know something was up. Still, the conversation had to happen, and in person was the proper way to do it. She always got emotional when she discussed Cody. Talking about his adoption over the phone just didn’t feel right.

  “I wish I could avoid it completely,” I said. “But how much Cody’s parents knew when they adopted him is one thing I doubt my connection can find on the Internet.”

  “How much are you going to tell them about Trapper?”

  I shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. I’ll feel them out and see if it’s something they can handle.”

  “Do you want my opinion?”

  I reached inside the bag and took a handful, shoving all the chocolate into my mouth. “Of course.”

  “I would tell them as little as possible and let them do all the talking. I certainly wouldn’t mention that Cody has a twin or that you have feelings for him. Janie can barely say Cody’s name without breaking down. Can you imagine how she would react if she found out there was someone who looked identical to her son? She’d lose it.”

  “I think you’re absolutely right.” All I had to do during our phone call today was ask if I could meet with her and then hang up before she took things too deep. A minute, tops—I could handle that. “Will you stay here while I call her?”

  She stood from my desk. “Of course. Let me run to the bathroom first, and I’ll be right back.”

  When she walked away, I munched on the bag of chocolate and scrolled through the office network, checking out the rental applications that had been submitted this morning. Once I viewed them all, I pulled up the floor plans for the first few units I’d be visiting tonight. I had booked my entire evening with showings to keep myself busy. Staying home in a quiet townhouse would only lead to a bottle of wine, more unanswered questions, and possibly a few drunken texts to Trapper. I didn’t want to analyze every word he had said, every expression that had crossed his face. So, I would work…and I would work right up until I went to his place tomorrow night.

  My office phone rang. “Brea Bradley,” I answered.

  “Brea, it’s Max Dawson.”

  “Hi, Max.” I clicked back to the screen where the applications and leases had been submitted for review. “Looks like we have some prospective tenants for three of your units in your North End building. I’m looking over their paperwork right now.”

  “Good, good,” he said hurriedly. “But that’s not why I’m calling. I’m wondering if you’ve spoken to Frankie about my new building?”

  I clicked on the sales history on his account. He’d just closed on a ten-unit building in the South End. No doubt Frankie would have told me about it in our afternoon meeting. But I wasn’t surprised Max was calling to check in about it before I’d been brought up to speed. That was just his style.

  “I see you closed three days ago, so I’m going to factor in six weeks for construction, and then I’ll have my photographer come in to get the shots we need for the listing.”

  “Let’s go with five and a half weeks for construction,” he said. “And I want all the units leased within a month of the listing.”

  I checked out the description of the building and its exact location plus the square footage of each unit. There wasn’t any parking; it wasn’t close to a subway station either. It would be tough to get them rented in that timeframe.

  “We’ll do the best we can.”

  “Can you meet me at the property later today, so I can show you the plans?” he asked. “It wouldn’t hurt for you to start coming up with some marketing ideas now.”

  “I can do that, sure.” I checked my schedule for the rest of the day. “Are you free at four?”

  “Four o’clock in front of the building. See you then.”

  He hung up as Frankie returned to my desk.

  “That was Max Dawson,” I said. “So, he closed on a ten-unit, huh?”

  Her face filled with worry. “We got him a great deal on the building. I tried to convince him to flip it and sell it, but he insisted on converting it into a rental. There are some obstacles there. You have your work cut out for you.”

  “It really looks that way. I’m meeting him there at four to check out his plans. Maybe I can start showing the units while they’re still in construction. Might make meeting his one-month timeline a little more likely.”

  “He’s sinking over a million into the building, so it should show better than some of the other units he has.” She was referring to the three low-end buildings that we already managed for Max. One of my leasing agents oversaw them full-time.

  “That’s good news,” I said, “but sometimes, the higher-end ones are just as hard to rent.” I checked my cell for messages.

  Frankie knew exactly what I was checking for. “Have you heard from Trapper?”

  I shook my head. “Not a word since his last text.”

  She dived back into the bag of chocolate. “And did you ever find out how he knows Max?”

  “No, but maybe I’ll ask Max tonight. Talking about a mutual friend might be a good way to get him to loosen up.”

  “Friend?”

  I took a deep breath. “Ugh. You know what I mean.”

  “I do. Now, call Cody’s mom.” She smiled softly. “You can’t put it off forever.”

  I searched for her name i
n my Contacts and held my finger above it. “Wish me luck.”

  “Just keep it casual, and you’ll be fine.”

  It only rang twice before she answered.

  “Janie, hi. It’s Brea.”

  “I know, sweetie. You have your own ringtone, so I always know it’s you even if I’m not looking at the screen.”

  I glanced at Frankie, my eyes widening, as I took a breath. “That’s so…sweet,” I replied.

  Janie laughed a bit. “I haven’t heard from you in so long. I wish you called more often. I miss you.”

  There it was—the guilt I had been waiting for.

  “It has been a while since we’ve talked,” I agreed. “Sorry about that.” I didn’t know why I had apologized. The only connection we had was Cody, and he was gone.

  “I was planning on calling you soon anyway. Rick and I will be coming into the city for the two-year anniversary. I was hoping you’d have dinner with us.”

  Frankie rolled her hand in a circle, reminding me to keep things casual. I needed to take her advice before I committed to anything with them.

  “Maybe we could meet sooner than that. I’m going to be in your area next weekend, and I was wondering if I could swing by to see you.”

  “We would love that, dear.” Her voice lightened, as if somehow talking to me made her son return to her.

  In a way, I guessed it did.

  “Great. I’ll let you know when I have an exact time.”

  “Sounds wonderful. I’ll make your favorite treats, so come hungry.”

  “I’ll talk to you soon, Janie.” I hung up before she had a chance to say any more. “That went well, and she’s making my favorite snacks.”

  “Yum.” Frankie spoke with her mouth full. “Make sure you bring some home for me.”

  I grabbed her hand. “I have an even better idea. How about you come with me? You’ll be the perfect distraction and a good reason I won’t be able to stay and chat with her all night.”

  “You had me at snacks. Of course I’ll go.”

  I picked up the bag and searched for chocolate inside but found it completely empty. Frankie liked her sweets, but she usually didn’t eat this much.

  “Is there something you want to tell me?”

  She stared at me while she chewed, a crazed look in her eyes. “I’m due for my period any second, and Derek has been in Portsmouth for three days. I’m about to start humping the corner of your desk.”

  That sounded more like something I would say.

  “Good news, friend,” I told her. “I need to get to a staff meeting, so the desk is all yours. Have at it.”

  She almost choked on the chocolate chips.

  Trapper

  My phone vibrated from my pocket as I reached for the door to Aced. I pulled it out and looked at the screen, moving to the side of the building for some privacy. “Dawson,” I said, answering just before it went to voice mail. “What can I do for you?”

  “Is everything all set for tomorrow night?”

  I checked to make sure there was no one standing behind me. “Things should be all good. Adrianna did say it sounded like a rough one.”

  “I’ve had my eye on this one for a while. I expect it will be.”

  “I’ll let her know.”

  “That’s not why I called.”

  I leaned back against the brick, wondering what the hell else he wanted to talk about. Dawson and I discussed business, nothing else.

  “Looks like we have a friend in common,” he said.

  “And who’s that?”

  “Brea Bradley.”

  My hand tightened around the phone. “How do you know her?”

  “She manages all my rentals. I met her tonight to show her a new building I just bought, and she mentioned you. Now, I need to know, how much have you told her, Trapper?”

  How the fuck would Brea have known that Dawson and I knew each other? The only other person we had in common was Block. Apparently, that was my answer.

  “She doesn’t know anything,” I said. “You have nothing to worry about.”

  “I have everything to worry about. She has access to all my units; she works for the agent who has documentation on all my financial records. These paths were never supposed to cross. You guaranteed that.”

  Fucking Christ.

  “I have as much to lose as you, Dawson,” I told him. “It’ll be my ass hauled off to jail if we get caught, my name that’s broadcast on every news channel, my money that’s seized. Those paths won’t cross.”

  “See that they don’t.”

  “You have my word.”

  “Good. Call me after the pickup.”

  “Will do,” I said before hanging up.

  I wasn’t going to bring this up to Brea. I just wanted it to go away and hoped that it wasn’t important enough for her to mention.

  I needed to speak to Roman now.

  I held my phone in my hand and knocked on the front door of Aced. I heard the peephole open, and a second later, Ruddy, the head bouncer, let me in.

  “Trapper,” he said, nodding his head. “Nice win in Vegas, my man. Loved seeing you destroy Baylor.”

  “Thanks.” I shook his hand, keeping my eye on him.

  He was the one who’d fucked Shay on camera. I didn’t care about that; I just didn’t trust him in general. In my circle, you didn’t smile at a guy when you’d been inside his ex’s pussy. That was fucking shady, and that was exactly what Ruddy was doing.

  He patted my shoulder, and I walked down the long hallway and into the main lounge. The regulars were all there, faces I had seen since I had come here as a kid and had played against for almost that long. I could probably guess what cards they were holding in their hands, how much they were going to bet, and the amount they’d won or lost last week.

  “Drink, honey?” Vera asked, moving to my side.

  I rested my arm on her shoulder. “I’m good. Not planning on staying too long. I just came in to talk to Roman.”

  “Trapper!” someone yelled.

  More heads turned toward me as they realized I was here.

  “Hell of a win, Trap,” Marky said from the table in front of me.

  “Fuck yeah!” Pete yelled, holding up his beer. “Took that bastard down like he deserved.”

  More of the guys raised their drinks in the air and commented on my win. When the girls started to flock around us, I looped Vera’s arm through mine.

  “Walk with me.”

  “Of course, honey,” she whispered.

  I thanked some of the guys as I passed them, and we made our way to the back of the lounge. Once we got through the employee-only door and I made sure the hallway was clear, I slipped an envelope into her apron.

  “I can’t, Trapper.”

  “You can.” I stopped her hand from taking it out. “And you will. For me.”

  Vera did all right at Aced. She made enough to pay her rent, buy a bus pass, and feed and clothe herself. She couldn’t afford a whole lot more. That was where I came in. She fought me every time I gave her money, and all it did was make me want to give her more.

  She cupped my cheek and kissed it, that smoky smell following her the whole way. “Only for you. But you’re too much.”

  “I’ll come see you before I leave.”

  When she nodded, I squeezed her hand and headed for Roman’s office. I knocked once and waited.

  “My hustler!” he yelled through the door. “Get the hell in here.”

  I closed the door behind me. “Hustler? Nah, I straight-up schooled that overconfident punk.”

  We shook hands, and I took a seat.

  “Yeah, you did. I watched it again this morning. Hell of a win, boy.”

  “Baylor thought he had won the hand before he even saw the flop. He’s got no patience. That’ll get him every time.”

  Roman’s eyes narrowed. “I expected you here last night. The only thing that would have kept you from coming here is the woman who left glitter all over your lips. That
true?”

  “Something like that…but it didn’t go like I wanted it to.”

  “No?”

  “I had a brother. You don’t know anything about that, do you?”

  He gripped the corner of his desk as he pulled himself closer. “You have a brother?”

  “Had. He’s dead. Not long either.”

  “Aw, Trapper.” His eyes glimmered.

  It was a stronger reaction than I expected, and it showed me he didn’t know and that he really cared about it. And me.

  “Yeah. It turns out Brea was dating him when he was killed. She thought I was him when she saw me. Freaked her out big time.”

  “Keep talking.”

  “I don’t know much…” I glanced down at my phone that was now sitting in my lap, knowing his obituary picture was just a click away. “We’re twins—identical, by the looks of him. Raised in Connecticut. He didn’t know about me. He was a cop. A detective.”

  “A cop?” He laughed. “You sure you guys came from the same uterus?”

  “The thought crossed my mind, too.”

  “Trapper, I don’t get something. How come this girl just figured out you look like her ex?”

  “We met at a masquerade party. She saw my face for the first time last night.”

  “Now, it makes sense.”

  I crossed my boot over my knee, playing with the leather wraps around my wrist. “She’s got some connection of hers looking into it.”

  “What about you?” He sat back in his chair, his posture stiff and upright. “Are you looking into it?”

  “I asked Adrianna, and now, I’m asking you.”

  “What did Adrianna say?”

  “She never saw anything about it and didn’t know. But my records weren’t typical. Something like that wouldn’t have been in there. Hell, they barely had any information on me at all.”

  He shook his head. “Jesus, kid.”

  “Brea seems pretty confident in her source. If she can’t find anything, I’ll figure out my next move.”

  He picked up his phone. “Darlin’, bring me a drink.” He looked at me. “You want one?”

  “Nah. I’m good.”