“Pack of Virginia Slims.”
He doesn’t move. “Cigarettes suck,” he says in a flat tone.
Interesting sales technique. He might as well tell people how addictive gambling is while he’s at it. “Thanks for the unnecessary commentary. I still need a pack.”
“Fine. You sure you don’t at least want a more manly brand?” He drops the deadpan look and raises an eyebrow caustically.
Everyone has to be a fucking comedian these days. Though I can’t totally blame him for trying to make his job more entertaining, even if it’s at the expense of customers.
“They’re not for me.” I take out a ten and slap it on the counter. “Just give me the goddamn cigarettes.”
“Yeah, yeah, okay.” He shrugs. “I get it. Show your girlfriend you care. Give her lung cancer.”
I shake my head as I take the pack and leave the store. The guy’s attitude reminds me a little of Cruz in his forwardness, the way he takes jabs at people at every possible opportunity.
Cruz. I need to prepare myself for our meeting tonight, except that I can’t because I only have vague guesses as to what he wants with me. My stomach is already tied up in an automatic knot at the thought of him, the old rage I keep hidden inside threatening to surface.
Dammit. I can’t react like this when I see him tonight. He’ll see it like a fucking billboard, use it to his advantage. Cruz has always been good at that, finding and exploiting people’s weaknesses, and I can only imagine what he’s like now. I won’t give him the chance to do that to me, though. I’ll let him know in no uncertain terms that he and I were done seven years ago, that he can’t show up like this and expect me to welcome him with open arms.
Yeah, I need to be straight with him. Like Alex is with people. I don’t know how she does it, opens up so easily and speaks her mind.
And now I’m back full circle to what I was thinking about when I left the high roller room. That woman has definitely worked her way under my skin. I wish I could get her under me, period.
I’m in a significantly better mood when I get back inside.
Maya’s on her second cigarette and doing marginally better at her game when Alex walks into the room.
She’s in my sights right away, and she looks good. Wearing one of her maddeningly short skirts again. A shirt that comes down in front in a deep V before hugging her breasts. I have this crazy urge to walk over, but I keep myself in check. I’m not about to leave Maya’s side. Plus, Alex is with her father. Can’t even imagine what I’d say if I had to introduce myself.
Hi, my name is Connor, and I’d really like to fuck your daughter.
Ha. Maybe not.
Alex scans the room for about two seconds before her eyes lock squarely with mine. It’s like she was specifically looking for me, and this feeling of need spikes in me as she continues to stare. At the same time, the thought that she could have deliberately come here to find me is scarier than hell.
I watch as she places her hand on her dad’s arm and whispers something into his ear, her eyes fixed on me. Shit. She’s walking over to me. Now. While I’m working.
I see Maya’s water glass is almost empty and quickly lean down to grab it. Thankfully, she doesn’t look up or otherwise register the interruption. Interfering with a client’s game is like a cardinal sin in this business. Without a word, I walk to the sideboard holding the drinks and appetizers, some of which probably cost more per plate than my entire weekly grocery bill. Alex approaches me as I’m filling up the glass.
“Hey.” She gives me that purely happy smile.
“What’s up?” I glance over at Maya, but she’s still deep in the same game. “I’m working now,” I say in a low voice. “I can’t really talk when I’m working.”
“Oh, sorry.” Her cheeks become rosy, like her perfectly luscious mouth. “But it would be weird if we totally ignored each other, right?”
“You’re right.” I give Maya one more glance then turn my full attention to Alex. Honestly, I’m glad that she calls me on my shit. “How do you do that?”
“Do what?” She looks up at me curiously.
“Talk to people so easily.”
“I don’t know. I open my mouth and words come out. It’s not hard. Should it be?”
I laugh out loud, the sound surprising me. Alex rolls her eyes at me but her face lights up with this kind of joy. I’m struck by it, by how pretty she is, and I reach out and finally tuck that strand of hair very gently behind her ear. She freezes, her eyes wide as my fingers trail down and touch her chin.
She takes a step back, her eyes shifting over to her father. “I gotta go. See ya soon, Connor.”
She gives me a small smile, but it’s brief and looks almost nervous before she averts her eyes and walks away.
What, all of a sudden I make her anxious? Or had her father caught me touching her and given a look of disapproval? I don’t want to read into it, so I don’t. I go back to my post and watch as she sits down with her father at the baccarat table. Looks like the usual exchange of nods and introductions, and then Alex reaches into her purse and takes out a stack of bills.
Oh, hell no.
The dealer passes her a sizable pile of chips. At least five grand. Maybe ten. This is not the same woman who was upset over losing two hundred dollars. My first instinct is to go over, to tell her to stick her money in her purse and walk away, but as soon as I think it, I force my feelings back down. My reaction makes no sense. She’s an adult. It’s her choice to be here. Still, if I ever saw Elle do that, I’d feel the same way. Not that Elle would have close to that amount of money to drop on the tables.
I look back over right as Alex picks up a small stack of chips, hesitates, and sets them down on the top of the pile again. Her father nods as if giving her the go-ahead, and she picks up a bigger stack and places them on the felt. And now she’s frowning down as the banker deals the cards from the shoe. I watch her play a few hands, noting that the whole table is alive with conversation, laughter even. All except for Alex, who sits like an unsmiling statue.
“Connor.”
I look down and see that Maya’s staring up at me. Fuck. How long was I ogling Alex from across the room?
“What’s up, sweetheart?” I try to relax and give her a smile, but my heart’s not in it.
“I’m done. Rack up for me.” Her stiff tone and posture as she pushes the chair back reveal that she’s not happy with me right now. I do as she says, scouring my brain for something to say to make up for slacking on the job. Nothing comes to mind, and it’s just as well because Maya’s already walking away.
I allow myself one brief glance in Alex’s direction on my way out. Her eyebrows are drawn together in a frown, her arms propped on the edge of the table as she leans forward with her all of her attention focused on the action. My jaw is tight as I force myself to look away. This isn’t the place for her, but it’s also not my place to say.
Maya steps out in the hallway first, and I follow. There’s an angry light in her eyes when she turns to face me, and I know she’s about to chew me out. I totally deserve it for falling short on the job.
“Do you know them?”
I raise my eyebrows. “Who?” I keep my tone light, but as soon as I hear the question, I know that Maya saw. I know that she pinpointed exactly why I was distracted in there.
She takes out another cigarette and lights it, drawing in a long breath and exhaling before answering. “That pretty girl with the red hair.” Her voice has a sharp edge to it. “Do you actually know her, or were you just fantasizing about getting your dick wet with a VIP?”
That gets my full attention. Maya does not usually talk like this. There’s only one time that I can remember, and it was when she first approached me and offered me a job. Thanks to the background check, she already had the information about me she needed, but she’d been almost as blunt.
Like back then, my gut tells me I need to answer her truthfully. “Both,” I admit. “I know her, yes.”
/>
Her eyes glimmer, and I realize that the spark that I saw in them earlier might not have been anger. More like interest. “And what about her father? Do you know him?”
“Haven’t met him.” I don’t know where she’s going with this, but I feel my back go up. I’ve worked for Maya for two years, but beyond what she knows from the investigation about my past, she doesn’t really know me. Or ever ask me questions like this.
“All right.” She takes another long draw of her cigarette and walks down the hall.
I catch up to her in three strides, glad that she seems satisfied. But curious now as to what the hell that was all about. I offer her my arm like I usually do, and she slips her hand through. And for a moment, everything feels almost back to normal.
“To your room?”
“Yes, I need to freshen up for din…”
We reach the end of the corridor, and Maya stops walking, her hand suddenly tight on my arm. I follow her frozen gaze and look off to the side.
He’s leaning against a wall, his arms crossed over his chest and a vigilant expression on his face. Watchful. Waiting. Like a predator that’s recently killed but interested in scoping out possibilities for his next meal. His eyes travel up and down Maya with an unacceptable level of boldness, and seeing it makes rage roil deep inside.
His attention shifts to me as he picks up on it, and he pushes up from the wall in a deliberately lazy move. He saunters forward, a shit-eating grin on his face.
“Brother. You are one difficult fucker to find.”
15
Connor
Son of a bitch.
I can feel Maya’s eyes flick between me and Cruz, blazing with curiosity and a little bit of fear. I need to get her out of here and away from him. But I don’t want to be the first to break eye contact. I know he’s intentionally fucking with me by showing up here, and the amusement I can read in his expression tells me he thinks he already won this round.
He has a harder set to his face than he used to, leaner and angular lines to his features that look carved out by years of drug use. His hair is longer than mine, slicked back and adding to the starkness of his appearance. It’s not totally like looking in the mirror, but it’s no mystery Maya was shocked when she saw him. He might have fooled Elle into thinking he’s cleaned up, but I take one look at his eyes and can see that he’s keyed up.
His attention isn’t on Maya anymore, which is a good thing because every muscle in me is loaded and ready to strike. If he touches her or so much as takes another look at her like he was doing when we came around the corner… My hand twitches by my side, and Cruz’s gaze immediately hones in on the slight movement. No doubt he’s carrying, too.
Chill the fuck out. Roll with this.
“We’re not doing this here. You were supposed to meet me tonight.” My throat feels constricted, like my words have to drag through gravel to get out.
“I had a slight change in plans.” He says it off-handedly, as though speaking to me after so long is nothing significant. His mouth twists in a smirk. “So you gonna ditch the bitch, or am I gonna have to take care of her, too?”
He doesn’t say Laura’s name, but he doesn’t have to. It’s like the seven years since I left Albuquerque never happened, and the fury within me erupts. I take a step forward, my free hand clenched in a fist. Maya lets go of my arm, releasing me to charge forward.
But then Cruz slowly crosses his arms across his chest, and I catch sight of the tattoo. It’s a tribal design, in the shape of a scorpion that curls around his forearm, and I stop in my tracks.
The tension in the air is so thick I could chew on it. Cruz barks a laugh, and Maya… The tigress in her has her claws out, and she stares at him like she wishes she could set him on fire.
Without taking my eyes off him, I say to her, “I need to take you to your room. Now.”
Maya doesn’t respond verbally, but she pulls on my arm. If she shoots me a look at all, I miss it. Cruz and I are still locked in a stare-down, and he gives me a curt nod as we pass, his gaze as cold as ice.
“I’ll be waiting right here for you, little brother.”
Not going to bother replying to that, but his comment makes my blood boil. Born nineteen minutes earlier and that somehow gives him lifetime rights to talk down to me. That’s gotta change. Right after I make sure Maya’s safely in her room.
The edge of my anger blurs into concern as we head to the elevators for Maya’s tower. She reaches out and squeezes my hand, and fuck, but it’s not a gesture a client would give. Maya’s genuinely concerned, worried about me, and I stare down at her, something in my chest constricting. It’s bad news that Cruz hunted me down now of all times, that he saw me and Maya together. If he knows we walked out of a high roller room, then he knows she has money. Might as well paint a bright red target on her forehead.
I struggle for something to say to her. But I got nothing.
No clue how Cruz tracked me down, how he was able to find me here. He wouldn’t have been able to find me by my current name.
A pit suddenly forms in my gut as I think I know. Elle.
If Elle betrayed my confidence, if she told him what I do for work, Cruz would have known to stake out the high roller rooms. But even then, what are the odds… Unless he paid off guards to watch for me and alert him when they spotted me. I wouldn’t doubt it. Cruz always had this way of making things happen so he gets his way. Except when it comes to me. He didn’t get his way when I left. Prior to that, he’d had grandiose visions of Cruz and Connor Marino, brothers in crime, like some original fucking miniseries for HBO.
Connor Marino. He ceased to exist as soon as I got to Vegas and changed my last name to Vincent. I’d kept my given name all through the SEALs because it was less complicated, but as soon as I got out here, I wanted a clean break. I didn’t want anything linking me to my father or brother anymore.
Just goes to show that you can run all you want, but where you come from eventually catches up to you.
Maya stabs out her cigarette in one of the ashtrays by the elevator doors before swooping into the nearest one. I follow and punch the buttons for a random number of floors above and below Maya’s floor, in case Cruz follows us and tracks the elevator to see where it stops.
She watches me do it, her forehead creased in a frown. “How much trouble are you in, Connor?”
“Don’t know,” I mutter, and it’s not a lie. I rake my hand through my hair, my thoughts too scrambled to explain. “My brother and I aren’t…on good terms.”
She makes a sound that’s not quite a laugh. “Yes. I figured out that much.”
A group of teenaged girls with wet hair and towels dash into the elevator as the doors are closing. They hit the button for one of the lower floors, giggling over how many of the other buttons are lit up. I know they think it’s a prank, and I wish to hell it was. Still holding hands, Maya and I ride in silence while the girls go on and on about some hottie that talked to them at the pool. One of them glances back at me furtively before giving me a shy smile, and I look away, my stomach dropping like a stone.
The pool. What if Cruz was tracking me all day? Spying on me and Alex? I have the craziest desire to call Elle to get Alex’s number, to give her a heads up about… fuck, I don’t even know. That my psycho twin brother is in town and she should run if she sees anyone who looks like a tweaked-out version of me?
Gotta keep my head on straight. I keep Maya’s hand in mine, our fingers tightly interlaced as I walk her to her suite. It’s a gesture that’s usually too intimate between me and clients, but right now I need it, need the reassurance that I can keep Maya safe at least in this moment. I feel hyperaware of my surroundings, the back of my neck prickling every time I see a peephole that’s blacked out instead of letting light through. Shit. I’m being overly paranoid now, and if I don’t get it under control, Cruz will win.
Maya unlocks her door but hesitates, still frowning as she peers up at me. “I obviously don’t know the whole s
tory between you and your brother. But if there’s anything I can do to help –”
I shake my head before she can finish. “No. You can’t get involved in this. He’s way too fucking dangerous.”
Her eyes widen in alarm, and part of me wishes I could take the words back, but I feel like she has a right to know. I release her hand, taking a breath to steel myself for the rest. “Mrs. Coplin, I think it would be best if my partner took over your protection during the rest of your stay.”
Her mouth forms a round “O,” her hand flying up to cover it. And damn if I don’t think I see moisture spring into those baby blue eyes before I glance away like a coward.
“His name is Neil Dufort,” I say to the door. “Of course you can do the background check on him if you’d like. He served with me in the same platoon. I trust him with my life, or I wouldn’t be asking you to do the same.”
“No, honey. I only work with you.”
I stiffen at hearing the endearment, and she goes on in a softer tone. “I’ll bag out on my evening session. I can make up the time later. Honey, I don’t want you to feel like you’re in this alone.”
That “honey” thing. She’s not saying it like we do when we banter back and forth. I shouldn’t matter to her. I can’t matter to her. Her tone has a tinge of desperation to it, and I have to stop this.
I channel a tiny bit of Cruz and look her in the eye with calculated coldness. “I can’t ask you to do that. I’ll call Neil and have him fill in for me until further notice.”
She blinks. “Connor, I don’t understand. Did I miss something downstairs? Your brother only said he wanted to talk to you, and you told me that you didn’t know what was going on. Why don’t you see how things go with him first and then decide?”
I switch tactics, lift her hand to my lips and kiss it as her eyes continue to plead with me for understanding. “Maya, my brother is a threat that I can’t take out by conventional means.” I grit my teeth for a second, wishing to hell that it would be that easy. “The choice is ultimately yours, but I would feel better if we went this route. Just for a day or two.”
Losing Enough Page 13
