Page 2

“I’m not cheating!” Victor roars.
The room erupts into chaos as the other players scramble to separate us. The air crackles with a mix of fear and excitement. I can't help but revel in the chaos, the rush of adrenaline coursing through my veins like a drug.
My brother yanks me back.
“What the hell are you doing, Carter?”
“What does it look like?” I grin. “I’m about to kick this guy's ass.”
Victor springs toward me but is unable to break through the people separating us. I smirk at him and he snarls. I can’t help but laugh.
Two men lead Victor away, and as the commotion dies down, Court pulls me aside.
"Carter, you need to be careful.” His voice is blended with brotherly love and annoyance. "Victor can be dangerous.”
I shrug, my heart still pounding from the thrill of the fight.
"No, he has friends in high places. That doesn’t make him dangerous. Sometimes, you have to take risks, even if it means getting punched in the face. It's what makes life worth living."
"Did your risk pay off? There’s a difference between taking a risk and starting a fight needlessly. I don’t want to hear that you’ve been found in a ditch one day. You need to act less recklessly and, frankly, I have the reputation of the club and its other guests to consider. This is not the place for bar room brawls.”
My brother has a way of making me feel so much younger than he is even though there’s only a few years between us. Court has had such a different life than I have had, though. He doesn’t understand.
I give my brother a wry grin, my adrenaline-fueled bravado still coursing through my veins.
"No promises here. Life's too short to play it safe."
“How are we related?” Court finally grins, the danger officially having passed. He points to my busted lip that throbs with pain. “You need to get that looked at.”
“I’ll put some ice on it if you have some.”
“No, you won’t. Cassie just hired someone with some medical experience. I think she insisted we needed someone to patch you up on poker nights.”
I chuckle.
“Tell her to stop worrying about me. She’s got her hands full with the twins.”
“Just go see Addison. She’s the new tourney hostess – so she actually works for you, seeing as how you put together the poker tournaments here. Oh, and you’re welcome. I knew you’d put off hiring forever if I didn’t step in. Now, I have to clean up the mess you made.”
“Need a mop?” I envision the woman he’s sending me to; a round and angry old nurse with cards in one pocket and a bottle of Tylenol in the other.
Court rolls his eyes.
“She’s in the back, restocking the shelves while another girl is out on maternity leave.”
I blow out a breath as I watch my brother walk over to Victor, attempting to smooth things over with him. But by the way Victor tosses the cards across the table and stomps out the door, he won’t be coming back any time soon.
“You win some, you lose some,” I mutter.
Shreds of moonlight flood from the open windows, occasionally falling over me as I make my way to the back, my body protesting with pain. I push open the door gently.
“This area is for employees only,” a friendly yet stern voice calls out. She sounds a little young to be the grouchy old nurse I imagined.
“I have a backstage pass.”
“You have a…what?”
I hear footsteps as the most gorgeous woman I have ever seen in my life comes around the corner. Long, tanned legs come out of a short black skirt, a long red v-neck amplifying her modest bosom. A tumble of dark, shiny waves falls down her back, and her bright, pretty hazel eyes are intensified by a smatter of freckles spread across her heart-shaped face. She must be at least twenty years younger than me.