Page 22

Twenty-one

THE CASINO WAS different from what she’d imagined. More a high-stakes, high-elegance poker room with a couple other options, including two roulette tables and two blackjack tables. No flashy lights. No blingy sounds. Just black linen tablecloths and employees attired in white dress shirts and black dress pants with matching ties. Julie Chase stood near the entrance, greeting the guests as they arrived.

Riley narrowed her eyes. Why was Julie playing host at a reservation casino?

“Greetings,” she said, interrupting Riley’s thoughts. “Please enjoy yourselves and have some fun.” Julie smiled. “Oh, and there’s a five-hundred-dollar minimum to play.”

“Very well,” Greyson said, resting his hand on her shoulder, caressing her skin. “Shall we go have some fun, luv?”

She nodded, thankful the casino didn’t resemble those in Vegas, but the tightness squeezed her chest all the same.

“What would you like to play first?” Grey leaned in and whispered, his breath tickling the nape of her neck. The very best kind of shiver shot along her spine.

She swallowed at his tenderness. “I think blackjack,” she managed to utter.

“Blackjack it is.”

He trailed his finger down her arm and clasped her hand.

She wasn’t sure which was garnering more of her attention. The fact she was in a casino again for the first time since they’d fled Vegas, or the fact that Greyson was doing a very good job convincing people they were a couple. At this point, he was even convincing her.

“Good evening,” the dealer greeted them as they stepped up to the blackjack table.

Grey nodded in reply. He pulled out a chair for her, then took the seat beside her.

“Thanks,” she said.

“Always, luv.” He winked, and her stomach did that weird thing. She didn’t have butterflies fluttering about. She had squirrels, and they were at a rave.

“Ready for some blackjack?” the dealer said. He was clean-shaven and extremely bulky for a dealer. He looked more like a bodybuilder. Perhaps he was in his spare time.

“Yes, we are.” Grey glanced at Riley, disarming her with a charming smile. He rested his hand on hers, caressing her fingers with his. “Aren’t we, darlin’?”

She nodded. Okay, the man knew how to flirt. One wink with that smile, and she turned to putty. Not. A. Good. Sign. At least not for her heart.

The dealer dealt the cards, and the game began.

She blinked.

Please let the Vegas memories stay at bay.

A horrible, disconcerting floating sensation plagued Riley. She’d let the setting get to her, and a mix of rage and sorrow sifted through her.

“You did amazing tonight. You didn’t lose a hand,” Greyson said once they were back in their room. “Too bad we didn’t learn anything new from the other guests we interviewed. But I think they really bought it.”

“Bought it?” Riley asked.

“Us being in love.”

She stiffened.

His gentle touch across her arm, his hand in hers—all of that, all of the deep emotions welling inside her, was fake. She had to remember that, though she’d already remembered far too many painful memories tonight. Her unrequited love didn’t need to be among them.

“We have it”—he loosened his tie—“we just need to keep it up.”

Have it? They didn’t have anything. Not anything real. He’d just said it himself. Why did all of her have to care so deeply for a man who didn’t feel the same way?

She dropped her clutch on the bed and pulled the rhinestone-lined combs from her hair, letting it fall across her shoulders. “You can’t lose what you don’t have.”

“What?”

“You said ‘have it.’ And I’m saying you can’t lose what you don’t have. I learned that long ago.” As much as she wanted everything happening between them to be real, it wasn’t. Pretending was blurring the line between what was real and what was playing a part in her mind. She had to remember she wasn’t his, as much as she longed to be, and he certainly wasn’t hers. One more person in her life who was playing a role.

Emotions and a flood of memories crashed over her like a suffocating wave. Her feelings for Greyson, his lack of romantic feelings for her, her parents and everyone in her family—even her—playing roles to survive, the terror that had filled her over Pete’s death. It all combined in a current that pulled her under and tossed her about.

Greyson stepped in front of her. A never-before-seen vulnerability radiated in his soulful eyes. “You have me. You know that, right?”

“Excuse me?”

“I’ll always be here for you.”

Just not in the way she longed for. Why was she getting so upset with Greyson? Yes, it hurt, especially after a night when it had seemed so real, but there was more there. Her past was coming back to haunt her. She’d let the casino get to her. Let her horrid childhood swarm back over her like a rush of locusts over crops, decimating them in one pass.

Unruly tears misted her eyes.

Greyson cupped her face. He swiped her tears away with the pad of his thumb. “I mean it. I’ll always be here for you. I don’t want you to think otherwise.” The deep timbre of his voice resonated in her chest.

“I’ve heard that before.” Take a breath. You know what to do when you’ve been triggered. Stop this before you embarrass yourself. She was being beyond rude, and Greyson was the last person she ever wanted to be so with, but here she was—all the hurt and anger that had roiled through her little body as a kid roiled through her anew. She slipped her slingback heels off and sunk her feet into the plush carpet, trying to ground herself.

Please , Lord. Don’t let this happen in front of Greyson. Don’t let this happen , period. I’ve left the panic attacks behind. Or she had until Pete ... And now the casino tonight ... the sounds of the roulette wheel spinning, the ice clinking in the crystal glasses.

“From who?” he asked, pulling her from her thoughts. He remained steadfast at her side. How could his presence be so comforting yet painful at the same time?

“We’ll be right. Just play your part like a good girl.” Hot tears spilled from her eyes. “My parents.”

“Oh...” His face softened. “Come here.” He tugged her into his arms, his hands splaying across her back. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered against her ear. “I didn’t stop to think about the casino bringing back old memories. I’m so sorry.”

She sniffed, feeling foolish for crying on Greyson’s shoulder, but his arms only held her tighter. “You don’t have to be sorry. You didn’t do anything.” At least nothing real. It was all an act, and she needed to stop thinking otherwise.

He brushed her hair back from her face. “I hate to see you cry.” Sincerity resonated in his eyes.

She nodded and stepped back with a sniff. She squared her shoulders. She was stronger than her past. “I’m going to get ready for bed.” She just prayed the nightmares that had haunted her for years after Vegas didn’t return. She already had more than enough with Pete visiting her almost nightly in her dreams. Horrid dreams she prayed would stop.

****

Shifting his binoculars to see through the slit in the curtains, he watched Greyson Chadwick comfort Riley as she cried, and heat flared within him. He was coming to like the woman. Enough not to kill her? Of course not. He had a job to do, and in the end, she’d be the one to pay for Kelly’s crime. But jealousy had rooted inside him, and the closer the pair got, the more he wanted to tear them apart. And he would.

Lowering his binoculars, he moved for the window, hoping to hear as well as see, and it worked. Greyson tried so valiantly to soothe her. What a pansy. When he had her, there’d be no comfort. Only pain until he got what he needed, and then she’d be of no more use to him.